c/blacksmiths

My apprentice tried to quench a piece in a bucket of iced tea at the county fair last summer, and now I triple-check every liquid container in the shop.

He grabbed my big insulated jug thinking it was the water bucket, and the piece came out smelling like sweet tea for a week, so has anyone else had a forge mishap that turned out surprisingly harmless but totally ridiculous?

Hot take: you don't need a $2000 power hammer for a solid Damascus billet

Honestly, I keep seeing guys at the local forge saying you can't get good pattern weld definition without a huge power hammer. Ngl, I've been making clean, tight layers for a decade just with my 100 lb anvil and a 4 lb cross peen, taking my time with the heat. So what's the real deal, is it the tool or just the technique?

Question about the forge setup at the historical village in Williamsburg

I visited the blacksmith shop at Colonial Williamsburg last month, and I have to disagree with the common praise for their 'authentic' coal forge. The firepot was only about 10 inches across, which seems way too small for any serious production work, even for the period. It felt more like a demonstration piece than a functional shop. Has anyone else worked with a firepot that size and found it practical?

I finally stopped using a 3 pound hammer for everything after a guy at the Tucson forge told me my work looked 'clumsy'.

PSA: I bought a $400 propane forge and it's been a total pain

Everyone online says to get a propane forge for beginners, so I grabbed a Devil Forge DF-2 last fall. It cost me about $400 after shipping, and honestly, the heat control is way too finicky for basic projects. I've spent more time fiddling with the knobs and waiting for it to heat up than I have actually forging. Has anyone else found they prefer a simple coal setup for starting out?

Saw a museum display in St. Louis that got the quenching process all wrong

I was at the Missouri History Museum last weekend and they had a blacksmithing exhibit. They had a video playing that showed someone heating a blade to a bright orange and then just dropping it into a bucket of water. No swishing, no checking for the right color, just a straight dunk. It was labeled as 'traditional quenching.' That's a great way to get a cracked blade or a bad warp. It made me wonder who they talked to for their info. A proper quench needs way more care than that, especially with water. You need to move it to stop steam pockets, and you need to pull it before it gets too cold. It was a nice exhibit otherwise, but that one detail was just wrong. Has anyone else seen a museum or show get a basic forging step totally backwards?

Just finished my 500th knife handle and realized I've never used the same wood twice

I mean, I started just using scrap oak and maple, but now I'm hunting down exotics like purpleheart and zebrawood. Anyone have a good source for small, affordable blocks of interesting stuff?

Question about a weird forge fire I had last week

I was working in my shop in Tacoma, using my old propane forge to heat a piece of 1/4 inch stock. About 20 minutes in, I saw a small yellow flame start to lick out from the burner port. I shut off the gas right away, but the burner tube was already way too hot to touch. After it cooled, I found a tiny spider web clogging the jet. Has anyone else had critters cause a flare-up like that?

Had to pick between a 2 pound rounding hammer and a 3 pound cross peen for a big scroll project. Went with the lighter one and my elbow is thanking me.

Rant: I just found out how many horseshoes a single smith could make in a day back in the 1800s

I was reading this old book about frontier blacksmiths from my local library, and it mentioned a specific detail that blew my mind. It said a skilled smith working with a striker (like an apprentice) could turn out up to 60 horseshoes in a single 10-hour day. That's one every 10 minutes, start to finish, including shaping and punching the nail holes. I tried to picture the pace, the heat, the constant hammering, and it just made my own shop work feel incredibly slow. I can barely manage a dozen in a good afternoon, and that's with my modern gas forge and power hammer. It really puts into perspective how much of a production line a farrier's shop had to be back then, especially in a busy town or along a cavalry route. Makes me wonder, does anyone here have any old-timey production tricks they've picked up from historical sources that actually work?

A talk with an old farrier in Boise changed how I see my anvil stand.

I was at a swap meet in Boise last month and got chatting with a farrier named Frank about his mobile rig. He said, 'If your anvil isn't sitting on something that can move with it, you're losing half your power to the floor.' I always had mine bolted to a big oak stump. I tried his idea of a sand-filled steel tube stand, and the rebound is way better now. Has anyone else switched from a solid mount to something with a little give?

Question about quenching in used motor oil

I know a lot of guys swear by quenching in old motor oil for tools, but I tried it on a set of punches I was making and got a weird result. I had this 10W-40 from my truck change, figured I'd give it a shot. Heated the steel to a nice orange, then quenched it. The punches came out with this soft, almost rubbery skin that flaked off, while the core seemed way too hard and brittle. I snapped one testing it on a piece of scrap. I think the additives in modern oil messed with the quench speed, making it uneven. I went back to my simple canola oil for the next batch and they turned out perfect. Has anyone else run into this with newer automotive oils?

Just realized my old anvil stand was a real problem after a talk with a guy at the Quad-State show

I was at the Quad-State show in Kentucky last year, and a guy saw me wincing while working a piece and said, 'Your stand's moving more than your hammer, kid.' He was right, my old tree stump had rotted and was giving way, making every strike weak and off-target. How do you all test if your anvil stand is still solid enough?

My old coal forge finally gave out on me last month

The firepot cracked right down the middle after a long Damascus session, so I had to switch to a propane rig I'd been avoiding. Anyone have tips for getting a similar heat profile with gas, or is it just a different beast?

My first try with a borax flux substitute from the hardware store went totally sideways

I mixed a paste of baking soda and water for a forge weld, and it just bubbled off instead of protecting the steel. Has anyone else found a cheap flux that actually works for basic billets?

Finally got a clean weld on my first Damascus billet

Been trying on and off for about two years, but last weekend in my garage I finally got the forge weld to stick all the way through without any delams. The key was way more flux than I thought I needed. Anyone else have a Damascus 'aha' moment they remember?

I just read that a medieval blacksmith's forge could hit 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit

Found it in a book about old tools at my local library, and it blew my mind thinking about hitting that heat without modern gear. It makes you wonder how they controlled it so well with just bellows and charcoal. What's the hottest you've ever gotten your own forge to run?

I used to forge my tongs from a single piece of stock, but now I make them in two parts.

For the first five years in my shop, I always started with a long bar and drew out the reins from the same piece as the jaws. It took forever. Then, at a meet-up in Boise, an older smith showed me how he welds the reins onto pre-formed jaw blanks. I tried it and cut my tong-making time almost in half. It just makes more sense for volume work. Has anyone else switched up their tong method like this?

I think everyone is wrong about using a gas forge for Damascus. My coal setup in the garage made better patterns last week.

Just realized I've been forging my leaf springs all wrong for years

Three years ago at a demo in Asheville, a guy told me to always anneal truck springs before working them, but last month I saw a video where the smith just normalized them once. I've been doing the full anneal for so long, but maybe it's overkill and wastes fuel. Which method do you all use for recycling spring steel?

Switched from a 2 pound to a 4 pound cross peen hammer for drawing out stock

I mean, my arm gets tired faster, but I'm getting twice the work done in the same time. Is the extra speed worth the fatigue, or should I just stick with the lighter tool?

My neighbor thinks a cheap anvil is fine for a beginner, but I completely disagree

Three years ago in my garage in Toledo, I started on a cast iron ASO and it nearly ruined my interest because the face chipped and the rebound was terrible. I tell every new person to save up for at least a 70lb steel anvil, even if it means waiting another month. What's the worst piece of 'starter' gear you've seen pushed on newcomers?

Spent $300 on a new propane forge burner and it just won't hold a steady heat.

Honestly, I was trying to get a cleaner weld on some Damascus billets, but this thing spikes and drops like crazy no matter how I adjust the regulator. Ngl, it's making my pattern work look all washed out and weak. Anyone know a good fix for a burner that won't stay constant, or did I just buy a lemon?

Question about a cracked anvil face. I was working on a big leaf spring knife in my garage and my 70 pound anvil just split right down the middle on the third heat.

Had to pick between a coal forge and a gas one for my new shop setup in Spokane. Went with gas for the control, but sometimes I miss the old school feel.