Saw a guy at a demo use a coal forge wrong and it clicked for me

I was at a hammer-in last weekend in Ohio, and this newer smith kept his fire way too oxidizing - lots of clinker and scale. The old timer next to me muttered something about "cooking the steel, not burning it." That simple phrase made me realize I've been running my own fire too hot for years, letting too much air in. Soon as I choked it down I got way better welds on my damascus billets. Any of you guys have a moment where one little tip totally changed how you run your forge?

2 comments

2 Comments

tessa3947d ago

Three years of burning steel before some old guy at Quad-State shook his head at me.

alices166d ago

Wait, THREE YEARS? lmao I can't even imagine. That's brutal but honestly kind of relatable because I bet you learned more in that one moment than all those years combined. For me it was the day I figured out my fire was basically an oxidizing monster and I was just feeding it more steel. I was getting so frustrated with failed welds and weird scale patterns, thinking my technique was trash. But nope, just a stupid air gate that needed a little choke. That old timer at Quad-State probably saved you a ton of material and frustration too, even if it stings to think about.