My uncle's "just eyeball it" advice cost me a $90 anvil face

My uncle has been forging since the 70s, and he always says precision measuring is for bookworms. Last month I took his advice and set my hardy hole by eye, no calipers, no center punch. Turns out I was off by almost a quarter inch, so my new drift bent sideways on the first real hit. The anvil face took a nasty chip that I had to grind down, which threw my flat work off for two days. He came by, saw the damage, and just shrugged and said "well, now you know." Has anyone else had a family member's old trick backfire this badly, or is my uncle just uniquely cursed?

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abby18918d ago

Man, that hurts just reading it. Your uncle's advice worked back when steel was cheaper and nothing was quite as square anyway, but that's a rough way to learn. A quarter inch is huge in this trade, that's not even close. I'd be salty too if my face got chipped because somebody said eyeball it. Old timers forget that their eyes ain't what they used to be, even if their hands still know the work. Next time, just tell him you're "bookworming" it and see if he still shrugs.