c/blacksmiths

My anvil horn cracked clean off during a demo Thursday

Was hammering a 1-inch bar of mild steel for a railing and the whole horn just snapped at the weld line. Anyone else ever have an anvil fail like that or am I just unlucky?

Figured out heat treating after messing up 8 blades in a row

Been forging for about 5 years now but heat treating always gave me trouble. I kept getting blades that were too soft or warped and it drove me nuts. Turns out I was just guessing on the quench temp instead of actually checking it with a magnet. Took me 3 whole months and probably 40 hours of trial and error to finally get it right. Anyone else have a simple thing like that that took way too long to click?

Showerthought: an old farrier told me "the anvil is the quietest tool in the shop"

I was helping him trim a draft horse last spring when he said that, then he tapped the anvil with his hammer and said "listen - it only speaks when you make it." Has anyone else had a mentor drop a line like that that totally reframed how you work?

Was dead set against using a power hammer until I tried one at a demo last month

Always thought power hammers took the skill out of the craft, but this guy in Ohio let me run his 25lb Little Giant for 5 minutes. The control you actually have is wild, I drew out a 1 inch bar into a taper in like 3 strikes. Has anyone else gone from hating power hammers to owning one?

Serious question, did anyone else get told their welds were too cold?

Old timer at the shop I apprenticed at told me my welds looked like bird droppings because I was running the machine too low. I bumped it up 20 amps and now I'm wondering why nobody told me that years ago. What's the one piece of criticism that actually made you better?

Old timer at a hammer-in showed me how to read scale colors

At Quad-State last year, a retired smith named Bill pointed at my orange scale and said 'you're burning out your carbon, kid, aim for straw yellow instead.' Anyone else have a veteran just casually drop a game-changing tip on you?

Unpopular opinion: quenching in used motor oil is lazy and ruins your heat treat consistency.

I switched to a dedicated canola oil bath after 3 blades came out with soft spots from that gunk, has anyone else tested their quenchant temp with a thermocouple and realized how much it drifts?

Wasted $150 on a cheap anvil from Amazon last spring

Turned out it was cast iron, not forged steel, and the face chipped on day three after a light hammer strike. Anyone else had a budget anvil fail on them fast?

Snapped my favorite cross-peen hammer handle yesterday on a simple drift punch job

I was just setting a 3/4 inch hole in a mild steel bracket for a fence gate when the hickory let go right at the eye, no warning at all (maybe it had a hidden crack from last month?), and now I'm hunting for replacement handle blanks at the local hardware store - has anyone else had luck with ash over hickory for heavy striking?

Had to choose between a coal forge and a propane one

Picked the propane forge for my garage setup in Raleigh because I didn't want to deal with smoke and ash indoors. After 6 months, it works fine but I miss that even heat you get with coal for certain blades. Anyone else made the switch and regret it or love it?

Walked into a blacksmith shop in Nashville last month and saw a guy using a sledgehammer to crack pecans

He had this tiny little anvil set up just for nuts and was going to town between actual blade work. Has anyone else seen blacksmiths doing weird side jobs at their forge?

The hammer I dropped at a forge-in in Ohio 7 years ago

I was at this big gathering near Dayton, maybe 2017, and a old timer named Jerry handed me his personal rounding hammer. Said to try it on a piece of railroad spike. That one swing changed how I hold everything now, lighter grip and let the tool do the work. I've been chasing that feel ever since and my wrist stopped hurting after a week. Anybody else have a tool from a stranger that clicked instantly?

Vent: I just finished my 100th Damascus billet and the number hit me weird

It's not a huge deal, but I started counting them a couple years back just for fun. I hit number 100 last night, and it made me think: is there a point where you're just making stuff to make it, or does each piece still matter as much? I know some smiths, like a guy I met at the Ashokan hammer-in, treat every billet like it's their first. Others see it as a step toward a bigger project. Where do you all stand on that?

Finally got my forge to hold a steady heat after three days of messing with the air intake

I was trying to forge weld some mild steel for a gate hinge, but the temp kept dropping every time I added fuel. Turns out, my homemade tuyere had a tiny crack I couldn't even see. Spent hours adjusting the blower before I finally found it. I had to pull the whole thing apart and seal it with some furnace cement. Has anyone else had a sneaky air leak ruin their day?

Honestly, my forge welds were a mess until I started using a proper flux

For months I was just using borax from the grocery store and getting cold shuts every time. Switched to a real blacksmithing flux last week and the first weld I tried on some 1080 just flowed together like butter. Anyone got a good source for it that doesn't cost a fortune?

Tried quenching a leaf spring in used motor oil for the first time

It came out way harder than I expected, almost brittle. Anyone know the best way to temper something that got too hard?

Warning about those 'quick forge' firebrick kits

I dropped about $150 on a kit that promised a ready-to-go forge in an hour. The bricks crumbled into dust after the first real heat cycle. Anyone know a solid source for decent soft firebrick that won't turn to powder?

Can we talk about the difference between a cheap anvil and a decent one

I started on a cheap cast iron ASO from a farm sale, then switched to a 150lb Peddinghaus. The rebound and energy transfer are night and day. Anyone else have a 'before and after' tool that changed their work?

Talking to a museum guy about old hinges changed how I see my own work

He pointed at a 200 year old gate hinge and said 'The guy who made this knew it would outlive him, so he put his name on the back.' I've been signing my stuff with a tiny stamp for years, but now I'm thinking about making it a real part of the piece. How do you all mark your finished work?

Finally got my first clean forge weld on a simple knife billet

I've been stuck on this for a while, you know? It came down to a choice: keep trying with my old, kinda crumbly homemade flux or buy a proper commercial one. I was being cheap, thinking I could just make it work. Last weekend, after the third failed attempt in a row, I gave in and got a small can of the good stuff from the supply place. The difference was crazy. I heated the pieces to a bright yellow, sprinkled the new flux on, and they just stuck together on the first tap. No sparks flying everywhere, no cold shuts. It felt like magic after all the mess. Has anyone else had that 'aha' moment with a specific material change?

Appreciation post: An old timer at the county fair told me to quench my chisel in used motor oil, not water, and my edges haven't chipped since.

He was cleaning his hands on a rag near the antique tractor display and just pointed at my work, saying 'boy, you're shocking that steel too hard' before walking off, which honestly fixed a problem I'd been having for months.

I used to skip the water quench for my leaf springs, but a demo at the Salt Lake hammer-in changed my mind.

Tried a new quenching oil after using the same canola for years

I was working on a set of small kitchen knives from 1084 steel and decided to test Parks 50 against my old canola oil for the quench. The Parks oil gave me a much harder blade with way less warping, which was a huge relief after fighting bent pieces last month. Has anyone else made a switch like that and seen a big jump in how your work turns out?

I was reading a book on medieval armor and discovered a knight's full plate harness weighed only about 45 to 55 pounds.

Found that in a library book from 1998, which totally blew my mind because I always pictured it being way heavier and more cumbersome to move in.

Shoutout to my old coal forge for teaching me about fire control

I used to fight a dirty, smoky fire for years, thinking that was just how it was. Then I switched to a propane forge about six months ago and the clean, even heat is a total game changer for my scrollwork. Anyone else make the switch and find it changed what they could make?