Vent: the museum in Saratoga had a colonial forge and the guy running it called my hammer technique "cute"

Jennifer Murphy · 2026-10-01T13:40:03.158574+00:00

Stopped by the Saratoga County historical museum on a rainy Saturday and saw they had a working colonial forge setup in the back. The guy doing demos has been at it for 40 years and he watches me swing for about 30 seconds before saying "that's cute" with this little smile. Turns out I was holding the hammer way too far down the handle and choking my swing, so I was doing maybe half the work needed. He let me try his way for a few heats and the difference was honestly night and day on a simple taper. I felt like a total rookie but he was nice about it and showed me a few other small things. Anybody else mostly self taught run into someone who can spot every bad habit in half a minute?

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Vent: the museum in Saratoga had a colonial forge and the guy running it called my hammer technique "cute" | Blacksmiths - Thought Shares