Tenons | Problem Solving | Forum

Hi Larry.  Are you using the butchering dies from Blacksmith Supply?  If so, it looks to me like the angle on the dies is a bit sharp, and you might be forging a crack in.  I'd probably try rounding the butcher a bit to isolate the mass for the tenon, and use a monkey tool as the last step to square up the corners.  Also, while it's great to forge everything to final shape, not all of us can forge like Darryl Nelson so don't be afraid to do some filing for clean up.

Hope that helps, and if not, hopefully someone else will chime in with a better answer.  

Have fun and stay safe.

Larry, My experience with cold shunts or cracks, especially when I was first learning. They are caused by all the things that you mentioned but the leading culprit I believe is the metal fatiguing. like the coat hanger effect. (take a coat hanger bend it back and forth and eventually it will brake. ) To fix this you could try to focus on keeping the material parallel to the anvil, because it wont bend back and forth as much. 

Another leading cause is. When hammering if there is a shoulder or step created, and you hammer the high material onto the lower you create a lip as you continue to work it that lip can deepen into a crack. To fix this practicing to get better hammer control so that you don't accidentally knock down the shoulder. 

We reached the conclusion that these generally caused cold shunts. As time went by and the cold shunts slowly became less and less. The fix to cold shunts I believe it just getting better, better at hammer control, better at tong management, as you get better and become more familiar you will be able to do it in less heats. One thing that helps is to plan out all the steps needed and to have that very clear in your mind (do it in clay first if needed). 

If you see a cold shunt forming, you can file, grind, or hot rasp, it away before it gets bigger. 

In your case BillyO's solution is a good start. hope this helps if you need any clarification let me know.

Peter Reich

We have found that when working on the anvil and swinging a hammer things happen so fast that what we think is happening is not really what is happening.

solution>>>

We set up my phone with slow motion (coach's eye app) or even just the phone in slow motion. This allows us to film how we are acting and evaluate how to make our hands do what they are suppose to be doing. Its is helpful in evaluating yourself. (angle of blow, how your wrist, elbow, shoulder joints are working, even watching the material move with each blow can be helpful in slow motion.

This evaluation is the role of a good mentor. They can see what you are doing and tell you to change your behavior. Peter lost his mentor a little bit ago. (ike bay) so we have had to establish creative solutions to fill the void. not ideal (I would rather have Peter work with Ike)... but this is one way that we have been able to keep him growing in his smithing abilities.

Good Luck

Anthony Reich. non-blacksmith  (Peters father who is the smith)