Everyone talks about getting a power hammer as the next step up, so I jumped on a deal for a 50lb model I found on Craigslist. It was cheaper than new at $400, but I didn't check the ram guides close enough and the motor bearings were shot. I've spent another $150 on parts and three weekends trying to get it to run smooth, and it still hammers off-center. For now I'm back to using my sledge and a striker for most work, and honestly that's been faster than fixing this thing. My anvil and hammer setup has never let me down like this machine has. Anybody else buy a used tool that ended up being more trouble than it was worth?
I was demoing at the state fair in Des Moines last August and this old timer walked up to my setup. He watched me work for about 10 minutes and then asked why I was using a 3 pound cross peen for everything. I told him it was what I learned on and he laughed and handed me a lighter 2 pound rounding hammer from his bag. Tried it for the rest of the day and my wrist didn't ache and my drifts came out way cleaner. Now I keep three different hammer weights on my bench and swap them based on the steel thickness. Has anyone else switched hammer styles mid-career and noticed a big difference?
Last Tuesday was one of those rare days where everything went right. I was working on a set of wrought iron gates for a client in Austin and every forge weld came out clean on the first try. Usually I fight with scale or get the heat wrong, but this time the metal flowed like butter. Even the scrollwork on the top rail matched up without any grinding. It felt so good I stayed an extra hour just to finish the brackets. Has anyone else had a stretch where your hammer seemed to know where to land on its own?
I was that guy who swore coal was the only real way to forge. But last month I picked up a used propane setup from a guy getting out of the hobby. First thing I noticed was no more waiting 20 minutes to get up to heat. Second thing was my neighbor stopped complaining about the smoke. Third thing was I actually finished a project in one evening instead of two. Anyone else made the switch and never gone back?
I've always kept my charcoal in a sealed tub in the shop, thinking moisture was the enemy. Last Saturday I ran out and grabbed a bag that had been sitting open under a tarp for 3 days after some rain. Loaded it up and the fire was hitting welding temps in about 5 minutes faster than usual, and the heat held steady for a solid hour on one charge. Turns out a little moisture makes the coal gasify quicker or something according to the old timer at the scrap yard. Has anyone else noticed this trick with charcoal or do you stick to keeping it bone dry?
Pulled a 3/8 square bar too thin on one side last week and it twisted like a ribbon when I tried to straighten it. Had to upset it back and rework the taper over the horn for an hour. Anyone else mess up a simple draw out and end up fighting the steel for longer than the project took?
I was at the Southern Forge hammer-in last month and this guy named Roy who's been smithing since the 70s saw me struggling with a blade. He said 'you're soaking way too long, you're cooking the grain structure.' He showed me his method using just a 5 second soak in the forge and it hit me that I've been overcomplicating this for 2 years. Has anyone else had a moment where a simple correction from an older smith totally changed their results?
I been using this old piece of railroad track for like 5 years now. Finally saved up and found a 50 pound cast steel anvil at a flea market near Cleveland for $40. Figured I'd share cause my hammer hits feel way different now. Anyone else make a jump like that and notice a huge difference in their work?
I've been forging knives as a hobby for about 2 years now, mostly out of my garage in Ohio. The whole time I was choking up on the hammer handle near the head, thinking it gave me more control. This past weekend I was at a little blacksmithing meetup in Lexington and a farrier watched me for maybe 5 minutes. He just walked over and said 'you're gonna wreck your elbow doing that' and showed me to grip further down the handle. I tried it and the hammer hit way harder with way less effort on my part. Felt like a total idiot for not figuring it out sooner. Has anyone else had that moment where you realize you've been using a basic tool wrong the whole time?
I was flattening drift punches left and right, like 3 in a month. Guy walked over, picked up a drift I was working, just said "you're burnishing the steel, not moving it." Turns out I was sanding my hammer faces smooth thinking it gave cleaner hits. He made me rough one up with 60 grit and a crosshatch pattern. Now my drifts last 6 months easy. Anyone else get told they were overfinishing their tools?
Went with propane because I don't have much space in my garage and didn't wanna deal with smoke inside. After 6 weeks of using it I kinda regret it though. The steel just doesnt heat as evenly as I see coal guys get. Thinking about trying to build a vent setup for coal this summer. Anyone else start with one and switch later?
Ran coal for 5 days and switched to charcoal Thursday night. Coal burns way hotter but the smoke and clinker cleanup drove me nuts, charcoal just feels cleaner and I could actually see my workpiece. Anyone else find coal overrated for small projects?
Ngl I always thought I could just eyeball the color for tempering, worked fine for me. Then I watched this old timer at a demo in Portland use a $20 oven thermometer and realized I was off by 50 degrees half the time. Has anyone else found a cheap tool that changed their process completely?
I was at a hammer-in near Dayton last spring and this older smith said my gas forge makes the metal too soft compared to coal. He claimed I'd never learn proper welding if I didn't switch. Is that just gatekeeping or is there real truth to using coal over propane for learning?
Last Tuesday I was working on a set of custom gate hinges for a client in Austin. For whatever reason, every bead laid down perfect, no undercut, no slag inclusions, just clean puddle control from start to finish. I got through a whole 2 inch thick stack of steel in one afternoon without redoing a single joint. Has anyone else had those random days where your hands just sync up with the metal for no clear reason?
I was at a hammer-in up near Portland last fall and a older smith watched me struggle with a knife bevel for like 20 minutes. He just said 'you're fighting the steel instead of helping it.' I was so focused on getting the angle exact every pass that I was actually chilling the metal too fast. After that I started letting the heat do more work and just guiding the hammer instead of forcing it. Anybody else had someone call them out on overworking a piece?
I stopped by the Ohio Ren Fair last weekend and watched their blacksmith demo. The guy was trying to make a simple hook but kept hitting his own thumb every 3 swings. He told the crowd "that's why they call it a forge, because you forge-t your safety training." His apron had like 20 burn holes in it. The anvil he was using was rusted and wobbled on a log stump. I gotta ask, has anyone else seen a demo that made you cringe more than learn?
I went with coal because I liked the control over heat zones, but gas sure would have been easier on summer afternoons. Has anyone else stayed with coal despite the hassle?
Last Tuesday I tried quenching a railroad spike knife in some old 10W-30 I had sitting around, and the whole thing went sideways. The blade came out with this terrible pitting I couldn't grind out, and it smelled like burnt garbage for two days in my shop near Tulsa. Now I'm back to plain water for my small projects. Anyone else had bad luck with oil quenches from the garage?
So back in 2018, I was trying to harden a batch of 1084 blades and kept getting cracks in water. This guy named Pete at the Saturday market swap told me to just use some old 10W-30 from his truck. I figured what the heck, tried it on a 6 inch chef knife... and it worked perfectly. No cracks at all, and the edge came out way harder than my usual water quench. But then I spent like 3 hours cleaning that nasty smell and sticky residue off the steel. Has anyone else tried this or am I just being cheap with my quench oils?
A guy at a hammer-in pointed out my anvil was rocking because the stand bolts were too tight, not too loose like I thought. I had been shimming it with old license plates when all I had to do was back off the nuts a quarter turn. Has anyone else realized a simple fix way later than you should have?
I tried it anyway last week on a sloppy punch job and mushroomed the end in like 3 hits. Still stuck in my anvil's hardy hole, had to grind it out for an hour.
I read on anvilfire.com that most antique anvils were wrought iron with a steel face, but modern cheap ones are cast iron all the way through. That explains why my $150 anvil has a dead spot after 2 years of light use. Anyone else notice a big difference between cast and forged anvils in practice?
I thought he was crazy but tried it last week on a 2 inch diameter bar. The metal moved so much easier and my hammer rebounds felt totally different. Anybody else do this or is it just an old wives tale?
After 3 months of fighting tiny cracks that kept showing up in my work, I tried heating the anvil to about 400F and rubbing a high-carbon steel rod along the cracks until they filled in, and now they haven't come back has anyone else done this or am I just lucky?