It was only 2 degrees outside, but as I gripped the tongs, trying to hammer the glowing piece of steel clamped in its jaws, my leather glove began to smoke. I dropped the tongs with a yelp, and the ...
The anvil is a 114-pound chunk of iron, heavily scarred from hundreds of hammer strikes against red-hot metal pieces over the years. In the corner, a modest furnace is filled with charred coals. The ...