Old timer told me to watch my hammer face angle and he was dead right

I've been forging for about 4 years now, mostly just hobby stuff like hooks and brackets. Last week a retired farrier named Don came by my garage setup and watched me work for a minute. He said my hammer face was landing at a slight tilt on every strike, and I'd get better results if I kept it dead flat. I kind of brushed it off at first. But then I tried it for a solid hour, fixing my wrist angle so the face hit square every time. My strikes felt cleaner, my metal moved more evenly, and my arm didn't get as tired. I still mess it up when I go fast, but paying attention to that one thing already improved my work. Has anyone else had a small tweak like that fix a big problem?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_claire1mo ago

Isn't it funny how the smallest fix can change everything else you do?

-1

the_ruby1mo ago

Honestly yeah it really does haha.

tarabell1mo agoMost Upvoted

A buddy of mine fixed a squeaky door hinge in his apartment and somehow ended up reorganizing his entire kitchen that same afternoon. One little thing just snowballed on him.