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I finally got a lesson in heat control from an old timer at a hammer-in
Last fall at the Bitterroot Valley hammer-in in Montana, I was struggling with a forge weld that kept failing. An older guy, Dick I think his name was, just watched me for a minute and then said "you're chasing the heat, not holding it." He showed me how he let the billet sit in the neutral flame a full 45 seconds longer than I was doing. It stuck with me because I had been rushing the whole process trying to look busy. Has anyone else had a simple tip from a stranger change how they work at the anvil?
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oliver21mo ago
the_rose said "people rush everything these days" and that's the truth. I read somewhere that old time smiths would count to ten Mississippi before even touching the steel to the horn after pulling it from the fire. I tried that and it felt like forever but the welding went so much smoother. Seems like we all need to slow down and let the heat soak in proper.
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