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Shoutout to the old guy at the scrap yard who called my hammer work 'nervous'
I was working on a simple leaf keychain, hitting the metal way too fast and light. This older smith, Frank, was picking through the pile and just watched me for a minute. He finally said, 'Kid, you're tapping it like you're scared. One good hit is worth ten bad ones.' I argued that I was being careful, but he grabbed a scrap of mild steel and a 3 lb cross peen. In three solid, slow hits, he drew out a taper that took me twenty. The difference wasn't strength, it was letting the hammer do the work and committing to the swing. I've been forging for about a year and that 5 minute demo changed my whole approach. Now I focus on clean, full strikes and my work is getting way more consistent. Has anyone else had a simple piece of advice completely flip a basic skill for them?
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