jgg48

Hello from Virginia, You have a beautiful Holthaus anvil. The Holthaus family were apparently wonderfully educated. The overall proportions and form of larger Holthaus anvils are often like sculpture. In particular I love the logo with the triangle in the center and the three associated squares, which is of course the Pythagorean Theorem.

There is a lot of good advice here with substantial healthy variation. I am making a video on Basis hammering technique.The deeper I get into it the less I know. That being said: I advocate an extremely loose hand grip, German cross pein hammer geometry (din 1041), and a hammer snapping technique that allows one to hit effectively at a wide variety of heights and angles as well as from different directions. That being so, the requirements of the left hand become more important than the right hand. Relationships with power hammers and forges are also factors. I set anvil heights for specific situations, and for use with very light to heavy hammers. I set this block of steel anvil In these 2 photos for an apprentice who was slightly shorter than me. I had him standing straight but not stiff legged with his left foot forward. His left hand was comfortable holding and rotating the 3/8" bar flat on the anvil or over the edge at an angle. With a 2.2 lb German cross pein he could comfortably hit the piece flat (planishing) or with the outside edge (fullering) with his right arm not quite fully extended. This would be a good starting posture/anvil height formula. This anvil was maybe a little high for me, but I stepped up to it in the first photo (I'm not moving) and registered my hammer flat to the anvil surface. In the second photo I am striking the piece flat. Because the anvil is maybe a little high my right arm is not fully extended, and I am not developing the full power I would have if the anvil were say an inch lower. No problem! I simply adjusted my blow to the anvil height, and then to the piece on the anvil. As you work a piece down, you are constantly adjusting your blow/swing geometry to the changing thickness. For heavy work I want the full swing/full power: a snapping blow with a 3.3 lb or 4 lb. German...or of course, a skilled striker or power hammer. For light work I set an anvil high, and snap a light hammer quickly with almost no arm movement. For a situation, you can raise your anvil height (plywood or what ever underneath the base) or you can stand on a temporary platform (especially for driving punches) to raise yourself up. I do that all the time.

Recent German history is a delicate issue, painful and poignant on all sides. 18 million Germans perished including my wife's father, who was lost in the counter attack at Stalingrad. Being on time is still a matter of life and death for her - she remembers them closing the door of the bomb shelters with people still outside. Her later step father was a psychiatrist who protected incurables by miss labeling them, fought in the battle of Berlin, escaped from Russian and American prison camps, and nursed many Jewish holocast survivors back to life. My anvils went through all of that. For my part I want to document and illuminate and preserve this important corner of German history. On that note I have attached a couple of photos of my thrilling new church windows! The one on the bottom is a mid 19th century hornless anvil/sculpture. The middle one came from a famous castle surrounded by water. It surfaced when they were cleaning out the basement of the gift shop (18th century). The church windoes are shallow and it has a subtle taper from base to top from the side that give it an exquisite form. It would not surprise me if it is the original medieval anvil from the castle. The top anvil has an engraved border around the front plate, a runic style arrow in the center, and the date :1688. My wife told me not to have a heart attack when I first saw it. In 1688 Germans were forging in the high Baroque style. For me this is the ABSOLUTE high point of the craft (Georg Oeg's Wurtzburg Palace work in 1700). When I was cleaning this anvil I noticed pitch tar dripped on all sides. Of course tar like that was melted in and out of repousse leaf work. I stopped cleaning!

Thank you for your interest and your compliment. I am importing anvils from Germany on a very limited basis. I sold my first batch a few months ago, then I got the urge to do it again, and then I had extraordinary luck, as you will see. A couple points were mentioned that I can respond to in a very limited way. When I was in Germany 20 years ago it was very diffficult to buy my first anvil. The older Germans treasured their anvils for their utility and their history. The new generation is a different story. The horrendous role Germany played in WW2 and their crushing and humiliating defeat deeply scarred this generation. They want to leave that past behind, and some of them are abandoning their own wonderful traditions and selling or trashing their heritage. Then there is the new wave of hungry Eastern European immigrants. The people here who bought German anvils from me love and treasure them much more than the people who sold them. The condition of anvils I have seen in Germany is comparable to here. Some have suffered unimaginable punishment. Others have been abused. One has to consider the lifetime of an anvil. In the professional shops I have seen, the equipment is generally clean and beautifully cared for. However, when the shop closes the anvil goes to a welding shop or a farm and anything goes. Then you have to try to imagine the pressure and chaos of the 2 wars. In such desperate times all the rules get lost. The term "Jerry rig" came from the war when Germans were forced to improvise with what they had. Germany went through hell on earth. I'm sure protocals in the shops and anvils suffered.

Thank you Aaron, There are 3 great Church Windows anvils, and yes there were some surprises, as in great and spectacular. I'll try to post them soon. Josh

I will have some time this evening to reduce the size of the images and repost them. Sorry for the inconvenience. Josh

Thank you very much. Wives and anvils don't always get along. You have the durability and investment arguments. You could try the cost per pound argument. Used anvils can go for $2 on up to $6 a pound for something good. A lot of junk food costs more than that, and that weight gets added to your waist. Um...how much per pound for a purse or a pair of shoes? Lifting anvils is good exercise. Oggling anvils (rather than other stuff) stimulates endorfins! For me it was a long haul. I'm just lucky for now. My wife still doesn't understand why I need 9 power hammers. Thanks again, Josh