Jason @ MacTalis Ironworks

I dunno Mark, if the "collectors" are dumb enough to buy...

Oh... and I sometimes, in his presence anyway, refer to my 14# straight pein sledge as Mjolnir Jr.

About the only tradition I have with my hammers is using the heck out of them though one of my forge partners names all his favorite hammers... happy hammer, xena, mistress, sledgey...

I've used just about all the different vegetable oils for hot finishing like Brian Brazeal teaches, and honestly have found the only difference in them when applied like we do is the smell. I did ask a histologist (allergy doctor) about using peanut oil for a finish, and he said it "shouldn't" cause a problem in folk with allergies to them, but, at the same time, it "could". So, I have changed up to straight vegetable oil for finishing. Though I still use peanut oil for heat treating.

My take on Brian's "Ugly Tongs" they hold everything from 3/16" to 1-1/4" square, round, and especially tapers. This was my first attempt at them, and I will be refining the jaws a little in future iterations. I really had no clue how long to make them, and just eyeballed which resulted in one of them being a little on the thin side.

Brian, certainly didn't make the hole too big, LOL, if anything it is a little undersized, but it does have a nice hourglass to it. I call it a Brazeal style hammer simply because I indirectly learned the method from you. I'm sure some time spent with you would refine things a little, as I am certain I am doing some things less than efficiently, but I might work out those bugs with repetition too. One thing I did notice is that my eye punch is a little undersized for 2" stock, so one of my apprentices/strikers and I will soon be making one about 1/2" longer and maybe a little beefier for the larger tools. Also because I haven't gotten around to making a 3" fuller set, we just used a hardy block and flatter to clean up the cheeks a little. It worked, but certainly not the best. I was looking at the one you made for Ralph as well and noticed that I fullered the faces a tad deeper than you, resulting in about 1/2" more length than yours. All little things that will be corrected in future revisions. Alec, Thanks man.

Our first production hammer in its rough forged form. Made from 4 inches of 2" 1045 steel. Made with Joe striking. It weighs out at 3 pounds 3.7 oz. We lost a little more weight than I wanted due to scale because I forgot to kick up the heat from the lighter work we were doing earlier until we were mostly finished and then forgot to retune the air intake to a more neutral flame. The eye turned out a little undersized as well due to the punch we used being a little shorter than Ideal.

John, Brian has a rather nice collaring tool that is essentially a 12" length of 1x2 with 2 3" pieces of 1x2 that are pinned to the 12" base with 1/2" round stock to create a 6" gap. He then uses various spacers to create whatever size gap he needs. Pinning the tool together rather than welding it allows it to find parallel even if your shim stock is less than straight. There is a thread here somewhere which shows the tools he uses. Borntoolate, Collaring with your bands hot, and your stock to be banded cold will allow the collars to shrink to the stock as they cool, helping you get them tighter. Though you can get them tight cold, it takes a bit more work, I have been using a slightly undersized (1/100 or so) top tool to form my collars, so that they have to really be hammered home. I then use the torch to heat the ears and knock them down. It seems to work for me pretty well. Dunno what Brian's thoughts on that are, but, it works for me.

Actually guys, there is ALOT of medical evidence indicating that larger hammers tend to prevent RSI than cause it as they force you to slow down. However as Brian, Alec, and others will repeat time and time again, there is a technique to using big hammers as we do. If you try to use a big hammer like you would use a little one, Heck yeah! You WILL tear yourself up. With a larger hammer it isn't so much swinging, as lifting and letting drop. We tend to choke way up on the hammer unless we need some serious whackage, like for setting shoulders. If I or Brian, or Alec tried to swing our monster hammers like alot of guys swing their 2's, we probably wouldn't be able to get through an hour of forging. Technique, technique, technique.

I'd say more than weight, hammer type and technique make a bigger difference. I can draw my tapers in 8 blows or less using a rounding hammer. Flat dies on flat dies are a very inefficient way to work. Granted, the smallest hammer I use regularly is a 4#, but I am a convert to Brian Brazeal's methodology. Big rounding hammers move more metal faster. Once you have basic hammer control with say a 2#, i HIGHLY recommend moving to something like a 4. I know some will argue that a smaller hammer swung faster will impart more energy to the work, but the fact is that the maximum velocity of your hammer swing is fairly fixed regardless of the size hammer you use. The only true variable is hammer mass. I'd personally rather work at a slow deliberate pace with a large hammer than swing like a rabid chihuahua with a small hammer.

I ripped apart my Buffalo 3 gear, and have reassembled, but found, much to my dismay that I had failed to note that the center gears bushings are drilled off-center. I can see how this would allow the gear to tilt for coarse alignment, and the lateral screws on the gear shaft would allow for fine adjustment, but does anyone know how to go about figuring where the bushings should be initially aligned? I really hate to think that it was a "tinker around until it works" kind of thing...

the biggest keys with hot oil are 1. Use terry cloth towel material, not old shirts or the like. 2. Don't put it on with the steel too hot, use dabbing and rotate the rag around alot so as to always expose new areas. You'll see when it cools down enough to start taking. 3. The more used the rag gets, the better it finishes. I've been playing with different approaches to artificially aging them, but so far, I haven't found a reliable method. It appears as if you need to scorch out the volatiles in the oil so it takes on somewhat of a greasy feel to it, I've tried baking them but the oven isn't hot enough, I've tried it in a semi-hot forge, but then the rag just burns. I'm guessing it's probably gonna need to be held at around 600-700F for awhile to really take on the characteristics you want, definitely at a smoking heat. I'm currently looking for an old oven I can overide the thermostat in and just manually monitor. If I come up with anything reliable, I'll certainly give a holler.

I dislike using waxes for 2 reasons. First, if my work is out in the sun, the wax melts and becomes somewhat of an oily mess, second, it makes a mess of my anvil. The hot oil solves both those problems. Additionally, it is always food safe, and easy to care for if it does begin rusting at all, you wipe on fresh oil, and then wipe it off with a clean rag. It is quite durable for an indoor finish. I know some folk complain about this finish not taking, but it really is an experience thing. If it is applied properly, it becomes almost a black lacquer on the surface and endures most of what indoor life has to throw at it. I have a few pieces outdoor even with this finish that are still rust free after 3 years (they are under the shelter of eaves and don't receive direct weather).

I personally use either crapload of 14ga bailing wire, or some 18ga stainless. I twist it up every 2 wraps or so. Though I prefer to just tack weld with either OA or TiG, as it holds better.

get a rag of GOOD terry cloth... saturate it in veg oil... what kind? it doesn't matter, any veg oil will do. Take a good heat and bust all your scale off, or give it a once over with a wire wheel. With your steel at a good black heat, wipe the rag quickly with a dabbing motion. You will see if it is too hot because nothing will happen. When it cools to the proper temp, it will blacken up nicely. If you try to finish it while it is too hot all you will succeed in doing is burning up your rag. The older and more used these rags become, the better they finish. Mine go on like a semi-gloss black laquer. This is the only finish I use except rustoleum for outdoor railings.

440 is in my experience the most forgeable grade backshop, though the stuff is really tough to work with. It feels alot like 5160 under the hammer. However, I find for jewelry, that plain old mild steel tends to be just fine for most folks, as the oils in your skin and the constant movement of the body and clothing tend to keep it rust free. The only time I really even use stainless is if I am making cutlery for re-enactors, as it tends to be relatively dishwasher safe with no need for a finish other than the wire wheel...

Start at the horn, run approximately a 1/4" to nothing about 3" back. You need sharp edges for some things, rounded for others. Which radius you chose is determined by what you are making. For example, the animal heads that Brian Brazeal makes require good sharp edges. If you don't have them, you can upset a hex into your hardy hole and make a new edges tool, leaving opposite edges sharp, 1/16, and 1/8 radii.

If you forge it, you're a blacksmith. If you don't forge it, you're a fabricator. Every last blacksmith out there uses some fabrication with their forging, and it was the blacksmiths of old who invented modern fabricating. Nothing wrong with combining forging and fabricating (forgeicating?). Blacksmiths forge, it is kinda a defining quality. So as long as some part of the process involves forging, I consider it to be blacksmithing. If there is no forging at all involved, well... that is what it is...

Next time I'm in the shop, I'll make a Brazeal style hot cut and put up pics of the process. they are quite easy to make and are hands down the best design I've encountered in my 17 years at the anvil.

Laundry dryer in a few sacks is what I always used back in the day. Then I discovered stainless steel rings... Terribly noisy though... Failing that, stick it in a bucket with a little sand and roll it down a hill a few dozen times.

Metabo are great, and I also really like the Milwaukee ones that go for around $100. The Milwaukees have a kinda funny safety lock on the triggers, but once you get used to it, it is really nice as you don't have accidental spin ups.

Hey Phil, anytime you want to come up, I'll help you out with making drifts, punches, hammers, whatever. Though I didn't get the one on one time Alec did with Brian, I did get to spend a few days with him this summer, as well as I have watched every bit of video I can find of him. I've made all his hammer making tools aside from the 3" fullers which are mostly for cosmetics. Drifts are easy, dimensions aren't critical unless you are trying to make a set that are all matched. As Brian is so fond of saying, the tools make themselves when you know where to hit them.

Dallas and Erietuna: Glad to have you two aboard. I am the WRABA webmaster, as well as the one who got the open forge night on Tuesdays going. I completely know what you mean Dallas, when I joined the club a year and a half ago, they just weren't doing much at all aside from the monthly hammer-ins, and I was kinda disappointed in that myself. I and a few others from the club have been working hard to make it more accessible for new folks, as well as provide regular shop time. We have alot of projects in the works, so certainly stop back up and we'll get you hammering. The club needs new blood, as most of the older members are getting on in years, and many have been tiring out keeping the club rolling. New ideas and folks willing to do the work are very valuable to us right now. We will also be starting some more stuctured workshops soon where for a small fee to cover materials, you will learn how to make various poducts, starting with MAKING THE TOOLS you will use for them. In other words keep coming up guys, we need your enthusiasm to build our club into what it can be. Other projects slated for this next year include: repairing the bellows in the old shop, returning the old shop to it's original condition as a working blacksmith shop instead of a static museum display, Making hinges for the new shop, possibly enclosing the new shop so it can be used in winter, restoring the power hammer to peak performance as well as making dies and tools for it, bigger and better demos for hammer-ins, the aforementioned workshops, and a few other ideas still in the works. Additionally, mysself and perhaps a few other members are willing to give private lessons in our shops for just a few bucks to help with fuel and materials, and maybe a couple beers :)

I'd expect in your neck of the woods, Propane and coal would be pretty comparable in price, as well as more readily available. Additionally, to quiet your anvils guys, MOUNT THEM DOWN. Can't stress enough how much energy is lost to the movement of an unsecured anvil...

We sure saw that didn't we? Like I said, sometimes no matter what you do, you can't get a weld.