Old timer at a hammer-in showed me his personal touch technique

Last summer I went to a hammer-in up near Portland and this older smith named Joe pulled me aside during a demo. He had this beat up cross peen with a handle so worn you could see the wood grain. He said "Stop worrying about the hammer head and start feeling what the steel tells your hand." We spent 20 minutes with him guiding my arm on a simple leaf punch. I had been trying to copy YouTube videos for months but his one tip about rotating my wrist on the backstroke clicked everything. Now I adjust my grip based on the thickness of the stock I'm moving. Has anyone else had a random stranger ruin their old habits for the better?

2 comments

2 Comments

elizabeththomas20d ago

Ran into a guy at a tool swap who sharpened my drawknife with a file he found in a bucket. He showed me to hold it at a angle where the burr tells you when to stop, not some measurement. Changed how I sharpen everything now, even kitchen knives. You ever get handed a tool that just talked to you differently after someone messed with it?

cooper.reese19d ago

Some measurement keeps my knives consistent, that "feel it out" approach wrecked my kitchen shears for a week.