c/blacksmiths

Hit 5000 fire strikers without counting once, here is how I know

I keep tally marks on the shop wall for every fire striker I finish, just a little habit from my first year. Last week I got curious and actually added them up, turns out the total was 5,012. I was sure I had maybe 3,800, so that surprised me a lot. The funny part is I sold the 5,000th one to a tourist last month and had no idea at the time, he even asked me if it was a special number. Has anyone else lost track of a milestone like that and only found out later?

0 comments

rowank69•8d ago

When my old anvil let go in the middle of a Monday rush

I was at my shop in Wichita, three years back, and the face plate chipped clean off my great-granddad's anvil on a heavy drift punch, so I had to stop, rig a jig with a spare plate and two clamps, and finish the order by Friday, but now I'm wondering if anyone else has rebuilt a worn anvil face instead of buying new?

0 comments

the_mason•9d ago

Forge welding went from hit or miss to solid after I switched my coal grade, anyone else see that?

Back in March I was fighting with this cheap anthracite from the local hardware store, barely got two welds to stick in a week. Then a guy at the Tuesday hammer-in said try the bituminous stuff from the supplier down in Richmond, and now I'm landing every scarf joint first try. You folks think it's the coal chemistry or just that I finally got my fire management dialed in after 3 months of frustration?

0 comments

charlesj46•13d ago

Bought a 1910 anvil in Ohio, now I'm split on leaving it original

Picked up a Fisher anvil from a barn near Dayton for $400, it has 120 years of dings and a swayed face that makes flat work a pain. Some say grind it true and lose the history, others say keep it as-is and use a top plate, which side are you on?

0 comments

stone.evan•15d ago

Forging with a borrowed hammer changed my grip for good

My uncle handed me his old 2.5 lb rounding hammer and told me to choke up on the handle like I meant it, so I tried it for a day. Turns out I'd been treating my 3 lb like a sledge and over-swinging for months. Anyone else pick up a lighter tool and realize their whole technique was off?

0 comments

mason.paige•19d ago

Ball peen slipped off a cold chisel and put a dent in my shop wall, what's your near miss story?

Was in my garage in Tulsa last Tuesday, hammering out a bracket when the chisel jumped sideways and the head caught the drywall, so now I'm wondering if anyone else has had a tool slip that could've been way worse than a wall dent.

1 comments

nora10•24d ago

The math on drawing out tapers finally clicked for me

I was trying to make a bunch of bottle openers last weekend and kept ending up with tapers way too short. Looked up some old blacksmithing forum post from like 2011 about volume staying the same when you draw out steel. Worked out that if I want a 6 inch taper from 1/2 inch square stock, I need to start with almost 18 inches of material because of the volume math. Nobody ever told me that in 5 years of smithing, always just eyeballed it and wasted a ton of stock. Has anyone else found a basic math rule that totally changed how they plan a project?

1 comments

kim.wren•25d ago

My anvil face was lying to me for 2 years

Used to blame my hammer swings for uneven flats until I threw a straightedge across the face and saw a 1/16" dip near the hardy hole. Resurfaced it last month with a local machine shop, cost me $60, and now my tenons come out square on the first pass. Anyone else ever trust a worn face longer than they should?

1 comments

ray_webb6•26d ago

Coal forge fire management trick I picked up in Ohio

Went to a demo outside Columbus last week, old timer showed me to wet the coal around the firepot before adding fresh rock. Cuts the clinker build up by half. Anyone else run a wet ring around their forge?

1 comments

johnfoster•26d ago

Tried a coal forge for the first time after 6 years on propane, my steel did something weird

I finally got to use a friend's coal forge in Austin last weekend after doing everything on propane since I started. The heat came on way faster than I expected, and I normalized a 3/16" leaf spring blank before shaping. But when I quenched it in oil, I got this odd crack along the edge that I've never seen with my gas setup. Could the coal fire have caused uneven decarburization, or was my quench too late? Anyone else switch fuel sources and notice a difference in how their steel behaves?

1 comments

parker_bell•28d ago

Went to a medieval fair, why is every demo using charcoal instead of coke?

Last month I stopped by that big medieval festival outside of Columbus. Watched three different blacksmith demos, all of them hammering away on tiny charcoal fires. Just curious why nobody runs a coke forge at these events. Charcoal throws so many sparks and makes it hard to see the actual work. Is it just for the old timey look, or does it heat better for small demos? Has anyone else noticed this at ren fairs or living history sites?

2 comments

hugo_ellis•29d ago

Old timer's advice about quenching oil saved my blade

A retired farrier named Chuck told me last month to stop using that expensive commercial quench oil and just use canola from the grocery store. I laughed it off at first since I spent $80 on the fancy stuff. But my last batch of three knives kept coming out soft and I was about to scrap them. Finally tried his trick with a cheap jug of canola heated to 130 degrees and the edge came out hard enough to skate a file. Anyone else ditch the specialty oils for something simpler?

1 comments

quinn_nguyen•1mo ago

Changed my mind about propane forges after a demo at Bill's shop

I used to swear by coal, thought propane was for hobbyists who couldn't handle real fire. Then last March I watched Bill at his shop in Tulsa run a 3/8 inch bar through a propane forge and hit welding heat in about 4 minutes flat, no smoke, no fiddling with the fire. He handed me the tongs and said 'just try it for one heat,' and the evenness sold me. Anyone else switched fuels late in their career and regretted not doing it sooner?

1 comments

david821•1mo ago

Talking with an old timer about forge welding changed how I look at flux

Had a chat with a retired farrier down at the flea market in Boise last Saturday, and he told me he never used borax, just plain sand from his driveway. He said the silica does the same job if you get the heat right, and I gotta admit I laughed at first, but then I tried it on a small chain link repair. Anybody else ever swap out their usual flux for something weird that actually worked?

1 comments

johnson.lee•1mo ago

Annealing 1080 twice, got a softer edge than expected

I tried annealing a batch of 1080 blades twice before hardening, figured double the soak would make them easier to grind. First one came out of the quench with an edge that dulled on a pine board in about ten cuts. Is there a reason double annealing would leave excess ferrite, or did I just mess up the soak times on my propane forge?

2 comments

betty_scott18•1mo ago

Tried heat treating a farrier rasp into a knife, got a bend I didn't expect

So I took an old rasp from a guy in Fort Worth, forged it down flat, and did my first real heat treat on it. Quenched in canola oil at about 1450 degrees, and the blade came out with a nice curve along the edge, not the profile I shaped at all. It was like the steel had its own opinion. I figured the rasp's hard skin or the carbon content did something weird, but honestly I think I let it cool too slow before quenching. Has anyone else had a rasp twist or bow on them after quench, and did you just grind it straight or redo the whole thing?

1 comments

the_dylan•1mo ago

Hit 1,000 hammer strikes in one session for a sword blade, my elbow is screaming today

So yesterday I went all in on forging a seax blade, just got lost in the rhythm and counted 1,000 solid strikes before I stopped to cool off. That's more than double my usual 400 or so. I knew I was pushing but didn't realize the number until I set the hammer down. My elbow's paying for it now, ice pack on it as I type. Does anyone else track their strike counts, or am I just weird about the numbers? Curious if others have hit a crazy milestone like that and what it did to their arm.

1 comments

dakotawells•1mo ago

Tried a propane forge this weekend. Total failure.

Been using coal for 8 years, swore I'd never switch. Fired up a borrowed propane forge Saturday, couldn't get even heat across a 3/8 inch bar. Anyone else have trouble dialing in gas for the first time?

2 comments

dylan_patel•1mo ago

Not sold on the whole 'super-quench' trend for hardening steel

I watched a guy online last year claim his secret brine mix hardened a railroad spike in one dip. Tried it myself with a coil spring from a Ford F-150 I was working on. Three quenches later, the thing came out soft as butter. The old timers around here in Spokane swear by plain canola oil at 130 degrees. That's never failed me once. Has anyone else had bad results chasing these fancy quench recipes?

2 comments

dylan_green58•1mo ago

Old timer in Eugene showed me a forge welding trick that finally clicked

I was struggling with forge welding at a hammer-in near Eugene last spring. This guy named Walt saw me fuming and just said "your flux is burning off before the steel gets hot enough." He walked me through heating the billet slower with a longer soak time. Has anyone else had a simple fix like that totally change how you work?

2 comments

the_seth•1mo ago

TIL that cheap anvil I bought is a boat anchor waiting to happen

Last summer I picked up a cast iron anvil for $80 at a flea market in Nashville. Figured it would work fine for light work. First few weeks were okay, but then I hit a hot 1 inch piece of round bar and a chunk flew off the face. Turns out the thing had a void underneath from the casting process. I've got a tiny forge weld project coming up and now I'm stuck either using a chunk of railroad track or dropping real money on a proper anvil. Anyone else ever get burned by a bargain anvil?

1 comments

the_dylan•1mo ago

Finally got my first forge weld to hold after 2 months of trying

I have been messing around with a brake drum forge in my backyard since August. Last Tuesday I tried to weld two pieces of rebar together and it actually stuck. I had been overheating it and burning the flux off before, that was my main problem. I backed off the air a bit and let it soak at a lower temp for longer. Ended up with a solid joint that I could twist without it breaking. Anybody else struggle with heat control when they first started doing forge welds?

1 comments

the_henry•1mo ago

Just realized I was hammering my steel way too cold for years

About six months ago I was working on a set of fireplace tongs and kept getting these weird cracks along the edges. I thought it was just bad steel or something, so I switched suppliers, paid more for a different grade, still had the same problem. Then an old timer named Pete watched me work for a few minutes at a hammer-in up in Vermont and pointed out I was striking way past the dull red phase. He said if the metal isn't at least a bright cherry when you hit it, you're just work-hardening it and asking for fractures. I felt like an idiot because I'd been so worried about burning the steel that I let it cool down too much instead. I went home, heated the next piece almost to orange, and the tongs came out clean with no cracks. Has anyone else found out they were misreading heats and it messed up their work?

2 comments

stellafisher•1mo ago

Hit 500 railroad spike knives this week and it made me question my whole approach

I just finished my 500th railroad spike knife since I started forging seriously about 4 years ago. That number surprised me because I never thought I'd get that far with such a simple project. But here's the debate I've been chewing on: are railroad spike knives actually worth the effort for practice, or are they holding me back from harder work? On one hand, they teach you basic shaping and heat control without wasting good steel. On the other hand, I've spent probably 200 hours on spikes that mostly end up as yard art or gifts. I could have used that time learning to forge better Damascus or something with actual edge holding. My neighbor who's been smithing since the 90s says spikes are a waste past the first 50. Has anyone else hit a count like this and had to decide whether to move on or refine what you already know?

1 comments

noahcampbell•1mo ago

The time I watched a guy try to forge a railroad spike into a chef's knife

I mean, I get it, railroad spikes are cheap and easy to find. But last Saturday at a local hammer-in, this dude spent 3 hours trying to flatten one out, and it just kept splitting on him at the anvil. He was using a 2-pound cross peen and hammering cold, no normalization cycles or anything. By the end, it looked more like a rusty spatula than a blade. Has anyone else seen folks skip the basic heat treat steps with spike steel?

2 comments