That master smith in Ohio told me to forge hotter, not harder. He was right.

Old guy named Walt at a demo outside Columbus watched me beat my brains out on a piece of 1095 and just said "you're fighting the steel, kid." I was used to working at a lower orange because I was scared of burning thin stock, so I kept hammering like crazy to move it. He had me crank the forge up to a bright yellow and the same piece basically shaped itself, took maybe 4 minutes instead of 20. Has anyone else held a habit like that for years just because some early tutorial told you to? I've been hearing the opposite advice from younger smiths lately, so I'm curious which camp you all land in.

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patricia_king2313d ago

Four minutes instead of twenty, just from heat? That's wild, I've never heard that before.