c/blacksmiths

Finally got my forge welding to stick after 8 frustrating tries

I spent three weekends in a row trying to get a simple billet of 1095 and 15n20 to weld up proper. Kept getting cold shuts and delamination at the edges no matter what flux I used. Turns out I was not letting the billet soak long enough at welding heat - I was rushing it by about 45 seconds each time. Has anyone else had a similar issue with a specific steel combo taking way longer than you thought it would?

Hit 500 hours at the forge and realized I've been sharpening my chisels wrong the whole time

Spent 3 months making blunt tools before a buddy pointed out my angle was 5 degrees off, has anyone else had a dumb rookie mistake that took way too long to catch?

Old timer told me tempering in the oven ruins blade steel, he was dead on

Bob from the local shop in Springfield warned me last fall not to use my kitchen oven for tempering knives. He said the temperature swings are too wild and it messes with the hardness. I figured he was just being old school and I ran three blades through at 400 degrees anyway. All three came out soft as butter and wouldn't hold an edge longer than a week. I picked up a used toaster oven with a thermostat for $25 and it made a world of difference. Has anyone else run into bad advice from the older guys that sounded wrong but turned out right?

That old hand crank forge I saw at the Pioneer Museum in Murfreesboro

I was down in Tennessee last weekend visiting family and stopped by the Pioneer Museum. They had this old hand crank forge from the 1800s that was still in working condition, with the original bellows and all. The docent told me it was used by a local farrier up until the 1920s. Has anyone else run across old forges like that in little museums or antique shops?

Question about that old forge in the Spearfish Museum

I went to the Days of '76 Museum in Deadwood last weekend and they had this beat up old forge from the 1880s in the back corner. I always thought those historical displays were just for show, but I talked to the retired farrier who donated it and he said he still fires it up twice a year for demos. Now I'm wondering how many of these museum pieces actually get used vs just sitting there. Anybody know of other old forges that still get lit?

Big debate: Forge welding with borax vs. modern flux pastes...

I started out using plain borax years ago and it worked fine, but I switched to a commercial flux paste about 6 months back and my welds are way cleaner with less scale. Has anyone else noticed that borax leaves more pits or is it just my technique messing me up?

Visited a small forge in rural Ohio and noticed they were still using a hand-crank blower from the 1800s

Saw this old setup at Miller's Forge near Chillicothe last weekend. Anybody else run into older tools that just work better than modern stuff, or was I just impressed by the nostalgia?

The old anvil I bought at a farm auction in Iowa changed my hammer swing

Picked up a 150-pound Fisher anvil at a farm auction outside Des Moines about 5 years ago. It had a weird ring to it that made me adjust my whole striking rhythm. Has anyone else had an anvil that forced you to change your technique just because of how it sounded?

That time I spent 4 hours trying to fix a forge burner

Last winter I was dialing in my propane forge and couldn't figure out why the flame kept going out. Turns out the problem was a tiny bit of spider webbing blocking the air intake, something I never even thought to check. Has anyone else chased a simple fix for way too long?

Old timer showed me a hammer trick at a flea market in Ohio

Last summer I was at a flea market in Columbus looking at old anvils. This guy in his 70s walks up and watches me test a cross peen hammer. He says 'your wrist is too stiff, you're gonna end up with tennis elbow in five years.' Then he showed me how to let the hammer do the work with a loose grip. He spent 15 minutes with me right there by the table. I changed my whole technique that day and it saved my arm. Has anyone else learned something useful from a random stranger like that?

TIL my coal fire was way too shallow for years

An old guy at the Tucson forge meetup saw my setup and said, 'You're just cooking the top, son.' He showed me how a deeper bed holds heat way better. Anyone else run into this?

Reading an old book on smithing and the charcoal numbers got me

I was looking through a book from the 1920s I found at a yard sale in Portland. It was a manual for farm blacksmiths. One part said that to make one ton of wrought iron back then, you needed about four tons of charcoal. That's a lot of wood. It made me think about all the trees that must have been cut just to keep a small shop running for a year. We just flip a switch on the propane forge now. I know it's cleaner and easier, but it makes you appreciate the sheer scale of the old work, and the forests that supplied it. Has anyone else run into a fact from the old ways that just stopped you for a minute?

Finished my 100th custom knife blade yesterday and it hit me

I was cleaning up the shop and counted all the blades I've made since I started my book. It was exactly 100. The first one was a mess, a little skinner I made in my garage two years ago. This last one was a chef's knife for a local restaurant. It felt totally different in my hands, like I finally knew what I was doing. Anyone else get that feeling when you hit a big number you didn't see coming?

PSA: A demo at the state fair completely changed how I set my anvil

I was watching a guy from the Mountain Forge Guild at the fairgrounds last month. He had a simple trick where he put a piece of heavy rubber mat under his anvil, not just on the stand. He said it was cut from an old conveyor belt. Tried it in my own shop and the ring is almost gone, plus my feet don't hurt after a long day. Anyone else use something weird under their anvil to kill the noise?

Spent a whole weekend trying to get a clean weld on a simple bracket

I was making a wall mount for a tool rack, just a basic L shape with some holes. My welds kept looking like bird poop, no matter how I adjusted the heat or my angle. Turns out the steel had a thin layer of mill scale I didn't clean off well enough. That little mistake cost me about eight hours of grinding and redoing. Anyone have a go-to method for prepping steel that saves time?

My daughter's friend said my forge looked like a 'video game crafting station' and it made me think about my old mentor's coal forge.

Showerthought: I used to think my forge weld setup was fine until a guy at the Tacoma hammer-in called it 'lazy'

He pointed out my firebrick layout was creating a cold spot right where I needed the most heat, and that's why my welds were always a bit grainy. I switched to a tighter, more focused firepot shape and my next three welds came out clean as a bell. Anyone else have a simple forge tweak that made a huge difference?

Tried quenching a leaf spring in used motor oil and it came out way too soft

I was working on a big cleaver last week and ran out of my usual quench oil. I had a gallon of old 10W-30 from my truck sitting in the garage and figured, why not? Heated the steel to a bright orange, maybe 1500 degrees, and dunked it in the used oil. The sizzle was normal but when I went to file test it, the edge just gouged. It was softer than mild steel. I think the problem was all the carbon and gunk in the dirty oil acted like an insulator, slowing the cool way down. My buddy Mike said he uses only new canola oil for his blades now. Has anyone else had a weird result with a substitute quenchant? What do you use when you're in a pinch?

Tried to forge a tiny dragon using leftover 1095 steel from a knife project

I figured it would be a fun weekend thing, just a little 3-inch sculpture. Got the head and body shaped okay, but when I went to add the wings, I accidentally quenched the whole thing. Forgot it wasn't a blade. Heard a loud *ping* and it shattered into like 5 pieces on my shop floor. My buddy watching just said 'well, dragons are mythical'. Learned that not every piece of steel needs the same heat treat, obviously. Anyone ever successfully forge small decorative stuff from high-carbon steel, or is that just asking for trouble?

PSA: I keep seeing people quench their workpieces way too hot

Honestly, I was at a local hammer-in last weekend and watched three different folks pull their steel from the forge and dunk it immediately. Ngl, you could still see the orange glow. That's a surefire way to crack or warp your piece, especially with something like 1080. I always wait until it's a dull cherry red, barely glowing in daylight. Has anyone else noticed this, or am I just being too careful?

My buddy in Boise said something about his forge that made me stop and think

We were talking about his new propane forge and he mentioned he keeps it at 2350 degrees for most of his high carbon work. He said 'You know, you can't rush the heat, it's not a race.' I always cranked mine as high as it would go to get things done faster. Anyone else ever adjust their approach after a simple chat like that?

Unpopular opinion: I was wrong about using a cheap anvil for decorative work.

My buddy Jake, who does historical reenactment forging, pointed out that my scrolls were wobbly because my $200 anvil from the flea market has a soft face. Has anyone else found their work improved after upgrading their main block?

Forging a leaf and my tongs gave out right at the critical bend

I was in my backyard shop working on a decorative leaf for a gate project. The piece was at a bright orange heat, and I was about to make the final curve for the stem. Just as I went to pull it from the fire, the jaw on my old cross-peen tongs snapped clean off with a loud ping. The hot steel dropped onto my concrete floor and started to cool fast. I had maybe ten seconds before it was too cold to work. I grabbed it with my heavy welding gloves, ran to the vise, and used a small ball-peen hammer to tap the curve into shape by hand before it turned black. It worked, but my hand was sore for two days. What's your go-to method when a tool fails mid-forge? Do you keep a backup pair of tongs right by the anvil?

Unpopular opinion: I stopped using my gas forge for most small work after a trip to the Ozark Folk Center.

For years, I thought my two-burner gas forge was the only way to go for everything, from big projects to small hooks. But watching a smith there work a coal fire for detailed scrollwork, I saw how much easier it was to control the heat in a tiny spot. I built a simple coal forge in my shop last month, and now I use it for anything under 1/4 inch stock because I can pinpoint the heat without cooking the whole piece. Anyone else make a switch back to a 'slower' fuel for better control?

Vent: My old coal forge versus the new propane one I built

Used to spend the first 30 minutes of every shop day just getting the coal bed right and dealing with the smoke. Built a simple propane burner setup last year and now I'm forging in 5 minutes flat, but I kinda miss the smell. Anyone else feel like the new way is almost too clean?