Had a chat with an old timer at the flea market that got me thinking about my forge setup

I was picking up a rusty post vise at a flea market outside Nashville last Saturday when this retired blacksmith started looking at my truck. He asked what kind of anvil I was using and I told him it was a 150 pound cast steel. He just laughed and said 'son, you're fighting your steel instead of letting it sing.' Took me a minute to realize he meant I was working too hard with a dead anvil. We talked for about 20 minutes about his old 200 pound wrought iron with a hardened face plate. He said he could fold a scroll with one hand on that thing because the rebound was so good. Now I'm hunting around for a proper wrought anvil, has anyone else had a conversation that made you totally rethink your gear?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_miles11d ago

That old timer's advice reminds me how often we get sold on fancy new gear when sometimes the old ways just work better. It's funny how one good conversation can make you realize you've been overcomplicating something simple.

ruby_sanchez4511d ago

The "overcomplicating something simple" part really hit home for me. I was reading this article about how people used to fix their own cars with basic tools and now they need a computer to diagnose anything. It's like we traded common sense for convenience and ended up paying more for less reliability. I've seen it in my own life with kitchen gadgets too (bought a fancy avocado slicer that's worse than just using a knife). That balance between new ideas and old wisdom is tricky, but usually the simpler path wins out in the end.

ninab9511d ago

Forget that old timer stuff, you gotta remember it wasn't always better back then either - we just forget the bad parts and romanticize the good ones.