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Old timer at a hammer-in in Ohio told me to stop chasing the fire and I still think about it
Back in 2011 I drove out to a hammer-in near Zanesville, Ohio, and an old guy named Ray watched me fight a piece of 1080 for maybe 20 minutes. I kept pulling it out orange and hammering cold, getting nowhere, and he finally walked over and just said "quit chasing the fire, let it come to you." I was 26 and thought I knew better, but he grabbed my tongs, showed me how he read the color in the shade of the doorway instead of the sun, and it clicked. Ten plus years later and I still check my heat in a shadow because of that one afternoon. Anybody else have an old smith who changed how you see the fire?
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ninas7011d ago
My grandpa taught me to watch the fire bricks instead of the steel when I was a kid, said they tell you when the heat's right before the metal does. Still catch myself staring at the walls of my forge more than the workpiece some days.
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