Saw something smart at a tiny forge in rural Vermont

I was up near St. Johnsbury last month visiting family and stopped at this one-man shop off a dirt road. The guy had a homemade power hammer made from an old car axle and it worked smoother than some $3,000 units I've seen at trade shows. Anyone else notice that smaller shops seem to come up with the best DIY solutions?

2 comments

2 Comments

pipergonzalez18d ago

Oh that homemade power hammer sounds awesome! I saw something similar at a forge in New Hampshire last fall where the guy used a truck leaf spring for his anvil. Those one-man shops have to get creative because they don't have big budgets for fancy equipment. It's honestly impressive what they can build with scrap and some welding skills. Makes you wonder why more people don't try making their own tools.

the_harper18d ago

Right, and people get scared off by the welding part but it's really just practice and watching some YouTube videos to figure it out.