Sam Salvati Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 I saw small "pritchel hardies" in some old shop photos, they are pretty handy when another tool is occupying the hardy but you need a hot cut but that's not too often. forged it from 3/8" by 2" a 5160 drop. Nice thing about it is you can spin it to any angle, do a linear groove down the center of a leaf then spin it to cut in the veins. not for heavy cutting of course, but a neat little tool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Steinkirchner Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 very nice as usual, i know there are times when a tool like that comes in handy. i have one i made for mine forwhen i couldnt find big enough bar to forge a normal hardy from. but it didnt look near this nice. i used it the most for times when i used the hardy hole for heading. i think its time to update mine some. i have to stop reading your posts of ill never get my to do list finished! Ed Steinkirchner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fosterob Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Very elegant looking there. Good work. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marksnagel Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 Really nice pritchel hotcut you made there Sam. That should be real handy. Mark<>< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Salvati Posted February 18, 2011 Author Share Posted February 18, 2011 Thanks guys, was sort of an accident but it worked out. I could make one intentionally in probably 30 minutes. One of the biggest stumbling blocks for beginners forging a hardy is forming a sufficient shoulder for the hardy hole, the pritchel being smaller it's easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Hall Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Thats a great idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhblacksmith Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Thanks guys, was sort of an accident but it worked out. I could make one intentionally in probably 30 minutes. One of the biggest stumbling blocks for beginners forging a hardy is forming a sufficient shoulder for the hardy hole, the pritchel being smaller it's easier. One of the nice things about blacksmithing is that there is almost always more than one way to do something. If drawing down large stock to leave a shoulder is a problem, you can weld a collar onto smaller stock. I have several like this that I made almost 30 years ago and they are holding up fine in regular use. You can also take a piece of appropriate sized stock for the hardy hole and fold the top third over onto the middle third, leaving the bottom a single piece and the rest double thickness. Then you just forge weld the seam and forge whatever hardy design you need. Think "outside the box" and you can usually find solutions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 The round hole hardy was used in the granite tool sharpening shops, because a slanted faced, anvil stake was wedged into the square hole. The anvil stake had a vertical slot in the shank, so that when the tool was dropped into place, the slot showed below and could be tightly wedged. The hammer had a slanted face, making an angle of about 15-20º with the eye length. This matched the angle of the stake, so holding the granite tool in a horizontal position, the cutting edge was sandwiched between the two angles, imparting the proper, forged, wedge shape. If the smith got an irregular business end, perhaps a crack or fish lips, this could be cut on the round hole hardy without the bother of removing the stake from the square hole and placing the large hardy. The tools are shown in Holford's "The 20th Century Toolsmith and Steelworker." I did not google Trow & Holden Co., but they used to make and sell these specialized tools. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhblacksmith Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 The round hole hardy was used in the granite tool sharpening shops, because a slanted faced, anvil stake was wedged into the square hole. The anvil stake had a vertical slot in the shank, so that when the tool was dropped into place, the slot showed below and could be tightly wedged. The hammer had a slanted face, making an angle of about 15-20º with the eye length. This matched the angle of the stake, so holding the granite tool in a horizontal position, the cutting edge was sandwiched between the two angles, imparting the proper, forged, wedge shape. If the smith got an irregular business end, perhaps a crack or fish lips, this could be cut on the round hole hardy without the bother of removing the stake from the square hole and placing the large hardy. The tools are shown in Holford's "The 20th Century Toolsmith and Steelworker." I did not google Trow & Holden Co., but they used to make and sell these specialized tools. http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools Years ago a friend bought a house in Concord, NH which had formerly been the residence of one of the blacksmiths for Swenson's Granite Quarry in that same city. He gave me a number of tools that were left in the basement, among them a sloped hardy and slope-faced hammer exactly as you describe. The hardy actually has a short reverse slope so that when the hammer comes down it can overhang the hardy a bit on the side away from the smith. Very ingenious tool and very effective. I have used it a number of times to sharpen bars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 i have a square pritchel as well as a hardie and round pritchel, was wondering if that worked! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nakedanvil - Grant Sarver Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Sam is my hero! Beautiful tool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now