You'd think I'd have realized it sooner from watching forging videos, but this finally made it click in my brain that "Oh right, medieval blacksmiths wouldn't survive entirely on making expensive swords that take months to make, normal people need little baby knives and kitchen tools." I may be stupid.
There actually was a decent amount of specialization in the cities historically, although rural smiths would have been generalists that would make almost anything.
Worst is when you explain to people how you achieved the skill you have, all the practice, study and time, and somehow they get a attitude like you are trying to hide some "secret way".
LOL. Well. There are different levels of talent. If someone likes your work, but knows very little about it. Kind words are not so bad. I like messing with Veterans. Thanks for giving my father a hard time. At first they are buthurt and ask who my father is. I smile and say a retired colonel.
Oh big revelation, if you do something a lot you're gonna get better at it... I mean, ofc... That doesn't mean you aren't talented too. Talent doesn't mean that you're able to do something right off the bat, everyone needs to put in the work, thing is people get better faster than other people with the same amount of work, that's what talent is, and it exists. Now I'm pretty sure he did this alone, but what if he had a master smith teaching him along the way? Knowledge beats practise.
”I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” I love that you keep it real always. It takes time and practice and fortitude to keep moving forward no matter what. You seem to plenty of all of those. keep up the good work...
And I would also fear the man who practiced 250 kicks 1000 times. That would result in absolute mastery of the capabilities of their lower body in a wide variety of different situations.
That is practice/training and experience for aquiring a skill. There are some talented people who are born better than others in some thing. So a person can start blacksmithing and be way better than most starting blacksmiths from their first couple of times, and after training and gaining experience they rise above the rest. You find this in everything, some people's brains and body are just wired for some things better than others.
I think you missed his point in this video. He wasn't automatically good at something. You build a skill through practice, talent helps, but without discipline to master a skill, talent can be wasted. He's very talented I agree, but also disciplined.
Seems like a lot of people missing the point here. I totally agree though, dedication and follow through can be really tough. Maybe not for everyone but sure as hell for me, just having that discipline makes such a difference.
As a new blacksmith, and someone that found this video very cool, i have a couple thoughts. First, kudos for grinding out 100 knives. That takes patience. A thought, i feel that you hit a "skill" plateau in that you went for how many you could do, rather than how many really good ones you could do. I think thats literally why you didnt see much improvement after the 50th. As others have said, those tongs can be helpful, but you can also just hold the stock when long enough, and switch to other tongs later. Dont make your scrolls with those pliers, theyll leave nasty marks in your steel. When holding your hammer, dont put your thumb along the length of the handle (like youre hitchhiking), keep it wrapped around the haft. As others mentioned, use your anvil as a template holder, length and dimentions are great to have on it. If your anvil isn't "sharp enough" you can dress one edge to be "sharp" to help with pinching off your work. If you need to straighten coil again, you already had a bending fork for your hardy hole, you can use that to help straighten it. When doing the knife shape, move the work to the edge of the anvil to prevent hitting the anvil and give you easier access to getting the point right. Lastly, if you want more smithing tips and such, look up Black Bear Forge, or Mark Asprey.
If he had a square hole in his anvil he could have made a handy tool for splitting the metal. Im not sure if it even has a name but essentially its just a short rod that fits into the anvils square slot and is a pretty wide chisel shape with like a triangle side profile like a direction arrow if say maybe 30-45 degrees on the blade. And ofcourse the blade part extends to the sides all ways enough so it stays on the anvil. When using it to split things its good to remember to not split entirely through to prevent unnecessary damage to the blade part. When a dark line appears on the glowing hot metal its a good time to stop hammering Also you could use a vice on a sturdy table for the tool, itll absorb some of the force so it'll not be as good as an anvil but it's not like you have to hit it very hard.
I feel like the person who told me a very important thing "practice does not make perfect, it makes permanent" really set home, that its not doing the same thing for 10,000 hours, its doing something, experimenting with, testing other ideas, and learning what works and what doesn't for 10,000 hours is what makes someone truly a master of a skill.
A guitar teacher once told me (and many other students) this: “Practice makes permanent, so practice perfectly.” I wonder what the outcome would look like if you really focused hard on 10-20 repetitions. Spend way more time than you need to trying to get every one as perfect as you can (set a target size and shape). Taking notice of little things you can do to make each piece closer to perfect. I’ve never done smithing, but I try to apply “practice perfectly” to a lot of other things in life. Just like you, even though I’ve done it a lot, I would still call myself not very good at guitar lol. Even so, perfect practice has helped me a lot. Regardless, you made some great improvements with those knives! Keep it up, sir!
Very good point! While editing I also thought that I focused too much on speed over quality. (But I also wanted to get the video done 😅) I’ll probably focus more on quality when forging them in the future, without filming. And thanks for the kind words!
This is honestly a better way of saying what I came down here to say, I've been smithing as a side job for just a few years now, and I feel my skill improved much faster and with far fewer identical knives made and I didn't want to be a dick to come here and tell him I felt he was doing something wrong but...that's exactly what I think the difference is, every knife, every nail, every item I make I inspect for flaws and find them even if the product is good...Some tell me I'm being hard on myself but I'm studying each piece for how I might improve it! Please don't take this as an "I'm better than you" comment, I just wanted to share what I think would help improve your craft.....also one other tip, making sure you do at least one tight and very circular curl at the tip of each before bending it over will make it look more finished, scrollwork is tricky at first but its now one of my favorite things to do and improving it will drastically improve the overall finished look on each of these knives
I suspect the word "talented" gets misused or is simply misunderstood by many. I suspect it's intended to be a compliment, but you're right, it can feel a discredit to all the hard work you put into learning something. You absolutely proved the point that practice leads to progress. The improvement between your first and last knife is striking! And it's not just the hammer work, but in all aspects of the process that you improve. Also, something a mentor smithy told me that I could never quite achieve but always kept in mind was that you need to keep the elbow of your hammer arm closer to your body. Holding your arm out more feels natural, but it's similar to slouching and will cause problems for your elbow and shoulder eventually. I think that's the tennis elbow you described. Just an observation. Great work! ^_^
@@sourhill2292 If I had to put a proper name to the term in my head, I'd say that a person talented at something is someone who gets stuff down WAY faster than a ''normal'' person and thus improves faster. If someone gets the same results after 2 months of practice as someone who did 12 months, they are naturally talented at it.
Hey man, little tip to help with the sore elbow. Dont forge with your forearm like you where, use your shoulder to lift the hammer up and your shoulder/upper arm to drop it with whatever force necessary. Think like the linkages on a train, in that motion. That Works has a video on it and it helped me out alot.
Just a tip for you forged knives, you can clean off a lot of the scale with a steel brush but you're mostly better off with a bucket of white vinegar overnight and it'll dissolve it off. Saves you messing around with a grinder and it'll really save your belts. The 3M C2 9 series belts are pretty serious business, but they like high speed and light-medium pressure so if you find yourself putting more force to move metal they need to be tuned up a bit. I keep a bar of carbide next to the grinder and give it a light pass across the width of the belt to knock the tips off the ceramic to sharpen them again and it gets you a little bit more out of each belt. That applies to most ceramic belts, but past 80grit they're generally not worth the expense and you really want compound, structured abrasive belts that tun slower and cooler for better effect. Or go the unstructured abrasive belts known as Scotchbrite. With knife making, the final product mostly comes down to your skill as a grinder to get the bevels put in well, the geometry correct and how you got there is mostly irrelevant :)
Thanks I really gotta try that vinegar over night method! I heard of that carbide trick before, would that even still work the 3M belt I showed? To me it looked like there wasn't any ceramic left to be exposed again. I always wondered when the right time to do that was.
@@NjordArtisan Forge scale absolutely turns any belt into a smooth mess in a few passes and that's sort of where it gets hard to to describe as it doesn't really look much different. Sadly, it comes down to feel So if the 3M belt is completely flat and you can rub your thumb along a belt (while its not moving on the grinder) and there's no resistance its done and gone. But if there's a little bit of bite left to it then you might be able to scavenge another pass out of there with a carbide snapping off the tops of the ceramic bumps. A lot of people might be saying, its just a belt and why bother? But they do cost me about $22 Australian for each one- including a bulk buy discount then you just need to get every single bit out of them. Normally on a basic 36G I can get about 8-9 chefs knives roughly dialed in on an annealed state and about 6-7 hardened ones done each belt. The trick is finding the right speed and pressure for your grinder, you generally want about a very fast, light to medium pressure on the 36grit. For the next step on the 60grit knock about 20% speed off and the same pressure. If you use too much pressure it gets too hot and ruins the hardening of the knife, too little pressure and you dont knock the ceramic tips off the keep them sharp. Oh the other tune up tool is the big block of rubber, they are great for pulling metal swarf and muddy goo, wood chunks out of the belts especially if you wet grind. For Structured Abrasives (like the 3M Gator) you cannot wet grind with them, but they do last a very long time and you can resharpen them with a coarse diamond stone- but they're a whole other story!
A neat trick to use when you are trying to make multiple identical items is to mark you anvil with lenghts and widths. That way you know that each one is drawn out to the exact same length, each taper starts in the exact same place, each flat is the same width. It is really helpful. I have even gone so far as to chalk mark my tongs to make sure i an holding the exact same amount of material in the jaws each time.
Thanks for demonstrating the value of practice You also demonstrated the rule that most tasks or skills begin to plateau around 50 attempts. You still make progress afterwards but it becomes more subtle.
When I was in first grade, I started taking piano classes. After a few weeks, I could tell that I had ABSOLUTELY ZERO natural talent, and was disenheartened. However, I trusted my parents that I would improve with practice, and after a month or two, I could tell that I was improving, but also that I had a long way to go. I kept at the practice for over an entire decade, stopping after I graduated high school, and now, as an adult, I can learn pretty much any piano song in a week, and have even written one of my own, whose tune was granted to me from the aether, it literally just popped into my head one day And I was taking music theory class at the time. Now, I can sit down at any piano, after any gap of no practice, practice all 8 scales and chords, and recall my song from memory and play it five times at most to play it perfectly. What I can do on the Piano now, would be considered Outright Magic when I started. Practice ABSOLUTELY pays off, the more you do it, the more it pays.
Fantastic Video! Nothing shows people what it is really like other than the constant waiting for heat ups, failing at trying something, and figuring out a way to fix your mistakes. Great Great Job!
I feel like a lot of people use talent and skill interchangeably, theyre not saying you just naturally got these abilities without working, theyre just complimenting your abilities
As an artist, oh how much do I hate it when people call me “talented” I know they aren’t trying to be mean, but I wish they would understand how insulting it is. No I wasn’t born with the magical ability to make art, I have learned and will learn for all of my life.
I don't think most people mean to imply that you're born with a skill when they use the words talent/talented these days. They just mean skill/skilled. Nobody really things about the words they say these days. Language is ever-evolving and in some cases devolving.
I choose to interpret "talented" the same as "skilled" because that's what most people meant to say anyway. I'm talented at practising and gifted with patience, both of which were required to develop my competency, proficiency, or skill.
I have an idea for something to toy around with--- In one of Tyrell Knifework's video, he got some oil on top of his ferric acid which resulted in the knives getting a really cool pitted texture. Perhaps you could find a way to mask off the cutting edge and then try it in another project.
Thanks for the video. If you do more forging in the future, on tip I have is to harden your pieces after you're done shaping them. This will massively cut down on your grinding time. You'll still have to do a little bit of clean up work after hardening, but much less.
I think you can be more efficient by holding the bar without the tongs when it is fairly long. Keep a big container of water nearby (a "slack tub" in traditional terms) to cool the part you're going to hold as necessary. Just a suggestion.
BEAST MODE activated! 100 you crazy Smith you 😁 you may wanna grind down the surface on top of your anvil and make it nice and smooth so that no pits or divots show up in what you’re trying to make. Just a thought. Keep up the great work!!!
Thanks man! 🙏 Yes that’s a great idea! I wish I knew exactly how this one is constructed. I’m a bit afraid to grind away the hardened surface if it’s just a welded on face. This project really showed that it could use some improvements 😄
Wow! Hundred respects to you for completing this chalenge 👍🔥🤘 Congrats for growing in forging! I definitely see how 100 attempts gained your skill a lot. Thanks for sharing your art🙏
I really was hoping this was some several year old video so i could fast forward all your progress. But know im excited to watch your journey as the years go by! Ps i love your editing style!
I think a talent is something you can work at and improve at. I think the most backhanded compliment is when someone says you’re “gifted.” Nobody gave me this, I earned this.
Incredible, man. I've been forging knives since I was thirteen, and it's paid off. Pretty good knives you got there! You should totally forge some more!
Quick suggestion about that anvil. May want to get it refaced as in machined FLAT and then have a hard face put on it with square sharp edges. It may help in your forging over the long term.
Definitely a big jump in refinement beginning to end. A suggestion I'd make for anyone wanting to develop a specific skill is to do smaller batches over more days. Your first few batches had obvious jumps in refinement. Don't underestimate the value of giving yourself time process what you learned from even a short session at the anvil.
Regarding tennis elbow issue: Ilya has covered that years ago too. Don't swing the hammer. Swing your shoulder and keep your arm relaxed, that way you can work for longer without putting stress on the joints or arm muscles. Also, stand in a "middle split" stance to lower yourself closer to anvil, so your back doesn't suffer also. All of that has been said by Ilya in the past
Although I do believe in natural talent, I very strongly believe in the saying, "practice makes perfect" Great video brother, keep up the awesome work.
In multiple clips it looked like you were hammering cold metal (not glowing properly). This can lead to weaknesses (fractures) in the blade, which might make the blade break when quenching or when the knife is in use. The subsequent blade can be dangerous to handle for chopping, etc (regular cutting is fine. This is more about bigger blades or knives meant for chopping)
thank you SOOOO much. i'm saying this for years (im barely a minute in) i'm a musician. i play 5 instruments and i am primarily singer. i had NO talent. but i was so stubborn and learned/practiced for sooo many years. at some point i became kinda decent. and people say" ohh... yea... i couldn't do that! im not that talented." or:"ohh he's got talent" i try not to show them. but deep down i am very hurt. because it feels like all my work counts for nothing. now i will continue to watch your video :D
I suspect a certain forum set you up with those hammers as starting tools. I'd love to see what you could do with a sensible shaped 1.2kg hammer. And a plan. How much material do you need and where will it come from for each element. The most helpful advice I ever had was "start with the hardest part". I would actually try it the other way, stretch the handle material from the round stock first, cut off 3/4" of round and peen it lengthwise to form the blade. Part of that is because I work in a coal forge and like to isolate material for heating.
Not all knifes are meant for particle use. I personally am unfamiliar with this type of knife but if I had to guess it’d to for refining forging skills.
Being good at a sport is mostly down to genetics at that level. Everyone there trains hard so if you’re not in that lucky few who one the generic lottery it doesn’t matter how hard you train you’re not gonna be able to compete.
Yeah maybe that wasn’t the best example. I meant to say you can be „good“ at most things. Maybe not outstanding but definitely good. I just know some people that think any form of success boils down to luck and I don’t think that’s a healthy mindset to have.
You could win the genetic lottery, but if you don't practice, you will not be as good as the average person who practiced lots. The world is full of average, successful people, who built the world.
It depends on the sport. When it comes to fundamental movement skills like running and jumping, genetics certainly play a massive role. But the more complex the skill, the more that specific practice plays a role. For instance, a skilled martial artist can best someone with insane innate athleticism. With endeavors like that, genetics simply represents potential that still requires a lot of training to fully realize.
I like to let my shoulder rest up for a week or two between forge projects, so it's gonna take me a while to get to #100 I'm really enjoying the hobby so far, even though my most recent attempt at a classic chef knife exploded in the quench.
I love the idea of selling all of the knives! I’m glad I’ll be able to get a piece of your amazing craftsmanship, and even a collectors item without burning a wall of light sized hole in my pocket! (Believe me, if I had the money to spend $1700 on a kickass switch axe AND support you at the same time I most certainly would 😂)
Where's the part where you compare your finished knives?? I watched the whole thing waiting for the part where you take a close look at the finished products and finally make your point.
This is one of the biggest issues i have with the body building/power lifting/fitness community. People say "Oh he just has superior genetics." Undermining the years of hard work and dieting required to reach that level. And what sucks is its so ingrained in the community is everyone even people at the top tall about genetics like its all that matters. It does matter, but the work and training matters more
This video popped up at the most opportune time because I've decided to dive into forging for the first time. Using the most bare bones set up being bricks, and a hair dryer but I know it can work from other videos just gotta stick with it.
Nach dem ersten Versuch: mehr Hitze und weniger Material. Abschneiden und an dünneren Baustahl schweißen. Damit verteilt sich die Hitze nicht im ganzen (großen) Werkstück. Wenn das Metall schon nicht mehr orange, sondern rot ist, dann solltest du nicht mehr schmieden, da du sonst nur das Metall schwächst Du arbeitest auch seehr viel an der „Kante“, was es dir erschwert das Werkstück schön gleichmäßig zu bearbeiten.
I bladesmith and blacksmith as well and often hear the same comment but if you saw my first knife and how I went about making it you would never in a thousand years call it talent. But I did find that with every knife I made and continue to make I improve in some way and never is a newer knife worse than an older one. I won’t say blacksmithing is hard but it has a learning curve that people usually regard as nothing but I guarantee you I being of relative talent when making things will tell you that talent makes no difference when you’re blacksmithing. It’s persistence, patience and stubbornness that produce a good knife.
I find Talented the ones who are able to put so much dedication to learn and make something cool while I can't manage to keep on with doing What I'd like to achieve
I would be interested to see how this compares to doing the same thing but one knife at a time start to finish. I can't help but imagine you would see more improvement and learn faster doing the whole process that many extra times
Talent is how fast practice becomes progress. Some people are just untalented at things and they need to do 4 times the practice to get where someone else gets and sometimes they will never get there. Of cause talent is not enough, most of the time you also need to practice.
Tip for the future, do all your grinding and finishing before you harden, saves your belts, and you don't risk ruining your temper if you get the blade too hot while grinding!
@@codenamemod2042 how far into the grinding of bevels do you go? Like, do you grind to where all you'd have to do is sharpen, or are the bevels "present" but still have quite a bit of work to go before it's considered an edge?
@@RyanBarnes I usually go until there is about a 32nd inch on the edge, all the bevels mostly at their final shape, then quench. That way I can grind to also Mt final dimensions while the metal is still soft, and it doesn't eat up my belts, without having the edge deform in the quenching and tempering process.
Congrats on your attitude! One thought from another untalented Smith, you probably want to avoid spring steel for most forging. It's good metal and will work well for tools, but it is hard to move. It's used for springs because it wants to return to its original shape. I prefer railroad spikes if you can get them, they are usually abandoned on the side of tracks by the maintenance crews
By my perspective (art) - talented, is a person who creates something unique, they have an idea, they have a vision, guided by pure creativity and inspiration they will find the way to make their art. You can learn the basics, techniques, follow the guidelines, but without creative spark in your heart, your art will be hollow, empty inside. As Robert Rodriguez once said - the artist can be taught (knowledge, skill) to become a mechanic, but mechanic - cannot. No matter what skill you have, what tools you use, your “spark” will find the way. How many times I’ve seen a simple sketch, by the people who don’t have skill and knowledge, by their pure enthusiasm, have more “depth” and “meaning” than a finished and polished piece… Talent - is to find your own personal way, that gives you pure joy, and follow it to the end. You cannot call yourself talented, only other people can.
@@dennisobrien3618 Can't you use magnets to check if steel is the right temperature for some heat treatments? Because if I remember that correctly, that would be really useful.
I heard this once: "Talented children, skilled adults." The competitions called "XYZ-Country got Talent" have twisted the meaning of the word in the minds of many. Its a compliment, but for anyone who understands the difference it can feel condescending. I would not read too much into it and avoid taking it personal anyway, but that's me.
You're inventing the wheel over and over again! :) There is a reason that we invented craft training :) You're progession would be much steeper if you had a "real" smith around you to give you advice and tips!
Talent only means you learn a certain thing faster, you still have to put in the practice, the hours and work to get good at it. its not like a talented person can pick up a football and suddenly outplay everyone thats been practicing for years. They just have potential to reach higher points in the thing you're practicing for.
This dude is grinding his smithing skill with iron daggers IRL
For real.
My exact thoughts.
He should be making jewelry or dwarven bows instead. Its fastet that way.
Eorlund about to be sold 100 daggers
+25 exp
@@wanderingcalamity360 one sec can you name sum games like that
You'd think I'd have realized it sooner from watching forging videos, but this finally made it click in my brain that "Oh right, medieval blacksmiths wouldn't survive entirely on making expensive swords that take months to make, normal people need little baby knives and kitchen tools." I may be stupid.
Lots of nails and rivets and arrowheads.
Skyrim taught me this already, nails and daggers nails and daggers.
Honestly, the most I ever do with my knives is open packages so I figured these should do the job as well. While they cost a fraction 😄
Give knife 4 a good temper and some grinding and I would keep it as a car knife
There actually was a decent amount of specialization in the cities historically, although rural smiths would have been generalists that would make almost anything.
Worst is when you explain to people how you achieved the skill you have, all the practice, study and time, and somehow they get a attitude like you are trying to hide some "secret way".
That's the point I give in and say, 'Yes. I use magic. It takes decades of study to master it, but I think it was worth it.' 🙂
😂
And the price you charge includes all the experience and practice.
LOL. Well. There are different levels of talent. If someone likes your work, but knows very little about it. Kind words are not so bad.
I like messing with Veterans. Thanks for giving my father a hard time. At first they are buthurt and ask who my father is. I smile and say a retired colonel.
Oh big revelation, if you do something a lot you're gonna get better at it... I mean, ofc...
That doesn't mean you aren't talented too. Talent doesn't mean that you're able to do something right off the bat, everyone needs to put in the work, thing is people get better faster than other people with the same amount of work, that's what talent is, and it exists.
Now I'm pretty sure he did this alone, but what if he had a master smith teaching him along the way? Knowledge beats practise.
”I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” I love that you keep it real always. It takes time and practice and fortitude to keep moving forward no matter what. You seem to plenty of all of those. keep up the good work...
Thank you 🙌
Amen to my kind bruce lee
And I would also fear the man who practiced 250 kicks 1000 times. That would result in absolute mastery of the capabilities of their lower body in a wide variety of different situations.
@@garethbaus5471 That's very fair as well.
The real "talent" is the discipline to keep working on something over and over to master a skill. Excellent work I admire your dedication.
That is practice/training and experience for aquiring a skill. There are some talented people who are born better than others in some thing. So a person can start blacksmithing and be way better than most starting blacksmiths from their first couple of times, and after training and gaining experience they rise above the rest.
You find this in everything, some people's brains and body are just wired for some things better than others.
There's no discipline in forging there's only enjoyment of process and $$$ so don't yap old timer
Well no the real talent is talent
I think you missed his point in this video. He wasn't automatically good at something. You build a skill through practice, talent helps, but without discipline to master a skill, talent can be wasted. He's very talented I agree, but also disciplined.
Seems like a lot of people missing the point here. I totally agree though, dedication and follow through can be really tough. Maybe not for everyone but sure as hell for me, just having that discipline makes such a difference.
As a new blacksmith, and someone that found this video very cool, i have a couple thoughts.
First, kudos for grinding out 100 knives. That takes patience.
A thought, i feel that you hit a "skill" plateau in that you went for how many you could do, rather than how many really good ones you could do. I think thats literally why you didnt see much improvement after the 50th.
As others have said, those tongs can be helpful, but you can also just hold the stock when long enough, and switch to other tongs later.
Dont make your scrolls with those pliers, theyll leave nasty marks in your steel.
When holding your hammer, dont put your thumb along the length of the handle (like youre hitchhiking), keep it wrapped around the haft.
As others mentioned, use your anvil as a template holder, length and dimentions are great to have on it.
If your anvil isn't "sharp enough" you can dress one edge to be "sharp" to help with pinching off your work.
If you need to straighten coil again, you already had a bending fork for your hardy hole, you can use that to help straighten it.
When doing the knife shape, move the work to the edge of the anvil to prevent hitting the anvil and give you easier access to getting the point right.
Lastly, if you want more smithing tips and such, look up Black Bear Forge, or Mark Asprey.
If he had a square hole in his anvil he could have made a handy tool for splitting the metal. Im not sure if it even has a name but essentially its just a short rod that fits into the anvils square slot and is a pretty wide chisel shape with like a triangle side profile like a direction arrow if say maybe 30-45 degrees on the blade. And ofcourse the blade part extends to the sides all ways enough so it stays on the anvil. When using it to split things its good to remember to not split entirely through to prevent unnecessary damage to the blade part. When a dark line appears on the glowing hot metal its a good time to stop hammering
Also you could use a vice on a sturdy table for the tool, itll absorb some of the force so it'll not be as good as an anvil but it's not like you have to hit it very hard.
No worries, it's better than "You think you're soooo good, don't you!"
Jealousy brings out the worst in people.
.
I feel like the person who told me a very important thing "practice does not make perfect, it makes permanent" really set home, that its not doing the same thing for 10,000 hours, its doing something, experimenting with, testing other ideas, and learning what works and what doesn't for 10,000 hours is what makes someone truly a master of a skill.
A guitar teacher once told me (and many other students) this: “Practice makes permanent, so practice perfectly.”
I wonder what the outcome would look like if you really focused hard on 10-20 repetitions. Spend way more time than you need to trying to get every one as perfect as you can (set a target size and shape). Taking notice of little things you can do to make each piece closer to perfect.
I’ve never done smithing, but I try to apply “practice perfectly” to a lot of other things in life. Just like you, even though I’ve done it a lot, I would still call myself not very good at guitar lol. Even so, perfect practice has helped me a lot.
Regardless, you made some great improvements with those knives! Keep it up, sir!
Very good point! While editing I also thought that I focused too much on speed over quality. (But I also wanted to get the video done 😅)
I’ll probably focus more on quality when forging them in the future, without filming.
And thanks for the kind words!
Practice matters a lot when hand forging items.
This is honestly a better way of saying what I came down here to say, I've been smithing as a side job for just a few years now, and I feel my skill improved much faster and with far fewer identical knives made and I didn't want to be a dick to come here and tell him I felt he was doing something wrong but...that's exactly what I think the difference is, every knife, every nail, every item I make I inspect for flaws and find them even if the product is good...Some tell me I'm being hard on myself but I'm studying each piece for how I might improve it! Please don't take this as an "I'm better than you" comment, I just wanted to share what I think would help improve your craft.....also one other tip, making sure you do at least one tight and very circular curl at the tip of each before bending it over will make it look more finished, scrollwork is tricky at first but its now one of my favorite things to do and improving it will drastically improve the overall finished look on each of these knives
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I suspect the word "talented" gets misused or is simply misunderstood by many. I suspect it's intended to be a compliment, but you're right, it can feel a discredit to all the hard work you put into learning something. You absolutely proved the point that practice leads to progress. The improvement between your first and last knife is striking! And it's not just the hammer work, but in all aspects of the process that you improve.
Also, something a mentor smithy told me that I could never quite achieve but always kept in mind was that you need to keep the elbow of your hammer arm closer to your body. Holding your arm out more feels natural, but it's similar to slouching and will cause problems for your elbow and shoulder eventually. I think that's the tennis elbow you described. Just an observation.
Great work! ^_^
i thought talented just meant good at something
This exactly. I see talent more as the natural aptitude for one artform than the other. It's more of an accompaniment to the skill that's developed.
@@sourhill2292 If I had to put a proper name to the term in my head, I'd say that a person talented at something is someone who gets stuff down WAY faster than a ''normal'' person and thus improves faster. If someone gets the same results after 2 months of practice as someone who did 12 months, they are naturally talented at it.
Hey man, little tip to help with the sore elbow.
Dont forge with your forearm like you where, use your shoulder to lift the hammer up and your shoulder/upper arm to drop it with whatever force necessary. Think like the linkages on a train, in that motion. That Works has a video on it and it helped me out alot.
Just a tip for you forged knives, you can clean off a lot of the scale with a steel brush but you're mostly better off with a bucket of white vinegar overnight and it'll dissolve it off. Saves you messing around with a grinder and it'll really save your belts.
The 3M C2 9 series belts are pretty serious business, but they like high speed and light-medium pressure so if you find yourself putting more force to move metal they need to be tuned up a bit. I keep a bar of carbide next to the grinder and give it a light pass across the width of the belt to knock the tips off the ceramic to sharpen them again and it gets you a little bit more out of each belt. That applies to most ceramic belts, but past 80grit they're generally not worth the expense and you really want compound, structured abrasive belts that tun slower and cooler for better effect. Or go the unstructured abrasive belts known as Scotchbrite.
With knife making, the final product mostly comes down to your skill as a grinder to get the bevels put in well, the geometry correct and how you got there is mostly irrelevant :)
Thanks I really gotta try that vinegar over night method!
I heard of that carbide trick before, would that even still work the 3M belt I showed? To me it looked like there wasn't any ceramic left to be exposed again. I always wondered when the right time to do that was.
@@NjordArtisan Forge scale absolutely turns any belt into a smooth mess in a few passes and that's sort of where it gets hard to to describe as it doesn't really look much different. Sadly, it comes down to feel
So if the 3M belt is completely flat and you can rub your thumb along a belt (while its not moving on the grinder) and there's no resistance its done and gone. But if there's a little bit of bite left to it then you might be able to scavenge another pass out of there with a carbide snapping off the tops of the ceramic bumps.
A lot of people might be saying, its just a belt and why bother? But they do cost me about $22 Australian for each one- including a bulk buy discount then you just need to get every single bit out of them. Normally on a basic 36G I can get about 8-9 chefs knives roughly dialed in on an annealed state and about 6-7 hardened ones done each belt. The trick is finding the right speed and pressure for your grinder, you generally want about a very fast, light to medium pressure on the 36grit. For the next step on the 60grit knock about 20% speed off and the same pressure.
If you use too much pressure it gets too hot and ruins the hardening of the knife, too little pressure and you dont knock the ceramic tips off the keep them sharp.
Oh the other tune up tool is the big block of rubber, they are great for pulling metal swarf and muddy goo, wood chunks out of the belts especially if you wet grind.
For Structured Abrasives (like the 3M Gator) you cannot wet grind with them, but they do last a very long time and you can resharpen them with a coarse diamond stone- but they're a whole other story!
"I just skimmed over the whole thing to see the last blade you made. Oh wow, how beautiful! You are so talented!"
j/k
What does j/k mean ?
@@Anticonstitutionnel just kidding
A neat trick to use when you are trying to make multiple identical items is to mark you anvil with lenghts and widths.
That way you know that each one is drawn out to the exact same length, each taper starts in the exact same place, each flat is the same width. It is really helpful.
I have even gone so far as to chalk mark my tongs to make sure i an holding the exact same amount of material in the jaws each time.
Thanks for demonstrating the value of practice You also demonstrated the rule that most tasks or skills begin to plateau around 50 attempts. You still make progress afterwards but it becomes more subtle.
When I was in first grade, I started taking piano classes. After a few weeks, I could tell that I had ABSOLUTELY ZERO natural talent, and was disenheartened. However, I trusted my parents that I would improve with practice, and after a month or two, I could tell that I was improving, but also that I had a long way to go. I kept at the practice for over an entire decade, stopping after I graduated high school, and now, as an adult, I can learn pretty much any piano song in a week, and have even written one of my own, whose tune was granted to me from the aether, it literally just popped into my head one day And I was taking music theory class at the time.
Now, I can sit down at any piano, after any gap of no practice, practice all 8 scales and chords, and recall my song from memory and play it five times at most to play it perfectly. What I can do on the Piano now, would be considered Outright Magic when I started. Practice ABSOLUTELY pays off, the more you do it, the more it pays.
Fantastic Video! Nothing shows people what it is really like other than the constant waiting for heat ups, failing at trying something, and figuring out a way to fix your mistakes. Great Great Job!
The hardest part is finding something you enjoy enough to get to the skill level where the activity is fun.
I feel like a lot of people use talent and skill interchangeably, theyre not saying you just naturally got these abilities without working, theyre just complimenting your abilities
Tbh tho theres no way in hell I'd be able to FORGE 100 knives lol.
Loved the anvil noises tho ngl
I thought so too 😄
I think the anvil sound great when hitting center mass but working on the horn is unpleasantly high 😖
@@NjordArtisan At least its a nice, stable platform unlike my chunk of H beam lmao, not even the anvil at school sounded that stable
2:49 me playing any game where you have to land a hit
Hello I'm a young blacksmith and I think that for someone like you u r doing an ok job you just need more practice and you will be better
As an artist, oh how much do I hate it when people call me “talented” I know they aren’t trying to be mean, but I wish they would understand how insulting it is. No I wasn’t born with the magical ability to make art, I have learned and will learn for all of my life.
He very well demostrated the value of having property fitted tones. Good job overall. Don't have to patience to do any practice 100 times, though.
If you stick the spring in the tool hole of the anvil it makes it easier to straighten springs
I’ll try that, thanks!
I don't think most people mean to imply that you're born with a skill when they use the words talent/talented these days. They just mean skill/skilled. Nobody really things about the words they say these days. Language is ever-evolving and in some cases devolving.
I choose to interpret "talented" the same as "skilled" because that's what most people meant to say anyway.
I'm talented at practising and gifted with patience, both of which were required to develop my competency, proficiency, or skill.
I was told the tools will work to your hand, and watching you get good is a treat- it's happening.
I have an idea for something to toy around with--- In one of Tyrell Knifework's video, he got some oil on top of his ferric acid which resulted in the knives getting a really cool pitted texture. Perhaps you could find a way to mask off the cutting edge and then try it in another project.
Oh yeah I know that video! That looked pretty cool. Good idea, thanks!
"I see it. Not just your talent, but your hard work as well."
Thanks for the video. If you do more forging in the future, on tip I have is to harden your pieces after you're done shaping them. This will massively cut down on your grinding time. You'll still have to do a little bit of clean up work after hardening, but much less.
The amount of work put into this video is insane😂 Go get yourself a massage for your arm + the hours spent bent over a hot anvil, you deserve it!
Thank you!
The forging turned out to be infinitely less hard on my body than 16hrs at the belt grinder in 2 days 🫠
Really awesome video, thanks for sharing and for the inspiration. Also, cool little knife design. Love it.
I think you can be more efficient by holding the bar without the tongs when it is fairly long. Keep a big container of water nearby (a "slack tub" in traditional terms) to cool the part you're going to hold as necessary. Just a suggestion.
BEAST MODE activated! 100 you crazy Smith you 😁 you may wanna grind down the surface on top of your anvil and make it nice and smooth so that no pits or divots show up in what you’re trying to make. Just a thought. Keep up the great work!!!
Thanks man! 🙏
Yes that’s a great idea! I wish I knew exactly how this one is constructed. I’m a bit afraid to grind away the hardened surface if it’s just a welded on face. This project really showed that it could use some improvements 😄
@@NjordArtisan Either way you nailed it again! Keep up the great work 😁👍🏽
#12 is mine baby! 🎉
Can't wait to have my own little piece of your work.
Hope your journey brings you far.
Thanks for your support! Hope you’ll like it 🙌
Wow! Hundred respects to you for completing this chalenge 👍🔥🤘 Congrats for growing in forging! I definitely see how 100 attempts gained your skill a lot. Thanks for sharing your art🙏
I really was hoping this was some several year old video so i could fast forward all your progress. But know im excited to watch your journey as the years go by!
Ps i love your editing style!
I think a talent is something you can work at and improve at. I think the most backhanded compliment is when someone says you’re “gifted.” Nobody gave me this, I earned this.
Incredible, man. I've been forging knives since I was thirteen, and it's paid off.
Pretty good knives you got there! You should totally forge some more!
Quick suggestion about that anvil. May want to get it refaced as in machined FLAT and then have a hard face put on it with square sharp edges. It may help in your forging over the long term.
"I dont fear the guy who does 100 knifes but instead the guy who does 1 knife 100 times."
People who win the Olympics pretty much always are both hard working and talented.
Definitely a big jump in refinement beginning to end.
A suggestion I'd make for anyone wanting to develop a specific skill is to do smaller batches over more days.
Your first few batches had obvious jumps in refinement. Don't underestimate the value of giving yourself time process what you learned from even a short session at the anvil.
Ilya is a very nice guy, glad I got to talk to him as much as I did
Also happy to see others learn from him
Regarding tennis elbow issue: Ilya has covered that years ago too. Don't swing the hammer. Swing your shoulder and keep your arm relaxed, that way you can work for longer without putting stress on the joints or arm muscles. Also, stand in a "middle split" stance to lower yourself closer to anvil, so your back doesn't suffer also.
All of that has been said by Ilya in the past
Although I do believe in natural talent, I very strongly believe in the saying,
"practice makes perfect"
Great video brother, keep up the awesome work.
Those look awesome. You are really talented.
In multiple clips it looked like you were hammering cold metal (not glowing properly). This can lead to weaknesses (fractures) in the blade, which might make the blade break when quenching or when the knife is in use. The subsequent blade can be dangerous to handle for chopping, etc (regular cutting is fine. This is more about bigger blades or knives meant for chopping)
Off topic but would you consider maling the "telescopic sword" design Shad illustrated at the end of his video on folding swords?
I'll look into it 🙌
Niemals hast du es geschafft die Reihenfolge beizubehalten. ^^ Cooles Projekt.
thank you SOOOO much.
i'm saying this for years (im barely a minute in)
i'm a musician. i play 5 instruments and i am primarily singer.
i had NO talent. but i was so stubborn and learned/practiced for sooo many years.
at some point i became kinda decent.
and people say" ohh... yea... i couldn't do that! im not that talented."
or:"ohh he's got talent"
i try not to show them. but deep down i am very hurt. because it feels like all my work counts for nothing.
now i will continue to watch your video :D
I suspect a certain forum set you up with those hammers as starting tools.
I'd love to see what you could do with a sensible shaped 1.2kg hammer.
And a plan. How much material do you need and where will it come from for each element.
The most helpful advice I ever had was "start with the hardest part". I would actually try it the other way, stretch the handle material from the round stock first, cut off 3/4" of round and peen it lengthwise to form the blade. Part of that is because I work in a coal forge and like to isolate material for heating.
Regarding tennis Elbow, be carefull not to grip the hammer hard, also when you are concentrating about doing small stuff...
I also think standing closer to the anvil and lifting the hammer closer to the body will be easier on the body overall.
What is the purpose of rhose knifes tho? Why are they ao tiny?
Not all knifes are meant for particle use.
I personally am unfamiliar with this type of knife but if I had to guess it’d to for refining forging skills.
20:25 What Vader does off screen. “Ahhhhhhh!”
Do you listen to any music when u forge or just work in silence
thats a really interesting way of looking at "talent"
great vid as always
13 clock! ✊
Being good at a sport is mostly down to genetics at that level. Everyone there trains hard so if you’re not in that lucky few who one the generic lottery it doesn’t matter how hard you train you’re not gonna be able to compete.
Yeah maybe that wasn’t the best example. I meant to say you can be „good“ at most things. Maybe not outstanding but definitely good.
I just know some people that think any form of success boils down to luck and I don’t think that’s a healthy mindset to have.
@@NjordArtisan luck and lots of work and dedication!
You could win the genetic lottery, but if you don't practice, you will not be as good as the average person who practiced lots. The world is full of average, successful people, who built the world.
It depends on the sport. When it comes to fundamental movement skills like running and jumping, genetics certainly play a massive role. But the more complex the skill, the more that specific practice plays a role. For instance, a skilled martial artist can best someone with insane innate athleticism. With endeavors like that, genetics simply represents potential that still requires a lot of training to fully realize.
"I am the bone of my sword, steal is my body and fire my blood. I have created a hundred blades."
Unlimited Blade Works
I like to let my shoulder rest up for a week or two between forge projects, so it's gonna take me a while to get to #100
I'm really enjoying the hobby so far, even though my most recent attempt at a classic chef knife exploded in the quench.
Yeah, not overdoing it is probably a good idea. Shoulder injuries take forever to recover from. And sorry about that chef knife, that sucks
I love the idea of selling all of the knives! I’m glad I’ll be able to get a piece of your amazing craftsmanship, and even a collectors item without burning a wall of light sized hole in my pocket! (Believe me, if I had the money to spend $1700 on a kickass switch axe AND support you at the same time I most certainly would 😂)
Thanks man! I hope you’ll like it!
And I couldn’t afford to buy that switch axe either 😂
that is a good point, i myself have called people talented without realizing the connotations behind it. nice video :) :P
Where's the part where you compare your finished knives?? I watched the whole thing waiting for the part where you take a close look at the finished products and finally make your point.
wow you are a natural
This is one of the biggest issues i have with the body building/power lifting/fitness community. People say "Oh he just has superior genetics." Undermining the years of hard work and dieting required to reach that level. And what sucks is its so ingrained in the community is everyone even people at the top tall about genetics like its all that matters. It does matter, but the work and training matters more
He’s gaining +10 to blacksmithing skill for every knife he makes at the forge in Whiterun.
This video popped up at the most opportune time because I've decided to dive into forging for the first time. Using the most bare bones set up being bricks, and a hair dryer but I know it can work from other videos just gotta stick with it.
when i say you're so talented i mean that they have the mindset to actually do things for more than 2 weeks
Nach dem ersten Versuch: mehr Hitze und weniger Material. Abschneiden und an dünneren Baustahl schweißen. Damit verteilt sich die Hitze nicht im ganzen (großen) Werkstück. Wenn das Metall schon nicht mehr orange, sondern rot ist, dann solltest du nicht mehr schmieden, da du sonst nur das Metall schwächst
Du arbeitest auch seehr viel an der „Kante“, was es dir erschwert das Werkstück schön gleichmäßig zu bearbeiten.
Wow, that looks awesome, you're really talented 😊
I bladesmith and blacksmith as well and often hear the same comment but if you saw my first knife and how I went about making it you would never in a thousand years call it talent. But I did find that with every knife I made and continue to make I improve in some way and never is a newer knife worse than an older one. I won’t say blacksmithing is hard but it has a learning curve that people usually regard as nothing but I guarantee you I being of relative talent when making things will tell you that talent makes no difference when you’re blacksmithing. It’s persistence, patience and stubbornness that produce a good knife.
you can mitigate some elbow discomfort by having a loose grip on the hammer. Black bear forge has a good video on hammer technique.
I find Talented the ones who are able to put so much dedication to learn and make something cool while I can't manage to keep on with doing What I'd like to achieve
whats the song at 15:00
I would be interested to see how this compares to doing the same thing but one knife at a time start to finish. I can't help but imagine you would see more improvement and learn faster doing the whole process that many extra times
Talent is how fast practice becomes progress. Some people are just untalented at things and they need to do 4 times the practice to get where someone else gets and sometimes they will never get there. Of cause talent is not enough, most of the time you also need to practice.
you're so talented, like, it only took you 23 minutes to learn all of this!?
In french we have a saying "c'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron" -> "it's blacksmithing that you become a blacksmith "
Tip for the future, do all your grinding and finishing before you harden, saves your belts, and you don't risk ruining your temper if you get the blade too hot while grinding!
I'm guessing you mean profile grinding and such? Doing the bevels first, I've been told, can crack or ruin the blade right out.
@@RyanBarnes I've never had an issue with cracking after grinding the bevels in, unless the material was already cracked.
@@codenamemod2042 how far into the grinding of bevels do you go? Like, do you grind to where all you'd have to do is sharpen, or are the bevels "present" but still have quite a bit of work to go before it's considered an edge?
@@RyanBarnes I usually go until there is about a 32nd inch on the edge, all the bevels mostly at their final shape, then quench. That way I can grind to also Mt final dimensions while the metal is still soft, and it doesn't eat up my belts, without having the edge deform in the quenching and tempering process.
@@codenamemod2042 thanks for that. I've got a couple ready to be treated/ground. But I wasn't looking forward to grinding away on an 1/8th thick edge.
you're so talented and patient
No comparising at the end?
Congrats on your attitude! One thought from another untalented Smith, you probably want to avoid spring steel for most forging. It's good metal and will work well for tools, but it is hard to move. It's used for springs because it wants to return to its original shape. I prefer railroad spikes if you can get them, they are usually abandoned on the side of tracks by the maintenance crews
By my perspective (art) - talented, is a person who creates something unique, they have an idea, they have a vision, guided by pure creativity and inspiration they will find the way to make their art.
You can learn the basics, techniques, follow the guidelines, but without creative spark in your heart, your art will be hollow, empty inside.
As Robert Rodriguez once said - the artist can be taught (knowledge, skill) to become a mechanic, but mechanic - cannot.
No matter what skill you have, what tools you use, your “spark” will find the way.
How many times I’ve seen a simple sketch, by the people who don’t have skill and knowledge, by their pure enthusiasm, have more “depth” and “meaning” than a finished and polished piece…
Talent - is to find your own personal way, that gives you pure joy, and follow it to the end.
You cannot call yourself talented, only other people can.
I've heard wrapping a chain around your anvils base can reduce the ringing, might be worth a try.
Will definitely try that, thanks!
Sticking a big magnet to the anvil also works. I cut the magnets off of old speakers that are no good and use them.
@@dennisobrien3618 Can't you use magnets to check if steel is the right temperature for some heat treatments? Because if I remember that correctly, that would be really useful.
@@JohnSmith-NZ yes, definitely.
I heard this once: "Talented children, skilled adults."
The competitions called "XYZ-Country got Talent" have twisted the meaning of the word in the minds of many. Its a compliment, but for anyone who understands the difference it can feel condescending.
I would not read too much into it and avoid taking it personal anyway, but that's me.
I bet 69 has been sold faster than some previous numbers
You're doing good man, but when you put it in the forge, pull them out when they're orange. It makes the steel more soft.
Straight up like training smithing in Skyrim by forging an ungodly amount of items
You're inventing the wheel over and over again! :) There is a reason that we invented craft training :) You're progession would be much steeper if you had a "real" smith around you to give you advice and tips!
Talent only means you learn a certain thing faster, you still have to put in the practice, the hours and work to get good at it. its not like a talented person can pick up a football and suddenly outplay everyone thats been practicing for years. They just have potential to reach higher points in the thing you're practicing for.
smithing level?
You are so talented in forging
Nice work as always 👍👍
People misunderstand the talent compliment, it required talent to even do that much work!
Cut smallller pieces from your spring makes it a little easier
Bro has a suspicious amount of forging tools for not knowing how to forge 😂
Uncoiling red hot spring quickly becomes dragon wrestling! Ask me how I know…..
I liked what you said about having talent. So true. I mean, people just want to be nice, but still..
I've always wanted to do something like this this is AWSOME your pretty skilled
Where did you get your hammer? Love this video!