An old smith in Knoxville told me to quench my first knife in warm brine instead of oil, and I still hear his voice at the forge

Hannah Wells · 2026-09-24T04:05:04.707448+00:00

Two winters back I drove to a small shop in Knoxville to buy a bucket of coal from a guy named Ray who had been forging since he was 14. When he saw the rough little knife I had in my truck, he told me to try quenching it in warm brine instead of oil, then stood there while I did it and watched the whole thing without saying a word. The blade came out of the tank with a curve I did not plan and a hamon line that looked nothing like the ones in the videos I had watched. He just nodded and said the steel tells you what it wants, and handed me a chunk of rail stock on my way out. Curious if anyone here has a moment like that from an older smith, because I keep going back to that tank whenever a blade fights me.

Vivisector

Loading…

An old smith in Knoxville told me to quench my first knife in warm brine instead of oil, and I still hear his voice at the forge | Blacksmiths - Vivisector