This 500 Year Old Fortress is Full of Giant Anvils

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[@bigduginc]

It's great that someone built Will an amusement park.

[@AndyFromBeaverton]

Nostradamus

[@1nvisible1]

*This explains the worldwide shortage of large anvils.* *One man has cornered the market lol.*

[@LittleGreyWolfForge]

@@1nvisible1😂 that’s why they are 7 dollars a pound now

[@thebigdog2295]

He's like a kid in a candy store with a hundred dollars too spend, and it shows how much he's excited about being there.

[@HonkyKong88109]

Where do I buy tickets? And can my 4 year old get in free? He has his own hammer.

[@AlecSteele]

This is so wild!!!

[@waxore1142]

Nice Alec! Glad you got to see this!

[@john2g1]

Nice blacksmith name... This is my apprentice: Mason Hammer.

[@rumhave9632]

Why didn't you go? Your reaction to this would have been crazy.

[@hulking_presence]

@@rumhave9632 because friends grow apart

[@Justthemow]

Wanna see you go build a knife in that courtyard

[@harlech2]

This place seriously needs to be turned into a museum and resource for 'blacksmiths'. I can see this place being the perfect living history museum... sooo much history... not just of beating hot metal into submission, but the church, and the fortress as a whole. Thank you Will!

[@Turboy65]

Anvil collection: Among the collections least likely to be stolen. Only bank vault collectors worrry LESS about theft.

[@kassiog.6595]

not me pulling up with a crane and a truck a 3 am, waking up everyone with the hidraulic pumps

[@nobodynoone2500]

You'd think so, but theives stole my buddies huge anvil a few years ago from in front of his garage, including the tree stump used as a base. Cant have anything nice in a city. :-/

[@notcrediblesolipsism3851]

​@@nobodynoone2500yeah, but this guy also lives in a castle

[@BitmapFrogs]

@@nobodynoone2500 fucking sad

[@travisbenjamin1833]

When an anvil is on the list of advertized items for sale at a rural auction in my area, there is a good chance it will be stolen before the sale.

[@edmundsveikutis1698]

After near a lifetime of forge work , I’ve never seen anything like this before . Absolutely amazing . All the best from England .

[@user-ld6qr8dh7x]

Я думал в Европе Кузнечное ремесло исчезло. В России это уже большая редкость. Где то в горах Кавказа еще есть старые кузни, где кузнецы работают как работали 100-200 лет назад. Это исчезающая профессия.😢

[@federicorodriguezfernandez6413]

🎉❤❤r😂a

[@arcare001]

This explains why anvils are hard to find. This guy's got them all!

[@superpedro7295]

lol 😂 yup. bastards

[@granitesand78]

I’m not even a blacksmith and that has to be one of the the coolest things I’ve ever seen on KZbin. The rawness and fact that it’s not a tourist trap museum just screams authenticity and realness. Like how old was that tomahawk? If only they could talk. Incredible.

[@ellisc.foleyjr9778]

I'm an 80 yr old devout You Tuber! and that is the most insane collection of Anvils I've ever seen. That place should be a working Museum and they should be brought back to life again in place but with love and security. thanks for sharing. ECF

[@greyone308]

Bought three anvils from this guy, all 100 years old or so, and all went to the smallest US island in the pacific. Im thrilled to have pulled that off, and cant wait to get them in action and start teaching, learning, and forging.... first knife forged on pagan island in many decades.//// someday.....

[@a.karley4672]

Arranging delivery for that must have been fun.

[@greyone308]

@@a.karley4672 The seller handled everything, took forever to get here but the shiping was much cheaper than I would have expected, but at a flat rate for a level of weight, I had to order three anvils because I would have paid the same shipping for one as for three. My 350lb french pig will be heading over to Guam next week. Happy owner over there.

[@user-hv6vp1jf7c]

Are they expensive?

[@ChuckCanada1]

This is easily your best video yet Will. No joke, thanks for bringing us this footage. And thanks for the owners and everyone involved letting Will come shoot this film.

[@r.awilliams9815]

Those huge beautiful post vises rusting away kind of breaks my heart. Makes me want to go over there with some Kroil and a wire brush and get busy.

[@timbur2711]

In a week it would be like you were never there

[@starsixtyseven195]

What he said you would have to oil them , put em under a roof

[@User0000000000000004]

It would take longer than the age of the earth for that much iron to oxidize.

[@butterfinger4393]

Them post vises ain't gonna rust away any time soon

[@matthewb3113]

Thank you for sharing your experience of this fortress. While you were enthralled by the anvils (which are cool) I appreciated getting to see the architecture, especially at then end as you searched for the animals. Wonderful that you were able to take this trip.

[@nickmolloy9563]

Those commenting about worrying the anvils and post vices being out side and rusting, never mind. You’ll be dust in the ground for centuries before those things even pit. The Italian government should fund a blacksmith’s school/museum in that fort and progressively restore the walls and buildings. Thanks for the tour.

[@aldunlop4622]

Well, they show restore it so that modern smithing enthusiasts and artists from around the world can pay to come there, perhaps with monetary support from universities so that this priceless place can be restored and preserved for humanity.

[@rorydonaldson2794]

Hey Will, I just wanna take the time to say we appreciate you sharing these trips with us. Really awesome to see these sorts of things!

[@yota4004]

I was struck by the number of anvils that had undamaged edges, considering their age. either very well forged or they were taken wonderful care of by the smiths that used them.

[@samuelnearhood3773]

id say a mixture of both. resurfacing an anvil was probably much harder to do back then than now.

[@Seelenschmiede]

I bet a lot of them were never used

[@sorushflummi411]

Just imagine all Blacksmiths working on them!!! The Generations of them!!! Or all of them being worked at the same Time..

[@yota4004]

I was thinking that too.@@Seelenschmiede

[@joshschneider9766]

They were pretty certainly castings guys.

[@andrewhumphreys9889]

I'm from UK but now live in central France. There are so many anvils and leg vises for sale over here. If you're careful, and lucky, you can still pick up very good ones (sometimes nearly 150 years old) for the equivalent of about a dollar a lb weight

[@njones420]

true, I was looking at the prices they sell these for, couple of thousand dollars easily (you could pick them up for a few hundred here) ... I have a couple of 100 year old anvils I was told "were free if you can take them", so I did :) Sad death of the british industries. You can pick up lathes/mills for next to nothing now too.

[@TheDesertwalker]

What about shipping these things. That would be the deal killer, I reckon.

[@chewyakarieckenicholas6049]

Will that was an absolutely insane amount and variety of anvils I'm truly grateful that you would share it with us

[@alflud]

I love that he was so happy showing you around - he'd a big smile on his face all the time :) Great video Will. Loved it.

[@a.karley4672]

A true enthusiast.

[@-Kreger-]

Looks like an amazing trip. Good for you Will. Thanks for bringing us along with the video.

[@unboostedpueeblood]

There's a 6,200 lb anvil in Harlan County Kentucky. It's a solid working anvil made with bulldozer weights, and a few hundred pounds of welds. That's possibly the world's largest anvil.

[@matthewdowd6102]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWXbn2mems5mqbcsi=AiNfbPVJbS0LKgRV

[@ciscomontano]

Will I really like the mix of content you're posting. Of course, I love watching you forge stuff, but this was very interesting. Please do more of this kind of stuff in the future.

[@JETWTF]

Power hammers have been around since the early middle ages. Not all water wheels were used for making flour.

[@earlwright9715]

Yeah, i watched a video of guys making axe heads with a water powered hammer. The video was made in the 40's or 50's but the operation had been there much longer. I think in the new england area?

[@jeanladoire4141]

Yeah definitely, i've been reading this book from 1771 about "the art of the cutler" and so about those who make iron, they show the guy in front of a water powered hammer, and i know they were around even since the mid 14th century pretty much

[@joshschneider9766]

Trip hammers are predated by water dumpers that filled with water smacked down and then dumped the water. Google monjolo hammers from Asia. They're far older than wheel powered trip hammers.

[@jeanladoire4141]

@@joshschneider9766 except they were not used for the blacksmithing industry, beacause you need something powerful and quick, steel cools down fast

[@johngibson3837]

Youse should look up tilt hammer,for a nice example see abbydale industrial hamlet, a museum in Sheffield uk

[@zacandmillie]

I always appreciate when old things are saved . It's great to see they were not melted down as scrap.

[@FischerRestoration]

I grew up in a time and place when I was able to explore inside old rotten dilapidated barns and I still have a few items that were found during those amazing childhood adventures.. this brings it to a whole different level. Thanks for sharing!

[@infocus-media]

I am from South Africa, we were farmers and the old guy farming next to us was in his 90's when I was about 10 years old, he was a blacksmith when he was younger, this old guy was build like power lifter, huge arms, legs, hands the size of dinner plates and a neck that will break the rope if they tried to hang him. He was very quiet, smoked a pipe and had an old Hano Mack tractor. He was famous for knocking out a mule that bit his hand at the local stock yards. Apparently he gave the mule one punch to the forehead and the mule woke up a minute later, none the wizer except for straying away from the old guy. Rumour had it that if you wanted to work for him you had to pick up and anvil and carry it 6 yards and you got the job so needless to say he worked on his own all of his life.

[@leadingseamanphilbillingto100]

Thank you will for sharing this with us. There is more history there than I could possibly fathom.

[@GDKimble]

That was super cool Mr. Stelter! Thanks for taking us along!

[@AdamsWorlds]

Man i feel so privileged seeing this. I guess it makes sense the US is not that old right. Here in the UK we have plenty of old buildings and stuff like this. I can find some old blacksmith stuff fairly easily local to me. Allot of the old town/village blacksmiths have gone but a few do remain as museums or hobbyist places.

[@jonblair5470]

That big anvil makes the one in Rings of Power a bit more believable

[@dansmith5012]

The only thing believable in ROP is the fact almost nobody watched it and those that did hated it and won't come back for the absurd season 2😀

[@louiswarmoth7354]

I’m not a smith but I found this tour to be absolutely fascinating.

[@woahhbro2906]

Man, Italy is absolutely beautiful...

[@HighlanderNorth1]

If you think Italy is beautiful, obviously you've never been to Delaware! 😁

[@woahhbro2906]

@@HighlanderNorth1 Delaware is definitely much better than Italy. No one can deny that.

[@jessechristensen1074]

It's cool to see the passion of you and the owner when talking about anvils!

[@LittleGreyWolfForge]

I would absolutely love to live there… a lifetime of stuff to repair and restore, and TOOLS

[@russelljohnson6243]

Agreed!

[@Seelenschmiede]

And tasty italian food! And hot blooded italian girls :P

[@LittleGreyWolfForge]

@@Seelenschmiede haha true

[@theallseeingmaster]

Before watching this video, I had never considered the idea that there could be an evolution of anvils throughout history OR that anyone would have a large collection of such; the thought never crossed my mind. A really interesting video, for me.

[@ozarkscarguy540]

Sensory overload is the perfect way to describe it. I would have been in heaven. I'm a blacksmith, timber framer and history nerd. I love that he tried to speak so much English for you even though you had a translator. It shows a lot of respect to you.

[@FarmsteadForge]

That is really impressive. Not only the size of stuff, but the incredible variety. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to come along!

[@bigjmacg]

One of your best episodes. Love your trip to Italy.

[@BoudewijnVanAutreve]

It's always a fun video with Will geeking out about stuff :)

[@alexclements5631]

AMAZING!! Hope they have plenty of time for restoration on the fortress! Old here in the states is pretty recent across the pond! Having a very hard time finding a quality 150-300 lb anvil here in New Mexico ! The whole place is a treasure! Thanks for the video!

[@russelljohnson6243]

What a stunning and amazing place to be able to see! To think a single person owns this place! Oh to be one of the fortunate ones who can do amazing things, wow!

[@edotherider4664]

It's unvelievable that I live 20 minutes far from that amazing place and I have never heard of it. It's really a pity that it isn't visitable to all

[@drycreek3204]

Where is this at? I didn't hear it said.

[@ShikamaruXT]

​@@drycreek3204 Forte di San Martino in San Piero a Sieve, Toscana/Tuscany

[@dragonwing4ever]

as amazing as that collection is, its criminal to see it all just sitting outside rusting not getting to be in workshops being used

[@paulwiggins183]

You can say that again.

[@regularguy8592]

it is a sin

[@BlackringIII]

These anvils are literally available for sale 😂

[@AmIAntiAntianti]

​@@BlackringIIIdamn the shipping cost

[@flgamer2320]

I'll take the biggest one please. 😎

[@BusinessWolf1]

I live in the mediteranean. I could feel the temperature of this video, especially when you went outside and then those bug noises also brought me back to summer in my childhood.

[@grimfeather7969]

Amazing trip. Its awesome to see the history of anvils over the centuries all housed in one place. Something else that caught my eye were those massive bellows at 17:37. I wonder if during the renovation, they get some of the forges up and running again. If they do, you may have to make a trip back over there!

[@ezforsaken]

I'd love to see that place fully restored! It looks amazing

[@mattlaneblue]

I absolutely love watching your content no matter what it is I always look forward to your uploads. I wish you all the success in the world, you definitely deserve it, I hope you keep making content for many years to come

[@josephpedone2004]

My Italian is a little rough but my grandmother would be proud that I was able to understand some of that, nice trip Will 😎👍

[@resurgam_b7]

That was absolutely gorgeous, both the castle and the anvil collection. I do have a few questions though: What does that fantastic gentleman do with all those anvils, what got him into collecting them and how did he come to own an entire castle to fill with a mind boggling number and variety of blacksmith treasures?

[@finalcam1740]

There is no explanation beside he's a collector and likes anvils and post vices.

[@John.Flower.Productions]

You see what he does with them; he lets them sit outside and rust away.

[@SteveInPalmSprings]

This is just an amazing video. It looks like you've got the royal tour and we've got to share it with you. No doubt, your own work preceded you and they recognize a budding tradesman and artist. You earned this one, Will. Congrats and always keep us in the loop!

[@reddogknives]

C'mon man, tears in my eyes dude!

[@charliebecker9391]

He appears to collect Anvils with absolutely no regard for the care of the tools. I don't know the man, obviously, however; in his Lifetime he could not take proper care, or organize all the tools and anvils he possesses. The video was very interesting, the Fortress is incredible. It's ashame that the fortress and contents will probably waste away with time. Very sad.

[@ksafe3604]

Thank you for filming, and sharing. This is the kind of post that makes KZbin great.

[@josegregoriomoralesferrini4587]

WOW My god.....what joy and amazement it feels to see so many tools out there in the open that will never lose the essence of their creation

[@Astroponicist]

What a fantastic place. The castle would be a great place to build a school of industrial arts. The place could be renovated & expanded to serve as a center for industrial arts education ranging from black smithing, welding, machining, industrial ceramics, & glass with room for lots of other options.

[@JayKayKay7]

Just add several million euros.

[@Astroponicist]

@@JayKayKay7 that's what grants are for. for instance see below. The Science Office for Mission Assessments (SOMA) at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) supports the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) at NASA Headquarters in the acquisition of Earth and space science missions and instruments through the development of Announcement of Opportunity (AO) solicitations and the Technical, Management, and Cost (TMC) evaluations of proposals received in response to the AO solicitations and Phase A concept studies. In addition, the SOMA leads special studies, independent assessments, and reviews for SMD.

[@crashwelder5337]

You are extremely fortunate Young Will! That is one of the most incredible collections of blacksmithing tools in an extraordinary environment.

[@jaimesilvaf.401]

That place is awesome! It's heaven for any blacksmith. I didn't even imagine a place like that existing at all nowadays. Loved it dude.

[@engkuskusnadi1827]

What a wonderful various anvils and vises collection as well. Jungle of massive blacksmith tools. I am taken a back to see all of them. Thanks for sharing and keep it up.

[@reddogknives]

It was cool you took us on your adventure in anvil heaven. That was a great experience for the rest of us too.

[@McA_1987]

What an amazing place. Europeans are so lucky to have historical places like that. So beautiful

[@thelastamx]

Will, WHAT an incredible video. Thank you so much for the tour and history!

[@RichardDurham]

That looks like an amazing place and an even more amazing anvil collection! Thank you for sharing this with us.

[@Onionbaron]

That is some serious heavy metal!

[@lonnywilcox445]

It is amazing given the history of wars in Europe that so many anvils survived the need for metal. I saw a post card from WWII era of a train of hopper cars all loaded with anvils. Back in the day every farm had an anvil for keeping horses shod but with the advent of mechanized harvest the need for anvils was going away and the need for iron was high so many of the anvils went to the war effort.

[@waynetynan8615]

That is just an awesome video showing old architecture and foundry history. More please.

[@RDMIronworks]

DUDE...That is the most insane Anvil Collection I've ever seen! AWESOME VIDEO

[@sarchlalaith8836]

Seems criminal to just leave them wasting away to rust

[@JayKayKay7]

Think of it as a protective oxide layer.

[@rossgebert-goldsmith183]

Could use electrolysis in the future or mill them again in the modern day but it's art

[@alecmcjarison999]

They will outlast all of us and look no different.

[@Redact63Lluks]

There are more anvil's than people who need them.

[@sarchlalaith8836]

@@JayKayKay7 just imagine if there was some kind of cheap synthetic material, perhaps completely water proof, that could be used to make lean to's with nothing but sticks, this fabled material could even be called tarp... Just imagine

[@markfergerson2145]

So, which of the tools you saw do you plan on making for your own use? Those axe tongs were way cool and look very useful. The giant metal shears casually leaning against the wall don’t look like something you’d use very often despite how cool they are.

[@bj8342]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJ7Yp6ubjrympKs You mean @18:51 Yea they were pretty impressive. Especially when you consider they were probably Hand Forged on one of the Anvils in the collection. Could do a full video just on all the tooling laying around. I spent a lot of time looking around the edges of the video for other gems.

[@RonnieHill-yn4qt]

First time watching your video. I've passed it up a few times and finally decided to watch it. I'm glad I did. I love history and the different anvils you concentrated on. I also enjoyed your commentary during your tour.

[@antbymcnair4297]

That is an amazing place to see. Thank you for sharing your experience.

[@danielpaquette1597]

Can you tell us about what is going on with rust with these anvils? I assume it is not great for them to be outside, but that is just an assumption. Keep up the good work!!

[@joshbevill1770]

Hey Will you are really bulking up man good job 👍

[@johnsanchez6263]

Nice shots of the roofs and timbers and such I always check to see how a place was built when i walk in like that

[@tubalcain1]

Gosh....I would love to have that collection of anvils!! SO AWESOME!!

[@superdave4564]

I wonder if Fireball Tool would like to build a vise that large?

[@johnoconnor4941]

I've been with you Will since your colaberation with Alec. To know that you're just down the street, almost, and not all the way over in Montana is filling me with a fizz. If you fancy a cuppa, call in on your way home...

[@johnkoury1116]

Incredible!!!I am at a loss for words...Those post vises were mind blowing!!

[@BraxxJuventa]

Thank you Will for filming that amazing collection of anvils in Italy. 😁👍🏼

[@White_devil1980]

Wow that is amazing to see that and the variety of forging equipment 🥰🥳 and to see a Italian fortress 😮

[@crunks420]

My new fav vid of yours. Super cool that you got a private tour.

[@jonpardue]

Oh my stars, this is an amazing collection of anvils, vises and tools. Incredible site!

[@harley1969chuco]

unbelievable what an amazing field trip you are very blessed, I got the chills seeing all the amazing anvils

[@1gordon4u]

unglaublich, ich bin gerade echt in eine anderen Film. Seit 40 Jahren mach in Metall aber einige Sachen habe ich noch nie gesehen. Vielen Dank Mr. Stelter, den ganzem Team.

[@eddiebyrne8984]

That was pretty cool see all the different anvils and tools they used back in the days

[@clifbradley]

Very cool. I've been in a Swedish fortress from the 18th century and the place was totally destroyed pretty much. The basic architecture was there but it wasn't open to the public and wasn't very safe, but was pretty cool to see.

[@brendanheymans3324]

This is amazing historical site that you were privileged to visit anvil paradise but those post vise amazing I enjoyed this video alot Will thanks for sharing.

[@chuckpechan]

Fantastic video! Thanks for sharing your trip and all of those anvils (and vises!!!!!) Love it!

[@ronaldfeuerstein435]

This was Amazing.. would enjoy to see what you got from there. Post vises,the anvils you picked up.. and any of that sort of things

[@jessemartel8069]

Incredible... That place is simply breathtaking.

[@andrewoperacz7427]

what an absolute mind blowing adventure!!! Thank you so much for sharing.

[@masterQ20]

*Awesome guy, love his videos, great inspiration just gets better* 🔥💚

[@michaelschroder1776]

Thanks for charing this exploring. Amazing.

[@ClintsHobbiesDIY]

Wow! One of those unique special places in the world. Thanks.

[@richsellskc]

I have died and gone to anvil heaven seeing this video. How working with metal is so personal especially on one of these.......So awesome. Awesome!!!

[@sparty94]

what a collection. storing it in an old fort is next level.

[@waxore1142]

I just wanted to say thank you so much for sharing this!

[@deenapeterman8953]

Fantastic! I hope this place gets funding to revamp. It has a lot of history through the ages👍

[@jenford7078]

That was a great tour and just amazing to see the hundreds of years of history from all over Europe. Makes you realize that modern man works smarter but never harder than the ancestors of your craft! And the realization that suits of armor as well as the weaponry of the time was forged on some of those...

[@dansmith5012]

From where I am in Canada I can tell you that there's nothing smarter about the modern man compared to our ancestors. In a couple centuries you won't be able to find anything made today except maybe for modern good quality anvils or some conventional lathes.

[@briancullen9171]

thank you for sharing this special experience

[@bitrage.]

Omg this place lightly restored and used as a home would be absolutely amazing

[@stephenwade8093]

Thanks for the history lesson, wonderful tour

[@Drewbreg8282]

This made me sad my grandpa died before KZbin. As I lay in bed at 1AM watching a video on anvils. I can’t help but think he would have enjoyed the hell out of this.