LDW Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 I went over to Brians Brazeal's last evening and he and Mark were heating a billet to make a hammer. I grabbed my camera and decided to take some pics. Mark's hand was a little swollen from striking the day before, but he has now learned not to hold his hand so close to the head of the hammer when striking. He started getting his hammer up high and was really moving some metal. The billet was 2" diameter 1045 and it was 4 1/4" long. The pics show, punching the hole, cheeking, dividing the faces from the cheeks, final finishing of the cheeks, hardening of the hammer, ( in the picture of the hammer going into the water you can see the differential hardening that takes place since the faces are heated instead of the whole hammer.) Then the tempering of the hammer by heating the drifts and heating the hammer from the inside out till the faces achieve a slight straw hue. Brian makes a steel wedge at the end to go in the handle. I think thats cool, seems silly but it looks just like store bought. Hope ya'll enjoy. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/MarkWargoSHammer?authuser=0&feat=directlink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alec.S Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Looks great, Lyle!!! I'm glad to see you posting some more pics up on here!!!! :D ;) alec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigred1o1 Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 this was a real treat thanks for taking the time to put up the photos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudbugone Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Great pics and very nice hammer.... Thanks for taking the time to share with the rest of us. I'm sure it was tortuous to have set there watching that happen...LOL .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Wargo New2bs Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Lyle, thanks for posting the pictures! They tell a great story. Brian says a big hammer will teach you how to throw a hammer, that 12 pound sledge will teach you what you are doing wrong quick lol. I had a great time with Brian. Karen's food and hospitality were top notch. It was a pleasure seeing you again and watching you strike. That really helped me understand what to do. After I get more practice with the two-sided taper I'll be ready for more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kainon Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I am finally about ready to take the plunge and forge my first hammer and this is extremely helpful for me to gather my thoughts. There are some really nice looking pictures in there too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borntoolate Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 I like to do things myself.... Or at least be able to. BUt the other day my son came out to the shop and just held a piece for me while I used a hot cut. Suddenly it all went so much faster. This isn't a striker story but I think I need to re-think my whole "be able to work on my own" approach. That second set of hands plus the tools I guess can really open up some doors to making more things faster. Anyway, just something that has been tickling my brain lately. This video I posted in the "post your favorite videos" thread kinda pushes me to think about teaming up as wellhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=PwgIjPEZzSE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Borntoolate Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Lyle, at the hammer workshop I went to last year with you and Brian you gave me some tips on how to strike without killing myself. You showed me some simple stuff that quickly made striking much easier than I was doing. I have split at least two+ large oak trees worth of wood with a splitting mall for firewood so I had some background to work from. I suspect most folks don't have that. Even so that doesn't mean I did it right or safely or effectively. Though this helped me be able to hit accurately. One thing I have not seen on this site is anything about striker technigue. It's kinda like in the NFL where the running back gets all the credit for the touchdown but he would never have even gotten close without all the blocking and other support needed. Let us know how to be a good striker! I challenge you to have Brian or Karen take the pics while you show us the correct technigue to strike effectively and without hurting ourselves. What can you teach us? A video would be cool to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvmikeray Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Lyle - Great photos !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arbalist Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Great set of pictures, thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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