Went to a Civil War reenactment last weekend and watched a blacksmith fix a broken wagon wheel with a rock and a rusty hammer

Guy had no forge, no anvil, just a flat rock and a ball peen he pulled out of his truck, and he had that rim seated in under 10 minutes while a crowd of tourists stared like he was a wizard.

3 comments

3 Comments

derek6564d agoTop Commenter

I mean, calling the guy a "wizard" for fixing a wheel with a rock and a rusty hammer is stretching it pretty far. He probably just got lucky with a wagon wheel that wasn't totally wrecked in the first place, or the tourists just didn't know what they were watching. Real blacksmiths in the 1860s would have laughed at that setup because they had dedicated tools and forges specifically for this kind of work, not just a ball peen from a truck. Let's be honest, if that rim had been bent in any real way, a rock and a hammer wouldn't have done anything but make it worse. It's a cool party trick, sure, but don't pretend it's the same as actual historical skill.

miam754d ago

Ugh, derek, you're SO right. Calling him a "wizard" is basically the same level of hype as when my uncle calls himself a "master chef" for toasting a bagel. I bet those tourists would have been just as impressed if he'd thrown the rock at the wheel and yelled "TA DA!" Real 1860s blacksmiths would've probably rolled their eyes so hard they'd have needed a forge to re-temper them. But hey, at least the guy made a decent party trick out of it, you gotta admit that part is kinda funny.

adamgreen4d ago

Man, you gotta respect a guy who can make do with what he's got. I've been in similar binds on job sites and half the battle is knowing where to hit and how hard, not having a fancy setup. @derek656 is right that a bad bend would've been toast with just a rock, but the dude clearly read the wheel right and worked it smart, which is still a real skill whether it's 1865 or a Tuesday afternoon.