Hello everyone another question

Say you are working on a piece and you have to leave, get tired, don't feel like working anymore, something like that can you put the piece up and come back the next day and finish it or will this mess it up?

depends what is it? a knife i like to do it in as few heats as possible as the fire cooks out carbon. but as i fellow newbie i say as few heats as possible but some things can be set aside and worked later. but don't just take my word for it. do your own reasearch and listen to the more experienced smiths or experiment. good luck and have fun. :D

Edited June 4, 200917 yr by fisher_norris
funky smiley

It's the number of heats (ie. oxidation creating scale and carbon burning out) that makes you lose metal and carbon. Knife makers and metallurgists can elaborate on that. As for leaving a piece, try to not quench it as it creates stresses and can crack metal. Not as big of problem with mild but you can come back to shards in some of the fancier alloys. If you're sure it's mild, just leave it by the fire to cool after working on it. If it's a higher tools steel, heat it to non-magnetic at least and let it cool slowly, either in the fire or a bucket of ash or similar insulating materials. Careful the next day though as the heat will have spread and may be hot enough to burn you still.

Safety first. If I am sufficiently tired that what I am doing becomes unsafe, I definitely stop. Nothing is worth the risk of damaging yourself.

oh i forgot that. saftey saftey saftey! glasses and cotton and maybe an apron if you miss stop rest and maybe work more. there is always another day but not another finger or body part.

Just remember why you do this hobby. A lot of that is the fun and when you are tired it is not fun or safe anymore.

It becomes a no brainer in IMO to give it a break at that point no matter what the job.

Most steels are not hurt by allowing them to cool slowly in the ashes, or even in the coals if you have NO draft. Throwing things into the slack tub is hard on springs and most all tool steel (except the W series since they are designed to quench in water or brine.) Some things will aquire a thicker scale doing this and you can loose a bit of your surface finish, but a good butcher block wire brush can strip that off after the first heat or two once you start up again. I have peice that have been worked on over a period of a year or more, the rust burns off in the fire and you might get a bit more texture, in general don't worry too much about it. Even on knives in my opinion depending on your setup and techniques used most of the decarb will come out in the grinding... Don't worry be happy;-)

Some times it is best if I walk away from a project. Either because I am tired, close to messing it up or it is fighting me.

And then there are those days when you fling a piece you are working under the nearest workbench - accidentally on purpose, of course! Then days (years) later you find it back and decide to get more work done on it.

Most normal iron work will not be hurt by stepping aside from it for a while - other that gathering surface rust/dust. Cooling it is generally not necessary. Just set it aside in a safe place - that "everything is hot until you verify that it is no" rule.

And sometimes that line between frustration and fatigue blurs, so you HAVE TO walk away from a project for a while.

The really hard part is balancing the fatigue with the pressures of a deadline! Deadlines have a way of ... adjusting ... attitudes, fatigue, common sense, etc. Which is why I ... try ... to get things done several days in advance of any "deadline". Try!

Mikey - yee ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

It's not just with iron. Lots of projects can be actually enhanced by walking away, working on something else, getting some sleep etc. As Mr. Ameling said, you have to strike a balance when it comes to deadlines, but I often find that if I have time to walk away from a difficult project for a while I come back with a new perspective.

Sometimes on my projects I "run out of engineering" and have to come back the next day, surprising how a new day brings new approaches to tasks and issues.

I would say for the most part, if you let stuff "normalize" as opposed to "quenching" it, you would be safe.

As others have said, knives are a different world and require special handling and steps.

on bigger or more difficult projects i do that on purpose ! like makeing damascus i will fire the forge make a few small items then weld the billet . might draw and fole once then set it aside for another day ... that way i have a clean fire for the welds .also helps to clear thoughts and maybee rethink things .good luck!

Once when doing a larger billet than I do normally I used to do one weld a month---at the SOFA meeting so I could use the powerhammer there. Many blademakers will let a billet cool and grind off the surface before cutting and re-stacking to get a better weld.

If you treat the steel right there is no problem working it at a punctuated equilibrium.

There is some old (at this point) research in industrial engineering that says that you can only work efficiently for about 55 minutes out of every hour, and if you don't take a small 5 minute break, your productivity diminishes. Hence the 15 minute break every 3 hours or so in industry. And sleeping on things can allow you to come up with alternative technics to solve your problem...

It's amazing how often people keep banging their heads on the wall trying to get something done without realizing a break is actually going to speed the process up. I've done it a few times and have to remake a piece because I was too tired but needed to get it done that night.