Frank Turley Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 I heard this story second hand. A talented Idaho farrier and manufacturer of farriers' tools, Jay Sharp, went to England a number of years ago to enter a forging and horseshoeing competition. Other Americans also went and entered. He noticed that nearly all of the Brits who were contestants had their anvils two or more inches lower than the oft suggested big-knuckle height. He figured that they must know something, so upon returning home, he lowered his anvil height. The following year, he returned to the UK, and when he entered the contest venue, he saw that half of the Brits has raised their anvil height, Yankee style. Har de har har. Sayings and Cornpone "Two blacksmiths was really one blacksmith, and one blacksmith was no blacksmith." David Brandow in "The Iron Trillium" Ontario newsletter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 I heard this story second hand. A talented Idaho farrier and manufacturer of farriers' tools, Jay Sharp, went to England a number of years ago to enter a forging and horseshoeing competition. Other Americans also went and entered. He noticed that nearly all of the Brits who were contestants had their anvils two or more inches lower than the oft suggested big-knuckle height. He figured that they must know something, so upon returning home, he lowered his anvil height. The following year, he returned to the UK, and when he entered the contest venue, he saw that half of the Brits has raised their anvil height, Yankee style. Har de har har. Sayings and Cornpone "Two blacksmiths was really one blacksmith, and one blacksmith was no blacksmith." David Brandow in "The Iron Trillium" Ontario newsletter Now, that there is funny - I don't care who you are... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Evers Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 I heard this story second hand. A talented Idaho farrier and manufacturer of farriers' tools, Jay Sharp, went to England a number of years ago to enter a forging and horseshoeing competition. Other Americans also went and entered. He noticed that nearly all of the Brits who were contestants had their anvils two or more inches lower than the oft suggested big-knuckle height. He figured that they must know something, so upon returning home, he lowered his anvil height. The following year, he returned to the UK, and when he entered the contest venue, he saw that half of the Brits has raised their anvil height, Yankee style. Har de har har. Sayings and Cornpone "Two blacksmiths was really one blacksmith, and one blacksmith was no blacksmith." David Brandow in "The Iron Trillium" Ontario newsletter Same type story and I did see pictures. Dennis Manning was on the first two teams to compete in England (as well as several others). He has pictures of the first competition with Americans having tidy shoeing boxes while the Brits are mostly dropping their tools on the ground. A year later it was reversed. The Americans ha copied the Brits and they hd copied us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Mullins Posted June 10, 2013 Share Posted June 10, 2013 I believe the method for some things is due to a plan and purpose and others simply tradition and may just be tied to a given circumstance or simply chance. Its like the story of the lady who known to be a really excptional cook and her pot roast in particular was oft admired. She was questioned though as to why she cut her roasts in half when she cooked them, to which she replied because her mom had always done so, so she did. So she decided to phone her mom to discover the purpose.... her mother did not have a roasting pan big enough to cook a whole roast for the family : ) . Or the delivery company in financial trouble who started questioning their rather odd deliver routing practices and discovered that their trucks routes were still being planned the same as when the company opened and use HORSES - longer routes early in the week, and shorter delivers later because the horses would be tired by weeks end LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harris Snyder Posted June 20, 2013 Share Posted June 20, 2013 I haven't actually had any pain or injuries but I noticed that my arm gets tired more quickly than I feel like it should. Today I was experimenting with the "throwing the hammer" technique. The arm is tight and controlled while the hammer is up, but when it hits the metal there is very little tension. If your hits are square it comes back naturally and all of a sudden you can move more metal faster and with less strain on you. I'm pretty inexperienced and it's hard to unlearn bad habits, but I'm working on it. I'd say take some time each day to forge something that requires no thought, and just focus on your hammer technique if you have to unlearn bad habits of gripping too intensely. Simple things... like making square stock out of round, or something like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrous Beuler Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 I haven't developed any adverse effects from smithing (that I've noticed anyway) other than the odd burn now & then such as when grabbing the wrong iron. Yes, black is still HOT, yikes! Down and out on all counts right now due to destroying my left elbow in a car accident June first. Actually looks o.k. now but looks are deceiving. The cast and stitches have been removed and the scars aren't even that bad. After the surgery the surgeon told me at first glance he thought I might lose the arm. It was a compound fracture with bone poking out and a lot of shredded flesh. I now have a metal plate and about nine screws holding it all together, my radius was in three pieces. We'll see how it goes. Doc says I'll be out of work until the fall and doesn't want me to lift more than 1 pound for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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