c/blacksmiths

Stopped by an old forge museum last Saturday and noticed something neat about their anvil setup

They had the anvil bolted to a big tree stump with forged iron straps, not a single bolt through the wood, and I wonder if that's better for dampening ring than the rubber mats I've been using.

2 comments

brookethomas•4d ago

Just figured out why my forge welds kept failing

I was having trouble with forge welds coming apart after a few heats. Tried different fluxes, hotter fires, nothing stuck. Then an old smith at a meetup in Portland told me to check my anvil face for cold spots. Sure enough, I had a thin layer of scale and oil baked on from years of use. Spent 20 minutes with a wire brush and some sandpaper cleaning it flat. Now my welds hold every time. Anyone else had a simple surface prep fix that solved a bigger problem?

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ray_patel27•4d ago

TIL the old way of quenching in warm oil actually works better for some steels

Been fighting with 1095 blades cracking on me for years, tried quenching in warm canola oil at 130 degrees like an old timer told me at a meetup in Columbus last spring, and I havent had a single crack in 8 knives since. Has anyone else had luck with heating up their quench oil or am I just getting lucky with my steel batch?

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sullivan.riley•5d ago

Spent $150 on a gas forge kit and it paid off in 3 jobs

I was dead set on sticking with my coal forge because that's what I learned on. But after burning through a tank of propane on a Saturday, I'm actually faster now and my steel heats up way more even. Anyone else make the switch and find it worth it?

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amyr57•6d ago

Changed my mind about propane forges after seeing a friend's setup

I was dead set on sticking with coal, thought propane was cheating somehow. Last month I watched a buddy fire up his homemade forge in 5 minutes flat and hit welding heat with zero smoke. That before-and-after difference in setup time was honestly eye opening, he spent like $300 on his whole burner setup. Has anyone else switched fuels later in their hobby and regretted it or loved it?

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beth_ward80•11d ago

Finally forged my first proper integral bolster knife last night after 4 failed tries

I used to always weld on bolsters separately but after watching a guy at the guild do it in one piece at a demo in March, I figured I'd try it myself. Took me about 6 hours of hammer work and a lot of cussing but it actually came out balanced and I didn't burn the edge. Anyone else find integrals way harder than they expected or was it just me?

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simon_coleman•12d ago

Had to pick between a coal forge and a gas forge last month

I was setting up my first real shop in a rented garage in Tampa and had to choose between a $300 coal forge setup or a $600 gas forge. I went with the gas forge because I figured it would be cleaner and easier to control heat. First few weeks were great, but I keep seeing videos of guys getting that deeper color on Damascus with coal. Now I'm wondering if I made the wrong call for the long run. Has anyone else switched from gas back to coal and regretted the hassle?

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grayjohnson•13d ago

Went to Midwest Forge Fest last month and saw a dangerous anvil setup

I was walking around the demo area and noticed a guy had his anvil sitting on a stack of loose fire bricks. Looked shaky but he was hammering away on a 3/4 inch bar. Right when he hit a hard spot the whole thing shifted and almost tipped into the firepot. Nobody else seemed to notice but I had to say something. Has anyone else seen sketchy anvil stands at these events?

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claire958•14d ago

Took me 3 days to figure out why my forge wasn't getting hot enough

I rebuilt my forge last month and it just wouldn't hit welding temp no matter what. Turns out my burner tube was 2 inches too long, choked the airflow completely. Anybody else make a dumb design mistake that took forever to catch?

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gavinh26•15d ago

I finally cracked my anvil face after 6 years of heavy use

Was working a 2 inch round bar of 4140 last Tuesday in my shop near Springfield, and I put a little too much mustard into a heavy flattening blow. Heard a ping and saw a hairline crack running from the center almost to the edge. Been using my old Fisher anvil since 2019 and never had an issue, so I figured I'd dress it with a grinder and see if it holds up. Anyone else deal with a cracked anvil face and what did you do about it?

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andrew693•17d ago

That $90 anvil from Harbor Freight turned into a disaster

I picked up their 55-pound anvil last spring to save money, and the face chipped on the third heat after hitting a mild steel bar. The thing has this hollow ring and throws sparks because the cast iron is garbage, not tool steel. Anyone else had luck with a cheap anvil or is it worth saving for a real one from a scrapyard?

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shane_nguyen•18d ago

Old timer told me to put ash in my forge and I laughed. Now I don't.

Guy named Walt who's been smithing since the 70s told me to toss wood ash into my coal forge to cut down on clinker. I thought he was pulling my leg, sounded like some folk remedy. Tried it last Saturday after a bad clinker buildup ruined a three hour session on a fireplace set. Mixed about a cup of dry ash into the coal bed and the clinker practically fell apart in chunks. Next day I did another run with plain coal and got clinker again within 45 minutes. Anyone else use ash or am I just getting lucky?

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henrys74•18d ago

Just learned the hard way that tempering colors lie

Old timer at my local guild told me last week to ignore the straw color on small punches and go by feel instead. I figured I knew better, made a batch of three, and two of them chipped on the first hit against mild steel. Has anyone else had better luck trusting a cheat sheet for tempering temperatures over the actual color?

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brookefox•19d ago

Had a Tuesday where every anvil strike landed perfect, then Thursday was nothing but mangled steel and swearing.

What is it about the stars aligning one day only to have the hammer gods abandon you two days later - do you find your good days come in streaks or is it just random chaos?

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lily_gibson13•20d ago

TIL most people mess up forge welding temps by at least 100 degrees

I was at a hammer-in near Denver last weekend and this guy kept trying to weld at a dull red heat (you know, like barely glowing) and wondering why his joints kept falling apart. He had the right flux, right hammer technique, but his steel was way too cold to fuse properly - about 200 degrees below where it needed to be. How do you folks check your welding heat without a temp gun, just by the color of the metal or something else?

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jenny_fox•22d ago

Question about welding thin sheet metal with a flux core setup

I used to crank the heat way up on thin gauge stuff thinking it'd burn through cleaner, but after ruining 3 panels on a 1965 Ford truck in my shop last month, I finally backed off to a lower setting. Turns out, running a 0.030 wire at 30 amps with a steady hand gave me way less warping and blowouts on 18-gauge steel. Has anyone else found a specific trick for keeping 1/16 inch material flat without using a copper backing bar?

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brookekelly•23d ago

Unpopular opinion: hand forged nails are a waste of time for most projects

Tbh I used to swear by making my own nails for every timber frame I built. Spent like 6 hours forging 50 of them for a shed last spring. Then I bought a box of 100 machine cut nails from a place in Vermont for $12 and the project came out just as solid. Has anyone else ditched hand forged hardware for certain jobs?

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rivera.simon•25d ago

Walked into an old shop last week and saw a coal forge still in use

I started smithing back in 98, and by then most guys had already switched to propane. Last week I visited a buddy in rural Missouri who still runs a side draft coal forge from the 40s. The difference in how the steel moves under the hammer was night and day compared to my gas setup. That coal fire just hits different, gives you a softer, more forgiving heat on the steel. Has anyone else here gone back to coal after years on gas?

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the_spencer•26d ago

Warning: Why I stopped using angle grinders for forge scale after losing a finger tip to a kickback

Used to grab my 4.5 inch grinder with a flap disc for every piece of scale and burr, no gloves half the time. Last fall at my shop near Springfield, Illinois, a knot in some railroad spike caught the wheel wrong and the thing ripped back so hard it took the tip off my left index finger in two seconds flat. Now I use a file and a wire brush on a bench grinder for all the rough stuff, takes a little longer but I still got all ten digits. Anyone else had a close call with power tools on forged pieces?

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singh.jessica•26d ago

That $80 hammer I swore was overpriced changed my swing in 2 days

Picked up a Hofi hammer from a guy at a hammer-in near Richmond about 6 months back. I figured it was just hype and my old 2 pounder was fine. But the offset handle made it so my knuckles stopped hitting the anvil on every other strike. First time I used it on a set of tongs, I got cleaner sets in half the blows. Anyone else find a tool they fought buying that ended up being worth it?

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the_sarah•28d ago

My anvil took a chip last Tuesday and I'm still kicking myself

I was working on a railroad spike knife in my shop near Springfield, and a glancing blow from my 3 pound hammer caught the edge of my anvil just right... chipped off a piece about the size of a dime. It's a vintage Fisher from the 1940s, so I'm pretty bummed about it. Anyone else had to deal with an anvil repair, or do I just need to grind it smooth and move on?

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cooper.nathan•29d ago

Had to pick between a coal forge and propane last month.

I went with propane for the cleaner startup, but after three weeks I'm fighting with the regulator more than I ever thought I would. Anyone else deal with constant flame issues on a new propane setup?

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torres.elizabeth•1mo ago

TIL tempering a blade in my kitchen oven was a bad idea

I was trying to temper a little paring knife and figured my home oven would work fine. Set it to 400 and left it for an hour, came back to find my wife's cookie sheet warped and smoking. Took me three more tries and a toaster oven from a garage sale to finally get the temp right. The whole thing cost me about 3 days and $15 for the used toaster oven. Has anyone else had a kitchen tool disaster from forging?

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rileyw72•1mo ago

My grandfather's anvil finally got a new home after 50 years

I was cleaning out my uncle's barn up near Barrie and found my granddad's old 150-pound Peter Wright anvil sitting under a tarp. It's got this beautiful ring to it, you know, no cracks or chips that I could feel. I buiit a proper stand for it out of oak last week and finally set it up in my own shop. Has anyone else inherited a tool from family that just feels different to work with?

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willow244•1mo ago

Note on quenching oils after a trip to a forge demo in Ohio

Honestly, I went to a blacksmithing demo last weekend at a small farm in Ohio, and the guy running it talked about how his quenching oil went bad after just 3 months. He said he didn't filter it regularly and it got all sludgy, which messed up his hardening on a batch of 10 knives. I always just assumed oil lasts forever, but now I'm checking my own bucket every 2 weeks. He recommended running it through a fine mesh strainer after each use, which sounds simple but I never thought to do it. Has anyone else dealt with oil getting too thick or dirty over time?

2 comments