Picked up a trick from a 70 year old smith at the county fair last weekend

He showed me how to forge a leaf pattern using just a ball peen hammer and the edge of the anvil, no fancy dies needed. Has anyone else learned old school methods from the guys who started before all the power tools took over?

2 comments

2 Comments

kelly6119d agoMost Upvoted

Tbh my buddy learned that same trick at a flea market in Indiana.

mitchell.nancy19d ago

Those old timers are walking libraries of shortcuts man. The ball peen and anvil edge method sounds like something my grandpa would've shown me at his workbench. There's a dude at our local swap meet who can turn a railroad spike into a leaf keychain with basically a hammer and a vise. No power hammer needed just pure repetition and feel. That kind of muscle memory takes decades so it's awesome you got to see it live.