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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?
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emma7687mo 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.
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blakeharris6mo 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.
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andrew_shah697mo 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.
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