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I finally listened to an old timer at the guild meeting who said my hammer blows were too hard for drawing out
He watched me work on a leaf for about five minutes, then just said, 'Kid, you're fighting the metal. Let the heat do the work, not your shoulder.' I was using way too much force on every swing, trying to move too much material at once. The next day I tried lighter, faster blows and focused on keeping the piece hotter. Went through half the propane but finished a scroll in 20 minutes that used to take me an hour. Anyone else have a basic technique tip that just clicked and saved you a ton of effort?
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janac222mo ago
Man, my buddy had that same lightbulb moment with his tongs. He was always death-gripping the reins and his hands would be shot after an hour. Some guy at a demo just told him to hold them like he was shaking hands, not trying to crush a can. He stopped white-knuckling everything and suddenly he could work twice as long without his forearms screaming. It's wild how the simple stuff makes the biggest difference.
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miles722mo ago
Honestly, that same "let the heat work" idea totally changed how I forge tenons too.
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the_matthew2mo ago
Exactly. It's like the steel wants to move when it's hot, fighting it just makes everything harder. You get cleaner shoulders if you let the hammer do the work instead of forcing it, right?
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