Spent years swearing by my $20 flea market beaters until I borrowed a friend's set from Hattori last month and cut through some hardened oak like butter. Has anyone else had a tool flip their whole mindset after one afternoon?
Last month I was at a demo day over in Greenville and this old timer showed up with a sledge that had a handle so tight you could bounce it off concrete. I asked him his secret and he said he soaks his handles in water overnight before a big job. I figured I'd try it on my cross peen before a weekend project and left it in a bucket too long, like 18 hours. Next morning the wood swelled so bad the head started cracking at the eye. I had to rehang the whole thing and lost a Saturday to it. Now I do a quick dip, maybe 20 minutes tops, and wipe it dry before using. Anyone else mess up a handle trying some trick they heard from an old timer?
I used to dunk small leaf hooks straight from the forge into cold water and wondered why they cracked until a guy at the Ohio meetup said go slow with oil instead, and now after 8 months of that method I haven't had a single break has anyone else ruined a batch of hooks from rushing the quench?
I was set on getting a gas forge for my shop in Phoenix, but then I talked to an old timer named Pete who swears by coal. He said gas is too easy and you lose the feel for the steel's heat. I went with coal in the end and man, after 3 fires I'm still learning to read the color right, but it feels way more hands on. Anyone else regret their first forge choice or glad they stuck with it?
Talked to an old timer at a guild meetup in Richmond last Saturday. He watched me work and said 'you're using the wrong hammer face for that steel.' Turns out I was using a slightly convex face on everything. Been doing that since 2018. Now I got three different hammers for different jobs and my anvil rings way cleaner. Anyone else have a basic habit they never questioned?
I used to think cable Damascus looked cheap and gimmicky until I saw a guy named Frank weld a perfect billet from some old crane cable last weekend. The pattern came out cleaner than most of my stack welds, so what am I missing with this stuff?
I went with propane mostly because I'm in a residential area near Madison and didn't want the neighbors complaining about smoke. Built a simple venturi burner setup for about $150 total. It works fine for most stuff but I still can't get the even heat I need for welding billets over 2 inches. Anyone else run into this switching from coal?
I figured coal would be more authentic but after 8 months of messing with the fire every session I'm starting to think I made the wrong call, anyone else regret going old school?
Last September at the Iowa State Fair demo tent, I watched a 70-year-old guy nail a perfect scroll in three strikes while I was struggling with ten. He told me to slow my swing and focus on the anvil edge, which got me to finally ditch my fast, flailing hits. Has anyone else picked up a weird trick from watching a random smith at a demo?
I kept seeing guys at the shop near Pittsburgh do this and wondering why their tongs kept cracking at the rivet. After I wrecked a pair of diamond jaw tongs in like 3 months, I figured it out. The constant hot to cold cycle makes the metal brittle right where you need it to grip tight. I stopped dunking mine last year and they last way longer. Plus who wants wet gloves handling hot steel anyway? Has anyone else dealt with this or am I the only one who thought it helped cool things down faster?
I hit 500 hand-forged hooks last Tuesday and I keep going back and forth on what that actually means. On one hand, I feel like I'm finally getting consistent with my taper and curve after about 18 months of part-time work. But then I look at some of the rusty lumps from my first 50 and wonder if quantity even matters when 80 percent of those early ones ended up as scrap. A buddy at the guild says you need 1,000 before your work feels right, while another guy told me he threw out his exact count years ago and just focuses on each piece. What do you all think? Does hitting a specific number help you feel legit, or is it just noise that gets in the way of getting better?
I spent 10 years using a hand-crank coal forge I built from an old brake drum. The heat was never even and I'd get cold spots right when I needed to upset a tenon. Then I bought a rusty propane forge off Craigslist for 60 bucks and spent a weekend cleaning the nozzles. First fire up I got a steady blue flame that held 2100 degrees for 20 minutes straight. No more fighting with wet coal or chasing temperature. Has anyone else made the switch and noticed a big difference in how consistent your heats are?
I tried using cheap motor oil to harden a knife blade because it was handy. The smoke was insane and the blade came out with soft spots that showed up after a test grind. Has anyone else gotten bad results from cheap quenchants?
Everyone told me you need a real forge fire to get a solid weld, but I gave it a shot with a Bernzomatic TS8000 on some 1/4 inch mild steel straps last Tuesday. The joint held up under a 50 pound drop test and I could see the grain flow in the etch. Has anyone else had luck with a torch for small projects?
Guy was using a 50lb Little Giant from the 1920s. Said he could feel the steel talking back to him. I always figured power hammers were cheating. Thought they took the soul out of the work. He let me try his for 10 minutes on a leaf project. The control is different. Not easier. Just different. You still gotta read the metal. Still gotta feel the hits. Now I'm saving up for one. Anyone here use a mechanical hammer versus a pneumatic? Which one teaches you more?
An old timer at the New England Blacksmiths meetup told me to try a deeper chamfer on the edges before stacking and I got perfect bonding on the first try, has anyone else had success with pre-weld prep tricks?
Ive been beating myself up over forge welding since I started in my backyard setup in Denver three years ago. Last week I had the heat just right and the flux flowed perfect, and it actually held together like it was supposed to. Anyone else have that one technique that took way longer than you expected to click?
I used to go at hot metal with a regular wire brush to knock off scale, but a retired smith at a demo in Kentucky told me to try a brass brush instead since it won't gouge the surface. Now I keep a brass brush within arm's reach and my finish work looks way cleaner. Anybody else switch tools after a random piece of advice?
Been running my own shop for about 8 years now and I keep a little tally on my shop wall for forge welds. Not sure why I started doing it, maybe some old timer told me to keep track. Hit 500 this Tuesday on a gate latch repair. Felt weird because I remember being pumped at 100 and now 500 just felt like another Tuesday. Anyone else keep weird stats like this or just me?
I keep seeing folks online and at the shop reaching for 4140 for simple tools like punches and chisels. Over at the Tri-State Forge meetup last month, three guys told me it was the best all-around steel, but I think 1095 does a better job for hand tools that need a hard edge. 4140 is tough, sure, but I have had more consistent results with 1095 after heat treating at 1475 degrees F. Has anyone else found 1095 holds an edge longer for everyday striking tools?
Last Tuesday I was working on a set of gate hinges for a customer in Boise and everything just clicked - the steel moved perfect, my hammer hits were spot on, and I finished all six pieces in one afternoon instead of the usual two days. My forge temp stayed steady the whole time without me messing with the air feed, which never happens. Has anyone else had a day where the metal just seemed to cooperate better than usual?
An old timer over at Piedmont Forge told me my anvil was way too low and I brushed him off for six months. After two messed up leaf projects and a nagging back ache I finally raised it 4 inches, total game changer for my hammer control. Any of you ever fight the urge to keep your comfort zone instead of listening to older guys?
I was working on a coat hook at a hammer-in near Denver last spring, and this 70 year old blacksmith walks up and tells me my steel looks like it's fighting me because I'm not letting it soak long enough. He said he always works at a bright orange heat and never lets it drop below cherry. But in my experience, running that hot on thinner stock just burns the scale off and leaves pitting. Has anyone else run into this debate, or am I just being stubborn?
I fired up my forge last Tuesday after a month off, loaded some 1095 for a camp knife, and about 20 minutes in the grate just buckled right under the firepot. Made this loud groan then dropped half the coal into the ash dump. Turns out I had been ignoring hairline cracks in the cast iron for months, thinking they were just surface stuff. I spent the next 2 hours fishing hot steel out of the ash with tongs and rigging a temporary grate from rebar. Has anyone else dealt with a forge firepot failure like that or am I the only one who got complacent?
I tried running my forge on a cheap grill tank hookup vs a proper regulator setup last year and the flame was all over the place - almost had a flashback. Switching to a real adjustable regulator fixed everything, has anyone else had close calls with bad gas flow?