My local supplier's new starter kits all have stainless steel

It makes learning basic forging much harder for newbies.

4 comments

4 Comments

Yeah, I've heard that from a few people now. Stainless steel is so much harder to forge when you're just starting out. It needs way more heat and it's less forgiving than mild steel. Really feels like suppliers are missing the point of a beginner kit. Makes you wonder what they're thinking, setting new folks up for a struggle like that.

keith_bennett1mo ago

My local hardware store sells beginner gardening kits with seeds that need perfect weather, just like this stainless steel issue. It's like companies assume new folks have expert level patience right away. I see this pattern everywhere, from cheap tools that break fast to complex software for beginners. Throwing stainless into a starter forge kit is basically setting people up to fail and lose interest. They probably just use whatever's cheap or looks good without thinking about the learning curve, lmao.

reesel591mo ago

Tried a beginner woodworking kit once and it was the same story. The tools were cheap and broke easy, just like you said. I wasted a bunch of time and money before I realized the kit was junk. It really kills your motivation when you fail right out of the gate. Seeing this with forge kits makes total sense, why would they use stainless steel for beginners? They gotta start with the easy stuff so people don't give up.

bennett.harper7d ago

Read a blog where a guy said stainless in starter kits is just for the shiny sales photos.