why should you not hit two hammers together?

Question

I’ve heard that saying countless times and no amount of googling gave me a satisfactory answer.

In: 8838

Answer 1

Hitting two pieces of hardened steel together is a bad idea. To my understanding, it’s because the hardening process makes it brittle as well. So when hitting something as hard or harder it can send fragments flying off (or into someone). I watched an old co-worker of mine do this and when the chunk tore into his arm he said it felt like getting shot.