Did you check if it came with a free burger king toy?

Is it possible you're overheating them on the flat top? I've found that can actually make them stiff AND soggy at the same time if you go too long.

Man, that EXACT same thing happened to me with a cheap floor scraper from Home Depot last year. The blade folded in half on the second tile I tried to pop up and I nearly threw the thing through the window. The handle came loose and twisted around like it was made of plastic instead of metal. It is honestly infuriating that stores even sell these pieces of junk knowing they will fail in five minutes. You are totally right that borrowing a real tool is the only way to go for that kind of work. Never again will I waste money on the cheapest option for something that has to take real force.

Can you really fix a dull file though? I mean, maybe it's just me but I feel like once a file is shot it's shot. I've tried sharpening them before and it never works right, just makes them worse. I end up just tossing them and grabbing a new one. Idk, maybe I'm just not patient enough but it sounds like you had more luck with yours.

Man, I gotta disagree with you on this one. I've been using the same cross peen for close to ten years and I can move metal just fine with it. The trick isn't the shape of the face, it's how you swing and where you hit. I watched a guy forge a full set of tongs with a 1.5 pound ball peen once, just took him longer and he had to be more careful. Switching to a heavier hammer can hide bad technique, especially if you're just trying to muscle the metal down instead of reading it and working it right.