[simeonf]

I'm still at the "making tongs from rebar" stage of my blacksmith career but I can probably explain somewhat:

The machine is probably a power hammer. The pointy tool is a punch, used for making holes in the workpiece and often followed by a drift, used to widen and shape the hole.

I understand some people use lubricants when drifting/punching hence the WD40. The v-shaped piece that is supposed to hold the workpiece is probably held there by a square shaft underneath that fits into a square hole on the work surface called a "hardy hole". It isn't unsecured ... but it doesn't seem to have a very fine fit so it moves a bit.

[cdchn]

I know what he was trying to do - he was trying to move where he was making the hole so moving it was kind of pointless since the punch was just going to go into the same hole and move the base. And no, it wasn't in a hardy hole. It was just moving all over. If he didn't care where he was failing to make the hole it wouldn't have made sense to even try to move the die. You could see the punch going into the old hole even as he moved it over and just shift the whole thing.

The WD40 is just going to flash off as well, there probably would have been better lubricants even used motor oil. Just seemed like a sloppy bit of work for what was such a lauded blacksmith.