PORT TOWNSEND — After working as a blacksmith most of his life, Jim Garrett found it natural to forge ahead as an anvil manufacturer in 2007.
After all, he pounds out and shapes metal for a living using an anvil, creating gates, doors and other metal pieces. Among his past customers are tech magnates Bill Gates and Paul Allen.
After renowned local metal-sculpting artisan Russell Jaqua died in 2006 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis — also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease — Garrett, a longtime Jaqua friend and blacksmithing associate, bought the anvil business Jaqua had founded in Port Townsend in 1993.
Today, Garrett, with his brother Lester as his business partner, continues the tradition of the Nimba Anvils, producing nearly 100 Italian-style double-horned anvils a year.
They come in three sizes, and weigh between 260 and 450 pounds each and are shipped all over the world.
They are cast in one piece using sand molds and are made of a high-grade nickel-chromium-molybdenum steel known for its yield strength, impact toughness and deep-hardening properties, Garrett said.
The anvils are cast in Seattle, with Garrett spending up to six hours milling them — rounding and smoothing their edges and surfaces — in his 2,400-square-foot shop hidden away in a wooded section of Glen Cove Industrial Park south of Port Townsend.
He hangs the bulky anvils from heavy chains so he can refine them from every angle.
Nimba Anvils are typically used by blacksmiths, but Garrett said that an increasing number are being sold to bladesmiths for making swords and knives.
“We’ve sold several to veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq who are interested in learning to forge and make knives,” Garrett said.
“Also, the younger fantasy game players become very interested in the magic and alchemy of bladesmithing and armor.”
Jewelers use anvils
Jewelers use them to craft their art, Garrett explained, requiring a polished smoother-than-normal surface to avoid leaving metal imprints in their gold and silver work.
They are mainly used by those who work with hot metal on any scale.
Only about 1 percent of Nimba Anvils are sold in Washington state, Garrett said, adding that he ships his to destinations that included Finland, Austria and Australia.
“They’ll last a few lifetimes,” he proudly said.
They range in price from $900 to $2,275.
Garrett is a member of the Northwest Blacksmiths Association with more than 600 members, affiliated with the Artist-Blacksmith’s Association of North America Inc.
To see a Jaqua step-by-step pictorial account of how the anvils are made, visit www.nimbaanvils.com.
Garrett’s eyes light up when he talks about his hard-hammering passion.
“Blacksmithing is something immediate and primal,” he said of the heavy-metal relationship he started 35 years ago. He fondly recalls straightening out bent nails for his father when he was just 5.
“You hit a piece of metal and it changes its shape. It’s just fun to do.”
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
