An old timer at the New England Blacksmiths meetup told me to try a deeper chamfer on the edges before stacking and I got perfect bonding on the first try, has anyone else had success with pre-weld prep tricks?
Ive been beating myself up over forge welding since I started in my backyard setup in Denver three years ago. Last week I had the heat just right and the flux flowed perfect, and it actually held together like it was supposed to. Anyone else have that one technique that took way longer than you expected to click?
I used to go at hot metal with a regular wire brush to knock off scale, but a retired smith at a demo in Kentucky told me to try a brass brush instead since it won't gouge the surface. Now I keep a brass brush within arm's reach and my finish work looks way cleaner. Anybody else switch tools after a random piece of advice?
Been running my own shop for about 8 years now and I keep a little tally on my shop wall for forge welds. Not sure why I started doing it, maybe some old timer told me to keep track. Hit 500 this Tuesday on a gate latch repair. Felt weird because I remember being pumped at 100 and now 500 just felt like another Tuesday. Anyone else keep weird stats like this or just me?
I keep seeing folks online and at the shop reaching for 4140 for simple tools like punches and chisels. Over at the Tri-State Forge meetup last month, three guys told me it was the best all-around steel, but I think 1095 does a better job for hand tools that need a hard edge. 4140 is tough, sure, but I have had more consistent results with 1095 after heat treating at 1475 degrees F. Has anyone else found 1095 holds an edge longer for everyday striking tools?
Last Tuesday I was working on a set of gate hinges for a customer in Boise and everything just clicked - the steel moved perfect, my hammer hits were spot on, and I finished all six pieces in one afternoon instead of the usual two days. My forge temp stayed steady the whole time without me messing with the air feed, which never happens. Has anyone else had a day where the metal just seemed to cooperate better than usual?
An old timer over at Piedmont Forge told me my anvil was way too low and I brushed him off for six months. After two messed up leaf projects and a nagging back ache I finally raised it 4 inches, total game changer for my hammer control. Any of you ever fight the urge to keep your comfort zone instead of listening to older guys?
I was working on a coat hook at a hammer-in near Denver last spring, and this 70 year old blacksmith walks up and tells me my steel looks like it's fighting me because I'm not letting it soak long enough. He said he always works at a bright orange heat and never lets it drop below cherry. But in my experience, running that hot on thinner stock just burns the scale off and leaves pitting. Has anyone else run into this debate, or am I just being stubborn?
I fired up my forge last Tuesday after a month off, loaded some 1095 for a camp knife, and about 20 minutes in the grate just buckled right under the firepot. Made this loud groan then dropped half the coal into the ash dump. Turns out I had been ignoring hairline cracks in the cast iron for months, thinking they were just surface stuff. I spent the next 2 hours fishing hot steel out of the ash with tongs and rigging a temporary grate from rebar. Has anyone else dealt with a forge firepot failure like that or am I the only one who got complacent?
I tried running my forge on a cheap grill tank hookup vs a proper regulator setup last year and the flame was all over the place - almost had a flashback. Switching to a real adjustable regulator fixed everything, has anyone else had close calls with bad gas flow?
I went to visit a buddy's forge out in Ohio last weekend and his anvil was totally covered in surface rust. He keeps it in an old barn that doesn't have any climate control and the summer humidity is brutal there. I told him to hit it with some boiled linseed oil but he said he just lets it patina over time. It got me thinking about how most blacksmiths ignore rust on their anvils unless it gets really bad. My own anvil lives in a heated garage so I never deal with this problem. Does anyone else just let their anvil get rusty or do you guys proactively oil it up?
I kept getting tiny cracks on my chef knives and blamed my heat treat. Turns out I was using canola oil when I should have been using warm fast oil for that 1095 steel. Has anyone else wasted a whole weekend on a dumb rookie mistake like that?
I've been forging for about 5 years now, mostly with coal because that's what my grandpa taught me. Last month at a meetup in Portland, a guy told me I was wasting time with coal and should try propane for consistent heat. He said it cuts your forge time by half and leaves less scale on the steel. I tried his setup and he was right about the temperature control being way easier. But now I miss the way coal lets you work a longer piece without reheating as much. Anyone else get a big change suggested that they actually tried and stuck with?
I was reading through an old blacksmithing forum archive from like 2008 and found a guy who tested hardness on different quench mediums with a file and a rockwell tester. Turns out used motor oil actually gave him less consistent results than plain canola oil on mild steel projects. I mean everyone online talks about how motor oil is this magical cheap quenchant but that data made me rethink it. I tried canola oil on a few knives last month and honestly the finish came out way cleaner with no weird smoke or smell. Maybe it's just me but I think we all jumped on the motor oil train without really testing it. Has anyone else run actual comparison tests on quenchants or are we just going off what the old guys at the shop told us?
I was grabbing some leaf springs at the salvage place last saturday and this guy in his 70s walks over and says "you know you can get better steel out of old truck axles right?" Told me exactly where to look and I walked out with a 4 foot chunk of 5160 for $12. Anybody else had random strangers drop knowledge on you at weird places?
Finally got my hands on a coal forge setup and worked with it steady for a month. The heat control is way different, I had to relearn how to read the fire instead of just turning a knob. Anyone else switch fuel types and find one way more forgiving on certain projects?
I always thought those guys who zip tie their hammers and tongs to the anvil stand were just being extra. Figured I'd remember where everything goes. Then last month I was working on a set of three matching fireplace pokers for a customer in Boise. Must have grabbed the wrong hammer 15 times in one afternoon because they all looked the same in my hand. Now every single hammer head has a colored zip tie on it matching a sticker on the shelf above my anvil. Red for the 2lb cross peen, blue for the rounding hammer, yellow for the ball peen. Saves me maybe 30 seconds each swap but over a 6 hour shift that adds up to a lot of heat still in the steel. Anyone else color code their tools or do you just memorize by feel?
I thought I was getting a steal on a 100-pound anvil from some guy in Boise, but it turned out to be cast iron with a welded face. After three projects, the face chipped and I could barely set a hammer blow without it ringing like a bell. Did I mention the face had a crack I missed cause it was painted over? Anyone else get burned by a fake anvil and have a tip for spotting them before you hand over cash?
I was at a swap meet in Ohio last month and an old blacksmith named Earl watched me swing a hammer for 2 minutes before he walked over and told me my handle was cut 4 inches too long for my grip. He grabbed a saw and trimmed it right there, and suddenly I wasn't fighting the tool anymore. Has anyone else had a random stranger at a show fix a basic thing you've been doing wrong for years?
I used to swear by my old coal forge, thought it was the only way to get that traditional heat you read about in the books. Then last spring, a buddy at a hammer-in let me try his propane setup for a few heats on a deer hoof knife. The temp control was just so much easier, no constant fiddling with the air blast or dealing with clinkers every 15 minutes. I held out for two more months before I caved and bought a used Mr. Volcano off someone moving out of state. Now I can actually focus on the steel instead of fighting the fire the whole time. Has anyone else made a similar jump and felt like kicking themselves for waiting so long?
I tried forge welding a stack of three 1/4 inch strips last Tuesday and only the outer two fused, the middle one stayed black where the fire couldn't reach it, has anyone else had this trouble with small stock in a propane forge?
I always thought propane forges were cheating somehow, but my buddy Dave let me use his at his shop in Akron last weekend. After 4 heats on a 2 inch round bar, I was really surprised how even the temp stayed across the whole piece. The quiet was the weirdest part though, no blower noise at all. Has anyone else switched and actually stuck with it long term?
I keep a little notebook near my forge to jot down how much coal I go through each week, mostly out of curiosity. Last month I added it up and realized I've burned exactly 1000 pounds since I started keeping count back in February. That's a lot of heat for a guy who just makes hooks and bottle openers in his garage. Has anyone else ever calculated how much fuel they actually use in a year?
So I'm out in the shop last week, hammering away on a bottle opener, and my anvil starts wobbling like crazy with every hit. I look under the stand and the whole oak stump I had it on is basically mulch inside because I never sealed the bottom. I spent $60 on a proper steel stand from a guy in Toledo and now my hammer blows actually go into the metal instead of shaking the whole floor. Anyone else ever build their whole setup on something that was doomed to rot?