A guy at the county fair said my work was 'too clean'

I was showing some of my forged bottle openers at the fair in Springfield last summer. An older smith, maybe in his 70s, stopped and looked at them for a long time. He picked one up and said, 'Kid, these are too clean. You can see every hammer mark is perfect. It looks like a machine made it.' He told me to leave in a few 'happy mistakes' to show the hand work. I've been thinking about that for months now. Do you think a piece should show its making, or should the finish be as smooth as possible?

3 comments

3 Comments

emma7681mo ago

Ever try to sand a wood project so smooth it feels like plastic? That old smith nailed it. I used to polish my stuff to a mirror shine, but it felt dead. Leaving some tool marks gives it a soul, like you can feel the work that went in. It's not about being sloppy, it's about keeping the human touch. A perfect machine finish is cold, but a few honest hammer marks tell a story.

blakeharris14d ago

But what if you want both? I mean, I get the idea of keeping some marks, but a really clean finish can feel amazing too. It's like the skill is in making something look perfect, not just leaving it rough. Maybe it's just me but a smooth surface doesn't have to feel dead, it can show a ton of care in a different way.

andrew_shah691mo ago

Read an article once about Japanese pottery where they actually plan for imperfections, like a crack in the glaze or a wobbly rim. They call it wabi-sabi. The idea is that flaw shows it was made by a person, not a robot. My grandpa's old workbench is covered in nicks and stains, and you can see every project he ever did on it. That beat-up surface has more character than any new, perfect table from a store.