Found my old forge log from 3 years ago in the garage

I was cleaning out my garage in Tacoma last week and found a notebook I used to track my forge heats and hammer times. Last month, I tried to make a simple leaf hook and messed up the taper twice because I rushed it. Looking back at the log, I had the same issue back then but wrote down 'slow down, let the steel move.' Has anyone else kept notes like that and actually gone back to read them?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_anthony5d ago

My grandpa kept a logbook for his woodworking shop, just dates and what he built. After he passed, I found a note from 1987 that just said "sanded through the veneer on the tabletop, don't rush the finish." It was wild seeing the same lesson I had to learn last year written in his shaky handwriting. Those old notes feel less like a list of mistakes and more like a conversation you're having with your past self, you know?

pat_fisher244d ago

That "conversation with your past self" idea is spot on. I get what @michael_jenkins39 means about old logs feeling like a list of mistakes, but I see them more like little breadcrumbs my past self left to help me out. It's nice to find one when you're stuck on the same problem years later.

michael_jenkins395d ago

That note about letting the steel move is a good one, but I have to be honest, I never look back at my old notes. For me, the lesson sticks better when I mess it up in the moment and have to figure it out again. My old logs just feel like a list of past mistakes I'd rather forget.