c/blacksmiths

Hit 5000 hours of hammer work and it got me thinking about manual vs power tools

I just passed 5000 hours at the anvil over the last 3 years, tracked from my first railroad spike knife. That number surprised me because I never thought I'd stick with it that long. But now I'm stuck on something: should I keep going 100% hand forging or start adding power hammers and presses to speed things up? I see guys on YouTube cranking out 10 blades a day with a hydraulic press while I'm lucky to finish 2 in a shift. On one hand, the hand work builds better control and feel. On the other, the power tools let you actually make a living at this. What's your take, are power hammers worth the money and the loss of that handmade touch?

My first attempt at forge welding railroad track went sideways fast

I picked up a piece of old railroad track from a scrapyard about 2 months ago. Thought I'd try forge welding it into a simple knife blank like I saw some guys do online. First try didn't stick at all, just fell apart when I hit it. Turns out the manganese content in that steel is way too high for regular forge welding. I learned I need to use known steel like 1080 or 5160 for welding projects. Has anyone else run into this problem with mystery steel?

Old timer told me to quench my hammer in water every 5 heats

I thought he was messing with me but tried it anyway last month. Keeps the face from getting too soft and mushrooming out, now I do it without even thinking. Anybody else do this or is it just an old wives tale?

Hot steel hit my boot and I just stood there frozen

Was working a demo for about 20 people at a craft fair near Asheville, some older guy had me teaching a beginner class on making hooks. Got talking too much and a piece of scale flew off, landed right on my boot. I didn't move, didn't yell, just watched it burn through the leather. Took me a second to even feel it. After that I started keeping a bucket of water right at my feet, not under the anvil. Anyone else ever freeze up when something dumb happens?

Overheard a farrier say his hammer balance felt off, made me think

I was at a swap meet Saturday and this old farrier was complaining his 3lb rounding hammer felt unbalanced after he reground the face. Made me realize I never pay enough attention to the balance of my own tools. I've got a 2.5lb german pattern that always felt weird in my hand, maybe I should check the weight distribution. Anyone else ever drill a handle to balance a hammer better?

Got lazy with my forge lining for 3 months and paid the price

I run a little shop out of my garage near Spokane and last month I noticed my propane forge wasn't holding heat like it used to. Figured I'd patch the cracks later but kept putting it off. Three weeks ago a chunk of the refractory fell off mid-heat and landed right in my coal bucket - caught the whole thing on fire. Had to toss the bucket and spend $80 on new lining material. Has anybody else had a liner fail on them like that or am I just the slow learner around here?

That heat treat I messed up on a blade 2 years ago near Denver

I was trying to harden a 1080 steel knife I forged, around 2 years ago when I lived near Denver. I heated it up in my little propane forge till it was non-magnetic, then quenched it in canola oil. Problem was I didn't let it soak at temp long enough, so the edge came out soft and the spine was brittle. I tested it by chopping into a piece of pine and the tip snapped right off. My buddy who works at a knife shop told me I needed to hold it at 1475 degrees for about 10 minutes before quenching. Now I always use a thermocouple to check my forge temp instead of eyeballing it. Has anyone here built a cheap soak oven for small blades?

Appreciation post: That beat-up anvil I found at a farm auction in Iowa

Picked up this old 150-pound Fisher anvil for $80 at a farm auction 2 years ago, and after grinding off the rust and tuning the face, it rings cleaner than any new one I've tried - anyone else find their best tools at the random estate sales instead of supply catalogs?

Finally got my forge welding to stick after 8 frustrating tries

I spent three weekends in a row trying to get a simple billet of 1095 and 15n20 to weld up proper. Kept getting cold shuts and delamination at the edges no matter what flux I used. Turns out I was not letting the billet soak long enough at welding heat - I was rushing it by about 45 seconds each time. Has anyone else had a similar issue with a specific steel combo taking way longer than you thought it would?

Hit 500 hours at the forge and realized I've been sharpening my chisels wrong the whole time

Spent 3 months making blunt tools before a buddy pointed out my angle was 5 degrees off, has anyone else had a dumb rookie mistake that took way too long to catch?

Old timer told me tempering in the oven ruins blade steel, he was dead on

Bob from the local shop in Springfield warned me last fall not to use my kitchen oven for tempering knives. He said the temperature swings are too wild and it messes with the hardness. I figured he was just being old school and I ran three blades through at 400 degrees anyway. All three came out soft as butter and wouldn't hold an edge longer than a week. I picked up a used toaster oven with a thermostat for $25 and it made a world of difference. Has anyone else run into bad advice from the older guys that sounded wrong but turned out right?

That old hand crank forge I saw at the Pioneer Museum in Murfreesboro

I was down in Tennessee last weekend visiting family and stopped by the Pioneer Museum. They had this old hand crank forge from the 1800s that was still in working condition, with the original bellows and all. The docent told me it was used by a local farrier up until the 1920s. Has anyone else run across old forges like that in little museums or antique shops?

Question about that old forge in the Spearfish Museum

I went to the Days of '76 Museum in Deadwood last weekend and they had this beat up old forge from the 1880s in the back corner. I always thought those historical displays were just for show, but I talked to the retired farrier who donated it and he said he still fires it up twice a year for demos. Now I'm wondering how many of these museum pieces actually get used vs just sitting there. Anybody know of other old forges that still get lit?

Big debate: Forge welding with borax vs. modern flux pastes...

I started out using plain borax years ago and it worked fine, but I switched to a commercial flux paste about 6 months back and my welds are way cleaner with less scale. Has anyone else noticed that borax leaves more pits or is it just my technique messing me up?

Visited a small forge in rural Ohio and noticed they were still using a hand-crank blower from the 1800s

Saw this old setup at Miller's Forge near Chillicothe last weekend. Anybody else run into older tools that just work better than modern stuff, or was I just impressed by the nostalgia?

The old anvil I bought at a farm auction in Iowa changed my hammer swing

Picked up a 150-pound Fisher anvil at a farm auction outside Des Moines about 5 years ago. It had a weird ring to it that made me adjust my whole striking rhythm. Has anyone else had an anvil that forced you to change your technique just because of how it sounded?

That time I spent 4 hours trying to fix a forge burner

Last winter I was dialing in my propane forge and couldn't figure out why the flame kept going out. Turns out the problem was a tiny bit of spider webbing blocking the air intake, something I never even thought to check. Has anyone else chased a simple fix for way too long?

Old timer showed me a hammer trick at a flea market in Ohio

Last summer I was at a flea market in Columbus looking at old anvils. This guy in his 70s walks up and watches me test a cross peen hammer. He says 'your wrist is too stiff, you're gonna end up with tennis elbow in five years.' Then he showed me how to let the hammer do the work with a loose grip. He spent 15 minutes with me right there by the table. I changed my whole technique that day and it saved my arm. Has anyone else learned something useful from a random stranger like that?

TIL my coal fire was way too shallow for years

An old guy at the Tucson forge meetup saw my setup and said, 'You're just cooking the top, son.' He showed me how a deeper bed holds heat way better. Anyone else run into this?

Reading an old book on smithing and the charcoal numbers got me

I was looking through a book from the 1920s I found at a yard sale in Portland. It was a manual for farm blacksmiths. One part said that to make one ton of wrought iron back then, you needed about four tons of charcoal. That's a lot of wood. It made me think about all the trees that must have been cut just to keep a small shop running for a year. We just flip a switch on the propane forge now. I know it's cleaner and easier, but it makes you appreciate the sheer scale of the old work, and the forests that supplied it. Has anyone else run into a fact from the old ways that just stopped you for a minute?

Finished my 100th custom knife blade yesterday and it hit me

I was cleaning up the shop and counted all the blades I've made since I started my book. It was exactly 100. The first one was a mess, a little skinner I made in my garage two years ago. This last one was a chef's knife for a local restaurant. It felt totally different in my hands, like I finally knew what I was doing. Anyone else get that feeling when you hit a big number you didn't see coming?

PSA: A demo at the state fair completely changed how I set my anvil

I was watching a guy from the Mountain Forge Guild at the fairgrounds last month. He had a simple trick where he put a piece of heavy rubber mat under his anvil, not just on the stand. He said it was cut from an old conveyor belt. Tried it in my own shop and the ring is almost gone, plus my feet don't hurt after a long day. Anyone else use something weird under their anvil to kill the noise?

Spent a whole weekend trying to get a clean weld on a simple bracket

I was making a wall mount for a tool rack, just a basic L shape with some holes. My welds kept looking like bird poop, no matter how I adjusted the heat or my angle. Turns out the steel had a thin layer of mill scale I didn't clean off well enough. That little mistake cost me about eight hours of grinding and redoing. Anyone have a go-to method for prepping steel that saves time?

My daughter's friend said my forge looked like a 'video game crafting station' and it made me think about my old mentor's coal forge.

Showerthought: I used to think my forge weld setup was fine until a guy at the Tacoma hammer-in called it 'lazy'

He pointed out my firebrick layout was creating a cold spot right where I needed the most heat, and that's why my welds were always a bit grainy. I switched to a tighter, more focused firepot shape and my next three welds came out clean as a bell. Anyone else have a simple forge tweak that made a huge difference?