Spent 6 hours trying to fix a twist in my axe bit before I figured out the real issue

I was hammering out a bearded axe last Tuesday and kept getting this weird twist near the cutting edge. Thought my hammer angle was off so I spent 4 hours adjusting my strikes and annealing twice. Finally on hour 6 I realized my anvil face had a slight tilt from a crack I never noticed. Has anyone else wasted a whole day chasing a problem that was actually your anvil or vise?

2 comments

2 Comments

jesse_green551mo ago

Tbh I saw a video from a guy named Alec Steele where he talked about how anvils can develop hidden cracks that mess with your work. He mentioned checking your anvil face with a straightedge and some chalk every few months. I bet a lot of people blame their technique when it's actually their tools being sneaky like that.

williams.jenny1mo ago

Nah I kinda disagree, most of the time it's just technique. If you're banging on an anvil hard enough to crack the face you're probably using it wrong.