Hit my 1,000th forge weld and it wasn't even on purpose

I've been forging knives and tools as a side gig for about 7 years now. Last weekend I was making a batch of railroad spike knives for a local gun show coming up in March. I keep a little tally mark sheet on my shop wall just to track how many forge welds I do. After finishing up a particularly tricky cable damascus billet that took me 3 tries to get right, I looked at my sheet and realized I was at 998. So I grabbed some scrap steel, did two quick practice welds just to hit 1,000. But here's the funny part - my old anvil broke right after that 1,000th weld. It's been my grandpa's anvil for like 50 years, and it finally cracked right down the face. I wasn't even trying to make a big deal about the milestone, but the anvil decided it was done. Has anyone else had a piece of gear just give out after a big milestone like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

ivancoleman15d ago

Old anvils crack when the internal stresses finally catch up, especially after decades of hammering on the same spot. You might be able to flip it over and use the other side if the crack isn't too deep, or weld a hardface plate on top to buy you more time. Either way, sounds like that anvil earned its retirement from some real good work.

miller.susan15d ago

Idk if flipping it over is a long term fix, my buddy did that and the crack just spread to the other side after a few months. Maybe look into those cast steel anvils they make now, they take way more abuse than old wrought iron ones.