That hammer-in at the New England Blacksmiths meet changed my whole approach to drawing out

I watched a guy from Maine knock out a perfect tenon in like 4 heats by barely moving his hammer off center, just letting the mass do the work. Now I'm all about letting the momentum carry instead of muscling every swing, how often do you guys actually count your hammer blows per heat?

2 comments

2 Comments

roseb623d ago

Hang on, I gotta push back on that. Counting blows per heat sounds like you're overthinking something that's supposed to be about feel and muscle memory. I've been forging for 15 years and never once counted my hits, I just go until the steel feels right or starts to cool off. That guy from Maine probably got his tenon done fast because he's been doing it so long he doesn't need to measure anything, not because he's counting. If you start worrying about numbers you'll lose the natural rhythm that makes blacksmithing smooth. Plus, every piece of steel is different, so a count that works for one heat might mess you up on the next.

sarahhart3d ago

Yeah, "lose the natural rhythm" is exactly what I was worried about and you nailed it. I tried counting once and ended up rushing my hits and messing up the heat, so now I just go by feel too. That Maine guy probably couldn't even tell you how many blows he took, he was just in the zone.