lately i have seen a lot of anvil makers doing a double bick style of anvil. a lot of german, italian styles and crossbreeds, was wondering why and what is the main advantage of a double bick over a traditional blacksmiths anvil ( london pattern)? i assume some has to do with form cost, but why a double over a traditional. and why are most farrier anvils more a traditional pattern ( i know they are not quite the same bigger horn smaller table and waist, but are modified from traditional) instead if a double bick?

 why are most farrier anvils more a traditional pattern ( i know they are not quite the same bigger horn smaller table and waist, but are modified from traditional) instead if a double bick?

 

As Sam said, more working areas and weight, anvils have developed over many years to accomodate what is going to be made on them

 

Double ended anvils were used in industry, dockyards and for swordmakers/armourers

 

Farriers anvils are not required to be used as a blacksmith would use them, in the UK (as elsewhere) farriers travel to site to work, they do not need a large heavy anvil indeed some anvils now being designed/made specifically for farriers are being cast hollow to eliminate weight

Double bicked anvils are more versatile than a traditional london pattern anvil.

 their specific uses would be forming clips and other forgings with inside square edges. I find them useful for shaping the inside of D shaped holes in an axe head .

 I have heard them called french pattern Portsmouth pattern and dockyard pattern which alludes to their original purpose . I have seen them from 30lb to 800+lb.

Thanks all for your input

A single bick is only "traditional" in some places. In continental europe the double bick was very common. Many anvils nowadays are double bick and they do give the user more shapes to use. (See the Hofi anvil and the Euro anvil for example). One neweer design is something like the Rhino. That has 2 bicks- well almost but you still get a step. Most double bicks don't have the step. When I used a double bick I must admit I missed that step. that is one reason why I like the Rhinos so much.

 

In the final analysis it doesn't really matter what anvil you have got- it is what you do with it that counts!

there are french double-bick anvils with one (they may be on the left or the right side) or two steps like those bellow (which are my "dream" anvils)

Yes: for most of the world and for most of history the "London Pattern" is NOT Traditional and double horned patterns were made even in areas where the London Pattern was the most common.  I've even seen a 400# double horned Columbian!

The continental pattern is growing in popularity amongst horseshoers as of late. In that trade anvil styles go in phases with time periods usually measured by decades.  Because it's the first major tool purchase of most guys that they tend to keep throughout their careers, It's pretty easy to know at a glance how long a guy has been in the trade by looking at his anvil.

 

From the mid 2000s on you see a lot of new guys using Scott anvils. Before that everybody used JHM. Before that was NC, Mankel, Before that was Centaur, Multi-Products AP GE etc. And before that were the good old classics Hay-Budden, Trenton etc. Although all of these anvils have been around in some way or another throughout the decades, there were certain periods that they rode the top of the wave of popularity.

 

It looks like continental pattern anvils are rising fast in popularity right now for horseshoers which is a market that never really had any interest in them before.

On 1/17/2013 at 5:53 AM, philip in china said:

In the final analysis it doesn't really matter what anvil you have got- it is what you do with it that counts!

 

Exactly what I tell all my girlfriends.