lopez.simon•12h agoMost Upvoted

TIL I forged over 500 tongs in one year without keeping count

I was cleaning up my shop last weekend and started adding up all the tongs I made for customers through 2023. Turned out I hit 512 including the ones I messed up and scrapped. That number surprised me because I never thought of myself as a production smith, just a guy helping out locals in Ohio. Some say you should track every piece for consistency, others say it kills the craft. What's your take on keeping numbers or just letting the work speak for itself?

2 comments

2 Comments

reesea498h ago

Man, that number is wild. 500 plus tongs in a year is a lot of metal moving. I used to work with a guy who kept a little notebook of every weld he made and how long it took, drove me crazy because he'd spend more time writing than working. But honestly, if you're happy and your customers are happy, who cares about the count? Some people get too hung up on stats and forget why they started swinging a hammer in the first place.

gavin_kelly917h ago

The notebook guy sounds like he was just bad at welding and wanted something to show for his time. Stats are fine but getting precious about them is a good way to forget you're just making stuff.