c/blacksmiths

The old gent who corrected my hammer grip at a demo in Ohio

Back in April I was at a blacksmithing demo near Dayton, doing some basic leaf scrolls. This older guy, must have been 70, walked over and watched me for a couple minutes. He didn't say anything at first, just waited until I took a break. Then he said, “You're holding that hammer like a broom handle, your wrist is going to regret that in ten years.” He showed me how to choke up on the handle and let the head do the work instead of muscling it. I tried it on the next piece and my arm didn't hurt near as bad after an hour. I've been doing it that way ever since, and I wish I had met him twenty years ago. Does anyone else have a trick an old timer taught them that they still use daily?

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jamie_white•5d ago

When a customer questioned my weld, I changed my whole prep routine

A buyer at the Salem market pointed at a tiny crack near my handle and said 'you rushed this one,' which stung because they were right. Now I spend 20 extra minutes grinding every joint smooth before I even light the forge, and I've had zero returns since. Anyone else get a comment that forced them to rework their process?

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masonm70•10d ago

That 4th anvil stand collapse taught me a lesson about pine

Last month I built a new stand out of pine 2x6s for my 120 lb anvil. I figured it was fine until the whole thing buckled on a heavy hit and nearly landed on my foot in the shop. I had used pine before, but this old wood had a hidden crack that I missed after I stained it. Anyone else switched to hardwood or steel stands after a close call like this? What do you use to brace yours?

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allen.ivan•10d ago

Hit 5,000 horseshoes in one session and my arm still works

Was at a demo day in Flagstaff last Saturday and got into a rhythm with some scrap steel. Counted 5,000 shoes forged over about 9 hours, which is way more than my usual 1,200. The trick was keeping the stock thin and not overthinking each bend, just letting the hammer find the groove. My shoulder was sore but not wrecked, which surprised me since I normally tap out around 3,000. Anyone else ever track their daily output and beat their own record by that much?

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jana119•11d ago

Old railroad spike texture taught me more than any class

Went to a heritage rail yard near Dayton last month and watched a guy forge a spike into a knife. He left the scale and pitting on the handle, no grinding at all. I asked why and he said the creases hold the hand better than any polished grip. Tried it on my own blade after, used a piece of track from the scrapyard. The grip feel is totally different, almost like it locks in place. Has anyone else left rough texture on purpose instead of chasing a smooth finish?

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wesley_martin•11d ago

Old coal forge I got for $50 turned out better than my fancy propane setup

Picked up a beat up rivet forge at an estate sale outside Pittsburgh 3 months ago. I figured it would be a weekend project, maybe a wall hanger. But after I relined the firepot and got a proper hand crank blower going, the heat control is way smoother than my propane burner has ever been. I still use gas for small stuff, but for drawing out a blade or working thick stock, coal just holds that even heat. Anyone else go back to the old methods after swearing them off?

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henderson.vera•13d ago

Gas forge vs coal: which actually saves you money in the long run?

I was reading a local metalworking newsletter last week and a guy from Ohio claimed coal is still cheaper per hour than propane if you know how to tend the fire. That got me thinking because I've run my gas forge for about 300 hours this year and my propane bill came to $460. A buddy of mine with a coal forge swears he spends under $150 a year on fuel, but he also loses a lot of time managing the fire and dealing with clinker. I switched from coal to gas about 4 years ago mostly for convenience, not cost, and now I'm wondering if I made the wrong call. There's also the initial setup cost, my gas forge rig with a blower and regulator set me back around $700, while a decent coal forge can be built for $100 if you scavenge parts. For someone forging just a few pieces a week, does the extra time with coal actually pay off, or is gas worth the premium? Has anyone tracked their real fuel costs side by side over a full season?

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umathompson•14d ago

My coal forge grate collapsed mid-heat, lost a week of work

Last Tuesday I was heating up a 2 inch square bar for a gate repair and the cast iron grate just gave way, dumping the whole fire onto my shop floor. I spent the next 3 days rebuilding it with 3/8 steel bars I had lying around, but the angle and spacing are different now. Has anyone else had a forge fire pan fail suddenly, and did you just weld a new grate or switch to a different fire setup entirely?

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terry_carter15•16d ago

Learned the hard way that a 2-pound cross peen beats a 4-pound sledge for leaf springs

I was struggling with a cracked leaf spring all afternoon last Tuesday, then an old timer at the flea market told me to switch to a 2-pound cross peen, and the steel moved twice as fast, anyone else find lighter hammers work better for spring steel?

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hannahk19•16d ago

Cheap anvil vs. real anvil, the harbor freight one cost me double

After a year of fighting that $85 cast iron anvil in Tulsa, I borrowed a real forged one for a week and my hammer blows finally did something, so why did I waste 12 months learning bad habits on a hunk of junk?

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wilson.kelly•17d ago

Stop using galvanized stock for forge welding, it ruined my anvil face

Last month I grabbed some old galvanized railing from a demo site in Portland, thought I'd save a buck. Heated it up for a forge weld and the zinc vaporized, then deposited nasty layers all over my anvil face. Took me 4 hours with a flap disc and sandpaper to get it clean, and the face still has a faint pitting pattern. Anyone else dealt with this or do you guys actually bother checking the coating before you burn?

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mila_flores8•19d ago

Hand sanding faces isn't lazy, it's sometimes the right call

I keep seeing guys on here say if you're not using a jig or a grinder on every flat surface you're wasting time. But last month I had to blend a repair on a wrought iron railing in a tight spot where no tool would fit. Took me 2 evenings with 80 grit by hand, and honestly the finish matched the old work better than anything mechanical would have. Maybe it's just me, but doesn't the trade lose something when we treat hand work like a failure? Anyone else keep a set of worn-out files for this kind of thing?

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angela_grant•20d ago

Bought a $450 anvil off marketplace, seller hid a cracked face with paint

Ngl, I got burned pretty bad last month on a Fisher anvil in Nashville. The guy posted clean photos and said it was barely used. I checked the rebound with a ball bearing and it sounded fine, but I didn't scrape the paint off the face. Once I got it home and started flattening a twisted bar, the top layer flaked off and exposed a hairline crack running halfway across. That thing is useless for real work now. Has anyone else dealt with hidden damage on used anvils, and is there a way to test for cracks without stripping the paint?

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casey_harris•20d ago

Saw a guy demo a power hammer in Maryland that changed my mind about them

Last month I stopped by a small shop outside Frederick, the owner was running an old 50 pound Anyang power hammer on a leaf spring demo. I always figured those things were for big production shops, not for a one man operation like mine. But watching him control the blows with just his foot, getting that leaf flat in three passes, made me rethink my whole hand hammer setup. The guy said he paid $4,500 for it used and it paid for itself in a year. Has anyone else switched to a power hammer for hobby work, or is that overkill for most of us?

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lauras83•22d ago

Old timer at the farmer's market made me rethink my hammer faces

Last Saturday I was demoing at the local market and this retired farrier, must've been 80, watched me dress an anvil for a solid 10 minutes. He finally said 'you're polishing that face like it's jewelry, but you're never gonna use it that way.' I had been flattening and smoothing every hammer I own for months, thought it was the mark of a pro. He showed me his old cross peen with a slightly crowned face and said it lets you move metal without edge marks. I tried his trick on a batch of leaf hooks that afternoon and the difference was night and day. Anyone else get schooled by someone who's been swinging a hammer since before you were born?

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grayc27•22d ago

Differential heat treat went sideways on my last knife

Tried a clay slurry on a 1084 blade last weekend, just a thin line down the spine like the old tutorials show. Quenched in warm canola at 130 degrees and the edge came out glass hard, but I got a visible crack right at the clay line. I think I let it sit in the quench too long before tempering, maybe 10 seconds too many. Anyone else have trouble with the transition zone on thin stock around 1/8 inch? Would a slower oil or a higher temper right after have saved it, or is that just the risk with differential hardening?

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jana119•22d ago

Visited an old forge in Colonial Williamsburg, saw a trick with quenching oil

Went down there last month on a family trip, not expecting much from the demo. But the smith there showed me something about keeping your quench oil at the right temp. He had a metal rod he kept dipping in to check, and said if it's too cold you get hard spots, too hot and you lose the edge. I always just used whatever was in the bucket. Now I'm thinking about getting a thermometer for my little setup. Has anyone else ever bothered with this or am I overthinking it?

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terry_carter15•25d ago

I was dead set against buying a power hammer, then I rented one for a weekend

Always thought power hammers were just for production guys who don't know how to swing a hammer proper. But I had a commission for 40 fire pokers and my shoulder was screaming after day one. Rented a 25lb Little Giant for $150 for the weekend and knocked out all 40 in six hours. Now I'm saving up for my own, about $3,000 for a used one. Anyone else cave on a tool they swore they'd never buy?

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grace_allen•26d ago

My anvil repair took three times longer than I budgeted for

I spent 8 hours trying to grind out a chip in my anvil face last weekend, figured it'd be a quick 2 hour job. Anyone else ever sink way more time into a simple fix than they planned?

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the_joel•27d ago

Watched a new guy at the forge waste half a bar of 1080 because he kept quenching too hot

He was pulling the steel out the second the magnet quit sticking, but I learned the hard way after ruining three knives last summer that you gotta wait for the color to drop below cherry before you dunk it, has anyone else had to unlearn that impatient habit?

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casey_harris•28d ago

I finally had to choose between a coal forge and a gas forge

I've been forging for about 3 years now, mostly on a borrowed gas forge in my buddy's shop. Last month I finally saved up enough to buy my own setup, and I had to pick between a coal forge for $400 or a gas forge for $800. I went with the coal forge because I like the control you get over heat zones, plus I found a guy selling a 50 pound bag of coal for $25 near me in Ohio. First fire was rough, took me 2 hours to get a steady flame and I smoked out my whole garage. Now after 10 uses I'm getting the hang of it, but I still wonder if I should have gone gas for the convenience. Anyone else make that switch and regret it or love it?

3 comments

oliver_morgan•29d ago

Dropped $600 on a power hammer from the 1950s

Picked up a 1950s Little Giant power hammer off a guy in Ohio for $600. Ran like a champ for about two months, then the clutch started slipping bad. Tore it apart and found the bronze bearing was basically dust. Spent another $200 on a replacement part and had to machine it down myself with a hand file over three weekends. Anyone else ever buy old iron that looked good but needed way more work than you planned?

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kaiharris•29d ago

That 4-year gap between my first forge and my second one taught me everything

The first one I built from an old brake drum and a hair dryer, took me 6 months to even get a decent weld, but after saving up $300 for a real propane forge I could forge a knife blank in under an hour - anyone else find that upgrading your forge made more difference than any other tool?

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terry_carter15•29d ago

Had to choose between a coal forge and a propane one last year

I was setting up my first real shop in a garage outside Austin, and I had about $800 to spend on a forge. I'd been using a cheap propane setup from Harbor Freight, but it just wasn't getting hot enough for welding. My buddy Dave told me to go with a coal forge because it's traditional and you can control the heat better. But then I looked at the smoke and cleanup involved with coal, and I started leaning back toward propane. I ended up getting a used propane forge from a guy retiring in San Marcos for $400. It's been solid for blades and small projects, but I still wonder if I missed out on that coal experience. Anyone here switch from one to the other and regret it?

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evan_burns95•1mo ago

Warning about forge welding in wet weather - heard from a guy at the scrap yard

I was loading some railroad spikes last Tuesday and an old timer told me he ruined a whole batch of damascus billets because of moisture in the air. He said it causes micro-fractures you can't see until the blade fails under stress. Has anyone else noticed problems with their welds when the humidity is above 70 percent?

2 comments