Hit 5000 hours of forge time last month and it hit different

I keep a logbook for no real reason, just habit. But when I added up the hours last week and saw 5000 even, it made me think about all the failed blades and bad welds that got me there. Anyone else track hours or am I just weird about it?

3 comments

3 Comments

danielw882mo ago

Saw a clip from some old blacksmithing documentary where the guy said he counted every failed weld as a lesson, not a loss. That stuck with me. I'm at around 3200 hours myself, but I've got a shoebox full of mangled knife blanks that tell the real story. The ones I actually finished are the survivors, but the failures taught me way more about steel and heat than any success did.

paul2512mo ago

3200 hours and a shoebox full of mangled blanks sounds about right. That's the same way I look at fixing up old motorcycles. I've got a shelf of engines that never ran again but I know exactly why they didn't. It's funny how we treat success like it's the goal but failure is actually the teacher that sticks with you. Same thing happens at work when a shipment comes in wrong, you remember that mistake way longer than the hundred that went smooth.

jade_singh1mo ago

Well that's a hell of a milestone. 5000 hours is a serious commitment and I respect the patience it takes to stick with something that long. You're not weird for keeping a logbook, I do the same thing with my project notes and it helps me see the progress even when it feels like I'm spinning my wheels. Those failed blades and bad welds you mentioned, that's where the real learning happens. Most people only see the finished piece but they don't know about the pile of scrap that taught you how to do it right.