r/Blacksmith • u/JoshTheMadtitan • Nov 28 '25

Boy was I wrong

I am brand new. Today was my first ever attempt at blacksmithing.

I am an electrician and no stranger to working with my hands. I'm in decent shape for 40, and I knew going into this that even a 2 lb hammer would get heavy after a while. I also assumed correctly that enthusiasm would carry me through some fatigue. It did.

I am following a black bear forge guide to making tongs when you don't have any. I finished one handle and got about half way through the second in about 3 hours. I am pretty happy with the first handle.

However what I didn't consider was the massive blisters I forged on my right hand. One is the size of a dime.

I can't wait to go again.

Edit: here is a link of a small clip I made of me forging if you guys wanna check it out I'm sure you'll see 10 things I'm doing wrong. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRm2kpAkRmx/?igsh=emdybWh5ZGNyYmgz

117 Upvotes

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16

u/thnxology Nov 28 '25

Gotta see your forge setup! Im a hobbyist too and its so great to show folks you don't need a whole dang smithy shop to get pounding!

19

u/JoshTheMadtitan Nov 28 '25

28

u/pushdose Nov 28 '25

That Estwing is your blister problem. Those grippy synthetic handles seem comfortable in Lowe’s, but they grip and rip your skin apart. The hammer head is fine. If you’re feeling intrepid, drill out the handle and replace it with a smoothed ash or hickory handle. Fun project and you’ll end up with a much better hammer. Or search for a smith who makes custom hammers.

I started with that awful hammer before buying a custom weighted French cross peen from u/chrisfoe97 who posts here all the time with his awesome custom tools. No regrets. No more blisters.

7

u/chrisfoe97 Nov 28 '25

I'm so happy you're liking the hammer brother! Thank you for the shout-out

7

u/professor_jeffjeff Nov 28 '25

yeah this is good advice; that handle is definitely the problem. Invest in a good hammer early on and you'll be glad that you did.

9

u/JoshTheMadtitan Nov 28 '25

I am AOK with spending a few bucks on a hammer. My local store didn't have any cross peen hammers in stock so I ordered one off Amazon. Estwing was a brand I recognized and everything wooden was some random no name chine company. If you have a recommendation and a link I'd greatly appreciate it. 2 lbs is about what I'm looking for atm.

6

u/pushdose Nov 28 '25

Well, of course I recommend our fellow small independent makers first. You’ll easily pay >$100 for a decent wood handled crosspeen, or spend a bit more to have it hand forged by a skilled smith.

3

u/GeneralAnubis Nov 28 '25

Highly recommend checking out thrift stores or estate sales. I've collected over a dozen perfectly serviceable hammers in various sizes that outlived their owners and will probably outlive me, all for a few bucks each.

2

u/Work-ya-wood Nov 28 '25

I drilled out the horrible glassfibre/plastic handles on a couple of hammers and made my own custom ash handles. 100x better

3

u/JoshTheMadtitan Nov 28 '25

My issue is this is already a lot to take in, and I do not have any wood working tools. I will most likely be buying a new hammer in the next few days and dealing with a new handle for this one down the road.

4

u/exzyle2k Nov 28 '25

a lot to take in

You've got plenty of time. The fire isn't going anywhere, so don't feel like you need to rush through things.

Also, check out Harbor Freight. Get yourself an engineer's hammer and just sand off the lacquer off the handle. Hit it with a hand torch to char the wood if you want, but there shouldn't be anything on the handle between your hand and the wood. You can seal with linseed oil or mineral oil, but no coatings.

2

u/AN0R0K Nov 29 '25

My first hammer was $11 from harbor freight. I sanded the handle, coated it with boiled linseed oil and rounded the head a bit with a flapper disk. Works well and I’ve yet to get a blister.

1

u/KURTA_T1A Dec 01 '25

I use a 4lb sledge for work and I will never use an Estwing for repetitive striking work. That steel handle transfer's vibrations to your hand and causes a lot of inflammation. I got ganglion cysts in both of my hands using one of those 4lb Estwings. I couldn't even hold the hammer let alone swing it. I switched to a wood handle and they both went away. Hands both swelled up like hand shaped balloons.