TIL I was overheating my anvil for years

I used to heat my 150 lb anvil up to around 400 degrees before forging, thinking it helped with metal flow. One day an old timer at the Oklahoma Blacksmithing Association meetup watched me and asked why I was wasting propane. He explained that anything above 200 can actually make the face too soft and you lose rebound. Anybody else been told a tip that made you feel dumb about years of wrong technique?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_miles7h ago

400 degrees? That's rookie numbers. I crank mine to 500 for Damascus work and the rebound is fine.

lee_bailey652h ago

Man I ran my forge at 500 for years doing San Mai and cable Damascus. The rebound holds up fine if you keep your anvil clean and your hammer technique right. I had a buddy tell me 400 was too low for getting good pattern welding done quick enough before the billet cools. Once you go past 450 you really see the layers pop better without having to reheat as much.