An old timer told me I was hammering too cold and it changed everything

I was at a meetup in Portland last month and this guy named Ed watched me work for like 5 minutes. He said "you're gonna crack that piece if you keep hitting it below orange heat." I always thought I was being efficient by working fast as it cooled, but he was right. I started reheating more often and my finished pieces have way fewer little stress fractures now. Anyone else get a tip like that that made you totally rethink your process?

3 comments

3 Comments

flores.emma5d ago

Did Ed mention anything about adjusting your hammer angle too?

ericcraig5d ago

Yeah man, doing that extra heat cycle fixed the same headache for me.

lewis.brian6d ago

Yeah what kind of steel were you working with? I had the same problem with 1084 when I was starting out. I was always trying to push the heat too far down and ended up with micro cracks near the edge. Now I just stop hammering once it hits dull red and put it back in the forge. Adds a few extra heats but saves me from grinding out cracked steel.