c/blacksmiths

Tried changing my hammer strike angle after 8 years of forging

I always swung my hammer at about 45 degrees on flat work, but last month I watched a video from that old-timer out of Tennessee and he was hitting closer to 30 degrees. Changed my stance and tried it on a batch of 5 bottle openers and the metal moved WAY faster with less effort. Has anyone else noticed a big difference from a simple grip or angle tweak?

Dropped $60 on a decent set of tongs and it's like a whole new world

Found an old ledger in a barn in Ohio that blew my mind

I was cleaning out a farm shop near Dayton last month and came across a blacksmith's ledger from 1892. The guy was charging $0.15 for a horseshoe and $0.50 for a wagon tire repair, which I knew was cheap but still surprised me. The wildest part was he kept track of how long each job took down to the quarter hour. Has anyone else stumbled across old records like that?

Debate: Should you quench in oil or water for high carbon steel?

I've been doing this for about 2 years and always used water for my blades. Last week I tried canola oil on a 1095 chef knife and the edge came out way harder with less warping. But my buddy swears water gives better pattern visibility on damascus. Has anyone else noticed a big difference between the two methods?

Just realized I've been wasting coal by keeping my forge fire too big

I finally tried running my forge with a smaller fire after reading a post from some guy in Ohio, and I burned through half the coal I usually do in a 4 hour session while still getting my steel to welding heat no problem. Has anyone else noticed a big difference when they dial back their fire size?

PSA: Check your anvil base before it shifts

Last Tuesday my anvil tipped mid-strike. Almost lost two fingers. The base was a stack of old railroad ties I'd used for 3 years. Rot got to them. Replaced it with a 4x4 steel plate bolted to concrete. Anyone else ever had their anvil shift on them?

Just realized I was annealing my steel wrong for years...

Old timer at a hammer-in changed my mind on using an angle grinder for cleaning up steel

I used to think angle grinders were the only way to quickly clean rust off my stock. But at the Breezewood hammer-in last spring, a guy named Walt stopped me and said "you're burning the good stuff off the surface, kid." He handed me his worn down wire brush and showed me how much cleaner the steel moved under the hammer after just 10 minutes of hand brushing. I still use the grinder for heavy stuff, but now I grab a brush for anything I'm actually going to forge. Anyone else had a old-timer change their mind on a tool?

Been hammering for 7 years and just found out I was using my anvil wrong

Had a guy come into my shop last week to look at a knife I was working on. He watched me for maybe 2 minutes and said 'you know your anvil face is beat to hell because you're always striking dead center right?'. I thought that was just normal wear and tear. Turns out I should have been working about an inch off the heel for most of my general forging work. The sweet spot is right over the stand's legs for maximum rebound. Been making my own life harder for no reason. Anyone else have a moment where a random comment made you realize you've been doing some basic thing wrong for years?

Had a guy at the forge swap tell me I was burning my steel on purpose

Last Saturday I was at a community forge in Austin and this old timer walked up while I was working a piece of 1095. He watched me for about 2 minutes and then said "you're just making sparks for fun, not for a blade." I was trying to get an even heat for a kitchen knife and he thought I was overheating it on purpose. Turns out he was right that my propane forge was running too rich and I was wasting fuel. He showed me how to adjust the air mix in about 30 seconds. Has anyone else had a stranger call them out on something dumb like that and it actually helped?

Why does everyone insist on quenching in water these days?

I had an older smith at a hammer-in back in 2019 tell me he only uses canola oil for his blades and never had a failure. He showed me a chef knife he made 12 years ago that still held a perfect edge... makes me wonder if we are all just repeating what YouTube tells us instead of learning from the guys who have been doing it for decades.

Switched to a coal forge after years of gas and I get the hype now

I always thought coal was just messier for no reason, but I borrowed a buddy's setup for a weekend last month and welding with it felt way more forgiving. Got a billet to stick on my third try when I'd been fighting with gas for weeks. Anyone else find coal easier for certain things or am I just bad at tuning my burner?

A customer told me my leaf springs looked 'angry' and it changed my heat treating

So this old timer comes into my shop last Tuesday, looks at a batch of leaf springs I just finished, and says 'these look angry, boy'. I had no idea what he meant lol. Turns out he was talking about how I was quenching them too fast, making the metal all stressed and brittle instead of tough. He showed me his method of a slower oil quench and letting the steel normalize for 20 extra minutes. Now my springs actually flex without snapping. Has anyone else had random advice like that just stick with you forever?

Found a cheap way to stop my anvil from ringing like crazy

I was working on a railroad spike knife last week and the ring was driving me nuts, even with a chain wrapped around the base. Tried stacking a couple of old truck tire inner tubes under the anvil and it killed almost all the vibration instantly. Anyone else found a weird hack like this that actually quieted things down?

Spent $200 on a firepot insert that warped on the first heat

I got this fancy cast iron firepot insert from a guy at a flea market last month. Paid $200 for it thinking it would last forever in my forge. First time I fired it up with a good coal bed, the thing started cracking and warping like cheap tin. Ended up having to pull it out after 3 hours of work and go back to my old fireclay setup that cost me $40. The worst part is the guy swore it was hand-poured by a local foundry. Has anyone else had luck with those cast iron inserts or am I just stuck with clay from now on?

That time a farmer's wagon wheel taught me a lesson about geometry

I was at a ren faire about 3 months ago, not even working, just walking around with my wife. We passed this tent where a guy was re-tiring a wooden wagon wheel the old school way, hammering a hot iron band onto the spokes. I watched him for maybe 10 minutes, and he was struggling REAL bad to get the band to sit even on the rim. He kept having to stop and re-heat it, and you could see the steel was starting to warp from the extra hammering. I finally walked over and asked if he'd checked his anvil face for level, and he looked at me like I had two heads. Turns out his anvil was sitting on a dirt patch that had settled a full 1/4 inch low on one side, throwing off every single strike he made. We leveled it up with some scrap wood shims, and his second attempt went on perfect in one heat. Has anyone else ever found a stupid simple fix like that that saved a whole project from being a nightmare?

Had a coil spring pop off my anvil and nail my shin last Tuesday

I was working on a set of leaf spring tongs in my garage shop near Akron when the coil I was straightening slipped out of the tongs and launched sideways. It hit me right below the knee hard enough to leave a bruise the size of a silver dollar. I spent the next 20 minutes wrapping the work with a chain before trying again. Has anyone else had a workpiece go flying mid-strike and found a good way to stop it?

Hit 1000 forge welds on the dot and it finally clicked

I started counting my forge welds back in March just out of curiosity. At first I was doing maybe 8 or 10 a week on small stuff like chain links and bottle openers. Last Tuesday I hit exactly 1000 on a fire poker repair for a guy in Eugene. The surprising part was how clean that weld went compared to my first 50 or so. I had less scale, better heat control, and the hammer blows just felt automatic. It really drove home how much reps matter in this trade. Anyone else notice a big jump in quality around a certain number of welds?

Wasted $150 on a 'pro' anvil that was a total dud

I bought this anvil off a guy who said it was hand forged and perfect for heavy work. Got it home, set it up, and the face chipped on my third hit with a 2-pound hammer. The steel was way too hard, like glass or something. Anyone else get burned on an anvil that looked good but was trash for actual forging?

Just realized annealing my mild steel with a torch saves way more time than the forge

I've been heating up my whole forge just to soften a few small brackets for drilling, which took like 20 minutes. Last week I tried just hitting the spot with a propane torch until it glowed red and let it cool slow, worked perfect. Has anyone else switched to torch annealing for small parts, or am I just late to this trick?

Finally got a clean weld on a thin pipe without burning through

Took me like 6 tries on this 1/8 inch schedule 40 steel at my shop in Austin. Kept seeing people online say to crank the heat way down, but the trick for me was actually keeping it high and just moving faster. Anyone else find that counterintuitive stuff works better for thin wall?

Why I stopped using my power hammer for certain jobs

I used to reach for my power hammer for every big job, but after a project last fall I had to make a choice. I was making a set of six gate hinges for a customer in Richmond and needed a consistent curve on each one. The power hammer was fast but I kept getting a slight variation I couldn't fix. So I switched to hand forging with a cross peen hammer and a swage block. It took me three hours longer per hinge but the curves came out exactly the same every time. The customer noticed the difference and paid me an extra $200 over my quote. Now I pick the method based on the part, not just how heavy it is. Has anyone else found that hand tools give you better control for smaller decorative pieces?

Tried quenching a cheap chisel in used motor oil and got a surprise

I had this old rusty chisel from a garage sale that I figured was a lost cause. Decided to heat it up and dunk it in some 10W-30 I had sitting around just for laughs. Came out of the quench with this weird rainbow pattern on the metal, but the edge held up through about three whacks on a piece of rebar before it chipped. Not my finest moment. Took me an hour to regrind it back down. Anyone else get weird results from using random oils instead of the proper stuff?

Noticed my anvil ring change after 2 years of use

I mounted my 150 pound anvil on a new stump back when I started and the ring was sharp and loud. After about 2 years the ring got duller and lower pitched. Has anyone else had their anvil settle into a different sound over time?

That $40 used anvil I bought off Craigslist was a total steal

Picked up a 75 pound anvil from some guy in Akron for just 40 bucks. It's got some dings but the face is solid and it rings true when I hit it. I was sure I was getting scammed until I saw it in person. Anyone else ever snag a tool for way less than it's worth?