That batch of mild steel that suddenly fought back

I was hammering out a set of gate hinges last Tuesday in my backyard forge and the third one just split down the middle, no warning, just a crack that ran the whole length. Turns out I'd grabbed a piece of mystery stock from the scrap pile that had hidden stress fractures from being bent before. Swapped to a fresh bar from the rack at the hardware store and it worked fine, but has anyone else had old salvage steel just fail mid-strike like that?

1 comments

1 Comment

the_gray2d ago

Can't believe that scrap bar let go on you with zero warning.