Editing Blacksmith (section)

=== Bending ===
[[File:Ministry of Information First World War Official Collection Q30985.jpg|thumb|A [[horseshoe]] being bent into shape]]
Heating iron to a "forging heat" allows bending as if it were a soft, [[ductile]] metal, like copper or silver.

Bending can be done with the hammer over the horn or edge of the anvil or by inserting a bending fork into the [[hardy hole]] (the square hole in the top of the anvil), placing the work piece between the tines of the fork, and bending the material to the desired angle. Bends can be dressed and tightened, or widened, by hammering them over the appropriately shaped part of the anvil.

Some metals are "hot short", meaning they lose their tensile strength when heated. They become like [[Plasticine]]: although they may still be manipulated by squeezing, an attempt to stretch them, even by bending or twisting, is likely to have them crack and break apart. This is a problem for some blade-making steels, which must be worked carefully to avoid developing hidden cracks that would cause failure in the future. Though rarely hand-worked, [[titanium]] is notably hot short. Even such common smithing processes as decoratively twisting a bar are impossible with it.