An old timer told me my hammer strikes were too heavy on my first damascus billet

I was pounding away on a billet at a hammer-in back in 2019, just trying to get it welded. A guy named Gene watched me for a minute and said I was beating the steel to death, not encouraging it to stick. He showed me to use lighter, more controlled hits and to let the heat do the work. That changed my forge welding completely, I stopped fighting the metal and started getting solid billets on the first try. Has anyone else had a fellow smith correct something basic that you were doing wrong for years?

2 comments

2 Comments

dianagreen4d ago

Gene told you to let the heat do the work?

morgan.charlie4d ago

Gene really hit on something there. That was the exact moment my cooking started turning out better instead of just okay. I used to fuss with meat constantly, flipping it and poking it and checking every two minutes. Finally tried just leaving a steak alone on the cast iron for a solid four minutes per side. Came out perfect, crust and all, no extra work. Now I pretty much let every protein sit undisturbed until it tells me it's done.