c/blacksmiths

I got called out for my hammer control on a commission last month

A client in Tacoma pointed out a slight ripple pattern on a fire poker I forged, saying the texture looked accidental, not intentional. I switched from my usual 2.5 pound cross peen to a lighter rounding hammer and focused on keeping my strikes more even, which actually sped up my finishing time. Has anyone else had a piece of feedback that made you change a basic tool in your routine?

PSA: I was reading about the Ulfberht swords and the carbon content blew my mind

I always thought old Viking swords were just basic iron, but a book I got from the library said some Ulfberht blades had over 1% carbon steel, which was crazy advanced for around 800 AD. That's almost modern tool steel quality, and they were doing it over a thousand years ago. How do you think they managed that kind of heat control without our gear, and is pure historical replication even possible now?

Just had a forge weld fail on a custom gate hinge mid-quench

Was in my shop last Thursday finishing a set of heavy-duty hinges for a client's garden gate. Got the first one to a bright yellow heat, fluxed it, and set the weld. Everything looked good until I quenched it in my slack tub and heard a sharp 'ping'. A crack about an inch long opened up right along the weld line. I'm pretty sure my heat was a bit uneven, maybe from a draft in the shop. Had to cut it off and start that piece over, which set me back half a day. Anyone have a solid method for checking weld temp consistency before quenching on larger pieces?

TIL a trick for straightening long stock from an old guy at a swap meet in Ohio

I was at the Ashland swap meet last fall, watching this old timer work on a piece of 1/2 inch square bar about 4 feet long. He didn't use a press or a straightening jig. He just heated a small section in the middle, laid it flat on the anvil, and tapped the high spots on the cool ends with a cross-peen hammer. The heat in the middle let the whole piece flex without kinking. I tried it on a fence rail last week and it came out perfect. Anyone have other tricks for straightening without a lot of gear?

Question about forge welding. I was struggling with a 3/8 inch mild steel bar for a gate hinge. Kept getting cold shuts. Tried flux paste instead of powder for once, and it actually stuck on the first heat.

My tongs decided to retire mid-heat on a gate hinge last Tuesday.

TIL a weird trick with a wet rag for stubborn forge scale

I was trying to clean up a big, flat piece of mild steel for a tabletop project last week and the scale just would not come off with my usual wire wheel. Out of frustration, I grabbed a soaking wet shop rag and draped it over the hot steel right after pulling it from the forge, maybe 1200 degrees. Let it sizzle for about ten seconds, then pulled it off. The scale cracked and flaked off like crazy when I hit it with the hammer, way easier than before. Has anyone else tried something like this, or is it just a weird fluke that worked for me?

Hit 500 hours on my main forge and the firebrick finally gave out

I was working on a set of fireplace tools yesterday when I noticed a pretty big crack running through the back wall of the firebox. I checked my logbook and I've put exactly 500 hours of heat on those bricks since I built the thing three years ago. What's a good sign it's time to replace the whole lining versus just patching the one spot?

PSA: Bought a cheap forge burner that cost me a full day and $80

I picked up a no-name propane burner online for about $60 to save some cash. It worked okay for maybe two heats, then the flame went all orange and weak. I spent a whole Saturday trying to adjust it, thinking it was my air mix. Turns out the internal jet was drilled wrong from the factory. Had to scrap it and buy a proper one from a known supplier, which set me back another $80. Total waste of a day's work and the original cost. Has anyone else had a burner fail that fast? What brands do you actually trust?

My mentor in Boise told me to always quench a leaf spring in used motor oil

He swore it gave a better temper than new oil or water. I tried it on a knife blank last month and it came out way too soft, almost like it didn't harden at all. Had to redo the whole heat treat with canola. Anyone have a go-to quenching medium for 5160 steel?

A near miss with my old forge blower in Tacoma last month

I was working on a set of fireplace tools and the motor on my old Champion blower started making a high pitched whine. I shut it down and found the bearings were completely dry, the housing was almost too hot to touch. If I hadn't caught it, I'm sure it would have seized or sparked. Has anyone else had a close call with an older blower like that?

Found an old coal forge in my grandpa's barn last month

It was under a tarp, covered in dust. I cleaned it up and got it running again with some fresh coke. The fire pot is cast iron and must be 80 years old. It heats up way slower than my propane forge but the heat feels different, more even maybe. Anyone else still use coal for certain projects?

Saw something at the county fair forge demo that made me nervous

I was at the Clark County Fair last weekend, watching the blacksmith demo they have every year. The smith was working on a simple leaf, but I noticed his anvil was sitting on a plain wooden stump, no chains or straps holding it down. Every time he struck, the whole thing rocked back and forth, maybe an inch each way. He was using a 3 pound hammer, and you could see the anvil shift on the off hits. After about ten minutes of this, I saw him miss his mark slightly and the hammer bounced off the anvil's edge because of the movement. He just shook his hand out and kept going. It made me think how easy it would be for that thing to walk right off the stand, or for a real bad bounce to hurt someone. Has anyone else run into setups like this at public events? What's the best way to suggest a fix without sounding like a know-it-all?

Warning: I used to quench my small blades in a bucket of water from the tap.

After a few cracked pieces, a guy at the Tacoma guild meetup told me to try preheated canola oil instead. Now I keep a little pot on the forge just for that, and my success rate went way up. Anyone else switch their quench medium for specific steels?

TIL my old hand-cranked blower from a garage sale is way better than the new electric one I bought.

After burning through two $150 electric blowers in a year, I went back to the 50-year-old hand crank and realized the steady, quiet air control is perfect for forge welding, so what's your take on modern tools versus old-school reliability?

I was hammering like a maniac for two years before a guy in Boise showed me the light

I was working on a simple leaf spring knife, swinging way too hard and fast. This old timer at the Idaho Forge Council meet last month just watched me for a minute. He finally said, 'You're not hitting the metal, you're just scaring it.' He had me slow down to maybe one solid hit every three seconds, focusing on where the hammer landed. My blade shapes got cleaner in one afternoon than they had in months. Anyone else have a basic hammer rhythm they swear by?

Serious question, how long does it take you to get a forge weld to stick?

Spent three hours yesterday trying to weld a simple steel bar for a project. Heat looked right, flux was fresh, but it just wouldn't take. Finally got it on the fourth try. What's the one thing you check when a weld won't set?

Watching my neighbor fix his fence gate made me think about forge welding differently

So last week I was out in my yard, taking a break from a tricky leaf spring project, and I saw my neighbor across the street struggling with his old wooden gate. The top hinge had pulled out, and the whole thing was sagging. He didn't just screw it back in, he took the time to chisel out a bigger section of the post, glued in a new block of wood, and then re-set the hinge. It hit me that I'd been rushing my forge welds on that spring steel, just trying to get them to stick instead of making sure the surfaces were perfectly clean and prepped. I went back inside, spent an extra twenty minutes grinding everything to a bright finish, and the next weld was smooth as butter. It's funny how seeing a basic repair in a different trade can flip a switch in your head. Anyone else have a moment like that, where something totally unrelated made a blacksmithing technique click?

Heating a piece in my old propane forge versus the new coal one I built last month, the difference in weld quality is huge.

A customer's simple question made me rethink my whole quenching setup

I was finishing a batch of kitchen knives last month when a regular asked why I always quenched in a straight tank of oil. He said, 'Ever try moving it in a figure eight? My grandpa swore it stopped warping.' I brushed it off at first, but after three blades came out with a slight bend, I gave his idea a shot. I switched to a wider, shallow pan and started that figure eight motion for about 10 seconds post-quench. The next five blades were dead straight, no post-heat straightening needed. Has anyone else found a small change to their quench routine that fixed a big headache?

My neighbor's anvil face went from smooth to pitted in under a month

He got a new power hammer and didn't adjust the strike force for smaller work. The face was fine in early April, but by May it looked like the surface of the moon from repeated heavy hits on thin stock. He was using it on 1/8 inch mild steel without dialing the power back. Has anyone else seen damage happen that fast from a setup like that?

Had a chat with my neighbor about my new forge hood

I was showing off the new hood I built for my backyard forge, and my neighbor, who's a baker, just stared at it for a minute. He said, 'You know, that's basically just a giant, angry oven vent.' I'd never thought of it that way, but he's totally right. It kind of made me laugh and rethink my whole 'serious industrial equipment' vibe. Anyone else have a non-smith put your gear into a weird new light?

My cousin watched me forge a knife and said it looked like I was 'angry at the steel'.

I realized I was hammering way too hard, so I switched to lighter, faster strikes. Anyone else get feedback that totally changed their hammer technique?

A welder at a shop in Spokane showed me a trick for cleaning scale off a hammer head

I was working on a rounding hammer last year and the scale was being stubborn. This older guy, Pete, saw me struggling and said, 'Kid, try a wire cup on a grinder, but run it wet.' He had me dip the head in a bucket of water after every few seconds of grinding. It kept the metal cool and the scale came off way easier without messing up the temper. Has anyone else used that water trick for cleanup?

TIL my old cross peen hammer was holding me back

I was forging a set of fireplace tools last week and kept fighting to move the metal. I grabbed a buddy's 2.5 pound rounding hammer on a whim, and the difference was instant. The round face spreads the force better and the weight just sinks in, so I'm not hitting as many times. Has anyone else made a simple hammer switch that changed their forging speed?