5
That old forge at the county fairgrounds taught me something
I stopped by the Pioneer Days festival in Denton last weekend. They had this traveling blacksmith set up in a tent, working a coal forge from the 1800s. I watched him for 20 minutes and realized how much we overthink our gas forges and fancy burners. This guy just used a hand crank blower and scrap steel, and he made a set of hooks in 10 minutes flat. Has anyone else gotten more out of watching an old-school demo than a year of YouTube tutorials?
2 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In2 Comments
umaprice22d ago
My granddad had a forge like that in his barn and he'd bang out hinges in under five minutes, no problem. The thing is, those old setups work great for basic stuff like hooks and hinges, but they don't hold heat steady enough for welding damascus or working with modern alloys. I've spent time with both and I'd take my gas forge over a coal fire for anything that needs precise temperature control.
4
tyler61422d ago
Plus those old forges eat up coal way faster than a gas tank runs out.
7