c/blacksmiths

Went back to my old mentor's shop in Ohio, felt like a time capsule

Drove past my first apprenticeship shop outside Cleveland last weekend. The same 50 pound power hammer is still sitting in the corner, but the kid working it had a phone mount strapped to the handle for videos. I remember my mentor yelling at me for leaving a file on the anvil, now everyone's got a camera in the way. It got me thinking about how much the trade has shifted to documenting everything for social media. Anyone else feel weird watching new smiths spend more time filming than finishing a piece?

I finally stopped babying my anvils face and it changed my work

I spent a whole Thursday fighting a warped chisel because I refused to flatten a small ding near the hardie hole, thinking I'd ruin the temper. Turns out a 20 minute pass with a flatter and some fine grit fixed it, and the anvil still handles heavy hits fine. Has anyone else burned a full day avoiding a repair that ended up being simple?

Coal vs. propane forges, wish I switched years ago

After 8 months of fighting clinkers and uneven heat with coal in my little shop outside Tulsa, I borrowed a buddy's propane forge last Saturday and got a clean weld on the first try, so has anyone else made the jump and never looked back?

Just realized my anvil face was the weak link all along

Been hammering on the same 150 lb anvil for about 8 years, always blamed my poor blade bevels on my hammer technique. Then last week I set up a straightedge across the face and found a low spot near the hardy hole, maybe 1/16 of an inch deep. I resurfaced it with a flap disc and took off just enough to get it flat, then sharpened all my tools. The difference in my control and finish quality is honestly night and day. Anyone ever put off fixing their anvil face and regret the time they wasted working around it?

My anvil face cracked after 15 years, what do I do now?

Last Tuesday I was drawing out a piece of coil spring and heard this sickening crack. Looked down and there's a hairline fracture running right across the middle of my anvil face, about 4 inches long. This anvil is a 150 lb Peter Wright that I got from my grandpa, and I've put thousands of hours on it. I stopped immediately and checked the face with a straight edge, and it's still flat right now, but I'm scared it's gonna spread. I called a local machine shop and they quoted me $300 to weld and re-grind the face, but they said there's a chance the whole thing could be a paperweight if the steel is bad underneath. Has anyone dealt with a cracked anvil face before? Is welding it up actually worth it, or should I just keep using it and monitor the crack, or start looking at new anvils?

That Saturday the quench tank nearly caught fire, best day ever?

Last month I had a day where everything went wrong, but I still loved it. I was heat treating a batch of 8 chisels and my quench oil started smoking way worse than usual, then a spike in the fire pot threw scale everywhere. Took me 3 tries to get the temp right on the second batch, and I burned my forearm pretty good on the edge of the forge. But somehow by 6 PM I had 14 finished tools with clean edges and no warps, which never happens for me. Is a chaotic day that ends with solid work better than a smooth day that ends with mediocre results, or am I just being weird?

Watched an old blade smith work a ren faire demo, learned more in 20 minutes than 2 years of videos

Took a Saturday trip to the Texas Renaissance Festival outside Houston to see a friend's cousin who does live forge demos. The guy was working a small portable forge with a hand crank blower, not the fancy electric setup I expected. He hammered out a simple leaf shape from a chunk of mild steel, maybe 3/8 inch thick, in about 15 minutes flat. What caught me was how he read the color of the steel, stopping every few strikes to glance at it like he was checking a clock. I've watched a dozen online tutorials on heat control, but seeing him adjust his pace based on the shade of orange taught me more than any close-up video ever did. He also said he reuses his scale scrap to make tiny rivets, which I never thought to do. Anyone else pick up a trick from watching an old timer work in person that you couldn't get from a screen?

Overheard a guy at the Nashville hammer-in saying he skips the quench oil warm-up, that's a disaster waiting to happen

He bragged about going straight from cold oil to a cherry red blade and I had to walk away before I said something, has anyone else seen cracks from cold quench oil on 1080 or am I the only one who preheats every time?

TIL the hard way: propane forge vs coal forge for a small shop

First time trying a coal forge after 8 years of propane

Finally got my hands on an old coal forge at a swap meet in Ohio and gave it a shot last weekend. The heat control is way different, I kept overshooting the steel and burning thin stock. Anyone else switch from gas to coal and have tips for reading the fire better?

Warning: That cheap anvil stand I built almost cost me my foot

Honestly, last Thursday was one of those days that started out fine and then went sideways real fast. Ive been using a big chunk of railroad tie as my anvil stand for like 6 months, thought it was solid enough. Well, I was working a 5 inch drift punch on a 1 inch thick bracket, giving it some real heavy hits, and the whole anvil tipped sideways off the tie. It came crashing down right next to my boot, missed my toes by maybe 2 inches. The noise was insane and the concrete floor cracked where it landed. Turns out the wood had rotted on the bottom just enough to wobble under heavy hammering. I spent the rest of the day building a proper steel stand with a welded base plate, cost me about 40 bucks in scrap. Has anyone else had a close call with a janky setup like this?

Dropped $200 on a forge blower and it burned out in 3 weeks

Thought I was saving cash with some off-brand blower from a random supplier, but now I'm back to using hand bellows while I wait for a replacement. Anyone else had luck with used blowers from old farm auctions?

Bought a $200 propane forge off Amazon and it barely hits welding heat

I figured I'd save some cash instead of building my own forge, but this cheap one leaks heat like crazy and the burner sputters. After three tries adjusting the air mix I'm still stuck at orange heat. Anyone else regret skimping on a forge and wish they just welded one up from a kit?

Tried quenching in warm oil instead of cold and got way less cracking

I've been heat treating knives for about 2 years and always used room temp canola oil. Last week I tried heating it to 130 degrees before quenching a 1084 blade and I swear I had zero cracks compared to my usual 1 in 3 rate. Has anyone else noticed a big difference with oil temp or am I just getting lucky?

Found a trick to stop forge scale from ruining my hammer face

I was getting so frustrated last month because the peen on my cross peen hammer kept getting pitted from forge scale sticking to it. I tried quenching the hammer head after every few strikes but that just made it crack. Then an old timer at a meetup in Columbus told me to wipe the hammer face with a bit of beeswax every so often. Tried it for a week and it cuts down the scale sticking by like 80 percent. Anyone else got a weird hack for keeping hammers clean?

Used to forge every blade with just a hand hammer now I cheat with a power hammer

For the first 8 years I was blacksmithing I swore by hand hammering everything. I thought power hammers were lazy and took away the 'art' of it. Then last spring I helped a buddy at his shop and tried his 25lb utility hammer for about 10 minutes. My wrist was shot from a bad swing the week before and it was night and day how much easier shaping went. Now I'm saving up for a used one, probably a little Giant or something similar, because my elbow keeps barking at me after long sessions. Anyone else make the switch later in their career and regret not doing it sooner?

Hot take: I spent $600 on a power hammer and wish I hadn't

Everyone says you need a power hammer to save time, but mine sits gathering dust. I do better work with hand hammer control and my shoulders don't ache from chasing the machine. Has anyone else regretted that kind of purchase?

That time a drift pin snapped and took out my anvil stand

I was out back in my shed in Marietta last spring trying to drive out a stuck bushing from a tractor hitch. The drift pin I was using (cheap hardware store junk) sheared clean in half and the piece flew right into the leg of my anvil stand, cracking the old oak board. Had to spend a whole afternoon rebuilding the stand with some pressure-treated 4x4s I had lying around, and I still wince every time I look at that repair. Has anyone else had a simple tool failure turn into a whole project? I'm thinking of switching to solid punch sets now, but I don't want to drop $80 on a whim.

Had to choose between a coal forge and propane for my first setup in the garage

I was saving up for months and finally had $300 to spend, so I picked a propane forge because I figured it'd be cleaner for indoor use (no smoke in the house garage, you know?). First couple heats on a small knife blade went smooth, no major issues with temperature control. Anyone else start with one fuel type and wish they'd gone the other way?

Tried using a railroad spike for a full-size chef knife and the carbon content was way lower than I expected.

The blade wouldn't hold an edge after three hard cuts through a carrot, so I learned the hard way that most spikes are just mild steel, not worth the time if you want a real working knife have any of you actually gotten a spike to harden properly?

Tried forge welding a billet of scrap rebar and got something totally unexpected

I had a pile of rebar from a job site in Detroit and figured I'd try to make a cheap billet for practice. Heated it up to welding temp, hit it with the hammer, and it just crumbled apart like old rust. Turns out some rebar has coatings or weird alloys that ruin the weld. Learned to check for mill markings first next time. Has anyone else had luck welding mystery steel from construction scraps?

Watched a guy at a hammer-in in Ohio fix a warped blade with nothing but a stump and a cross pein

He just worked the high spots cold over about 45 minutes and it came out dead straight. Has anyone else ditched the anvil for stuff like this or am I overthinking it?

PSA: I learned 4140 steel moves way more in heat treat than I expected

I was working on a hammer head last week and it warped almost an eighth inch after quench, which I found out later is pretty common for that alloy if you don't normalize it twice first, has anyone else had a piece just refuse to stay straight?

Just got back from a demo at a Ren Faire forge - hot vs cold chisel debate got heated

I visited the Texas Renaissance Festival last Saturday and watched a smith there doing chisel work. He swore by hot cutting everything, even thin stock, because cold chisels ruin the edge faster. But my mentor back home always says cold cuts are fine if you keep the chisel sharp and use a softer backup. The Ren Faire guy said he replaces his hot chisels once a year but goes through cold ones every 3 months. Anyone else have a strong take on hot vs cold cutting for general shop work?

Nearly burned my shop down with a coal forge last Tuesday

I left a piece of rebar in the fire too long and it kicked out a shower of sparks that landed right next to a can of WD-40. Anyone else had close calls just from getting distracted for a minute?