[TheForge] U don't need no stinkin power hammer...?

[PlumDon at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/16/2007 8:25:42 AM Eastern Daylight Time,  
pesetsky at Princeton.EDU writes:
I have been forging here and there and I am  feeling

it a lot more now in my arms...No reason for that when I can build  a
hammer..

A good friend and mentor, Jim Faust, had to give up  smithing at about 60 
because his arm and shoulder gave out. He always insisted  on doing things the 
old way...no power hammer. Not getting a power hammer is now  one of his 
greatest regrets. He could have made more money and could still be  forging. 

Even if you are not operating as a business I would consider  some form of 
power hammer as an integral part of the shop. We dont have all the  young 
apprentices, cheap labor, etc., that was available to the earlier smiths  to do the 
heavy or repetitive striking. In youth we think we will last  forever...but we 
dont. 
 
Don Plummer



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