The Design Community Hub

c/blacksmiths

31

troy_butler7•1d ago

My anvil went from a ringing bell to a dead thud after 6 months of use

I picked up a beat-up 150-pound anvil from a farm sale in Ohio last spring, and it used to ring so loud I had to wear double earplugs (my neighbor actually complained). After about 6 months of daily forging, that ring just vanished and turned into a solid thud - I'm guessing the face finally settled from all the hammering. Has anyone else had their anvil change sound over time like that, or did I just get lucky with a worn-in tool?

20

derekwalker•3d ago

Spent $150 on a cheap anvil from Amazon and it chipped on the third project

I figured a budget anvil would be fine for basic work, but that thing was so soft it mushroomed and chipped within a week, has anyone else had luck with the cheaper cast iron ones or should I just save up for a proper steel anvil?

8

susanm22•4d ago

Why does nobody talk about heating your anvil before a heavy forge session?

I used to just start hammering cold steel on a cold anvil first thing in the morning. Then an old guy at a demo in Ohio told me to throw a hot billet on there for 10 minutes first. Said the rebound and energy transfer is way better. Tried it and he was right. My shoulder hurts less and the steel moves faster. Has anyone else noticed a difference with a warm anvil or am I just imagining things?

2

emmar75•22d ago

Had a week where every weld went wrong no matter what I tried

Last Tuesday I snapped three chisels in a row on the same piece of leaf spring steel, then my forge blower died halfway through Wednesday, and by Friday I'd burned through a whole tank of propane just trying to get a simple scarf joint to stick - has anyone else had a run like that where you just want to throw your hammer across the shop?

11

alicebarnes•26d ago

I compared a gas forge to a coal forge for a month straight

Back in March I set up two forges side by side in my shed near Springfield. I used a Devil Forge single burner on one side and my old coal forge on the other. The coal forge got steel to welding heat in about half the time, plus I had way more control over where the heat sat in the piece. Has anyone else made the switch and stuck with it?

18

uma_patel19•27d ago

My anvil flipped over in the middle of a demo

I was out at a job site in Fairfield last Tuesday. Had my anvil set up on a makeshift stump. Started hammering a hot piece and the whole thing tipped sideways. Took me 20 minutes to get it reset with the customer just staring at me. Anyone else ever have your setup just betray you mid-strike?

24

ninam86•28d ago

Vent: A 70 year old smith told me my hammer technique was all wrong

I was at a meetup in Portland last spring and this retired smith watched me make a hook. He said I was gripping the hammer too tight and swinging from my shoulder instead of my wrist. I was mad at first but I tried his way the next day and my arm didn't ache after 2 hours. Has anyone else had an old timer call them out on something basic that totally changed their work?

13

blair_dixon•28d ago

Old timer at the hammer-in said I was grinding too hot and ruining my edge geometry

Watched him forge a knife in 15 minutes with barely any grinding and just water on the wheel, took me 6 months of heavy belt use on a single blade before I tried his method and got way sharper results - has anyone else switched to wet grinding after fighting with dry belts?

31

bailey.xena•28d ago

Talked to an old timer at a hammer-in last weekend who said he quenches in canola oil at exactly 130 degrees and I've been just guessing temps for 4 years like a fool.

He said anything hotter than 135 and you risk cracking the steel on a deep quench but too cold and it won't harden right, has anyone else actually bothered to measure their oil temp or am I the only one winging it?

17

amy_reed79•28d ago

Old timer told me my hammer faces were too convex

Back when I started 12 years ago a retired smith watched me work at a demo in Nashville. He said my hammer faces had more curve than a country road and I was leaving crescent dents in everything. I was stubborn at first but finally flattened them down to about a 4 inch radius. Took me a month to adjust but my surface work got way cleaner. Anybody else get a basic tool tip that took forever to actually sink in?

19

the_aaron•1mo ago

That big anvil at the scrapyard looked great until I drove 45 minutes to check it

Saw an ad on Facebook Marketplace for a 150 pound anvil near Raleigh. Guy said it was a vintage Peter Wright in good shape. Drove out there on my lunch break and it was a cast iron chunk with a broken horn and a face that looked like someone tried to grind it flat with a 4 inch angle grinder. I walked away empty handed but wasted about $12 in gas and an hour. Anyone else had luck finding real anvils at estate sales or is it all just Chinesium now?

2

stellag21•1mo ago

My hammer head flew off in the middle of a rush order last Friday

I was working on a custom gate hinge in my shop near Phoenix when my cross peen hammer head just flew off the handle mid-swing. It hit the concrete floor and cracked a tile, and I stood there for a second trying to figure out what happened. Turns out the wedge had worked loose after months of heavy use and I hadn't checked it. I had to stop everything and spend an hour fixing it with a new wedge and epoxy. Has anyone else had a tool fail on them during a tight deadline like that?

4

taylor_moore•1mo ago

Took me 3 years to realize I was hammering wet steel

I kept getting these tiny cracks near the edges of my blades and couldn't figure out why. Then a guy at a hammer-in in Oregon pointed out my steel was still wet from the quench when I went back to the anvil. Has anyone else dealt with moisture causing hidden fractures?

11

fiona_murray•1mo ago

My homemade forge door hinge gave out after 2 weeks

I built this little propane forge back in March and used some cheap strap hinges I had laying around for the door. Worked fine for maybe 2 weeks of light use then one side just snapped clean off during a heat treat on a kitchen knife. The whole door dropped and almost hit my quench bucket. I ended up welding on some beefier 3/8" steel hinges from Tractor Supply that cost me maybe $12. Anyone else had hardware fail at the worst possible moment?

8

shah.evan•1mo ago

Just realized I was forging blades way too cool for 2 years

Watched a guy at a shop in Portland last month heat his steel to orange instead of red and the edge retention was night and day - has anyone else had luck pushing their forging temp higher?

19

michaelcoleman•1mo ago

Wasted $200 on a forge that couldn't hold heat

I picked up a single-burner forge off a discount site a few months back, thinking I was saving money. Figured it would be fine for small blades and some basic tool work. First few heats it seemed okay, but after maybe 15 minutes the interior would drop hard and I couldn't get a consistent temp. Ended up chasing that problem for weeks, rechecking seals and gas flow, but the insulation was just too thin. Finally I cut my losses and bought a proper two-burner from a local guy in Springfield. That old one is sitting in my shed now as a reminder. Anyone else get burned by a cheap forge that just couldn't keep up?

19

nina834•1mo ago

Paid $200 for a forge welding tutorial set that taught me nothing new

Bought a complete video pack from a popular smith online thinking it would level up my pattern welding. Turns out it was just the same basic stuff I already knew from watching free YouTube channels. Anyone else get burned by overpriced tutorials that don't go beyond beginner level?

18

gavin_mason31•1mo ago

Old timer told me to water my forge fire clay every night and I thought he was crazy

Mike the farrier near Durango said to spray down the clay lining after each use, I ignored him for 6 months and now I got cracks so bad I gotta reline the whole forge this weekend, anyone else had a similar piece of advice they brushed off at first?

6

troy_butler7•1mo ago

Found out a 10-pound sledge only weighs 8 pounds new - who's fudging the numbers?

I was at a supply shop in Tulsa last week and weighed a brand new 10-pound sledge on their scale. It came in at 8 pounds 3 ounces. That's nearly 20% lighter than advertised. I asked the counter guy and he said it depends on the steel density and the handle weight cutting into it. But isn't false advertising a problem here? Has anyone else checked their hammer weights against a scale?

24

wadepalmer•1mo ago

Hit 1000 hammer strikes on a single project and my arm is telling me about it

I was working on a big decorative gate for a friend, just a basic scroll design, and I kept count out of curiosity. When I hit 1000 swings on the one piece, I was honestly shocked at how many it took for something that still looks so simple. Do you guys ever track stuff like that, or am I just slow?

6

ninam86•1mo ago

A potter friend said my work looked 'too perfect' and it stuck with me

I was showing her some new kitchen knives I forged, all clean lines and even grinds. She picked one up and said, 'These are beautiful, but they feel a bit... cold. Where's the hammer?' I realized I'd been grinding out every single forge mark for months, trying to make everything look like it came from a machine. It made me wonder if I was losing the hand-made feel. Do you ever worry about making things too clean?

22

wendy_clark•1mo ago

I used to think any old anvil would work until I spent 6 months fighting a cracked one

Picked up a beat up anvil at a farm sale for $80 about a year ago. Figured it was good enough. After months of bad hammer strikes and wondering why my work looked sloppy, I finally had a guy at the Eugene meetup take a look. He pointed out a hairline crack running through the face. Switched to a borrowed anvil last month and my hammer control improved overnight. Anyone else ever wasted time on bad gear before figuring out the problem?

25

skylerr23•1mo ago

Vent: I was flipping through a 1950s shop manual and saw they used to temper springs in used motor oil

Found this old book at a garage sale in Boise, and it said they'd quench coil springs in drained crankcase oil to get a specific blue temper color. I tried it on a small leaf spring last week and it actually worked way better than my usual canola oil. Has anyone else used old automotive fluids for tempering, or is that just a weird old-timer trick?

24

anthony165•1mo ago

Warning: The 'historic' forge at the county fair in Springfield was a total joke

They had a guy just tapping cold iron with a tiny ball peen on a concrete block, calling it a demo. It made our whole craft look like a cheap party trick. Has anyone else seen a public display that was just embarrassingly wrong?

19

morgan.cameron•1mo ago

A guy at the Montana forge meet said something that changed how I set my anvil

I was at the meet in Bozeman last fall, and this smith named Carl watched me hammer for about five minutes. He walked over, put his hand on my anvil stand, and said, 'Your stand is too light. You're losing half your force into the floor.' He showed me his setup, which was a 300-pound steel plate bolted to a concrete pad. I've since filled my stand with sand and scrap steel, and the difference is huge. Has anyone else found a simple fix that made a big difference in their strike efficiency?