I finally quit using the air hammer for scrolls, hand twisting is way faster now

Been at the anvil for 3 years, mostly decorative gates and railings. Last month I had a job with 40 identical scrolls for a fence in Columbus. I set up the air hammer with a jig, dialed it in, and it took me close to 25 minutes per scroll after all the adjusting and cleanup. On a whim I tried twisting a hot 1/2 inch bar by hand with a wrench. Turns out the hammer gave me a stiff wrist and left a lot of scale lines, but the hand twist had a nice even taper and took 12 minutes once I got the rhythm. The hammer beats you into working on the machine instead of the metal. Now I only use it for heavy leaf work or when my shoulder acts up. Has anyone else gone back to hand tools for a specific shape and found it just makes more sense, or am I the only one who over-complicated things for years?

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blake_murray1d ago

Twelve minutes per scroll sounds like a win until you realize you still got forty of them lined up. I mean, sure, the hand twist gave you a cleaner look, but you basically traded machine setup time for arm fatigue and a slower pace. You said the hammer had "scale lines" like that's a huge deal, but most customers can't tell the difference from three feet away on a fence. I just think people get romantic about hand work and forget the clock is still ticking on the job. If it works for your shoulder, cool, but I wouldn't call it a breakthrough, just a different way to spend your day.