c/blacksmiths

Old timer told me to stop quenching every heat. Changed my whole approach.

Guy down at the shop near Tulsa said I was hardening stuff too much. Told me to let it cool slow for some tools. Has anyone else had someone bust their routine like that and it actually worked out better?

Serious question: Did anyone else's first forge build take way longer than you expected?

I planned to build a simple gas forge in my garage over a long weekend. Figured maybe two days tops for cutting, welding, and lining. But the firebrick I ordered was the wrong size, so I had to trim every single one by hand. Then the refractory cement took a full week to cure properly, not the 24 hours the bag said. By the time I got it fired up, it was almost two weeks later. I was so frustrated at first, but now I realize rushing a forge is how you get burnouts or bad heat. Did you have a similar build that ran way over schedule?

That one time my forge weld failed on a customer's axe

Last week I was finishing up a rehafted splitting axe for a guy in town. I did a forge weld on the eye like I always do, but it failed after the first heat treat cycle. The weld just popped apart at the seam. I had to start over with a fresh billet and weld it again, this time using a higher forge temp around 2350 degrees and more flux. I think I rushed the first one because I was trying to get it done before the weekend. Has anyone else had a weld fail after years of doing it the same way?

Got a piece of advice from a old timer that fixed my forge welding overnight

I've been forging for about 2 years now, mostly making bottle openers and hooks for friends. But forge welding was always my nemesis, stuff would just fall apart or not stick at all. I was at a hammer-in last month in Austin and this guy named Dale who's been doing it since the 70s watched me for like 5 minutes. He told me straight up "your steel is too cold when it hits the hammer, you need to pull it out and strike before that color even starts to fade." I was so focused on getting the flux right that I was letting the billet sit for a few seconds too long before hitting it. Soon as I started rushing that first strike, my welds actually held. Took me about 6 tries to break the habit of hesitating though lol. Has anyone else had a simple tweak like that just completely change a technique for you?

Best week I've had in the forge turned into the worst day in five minutes flat

Last Tuesday I was on a roll. I'd just finished a set of three matching fireplace pokers for a customer in Albany, and the twists on the handles came out cleaner than anything I'd done in months. I was feeling good, maybe too good. Then I went to heat up a billet for a knife blank and my propane regulator started acting up. Flame kept surging and dying, surging and dying. I figured it was a clog and tried to clean it, but I must have jostled something because the whole thing started leaking gas. Had to shut everything down and air out the shop for an hour. Lost the temper on two pieces I had in the quench oil too. So my question is, has anyone found a regulator brand that actually holds up to daily use without acting weird after six months?

Remember when we used to weld with actual stick electrodes for everything?

I switched over to MIG about 15 years ago after a buddy let me try his setup. Now when I pick up a stinger I feel like I forgot how to strike an arc. Does anyone still use stick for their day to day work or is it just for field repairs now?

Warning: Stop quenching your hot steel in that old motor oil bucket

I see people doing this all the time at hammer-ins and in home shops, and it drives me nuts. That used motor oil you got for free from the garage is full of metal shavings, dirt, and who knows what else. When you quench a hot piece of steel in it, those impurities get baked onto the surface and can cause uneven hardening or even micro-cracks. I learned this the hard way after I made a set of tongs that snapped clean in half after the first real use. Switched to a dedicated canola oil bath three months ago and my heat treats have been way more consistent. Has anyone else run into trouble using recycled oil for quenching?

Took me 5 years to realize I was hammering hot steel all wrong

Was watching an old blacksmith at a demo in Flagstaff and he barely lifted his hammer an inch off the anvil. I was bringing mine up to my ear every time. Has anyone else had that one basic thing that took way too long to unlearn?

I think annealing angle iron is overrated

Tried forging a set of bracket arms last week without annealing the stock first, just went straight from the forge to the anvil. They came out straighter and took less time than when I bother with the annealing step. Anyone else skip this and get better results?

Lost a blade to a cold weld I trusted too much

I was working on a chef's knife last Tuesday in my shop outside Toledo. I stacked a billet of 1084 and 15N20, brought it up to forge welding temp, and hit it on the anvil about four times before I heard that sick crack. The whole thing delaminated right down the center, and I had to scrap 6 hours of work because I got cocky and rushed the flux after a cold soak. Has anyone else had a weld fail from not letting the billet heat evenly all the way through?

Old timer told me to heat treat before grinding... I didn't listen

Guy named Bill at a local shop in Tulsa told me to always finish my heat treat before I start grinding a blade. I figured I'd save time by rough-grinding first and ended up with three warped knives that were basically scrap metal. Anybody else ever ignore solid advice and pay for it with ruined steel?

Appreciation post: old timer who told me to slow down my forge welding

A guy named Frank at a hammer-in last summer watched me screw up 3 welds in a row and said "you're rushin' the heat, let it soak." I thought he meant like 10 seconds more. Turns out he meant a full minute past where I thought it was ready. First weld after that held perfect. Has anyone else had someone give them timing advice that felt wrong at first but worked?

Old timer told me my hammer strikes were too heavy

I used to hit like I was driving railroad spikes until this guy in his 70s watched me for 5 minutes at a demo in Missouri. He said "quit fighting the metal, let it tell you where to go." I cut my arm fatigue by half after I slowed down and focused on placement instead. Anyone else get told to back off on force?

I found my old shop anvil from 10 years ago and barely recognized it

Pulled my first anvil out of storage last weekend, the one I used for 4 years when I was starting out. Thing had a 2 inch chip in the face and dings everywhere from when I didn't know how to set a hammer properly. Has anyone else gone back to an old tool and seen how much your technique has changed since then?

Hit 500 hours on my new forge and the difference is real

I got a Whisper Mama last fall and just passed 500 hours of use. The first hundred hours were a struggle with uneven heat, but around hour 300, the firebrick really settled in. Now at 500, the heat is so even I can hold a welding heat on a 2-inch bar without hot spots. Has anyone else noticed a specific hour mark where their forge just clicked into place?

Tried quenching a leaf spring in used motor oil instead of new

It came out way harder and more brittle than I expected, almost like glass. Has anyone else had this happen with old oil, or did I just get a weird batch?

Visited a historic forge in Lancaster and the guide kept calling the anvil a 'stake'

I didn't want to correct him, but it made explaining my own work to the group after the tour a bit of a confusing mess, so has anyone else run into weirdly wrong terminology at a museum or historical site?

Just hit 500 hours on my main hammer and it's still my go-to

Everyone says you need to switch to a new hammer after 200 hours or the face gets too soft. My 3lb cross peen from a local maker in Toledo has over 500 hours on it and I've never had to redress the face. I think a lot of folks are hitting too hard or using the wrong angle. The steel quality is way more important than some magic hour count. Has anyone else kept a hammer way past the 'normal' life and had it work fine?

Vent: My tongs kept slipping on round stock until I tried a trick with a pipe wrench

I was trying to forge some 1/2 inch round bar for a railing project and my regular tongs just wouldn't hold it steady. After the third time it twisted out, I grabbed an old pipe wrench from my bench vise. I just clamped it onto the end of the bar as a temporary handle, and it gave me perfect, non-slip control for the initial heats. Has anyone else used a similar workaround for tricky stock shapes?

My forge weld on a Damascus billet took three days to finally stick

I was making a chef's knife from 1084 and 15N20 steel, a project I've done before. The first weld seemed fine, but after drawing it out, a huge delamination opened up near the center. I spent hours grinding it back, cleaning, and re-fluxing, only to have it fail again on the second heat. The real fix? I had to let my whole shop cool down for a full day. My anvil and vise were holding so much summer heat that the billet was cooling too fast the second I took it from the forge. I finally got a solid weld on the third try after everything sat overnight. Has anyone else had a simple heat sink issue ruin a project for that long?

A guy at the county fair told me my hammer control was making my work look 'nervous'

He was judging the forged tool competition last summer and said my hammer marks were all over the place, making the steel texture uneven. I was holding the hammer too close to the head and using my wrist too much. I switched to gripping at the very end of the handle and letting my elbow and shoulder do the work. My strikes got way more consistent after about a week of practice. Anyone else get a piece of advice that totally fixed a basic technique?

Remember when we all used to buy those generic, soft firebricks for the forge back?

Switching to a set of proper hard insulating bricks from a supplier in Toledo three years ago doubled my forge's heat-up speed and they haven't crumbled once, so what's the one old-school material or tool you've finally upgraded that made a huge difference?

Finally got my first clean forge weld on a Damascus billet!

I was stuck between using borax or just trying to get the steel hotter and cleaner. Went with the borax after watching a video from a smith in Montana. It flowed perfectly and sealed everything up on the third try. Anyone have tips for keeping the layers from sliding when you start drawing it out?

Finally got a clean weld on my first Damascus billet after 5 tries

Tried using a potato to stop a small forge crack from spreading as a joke, and it actually held for a whole week.

My buddy in Boise dared me to try it after a few beers, so I shoved a raw russet into a hairline crack near the tuyere, and the moisture and starch seemed to seal it enough to finish a batch of 20 bottle openers before it finally charred through.