Blew out 3 anvils before I realized my hammer angle was off

Been forging for about 8 years and always blamed cheap steel for my shallow hits, then a guy at the Trenton flea market watched me swing for 2 minutes and said 'you're hitting at 40 degrees instead of 90'. Soon as I flattened my wrist, the ring changed and my work got cleaner instantly. Anyone else have a tool habit that took a stranger to point out?

3 comments

3 Comments

kai91420d ago

Hold on, I'm gonna push back on this. You said your work got cleaner and the ring changed, but that could easily be in your head. If you were getting shallow hits for 8 years, you'd have a pile of broken or messed up pieces, not just three anvils. Maybe the real problem is you're swinging too hard, not the angle. A softer, more controlled tap at any angle will do more than a hard whack at 90 degrees. Plus, that flea market guy probably just wanted to feel important, and you bought it. Did you actually measure your hammer angle with anything, or did you just trust some random dude?

william_jackson6520d ago

Gotta admit, I used to think the same way as @kai914. Spent years blaming my grip and my swing speed, figured a flea market guy was just blowing smoke. But then I switched to a lighter hammer and kept my same 80 degree habit, and the dents came out way deeper. That ring change was the giveaway, it went from a dull thud to a clean clang, and I could feel the difference in my wrist after an hour. So yeah, I never measured the angle with a protractor, but when the results flipped overnight, the proof was in the metal, not the math.

sean_johnson1620d ago

Ha, bet that flea market guy is still laughing his way to the bank. Honestly though, sometimes you just gotta trust the clang.