At North Carolina Forge Council meeting last month, this old timer walked over and said you're gonna crack that blade so fast. He showed me his canola oil setup and I switched right then. Anyone else have someone fix a bad habit you didn't even know you had?
I spent like 4 hours yesterday trying to forge a basic pair of bolt tongs from 3/8 inch round stock. It was supposed to be a quick project but I kept messing up the rivet hole alignment and had to reheat like 6 times. Found out when I looked it up later that a lot of old timers on the IFI forum say beginners should expect to ruin 3 or 4 pairs before they get one right. That made me feel a bit better honestly. Anyone else have a simple project that kicked their butt way harder than expected?
Picked it up last Saturday near Dayton and after cleaning off the rust realized it still had good bite, way better than the cheap ones from the big box stores. Anyone else ever luck into old tools that just work better than new stuff?
I was just cleaning up my shop after a long Saturday and counted my finished spike knives... somehow I've made over 500 of them without really noticing. That's a lot of hours at the anvil just banging out the same shape over and over. Anyone else ever count up a specific project and get surprised by the total?
I've been using propane for years but last weekend I visited Bill's old blacksmith shop outside Dayton and he let me fire up his coal forge. The heat was way more even and I could get the steel to welding temp way faster than I ever could with my propane setup. Has anyone else made the switch and had a similar experience?
I always used charcoal from the hardware store because it was easy to get. Finally tried a 50 pound bag of bituminous coal from a supplier in Ohio last month. Heats up way faster and holds temp way steadier than charcoal ever did. Has anyone else made the switch and noticed a big difference in their welding heat?
Last week my buddy Dave dared me to make a knife out of an old railroad spike he found near the tracks out back of his shop. I figured it'd be a quick project, no big deal. Got the spike hot, started hammering it flat, and about 20 minutes in the whole thing split right down the middle like a piece of wet wood. Sparked up pretty bad too. Scared my dog and left a scorch mark on my anvil that's still there. Anyone else had a project go sideways because you were half drunk and in a hurry?
I dropped 75 bucks on these nice forged tongs with leather grips and the leather caught fire while I was pulling a 3/8 inch bar out of the forge, so now I'm back to using my rusty old ones - anyone else had fancy gear just fail on them like that?
I was dead set on using water for everything because that's how my grandpa did it. Then I ruined a 1095 blade I spent 6 hours on when it cracked right down the middle during quench. That failure made me read up on heat treating and now I use canola oil heated to 130 degrees for high carbon steel. Has anyone else had a bad experience sticking to old methods too long?
I found a thick brake drum at the scrap yard here in Tucson and spent a whole Sunday drilling and welding a firepot into it. Fired it up with my coal forge blower and within 10 minutes a hairline crack ran right down the side I welded. Guess I didn't preheat the drum enough before welding or used the wrong rod. Has anyone else tried making a forge from scrap and had it fall apart on you?
He said every new smith these days just dunks iron in water and calls it good, but he swore oil gives you way better control over cracks. Has anyone else dropped water for oil after years of doing it one way?
I spent 15 years just wailing on cold metal because I thought heating it up twice was a waste of time. Then last spring I was working on a set of fireplace tongs and a guy named Carl from the local guild watched me and said "you're just making more work for yourself." He was right, I stopped fighting the steel and started letting the heat do the heavy lifting... has anyone else had that "wait, I've been doing this wrong" moment?
I was tinkering with my homebuilt forge last weekend and the blower kept cutting out after 5 minutes. Tore the whole motor apart, checked bearings, cleaned the impeller, even rewired the switch. Six hours later I found a wire nut that was barely hanging on inside the junction box. One twist and it was fixed. I almost threw the whole thing in the scrap pile. Anyone else waste half a day on something that dumb?
Finally got a knife that held an edge instead of chipping to hell, turns out I was overheating the steel before quench and just had to watch the color closer, has anyone else messed up their heat treat that bad starting out?
My mentor had a 150 pound Fisher and I learned on it, but the ring was brutal even with a chain wrapped around it. Switched to a 200 pound Peddinghaus a few years back and the difference in rebound and quiet work is night and day. It's not just about the weight, it's how the steel is made. Anyone else make a switch that felt like a whole new start?
Kept having the back wall split after a couple uses. Tried a slower pre-heat cycle, ramping up over 45 minutes instead of 20, and it held solid all weekend. Anyone else have a specific warm-up routine that works for them?
I was at my home forge in Spokane last fall, finishing a 6-inch skinner from a 5160 truck leaf spring. I got impatient and dunked it straight into a bucket of water instead of my usual oil. It cracked with a sound like a gunshot, splitting right down the middle of the tang. I had to grind the whole thing back and start the heat treat over from scratch. Has anyone else had a quench go wrong because they rushed it?
Everyone said it would ruin the temper, but the piece came out with less warping and a decent edge. What's the weirdest quenching medium you've had success with?
I was having a hard time getting a clean finish on some mild steel scrollwork, and my usual wire wheel just wasn't cutting it. He suggested soaking the piece in plain white vinegar for about 20 minutes before the final clean-up. It worked way better than I expected and saved me a bunch of elbow grease. Has anyone else found a simple household item that works surprisingly well in the shop?
It was 20 degrees in the shop last Tuesday, and the thing just locked solid halfway through the stack. I had to wrap a heat gun around it for ten minutes to finish the weld. Anyone else in a cold climate have a better fix for this?
I kept having a cold spot on the right side of my coal forge that made drawing out steel a pain. My buddy in St. Louis told me to just pack the coal tighter on that side and leave the center a bit looser. I tried it last week and ran a test bar, and the whole piece heated to a perfect orange in about 8 minutes flat. I was totally overthinking the air flow. Has anyone else fixed a heating problem with something that simple?
It happened last Tuesday, right as I was getting a good heat on a 3/8 inch bar. The motor on my Buffalo Forge blower just quit, no warning. I had to finish the batch with a hand crank, which took forever. Has anyone found a good modern replacement for those old blowers that won't break the bank?
Last month, I tried to weld a simple billet without flux, thinking my fire was clean enough. The steel just wouldn't stick, and I ended up with a bunch of scale and a cold shut. My buddy in the next town over said he does it all the time, but his welds always look grainy under the grinder. It's not worth the risk of a weak join just to save a step. Anyone have a good borax alternative they actually trust?
I stacked up eight layers of 1084 and 15N20, fluxed it good, and welded it in my propane forge. Got it to a bright yellow heat and hammered it down. After etching, the pattern looked cool but there was a thin crack running right down the middle of the twist. I think my welds were solid but I might have cooled it too fast. Anyone know the best way to cool a billet after you finish forging it?
The salesman swore it would triple my forge's life, but after the first real heat cycle it just peeled away like old paint, so what's a reliable brand for basic refractory cement these days?