Alwin

Nice hammer, I love the descriptions of how everyone has dealt with these situations. A wonderfully resourceful and inventive group.

Excellent first tongs.

Test it with a file to see how hard it is first. You could set it up and use it and then if it's too soft heat treat it.

I like my handles smooth so they can move in my hand easily. I don't do it the same way, but look at some of the Hofi blueprints on hammering for another perspective. You learn to control the bounce of the hammer and guide it with a loose grip and fluid motion of elbow and shoulder-and wrist in Hofi's method. Beware of feeling that you need to grip the handle tightly and forcefully control its movements, the vibration you absorb from that can quickly damage you.

On the homepage they say its 495 Brinell hardness. I looked on websites for conversion to Rockwell but I am not sure about the different Rockwell scales they show.

I can slit or punch holes in one inch square very quickly and easily with my tire hammer. It definitely has enough control for that. The throat is okay for tooling until I try really thick stock like two inch.

I love my tire hammer, though I cheated and just bought it from Clay. The throat is low and it isn't easy at all to slit a hammer with it. I have been meaning to make some really short dies for when I need to do a lot of chisel/slitting/punching work, I have also been thinking about making a small slitting chisel about 1 inch long to start a hole from either end before moving up in size but I'm not sure if even that is too large if I'm making a hammer out of 2" steel. I use lots of spring tooling with it for tenons, making balls, etc.. I also do lots and lots of drawing out. I think it is a beautiful design. I love the simplicity and ready availability of parts if I ever need any.

I have never had trouble hammering mild steel on my anvil. I think one thing to think about to keep an anvil looking good is to work on lots of different areas. Try not to do all your work in one spot. I do lots of hot cutting and punching and I tend not to harden those tools. Even if I mess up it doesn't damage the anvil. You can use nice steel that will last a very long time without much edge maintenance and do lots of work with it while still keeping the edge softer than the anvil. When I was teaching at a school I would keep a plate on top of my anvil so no one could damage it. One can use hammers with softer faces for beginners to prevent the anvil from getting damaged. As long as the steels really hot it won't make a difference.

I have the 335lb Euroanvil and for me it is the perfect size. I can't see ever needing a bigger anvil, and I find a nice size to work around. I would buy the largest one that fits your budget and enjoy it for the rest of your life.

Get a double horn anvil with a shelf and you have an anvil section to work on that is like the heel of a London pattern anvil. The square horn is good for tapering the end of short stock. One often works over the far edge of the anvil when tapering so that as a point is formed the hammer edge is over the edge of the anvil and if you miss a little or are slightly tilted with the blow it doesn't ding the anvil face, it just glances off.

It took all the high pitch ring out of my anvil.

I have a stand described in the sand anvil stand post. For tooling I have a simple shelf that can be set onto the 1/4inch plate my stand is made of. On the shelf is a piece of 1/4 inch by 1inch that has been bent around to tightly fit the plate. The shelf just sets in place and can be moved wherever I want it. You might want to make a stand and work on the anvil a little to see where you can put tools so they don't get in your way. In most cases it is easy to add things later.

If you make a stand that fits the base of the anvil pretty tightly it isn't very possible to turn it. I have heard of doing that, but for my 335 lb anvil it just doesn't appeal to me. I like the base for the weight- it doesn't walk around but it isn't bolted so I can easily move it if I have to. The sand also takes all the ring out of the anvil making it nice to work on, and it makes it easy to adjust height- that can be really important if you want to switch anvils on the same stand. I briefly tried a tripod stand that looked to be very similar to the one Hofi posted and that worked very well also, and is more portable. It depends on what you're doing which stand design is best for you. I have heard a number of people say that sand stands don't work well, that the anvil will sink in them, and that they don't solidly support the anvil. This design is very simple, solidly supports the anvil, and prevents it from sinking.

I find that I am often working on many small items in the forge at the same time. They must be worked quickly and then switched for the next one. Do you use tong rings in those situations? It is with that work in mind that I've been exploring some different tong options-like the Ti tongs. I am also thinking that even barely perceptible differences in shock transfer over many years and tens of thousands of instances may make a difference in my ability to avoid joint and tendon damage.

Interesting. I will make a pair like that when I get the chance. I have seen the many varied designs of Hofi- they look like great tongs. I have made some similar to many which he makes. The bend in Habermann's tongs is interesting, do you think that there is a difference between the bend between the eye and jaw in his design and the more regular curve in the standard design as far as the performance of the tongs. It does seem like there might be a slightly stronger grab with his design, maybe not though.

That's wonderful, thanks for showing all this. The end of those tongs are different from any I've seen. How does the v-split hold? Do you have to hold those tightly shut to prevent stock from pivoting from such a small grab point?

I may make a pair like that. I tend to use the bolt style of tongs more often, so I was thinking that is what I'll make first. A slit and drifted eye then an arch out to the jaws. I am curious about the bolt style of tongs that Habermann is shown using at times, they seem like they aren't the smooth curve that is usually seen. It looked like they go up, then have a bend with a smooth inner curve before going back down to the jaws. There is a picture of him holding them on the Blacksmith Supply LLC page. Do you know anything about those or the theory that inspired his modifications?

Thanks patrick and monstermetal. It is interesting to know you both had the same problem. I'll try to strengthen that area of the tongs.

By making that loop larger and a little more than half a circle you increase how much it can spring and isolate where it springs from. After you've made the loop part you have to put a few other bends in to get it where you need it on the anvil.

I would guess that is what I have. I got it a from a hardware store in the masonry section.

I don't know what sharp sand is. I know that with the same sand as I'm using an anvil in a box without the angle iron and plate will slowly sink if you work on one end more than another.

It springs from the first bend which is best if it is a little over half a circle. The distance from there to where it drops into the foot is just based on where on the anvil you want it to grab. The foot is made by forging all the texture out of the end of the rebar and then spiraling. If you tap the top of the large curve the hold fast springs out to lock your work down. Hitting the side of the holdfast right above where it enters the pritchel hole loosens it- it can really jump if it is under a lot of tension. It is important to not hit the holdfast past the point it can spring. Usually one or two light hits will lock it down very well.

The sand above the plate doesn't tightly support the anvil but it does eliminate the ring. The anvil will settle in that top sand. The space between the plate and the angle iron is small so the downward force of the anvil is able to tightly pinch the sand in those areas, preventing it from shifting. That is my understanding, whether that description is right or not the stand works very well.

I have described this stand on a few threads but I wanted to show a sketch to visually describe how my anvil stand is made. It is a sand filled stand but designed so the anvil won't sink into it with use.