c/blacksmiths

Blowing up charcoal vs. buying coal, man I miss the old days

I used to hand-crack a cast iron blower over a charcoal fire back in 2009 behind my uncle's shed in Missoula, but now I just flip a switch on my gas forge and it's not the same, anyone else feel like the heat's got less soul when you don't have to work for it?

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cora863•2d ago

Gas forge vs coal, saw an old timer's setup at a demo and now I'm torn

Went to a shop demo in Ohio last weekend. The guy running it was 70 plus, been forging for 50 years. He fired up his coal forge and had this whole ritual with the water spray and the coke rake. Made it look easy. Then another guy there, younger fella, had a propane forge going and heated three bars in the time the old timer was still fiddling with his fire. Ive used coal twice in my life and honestly got frustrated with the smoke and the constant adjusting. But that old timer said coal gives you a softer heat, better control on thin stock. My gas forge is set and forget but I do burn up 1/8 inch leaves if I blink. So which is it for you all? Is coal worth the mess for finer work, or is gas the way and the old timer is just set in his ways?

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mason.brian•3d ago

Skeptical about a junkyard anvil, now I use it daily

Picked up a beat-up anvil from a scrap yard in Toledo for $40 last spring. The face had dings and the edges were rounded off, so I figured it was only good for a doorstop. Spent a weekend grinding the face flat and welding a hardie hole back in, and honestly it hits better than my buddy's new one that cost 10 times as much. The rebound is solid and it rings nice with a quiet touch. Anyone else rescued a rough anvil and had it surprise you?

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hugomurray•3d ago

Propane forge vs charcoal, I switched back after 2 years

I mean everyone swore by propane for consistency but I got tired of the gas bill and the weird scaling on my work. Built a simple charcoal forge last spring for like $40 in scrap pipe and firebrick, and honestly the heat feels softer and more controllable for small stuff like leaves and bottle openers. Maybe it's just my setup, but I've had fewer burnt edges and less scale since the switch. Anyone else find charcoal easier to read the steel color in? Or am I the only one going backwards here?

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the_mary•6d ago

Old timer told me to skip the flux, best advice I ever ignored

Back in 2018 I was apprenticing at a shop near Tulsa and this guy who'd been forging since the 70s kept telling me to stop using borax on my forge welds. Said it was a crutch and real smiths just read the heat. I tried it his way for like 3 weeks and every single weld came out with cold shuts. Then I went back to flux and my scarf joints finally held on a set of gate hinges. I still think about that grumpy dude whenever I reach for the borax. Anyone else get advice from old timers that sounds cool but just doesn't work in practice?

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cameronn62•6d ago

Anvil face chipped on a Tuesday, spent the whole day fixing my workflow

Was drawing out a 1 inch bar on my old Fisher anvil outside Pittsburgh and a chunk of the face just popped off near the edge, scared the hell out of me. Ended up dressing the edge with a flap disc and switching to a hardy cutting plate for that job, but now I'm wondering if I should weld it up or just hunt a replacement. Anyone else dealt with a chipped face and what did you do about it?

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shane_fisher37•7d ago

Quenching in warm oil instead of cold gave me tougher blades, and I'm sticking with it

Tried a 130 degree oil bath last month on some 1084 knives after reading an old forum post, and the edge durability surprised me so much that I'm wondering if everyone else who swears by cold quenches has actually tested both side by side, has anyone else seen this?

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garcia.tyler•7d ago

That demo in Flagstaff made me rethink how I handle scale buildup

Went to a two day workshop up in Flagstaff last spring, mostly to watch a guy who does restoration for old ranch gates. He spent about 20 minutes on a piece that had rust and scale so thick I would've just hit it with a flap disc and called it good. Instead he heated it slow, brushed it while it was still at that dull red stage, and the scale basically fell off in sheets. It was so simple I felt stupid for never trying it. On my own stuff I always rushed to get it hot and hammered, then fought scale the whole way. Now I take my time on anything with heavy buildup, especially if the piece is thin or has detail work. I'm curious if anyone else has seen a demo or a shop that made them totally change their workflow on something you thought you had figured out. Was it worth it in the long run or did you go back to your old way?

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the_mila•7d ago

Grinding my own flux vs buying it pre-mixed, night and day difference

I used to just grab the standard borax mix from the supply shop, never really thought about it. Then about 6 weeks ago I ran out mid-project and tried making my own with boric acid and a little charcoal dust, following an old forum recipe. The stuff worked way better on some stubborn steel I was forge welding, it flowed smoother and didn't bubble up as much. I'm not saying store bought is bad, it's fine for most stuff, but making my own gave me more control over the heat range somehow. The time spent measuring and mixing was maybe 15 minutes for a batch that's lasted me through 8 or 9 sessions. Has anyone else messed around with custom flux recipes, or am I overthinking this? I'd love to hear what ratios work for you all.

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scott.miles•8d ago

Damascus demo in Ohio changed my mind on 'proper' welds

Saw a guy at the Columbus hammer-in forge-weld with a heavy scarf and loose scale, told me I was overthinking it. I spent 12 years chasing perfect prep and his ugly billet held better than half my clean joints. Anyone else drop the textbook and go rougher?

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paul286•9d ago

Finally visited that old forge in Cooperstown

Took a detour last month to the farmers museum out there. They got a working blacksmith shop, still using the original bellows from the 1800s. Watched the guy draw out a set of hinge straps, took him about 40 minutes start to finish. The way he kept the heat even, no hot spots, reminded me how much I rush my own work. Walked away wanting to slow down and pay more attention to the fire color. Anybody else get that feeling watching a real old timer work?

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hollyl45•9d ago

Just realized my anvil was the problem, not my hammer technique

I spent 3 months blaming myself for crooked leaves and uneven scrolls. Tried different hammer angles, different heats, watched a dozen videos. Then one day I put a straightedge across my anvil face and found a low spot right in the middle that was about 1/16 inch deep. That thing was 50 years old and I figured it was fine. Turns out a local shop in Springfield re-dressed the face for $60 and now my work lines up way better. Has anyone else found hidden damage on a used anvil that messed with their work for way longer than it should have?

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william_torres•12d ago

Twenty years of twisting leaves the same way, until a kid at a demo in Tulsa set me straight

I always twisted the scroll inward on the left side of my scrolls, figured it was just how it was done, then this apprentice at a weekend demo pointed out I was fighting the grain every single time and showed me his piece curled cleaner in half the passes, anyone else have a basic move they never questioned until someone younger spoke up?

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norab21•12d ago

Paid $80 for a used treadle hammer, best money I've spent in the shop

Picked up a beat up treadle hammer at a farm auction last fall for $80 and it took me two weekends to clean and rig it back up. That little thing has saved my arms on all the detail work since, has anyone else scored old hand tools that just won't quit?

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rodriguez.felix•13d ago

My new quench tank setup went sideways on a leaf spring

I switched to a 15 gallon vertical tank for quench oil last month, figured it would handle my leaf spring work better than my old horizontal one. First real quench, the spring warped something terrible, way worse than before, because I couldn't get it fully submerged at the right angle in the narrow opening. I learned that tank depth matters less than being able to swing the piece in smoothly, so now I'm back to my 20 gallon flat pot with a taller stand. Has anyone else fought with vertical quench tanks on longer pieces, or am I just missing some trick to make them work?

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the_derek•15d ago

Power hammer or treadle hammer, which one actually pays off?

Dropped $3,800 on an 88lb power hammer after my elbow gave out from hand hammering, and it cut my forging time in half. But my buddy swears a $200 treadle hammer did the same for him without the motor headaches. Has anyone else gone one way or the other and regretted it?

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williams.jenny•16d ago

Drove 2 hours for a demo anvil, ended up passing on it

Found a used 150 lb anvil on marketplace near Harrisburg, seller wanted $450. Drove out there with my truck and a buddy, checked the rebound with a ball bearing and it was decent, but the face had a nasty chip near the horn and the base was cracked. He wouldn't budge below $380, so I walked. Ended up ordering a new one from a shop in Ohio for $520 shipped, no regrets so far. Anyone else had to pass on a deal after making the drive?

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wendy391•16d ago

That demo at the Northwest forge meet changed my mind on power hammers

I used to say power hammers were cheating, like you weren't really working the steel. But last month at the Northwest forge meet in Portland, this guy let me try his 50 pounder for a few heats and I get it now. The control you get on the heavy hits is something you can't do by arm alone, and my shoulder didn't scream for two days after. Still won't buy one since I don't have the space or the cash, but I stopped judging folks who do. Has anyone else had a hands-on moment that flipped their opinion on a tool?

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the_emery•19d ago

The day I found out I'd been hardfacing everything wrong for 8 years

Was grinding down a worn excavator bucket in Tulsa last fall and an old guy walks by, asks why I'm using 1/16 rod on a 1/2 inch lip, and it hit me that I'd never once matched rod size to base metal thickness, just grabbed whatever was closest, so has anyone else had a similar moment where a stranger's offhand comment exposed a habit you'd baked in for years?

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wells.karen•22d ago

Coal vs. propane for my first demo, propane won by a mile

I had to pick between setting up a coal forge or dragging out my propane rig for a demo at the county fair last month. Coal is cheaper but the smoke and cleanup with a crowd just seemed like a hassle, so I went propane. It lit fast, held temp steady for 3 hours of leaf key demos, and nobody got smoky eyes. Has anyone else switched to propane for public events and never looked back?

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vera_palmer•23d ago

Chat with an old timer made me rethink my hammer technique after 15 years

I was at a hammer-in up near Lancaster last weekend and this blacksmith named Tom, must have been 70 plus, watched me work for a bit. He just said 'you're fighting your hammer instead of letting it work for you' and honestly I didn't get it at first. He showed me how he grips his hammer lighter and lets the weight do the swing instead of muscling it down. I tried it on a 1 inch square bar and my arm wasn't burning after 3 heats like usual. Made me wonder how many little habits I picked up that are actually making things harder. Has anyone else had a veteran smith point out something basic that totally changed your approach?

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diana_black•25d ago

Hit 500 damascus billets this month and didn't expect it to feel this different

I counted up my orders from the last two years and realized I've folded over 500 damascus billets in that time. It hit me that my pattern control got way more consistent somewhere around billet 400 without me even noticing. Has anyone else hit a random number like that and seen a big jump in their skill level?

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sarah_hart•26d ago

Coal vs propane forge - stuck with coal for 15 years now

Back in 2008 I had to pick between a coal forge and a propane one. Went with coal because my grandpa had piles of it in his shed. Took me a solid 3 years to get the fire right without burning everything. Heat control is still a pain compared to propane. But I can make way hotter fires for big pieces. Last month I welded a 50 pound plow blade no problem. Anyone else stick with an older method just because of family history?

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robinson.hannah•26d ago

Finally got a forge weld to hold on my first try

I've been messing around with a small propane forge in my garage for about 3 months now, mostly just making hooks and bottle openers. Yesterday I decided to try forge welding two pieces of 1/4-inch mild steel rod together for a fire poker. I heated them to bright orange, hit them with a little borax, and tapped them together. To my surprise, the weld actually held after the first pass. I learned that having a clean scale free surface is way more important than I thought. Has anyone else had luck with their first forge weld or were you like my buddy who blew through 10 tries?

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grace_gonzalez46•26d ago

Blew a hole through my anvil stand yesterday and had to fix it on the fly

I was forging a 1 inch round bar into a chisel at my shop near Springfield and got too aggressive with the hammer. The anvil tilted and the stand cracked right under the base plate, sending sparks everywhere. I grabbed some scrap 3/16 plate steel and welded a patch onto the stand in about 20 minutes. It's holding now but I'm wondering if I should just build a whole new stand out of tubing. Anyone here ever had a stand fail on them mid-strike?

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