mila_harris•6d agoProlific Poster

Snapped my last hardy tool in the middle of a rush job last Tuesday

I was working on a set of gate hinges for a customer in Springfield and the cold chisel I'd been using for 5 years just gave out with a loud crack, sending a chunk of steel flying past my ear, so I had to forge a replacement on the fly with salvaged coil spring while the forge was still hot, has anyone else had a tool fail at the worst possible moment and how did you handle it?

3 comments

3 Comments

elliotm706d ago

I mean, you saying you "had to forge a replacement on the fly with salvaged coil spring while the forge was still hot" sounds pretty impressive and all, but honestly that feels like a lot of unnecessary drama for a snapped chisel. Maybe it's just me, but I'd have just grabbed a new one from my truck or ran to the hardware store if I was mid-job. Forging a whole new tool right then seems like you're making a bad situation even worse when you're already in a rush. A cold chisel failing after five years isn't really a surprise either, that's about the lifespan I'd expect from daily use on gate hardware. It might be smarter to keep a spare in your bag instead of turning a simple repair into an emergency blacksmithing session.

charliestone6d ago

@elliotm70 you make a solid point about keeping spares on hand, but the whole thing is kinda missing the context of being out in a rural spot where the hardware store is a 45 minute round trip and you're already hours deep into a job that's gone sideways. Five years on a chisel is genuinely decent, but the real problem isn't the tool dying, it's that the guy clearly runs a shop where the forge is still hot from the last job and he's got coil spring scrap lying around. That's not drama, that's just being a blacksmith who happens to fix gates. Most people would grab a spare from the truck, sure, but if your truck doesn't have a spare chisel because you're a blacksmith and you just make them as needed, then forging one on the fly is actually the fastest option. He's not making a bad situation worse, he's just solving it with what he's got.

drew_bennett246d ago

That 45 minute round trip to the hardware store really hits home. I've been in that exact spot where the nearest option is a half hour away and you're already three hours into what should have been a two hour job. The forge being hot changes EVERYTHING. If he's got coil spring scrap right there and the forge is already going, forging a fresh chisel is probably faster than driving. He's not making drama, he's just using what's in front of him. I respect that way more than someone who would just toss the old tool and grab a new one from a big box store.