Spent 4 hours trying to forge a simple leaf hook and my anvil was the problem the whole time

I kept getting shitty results with my projects no matter what I tried, turns out my anvil face was warped by about 1/8 inch from years of abuse. Has anyone else wasted a ton of time tracking down a tool issue that was right in front of them?

2 comments

2 Comments

kevin_bailey1mo ago

Oh man, that's rough. I had a buddy who spent like two weekends chasing his tail on a forge build. He kept blaming his fire, his fuel, everything. Turns out his chisel was ground at a slightly wrong angle from the factory. He'd been fighting it the whole time. Swapped it out for a different brand and his cuts came out clean on the first try. Your mileage may vary but sometimes it really is just the tool.

wesley8011mo ago

I mean, your buddy and I must be related somehow. I once spent a whole afternoon blaming my grinder for every bad cut, then realized I'd been holding it backwards. Like the wheel was spinning the wrong direction. Idk why it took me that long to notice.