c/blacksmiths

Had a retired farrier show me his anvil setup last month

I was at a hammer-in near Springfield, and this older guy named Walt let me peek at his travel anvil he built into a wooden stump. He said he used a 150 pound Fisher anvil and carved the stump himself from a local oak tree. It made me realize how much thought he put into every inch of his workspace. Anyone else ever get tips from the older generation that totally changed how you set up your shop?

Old timer told me to quench in sunflower oil, not canola. He was dead wrong.

I was at a hammer-in last spring and this guy named Bill, must've been 70, swore up and down that sunflower oil gives a better edge on carbon steel knives. I tried it on a batch of 1084 and got nothing but soft spots and a weird smell in my shop. Switched back to canola for the next dozen blades and they all came out perfect. Has anyone else had a bad experience trying some old-timer's "secret" quenchant?

Was dead set against using a finisher on forge welding, now I'm a convert

I always thought a power hammer or press was cheating, but after 15 failed welds on a damascus billet last month, I rented time on a 25-ton press and got it done in 3 heats. Anyone else cave and start using tools they swore they'd never touch?

That time my forge blower died mid-billet weld in a 10 degree shop

I was out in the garage in January trying to weld a billet of 1095 and 15n20, the old squirrel cage fan seized up right as I hit welding heat, so I spent 20 minutes hand-cranking it with a cordless drill through the side vent just to save the stack... has anyone else had to rig up a backup air system in a pinch?

That old horseshoe trick for drawing out heat actually works

Honestly, I always thought soaking a hot workpiece in brine was just an old wives tale until I tried it last week on a 3/8 inch chisel. I had a batch of 1095 that kept cracking on me, and a guy named Rick at the Tennessee Valley Forge meetup told me to try a 10% saltwater quench. It drew the heat out way more even than my usual oil, and I didn't lose a single piece. Anyone else use brine for specific steels or am I just behind the times?

Can we talk about the temp swing in that forge at the St. Paul meetup?

I was at the regional hammer-in in St. Paul last Saturday and noticed the gas forge was running a good 150 degrees hotter on the left side than the right, so if you were working near the middle of the fire you probably got inconsistent welds without even knowing it.

That moment my forge weld failed on a 6-foot railing section

I was in my shop two months ago, working on a custom railing for a customer's front porch in Mason. About three hours into the forge welding, I had a big section of scrollwork just pop apart at the joint. Turned out my flux was a little old and I didn't get the billet hot enough in the center. I spent the whole next day redoing that piece, and now I always check my flux supply before starting a big job. Has anyone else had a forge weld fail on a big project like that?

Fellow smith at the guild last night convinced me I've been overthinking my forge welding temps

He said he just goes by color and doesn't even bother with a pyrometer, showed me a clean billet he did by eye, and now I'm wondering if I've been wasting time obsessing over exact numbers instead of just reading the steel.

Bought a $400 power hammer attachment and it was a waste of money

I got one of those table top power hammer attachments for my anvil from a online shop last month. After three days of fighting with it, the linkage snapped and it barely hits harder than a hand hammer. Anyone else tried one of these and had better luck with a different brand?

My forge welder cracked about 2 weeks into a big commission job

I was working on a set of custom gate hinges for a client in Austin when my old rivet forge welder gave out right in the middle of a critical weld. The frame just split along a hairline crack I'd never noticed before, and I had to scramble to finish the job with my backup propane setup. Anyone else had a forge or welder fail at the worst possible time, and what did you do to patch things up in a hurry?

I finally stopped trying to hammer red hot steel like it was cold and saved my shoulders

For like 5 years I was gripping my hammer way too tight on every swing, thinking I needed all this force to move the metal. Last week at a workshop in Portland, a guy watched me for 2 minutes and said 'dude, let the heat do the work, your hammer is just guiding it.' I loosened up my grip and cut my swing count on a 3/8ths square bar from like 50 to 15 hits. Total game changer for my elbow and my anvil. Has anyone else had that moment where you realized you were just overpowering everything?

Bought a cheap anvil off Craigslist, lost $80 on a hunk of cast iron

I got excited about a deal on a 100-pound anvil listed for $80 near Springfield. Drove an hour to pick it up, and the guy said it was a vintage piece. Got it home, tried to dress the face, and realized it was just cast iron with a thin steel plate welded on. The face chipped on my first real project with it. Now I'm stuck with a hunk of scrap I can't return. Anyone else get burned by a fake anvil on marketplace?

Picked up a used post vise at a farm auction in Ohio last weekend for $40

I went to this little farm auction near Columbus just to look around, and there was this old post vise buried under a pile of rusty harrow discs. The screw moved smooth, and the mounting bracket was still solid, so I threw in a bid and got it for forty bucks. Got it home, cleaned off the crud with a wire brush, and it works perfect for holding my work while I'm hammering on it. Anyone else find good deals on old tools at random auctions?

Tried forge welding with a wire brush inclusion, ended up with a cold shut mess

I was working on a damascus billet last weekend, 15 layers of 1095 and 15n20. Got to the forge weld stage, heated it up to a nice orange, and put down the hammer. When I went to clean the flux off with a wire brush, some of those bristles broke off and got stuck right between the layers. I hammered again before noticing, and it created a cold shut that split open after the third heat. Ruined about 4 hours of work. Now I always inspect the billet surface with a magnet before any hammer strike. Anyone else had brush hairs mess up a weld?

Had to choose between a gas forge and a coal forge when I started out, went with gas and honestly regret it a bit

Tbh when I first got into blacksmithing about two years ago, I had to pick between a gas forge or a traditional coal forge. I went with gas because everyone online said it was cleaner and easier to control, which is true for the most part. But ngl, after watching a buddy at a local shop in Denver use his coal forge, I realized I was missing out on that deeper heat for heavier stock. My gas forge works great for smaller stuff like hooks and knives, but when I tried to forge a 1 inch round bar for a gate project, it took forever to get it hot enough. Coal gives you that focused heat zone that gas just can't match for bigger work. Has anyone else felt like they picked the wrong setup starting out?

Took me 6 tries to get a solid forge weld on a cable Damascus billet

I spent 4 hours on Saturday fighting with an old piece of wire rope, flux flying everywhere and the weld just peeling apart. Turned out I wasn't getting it hot enough in the back of the forge - once I cranked the burner and let it soak for a full 3 minutes, it stuck on the first try. Anyone else have a 'dumb simple' fix that cost them half a day to figure out?

I used to hate on gas forges until I tried one with a blown burner setup

Old timer showed me a trick for hammering out a cold shut at the forge yesterday

I was working on a wall hook at the shop when an old smith named Frank walked by and saw me struggling with a cold shut. He just picked up my hammer and said "you're hitting it from the top, try from the side at a 45 degree angle instead." That one little change saved me from grinding out the whole weld, I finished that hook in under 10 minutes. He told me he learned that from his grandfather who worked in a wagon wheel shop back in 1920. I've been smithing for about 2 years now and stuff like that keeps me coming back. Has anyone else had one of those small tips that completely changed how you do something?

Shoutout to the old anvil I picked up at a farm auction last fall

That thing finally gave me trouble last Tuesday. I was working on a heavy drawknife blade and a chunk of the face chipped off right near the edge. It's a 150 pound Peter Wright from the 1890s, so I knew it had some wear, but this was a real surprise. I ended up grinding the chip out smooth and setting it back to work, but it took a couple hours I didn't plan for. Has anyone else dealt with an old anvil face chipping unexpectedly? I'm wondering if I should try welding it up or just keep going as is.

People keep using mild steel for tools that need to take a hit

I see guys on here making punches and chisels out of hot rolled round bar, then wondering why they mushroom after one use. Pick up some 1045 or 5160 spring steel if you want tools that actually hold an edge.

I used to anneal by eye like a fool

For years I just got steel red hot and let it cool on the bench, never really knowing if it worked. Then a guy at a hammer-in in Ohio showed me how to use a temp stick and control the cool down rate. Anyone else skip the basics for way too long before someone clued them in?

TIL a lot of folks are quenching in the wrong oil for 1095 steel

I was helping a guy in Des Moines last Tuesday fix a knife he messed up, and he kept saying he used motor oil for his 1095 blades. That's a big mistake because 1095 needs a fast oil like Parks 50 to get a proper quench, not something slow like used engine oil. His edges were soft because the steel didn't harden right. Anyone here actually tested different oils side by side to see the difference?

Overheard a welder say his forge was ruining his eyesight

Last Tuesday at the steel supplier in Wichita, I heard a guy complaining about how his forge was giving him headaches and blurry vision. He'd been using dark sunglasses instead of real shade lenses for five years. Made me double check my own setup and sure enough my #5 lens was scratched and letting in too much UV. Anyone else ever catch a bad habit like that from just being too cheap to replace gear?

Caught a guy at the forge using rebar for a knife blank yesterday

I was helping out at a local demo up in Greenville and this younger smith was hammering on a piece of rebar like it was 1095 steel. I had to pull him aside and show him the spark test (which he'd never even heard of, can you believe that?). Rebar gives off those long branching sparks that just scream mild steel, plus it's got that high manganese content that makes it crack if you quench wrong. He was pretty bummed but I gave him a few blanks from my own stash to practice on. Has anyone else run into new folks trying to forge junk metal without knowing the difference?

Spent a whole Saturday trying to fix my forge blower motor

I had this old Champion blower that started humming but not spinning, thought it was a quick bearing swap. Ended up taking the whole motor apart three times before I found a stuck centrifugal switch that was barely visible. How long did it take you to figure out a simple problem that turned into a marathon of troubleshooting?