c/blacksmiths

Tried a new quenching oil after using the same canola for years

I was working on a set of small kitchen knives from 1084 steel and decided to test Parks 50 against my old canola oil for the quench. The Parks oil gave me a much harder blade with way less warping, which was a huge relief after fighting bent pieces last month. Has anyone else made a switch like that and seen a big jump in how your work turns out?

I was reading a book on medieval armor and discovered a knight's full plate harness weighed only about 45 to 55 pounds.

Found that in a library book from 1998, which totally blew my mind because I always pictured it being way heavier and more cumbersome to move in.

Shoutout to my old coal forge for teaching me about fire control

I used to fight a dirty, smoky fire for years, thinking that was just how it was. Then I switched to a propane forge about six months ago and the clean, even heat is a total game changer for my scrollwork. Anyone else make the switch and find it changed what they could make?

Question about a historic forge I saw in Galena, Illinois

I was in Galena last weekend and stumbled on this old blacksmith shop from the 1850s that's been kept up as a museum. The thing that got me was the anvil. It was a Peter Wright, maybe 150 pounds, but the face was worn down in this perfect oval dish shape right in the middle from a century of hammering. You could see exactly where the smith stood and worked every single day. It wasn't just a tool, it was a record of his whole career worn into the steel. Made me think about my own anvil and what marks I'm leaving on it. Has anyone else seen an old tool that told a story like that?

I got called out for my sloppy forge welds at a meet in Boise

Another smith pulled me aside and said my scarf joints looked like 'two angry dogs fighting.' He was right, my welds were weak and full of cold shuts. I started using way more flux and hitting the metal way harder right at the start, not just tapping it. My welds hold now, but I still get a little slag pocket sometimes. What's your trick for a clean scarf?

Serious question, has anyone else had trouble with that new 'quick quench' oil?

I bought a five gallon pail of the stuff last month after seeing ads online. Used it on a batch of twelve leaf spring knives and every single one came out with micro cracks in the spine. That's about $200 in steel and a full day's work gone. I went back to my old Parks 50 and the next batch was perfect. What quenching oil are you all using for tool steel now?

I dropped $400 on a new gas forge and it's been a total game changer

I got the Hell's Forge HF2 burner model after using a cheap homemade coal set up for years. Some folks say sticking with coal is the real, traditional way to learn heat control, but this thing heats up so fast and holds temp perfectly for Damascus billets. It saved me hours of messing with fuel and air flow. What's your take, is a good gas forge worth the cash or does it make you a lazy smith?

A customer at the county fair asked me to fix his great-grandfather's hammer

He brought it to my demo booth last fall. The handle was split and the head was loose. I told him I could wedge a new hickory handle in about twenty minutes. While I worked, he told me his grandpa used it in a railroad shop in Chattanooga. Made me think about the tools we keep using. Anyone ever had a repair job come with a story like that?

A veteran smith at the Tucson festival told me my quenching oil was way too cold, and after switching to 130-degree canola oil, my blades stopped cracking.

Has anyone else found a sweet spot for oil temp with 1084 steel, or should I try a different oil entirely?

Had a chat with my buddy Dave at the Tacoma forge meet that made me question my whole quenching routine.

He was working on a big chef's knife and said he'd switched to quenching in warm canola oil, about 130 degrees, instead of room temp. Said his warping issues on thin blades dropped by like 80%. I've always just dunked it straight in the bucket from the forge. Has anyone else tried messing with their quench oil temp for different projects?

I heated a piece of rebar way past cherry red on a whim

So I was messing around in the shop yesterday, just trying to use up some scrap. I grabbed a piece of old concrete rebar, the kind with the ridges, and stuck it in the forge. I got it way hotter than I normally would, past a bright cherry red, almost into a yellow heat. When I pulled it out and started hammering, it felt weirdly soft and moved like clay, but then it started to crumble at the edges instead of drawing out clean. I cooled it and it was super brittle, like chalk. I think I burned the carbon right out of it by getting it too hot. It was a total waste of time, but it showed me how easy it is to ruin steel if you're not paying close attention to your temps. Has anyone else accidentally burned a piece of steel and learned a hard lesson about heat control?

Overheard a guy at the hardware store in Tulsa say 'a hammer is a hammer' when buying a new cross peen.

Visited the old forge museum in Pittsburgh and saw something I can't stop thinking about.

They had a whole display of 19th century wagon wheel rims, and every single one had a different style of hammer weld seam. It made me realize how much personal technique shows in the old work. Do you think modern power tools have made our individual marks less visible?

Finally got a clean weld on that tricky Damascus billet

I've been fighting with a specific pattern weld for a week, trying to get the layers to stick without any cold shuts. Yesterday, after preheating my anvil block and using a heavier hammer, the whole thing came together in one smooth heat. I got a solid 120-layer stack with no delamination at all. It's a small thing, but after three failed attempts, it felt like a real win. For those who work with high-layer counts, what's your go-to trick for keeping the heat just right during the initial welds?

A guy at the Tucson hammer-in asked me why I was scared of the steel

Honestly, I was working on a leaf spring knife last year, just trying to get the shape right, and I was being super careful. This older smith, maybe in his 60s, watched me for a minute and just said, 'You're hitting it like you're scared of it. It's just steel. It won't bite unless you let it.' He took my hammer, showed me three solid, confident strikes, and the metal moved like butter. Tbh, I was overthinking the whole process, trying to be perfect on every hit instead of just committing. That five-minute talk changed how I work at the forge more than any video I've watched. Has anyone else had a moment where a simple piece of advice from another smith just clicked and fixed a bad habit?

Why is everyone so scared of a little scale on their anvil?

I keep seeing folks at the local guild meeting stop to wire brush their anvil face after every single heat. It adds up to maybe 15 minutes of wasted time per project. A bit of scale isn't going to hurt your work or your tool, it's just extra cleanup at the end. Am I the only one who thinks this is overkill?

My old coal forge cracked right down the middle during a big project

It happened last Tuesday while I was working on a set of 12 fireplace tools for a client in Boise. I had the fire really hot to weld some scrolls, and I heard a loud pop. The cast iron firepot split about 4 inches. I had to shut everything down and finish the job with my backup propane forge, which was not ideal for the work. Has anyone else had a firepot fail like that, and what did you replace it with?

My old coal forge started eating through firebrick in under a month

I've been using the same setup for years with no problems, but the new firebrick I bought in June just crumbled. The old stuff would last a full season, but this batch was gone in about three weeks of regular use. I checked with my supplier, and they quietly changed the source to a cheaper, lower-alumina mix that can't handle forge temps. It's not just me; two other smiths at the county fair last week said they saw the same thing. Has anyone found a reliable brand of firebrick that actually holds up anymore?

I always thought the old 'quench in urine' thing was just a gross story, but a guy at the Montana forge meet last weekend showed me a real 18th century document that listed it as a hardening step for certain tools.

Saw a guy at the county fair forge a leaf with a cold chisel and it made me think about hammer control.

He was using way too much arm and not enough wrist, which is why his decorative work looked so chunky and forced compared to the guy next to him who was getting cleaner lines with less effort.

My uncle insisted I needed a 50 pound anvil to start, but my tiny 15 pound one from the flea market got me through my first year.

He's been forging in his Kentucky shop for 40 years and said anything under 50 pounds would 'dance across the floor' and be useless. I found a small, rusty Peter Wright at a market in Cincinnati for $80 and decided to try it. It's bolted to a big stump and has been solid for every knife and hook I've made so far. Did anyone else start with a lighter anvil and have it work out fine, or was my uncle right for bigger projects?

A guy at the guild meetup told me my hammer control looked 'jittery' and it wrecked my head for a week.

Shoutout to the old guy at the scrap yard who told me to try quenching a piece of rebar in old motor oil.

I figured it would just smoke and stink, but it actually put a decent, tough skin on the metal, way better than my usual water quench for that junk steel. Has anyone else messed with weird quenchants like that and gotten a surprise?

Tried a buddy's old coal forge versus my new propane one for a week

I was sure my clean propane rig was the way to go, but I borrowed his dirty coal set up to fix a big leaf spring. The heat control with coal was just better, I could really see the color and move the steel around in the fire. It took me three tries to get the right temper with propane, but got it in one go with the coal. Anyone else find they get a better feel for the metal with a traditional forge?

My old post vise snapped clean through at the jaw pivot yesterday.

Was twisting a stubborn piece of rebar and heard a loud crack. The cast iron just gave out after maybe 15 years of use. Anyone know a good place to find a solid replacement vise that can take a real beating?