12/15/2025
When I first fired my forge up I was so focused on making knives that I overlooked the real potential of blacksmithing. Its kind of like learning to drive with a Ferrari. Yes its flashy, but I didn't take the time to learn hammer control, tong control, using hardy tools or different faces of the anvil. Instead I was able to make a sharp flat pointy thing out of an already flat piece of metal. I relied heavily on my belt sander for cleaning up the blades and making everything uniform(ish). My focus recently has been making hooks. These are made out of small 2inch railroad spikes. I've learned so much with these smaller projects. Each spike had to have the head squished down into a square and the spike had to be drawn out. Turning a 2 inch long, half inch piece of metal into a 1/4 inch piece that's 4-5 inches long. Its much more detailed oriented than it sounds.
Nothing I make is perfect, which is another lesson I'm learning. Perfect is boring. Perfect lacks character. Perfect takes the fun out of it.
I will still hammer out knives, but right now im taking a step back to learn the finer points of blacksmithing.
