February 17, 201610 yr After visiting a friend's forge in January he has been "cursed" and unable to forge weld. This got me thinking, are blacksmiths like pirates and highly superstitious? If so, what are some of your superstitions when it comes to the art?
February 17, 201610 yr If i drop something and it points towards the door its time to eat or get a cold beverage. :-)
February 17, 201610 yr Hang your horseshoe with the points down, so the luck runs out over your forge. Especially when forge welding!
February 17, 201610 yr oops... you said HORSE shoe? I better take down the 8 inch stiletto I have nailed up. It is no wonder that lady thought I was nuts when I asked to buy her shoe for my shop ....
February 17, 201610 yr 2 hours ago, MarcyOHH said: After visiting a friend's forge in January he has been "cursed" and unable to forge weld. This got me thinking, are blacksmiths like pirates and highly superstitious? If so, what are some of your superstitions when it comes to the art? I have never been able to forge weld either but superstitious I am not. I don't have any superstitions, I have just never been able to do it. I actually gave up trying about a year ago. But then again maybe its the elf that lives in the shop???????????
February 17, 201610 yr Author 18 minutes ago, Daswulf said: Wait! Marcy, what ARE the Somoli Pirates superstitious about? Women being onboard, sharks, the kraken. The usual. Haha
February 17, 201610 yr About keeping the devil out of your shop. Don't leave your hand hammer on the anvil overnight. Some smiths tap the anvil once or twice before leaving the shop for the day. St. Dunstan grabbed the devil by the nose with red hot tongs. That worked for him, but it might not for everyone.
February 17, 201610 yr 7 minutes ago, MarcyOHH said: Women being onboard, sharks, the kraken. The usual. Haha The first pushed overboard would take care of the second two.
February 17, 201610 yr None here. Everything that's gone wrong for me has been operator error one way or another. Well, occasionally luck comes to play but if you cover the bases well enough it's not as big a factor. Of course that might just be a superstition I don't know about. Frosty The Lucky.
February 17, 201610 yr 1 hour ago, Daswulf said: Wait! Marcy, what ARE the Somoli Pirates superstitious about? I thought it was bad juju to attack a blue flagged (NATO) ship, but some YouTube items show sometimes they forget that.
February 17, 201610 yr 1 minute ago, ianinsa said: I thought it was bad juju to attack a blue flagged (NATO) ship, but some YouTube items show sometimes they forget that. Bad days to be a color blind pirate.
February 17, 201610 yr 1 hour ago, Kevin_Olson said: If i drop something and it points towards the door its time to eat or get a cold beverage. :-) I like that one, no walls so it will always face the door ... I'm gonna have to stock up on beer and start dropping more lol! 50 minutes ago, Daswulf said: The first pushed overboard would take care of the second two. Hahahaha, very true, very true! 1 hour ago, Steve Sells said: oops... you said HORSE shoe? I better take down the 8 inch stiletto I have nailed up. It is no wonder that lady thought I was nuts when I asked to buy her shoe for my shop .... Lol
February 17, 201610 yr It is generally considered, by most blacksmiths, that applying the hammer to your thumb is bad luck. Ditto any piece of red hot iron to any part of one's body.
February 17, 201610 yr 2 hours ago, Steve Sells said: oops... you said HORSE shoe? I better take down the 8 inch stiletto I have nailed up. It is no wonder that lady thought I was nuts when I asked to buy her shoe for my shop .... You have to ask, did you nail up the left shoe or the right shoe? I suppose it would make a difference. BTW This originated by a right shoe being hung in Paw Paw Wilson's shop when he was not looking. When anyone would ask, the reply is always, Yes it is the RIGHT shoe. (grin)
February 17, 201610 yr I have a superstition where any time I drop hot metal or a hammer falls I get myself out of the way quickly. Have bad luck when I don't.
February 17, 201610 yr 31 minutes ago, Daswulf said: I have a superstition where any time I drop hot metal or a hammer falls I get myself out of the way quickly. Have bad luck when I don't. Actually that's covered by one of the natural laws of the universe. No not the ones Newton and others have tried to foist on us. Murphy's law is probably one of the best known by name. Besides Mr. Murphy's two that seem to be prime in my life are: The Nonreciprocating Law. Mention something good and it'll never happen, mention something bad and it'll happen immediately. Then there's the, 90-90 law. This one is one of the prime laws governing GVT. work. "The first 50% of a job takes 90% of the time and budget, the other 50% takes the other 90%." Frosty The Lucky.
February 17, 201610 yr 58 minutes ago, Glenn said: You have to ask, did you nail up the left shoe or the right shoe? I suppose it would make a difference. BTW This originated by a right shoe being hung in Paw Paw Wilson's shop when he was not looking. When anyone would ask, the reply is always, Yes it is the RIGHT shoe. (grin) had to be the right, seeing that she still had one shoe left ...
February 17, 201610 yr Ring your anvil the minute you enter your forge for the day to scare away the "Little People/Gremlins" or they will move your tools on you and you won't get a lick of work done that day . My Son and Daughter in Law call them "The minute People " as in " I just put that hammer down right here a minute ago ,Where did it go?"
February 18, 201610 yr Not sure if it's superstition, but after wire brushing and lightly sanding the face of my recently reaquired anvil, I rubbed a little Crown and Coke into the face.... I've always done that to smokers I made, so I figured it couldn't hurt...
February 18, 201610 yr 3 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: Hmm "the Stiletto of Damocles" just doesn't have the same ring... Better than "the Sling-Back Pump of Damocles".
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