Took me 3 years to realize I was burning my nails with the forge

I always wondered why my shoes kept cracking at the toe clips after a few weeks. Then an old timer at a clinic in Lexington pointed out I was holding my nails in the fire way too long before I even started shaping them. It was like a light bulb went off - has anyone else had a dumb basic habit they didn't catch for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_patricia11d ago

Wait @river_fox18, is nobody gonna talk about how cheap coal dust can wreck your anvil face over time?

river_fox1813d ago

I spent a full year watering my forge fire with a spray bottle before someone at a clinic in Tennessee told me I was basically putting it out every time. Turns out I was supposed to be using a mister, not a spray bottle, and keeping the fire a bit hotter instead of constantly cooling it down. Once I switched to just adding small coal pieces and letting the fire breathe, my shoes started lasting way longer. I also stopped holding the nail in the flame right at the tip. Now I keep it back a couple inches so it heats even and doesn't burn the head off. Little things like that make such a big difference once you figure them out.