4
Tried changing my hammer strike angle after 8 years of forging
I always swung my hammer at about 45 degrees on flat work, but last month I watched a video from that old-timer out of Tennessee and he was hitting closer to 30 degrees. Changed my stance and tried it on a batch of 5 bottle openers and the metal moved WAY faster with less effort. Has anyone else noticed a big difference from a simple grip or angle tweak?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
mary_west17h agoMost Upvoted
Eight years of muscle memory down the drain for a five degree change? That Tennessee fella probably edits his videos to make it look easy. I've been at this for twenty years and I've seen plenty of guys wreck their shoulders chasing some gimmick angle off the internet. Your body knows what it's doing after eight years, now you're gonna have to retrain every swing and relearn your timing on a batch of beer openers. That extra speed you think you found is just you swinging harder because you're excited about something new. Give it a few weeks and your elbows will remind you why you settled on that 45 degree angle in the first place. Most folks who change their swing end up with a crooked batch of work and a trip to the chiropractor.
7