[TheForge] Re: horn on left and other stuff

[LrdThorolf at aol.com]

Hi all.
 Just to put my few cents. I  keep my horn on my left because way  my forge 
set up is I  pull stuff out, usually  4' long steel and down  on the anvil. 
Forge is also on my right side also. When I do have to work  on horn then I step 
around so I am pulling out of the forge and right  onto  the horn. So I  must 
be different then the rest of the  blacksmiths then. LOL
As for sore arms from swinging hammers I don't usually get that until after  
4 to 5 straight hours of swinging my hammer. My hammers weight in from 2 to 4  
pounds. Just depending on what I  am doing at the time. I have all of  my 
handles wrapped in hockey stick tape and where I hold them it is built up  some 
to give me a comfortable grip. I also use a leather half glove with a  padded 
palm. I.E. Motorcycle style open fingers. I also set my anvil up higher  to 
where the face is even with the wrist bone when standing the anvil. That  way I 
don't do a lot of bending over or getting a sore back  from bending over. The 
only thing I watch out for is grabbing the  steel stock without a glove or the 
wrong hand. I wear a double palm leather  glove on left hand and when that 
gets hot then I know my stock is getting to  warm to handle. 
 
Ike 
Pan's Forge
 
But I love  the heat. Just want it from the Forge. 4 seasons for me  now.