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?

2 comments

2 Comments

alicea2617d ago

Scaring the metal" is a perfect way to put it. I was basically just yelling at my anvil for a year.

spencer4117d ago

Yelling at your anvil for a year? I get the idea but that feels a bit over the top. It's just hitting hot metal with a hammer, not some deep psychological battle. People make blacksmithing sound like you're fighting the soul of the steel. It's a skill you learn, like welding or woodwork. You get better by practicing the moves, not by having a shouting match with a tool.