Steve Sells

A Salvaged 8lb sledge head from my local junk yard

All the pieces ready to begin

We need to start by removing the old handle. Start by sawing off any remaining protrusions of wood.

Once the outside wood is removed we remove the wood from the inside. I used a 1/2 in drill bit to drill 2 holes in the eye, one on either side of the locking wedge (metal wedge cross grain to the shim). It is possible to drive the old wood out with out drilling holes, but can sometimes be stubborn.

Use a piece of scrap or a drift if you have one large enough to drive the wood out of the eye.

Here we see the head cleaned and ready to install, check the inside of the eye for rust or protrusions and remove as necessary (this helps to get a good fit around the entire circumference of the eye). Also, this is probably a good time to grind out any major flaws in the face, or (depending on your needs) reforging the hammer to "customize".

For a large hammer like this, I set the head on the ground and tap the handle into it (*NOTE* the handle should NEED to be driven through the eye, it should be tight), make sure not to mushroom the bottom of the handle by hitting to hard, or use a block of scrap wood as a sacrificial beater.

Then flip the hammer over so that the handle is on the ground and tap the head down onto the handle until it bottoms out.

Now you will probably need to take a flat head screwdriver or a chisel and gently open the shim slot to allow installation of the WOOD shim (don't drive very deep, 1/4 inch is probably enough)

Looks like this

(*NOTE* you really should throw away the soft shim that came with the kit and cut your own out of a well seasoned piece of hardwood) Drive the WOOD shim into the slot, make sure you hit square, and keep driving until its all the way in.

You should have some excess material sticking out the top of the eye at this point. It's not necessary to trim this, and some would argue that leaving the wood makes a longer lasting fit, however, I think it looks much more neat and tidy if you trim flush with the top of the eye.

Now install the locking METAL shim. DO NOT make a groove for this shim using a chisel like we did for the wood shim, you want a super tight fit. Drive the shim ALL the way in, 45deg angle to the wood shim.

The blower and auger drive is from a coal furnace stoker -- Norge

The blower needed a motor, so one was located and attached.

I used an old car brake adjusting star wheel set-up in the end of a length of pipe--works great!

I'm cutting the ends out of old water pump holding tanks and welding the tubes together for 12" heavy wall stack.

The forge table has a really big fire pot without the full size car brake drum. The drum makes a real nice sweet spot that can be big enough for good size stock--we had a fire in it already. The area around the drum will be filled either with ash or some of the clay from the river bank here.

The anvil is a 130 lb Trenton I found for $130.00--excellent shape!! I just found a 400 lb anvil I haven't seen yet for a $1 a pound and a bunch of tools in an old barn just to get them out of the way!! I don't get out much but when I do and I'm scrounging Carol has another heart attack! Talk to you later,

We plan to finish the installation soon, he's got a lot of potential with the new 2 story barn.

This Handy little tool for the vise, is what I use for rivet heading. It is made of 1 inch cold rolled square with an under cut milled in on each side and a spring handle to keep it lined up and also to force it to spring open and stay in the vise. It was tack welded together and then the holes all standard size were bored at the joint. 3/16, 1/4, 5/16, 3/8, 1/2 and 5/8 inch. It will work good on hot rolled as it is oversize, but doesn't work to well with cold rolled.

To use I put a light center punch mark 1 1/2 times the diameter from the end and then use the upset helper to upset the end some. I then take another heat and position the center punch mark a little above the top of the header helper as it will move down a little. The standard holes have a tendency to grip the material and you can start the heading process. I have several heading punches for a regular head and also the button or phillister head shown. For a wagon box or truss head I just carefully hammer the head down.

Warning: Hydraulics and presses are not to be taken lightly as tons of force can be exerted with little effort on the part of the operator. If there is a leak in the system, hydraulic fluids can, when under pressure, be easily driven through the skin and into the body or even cut flesh. Under certain conditions they can be fl amiable. Read and understand the subject before attempting to build or purchase or operate this type equipment. There are very real dangers associated with this project. Please read and understand the site disclaimer.

GPM = Gallons per minute of flow

Hydraulic hose comes in 2 basic types, single wire braid - usually with a 2000 PSI limit, and double wire braid - usually with a 3500 PSI limit. Hydraulic hoses offer more flexibility when piping a hydraulic system and you have fewer joints to potentially leak than with threaded pipe, and vibration does not bother them as much.

A large GPM pump will require a Large HP motor and the Cylinder will have a very fast stroke and therefore dangerous as it is hard to control. And this equals a higher initial cost.

Pumps- there are several different types of hydraulic pumps:

A Vane Pump will give lots of Volume but does not develop a lot of pressure.

A Gear Pump will develop the pressure needed, and has a good volume, but requires a larger Motor. It is relatively simple and trouble free though.

A Piston Pump has many small pistons and will develop a great amount of pressure with a smaller motor, but lacks a great amount of volume. This type of pump is usually more initial cost, but is best for a hydraulic press.

Valves - come in numerous configurations, I prefer one with a built in pressure relief valve, as you can regulate the pressure you need for your application. Its also a big safety advantage against rupture of oil lines, and the chance of pushing your press apart if not built heavy enough. The system shown is an OPEN system where the fluid circulates continually until the valve is manipulated causing the oil to flow to one side or the other of the cylinder.

Cylinders - come in many different sizes and shapes with many different sized rams (the rod that does the pushing). A small cylinder is just that, a small cylinder and it will have a small amount of push. For a press the ram should be as big as possible to prevent bending as you will be pushing against an almost immovable object. And select one that has a sufficient amount of travel for your purpose.

Oil Reservoir - This container holds the oil you will use to operate your press and should have a sufficient capacity to keep the oil cool as it recirculates in the system.

Oil- this should be any good quality, antifoaming oil suitable for hydraulic systems.

Filter- this is a special filter for hydraulic systems with a spin on replaceable filter and should be mounted close to your reservoir in the return line.

Press Frame - draw a diagram of what you have available to build you frame with and have an engineer spec it with a safety factor of 2 before you start, make sure you tell the engineer what working tonnage you will be using.

Pressure lines- These are the lines from your pump to your valve and from the valve to your cylinder, and carry whatever pressure your pump develops.

Return line - this is the line from your valve that returns the fluid to your reservoir.

In the following diagram, PRESSURE lines are RED, RETURN and SUCTION lines are BLUE, and the cylinder return line is BLACK. The diagram shows no pressure gauge, but one should be put in pressure line to the top of the cylinder so you can calculate what WORKING PRESSURE, you are developing.

The Big Cylinder is also military surplus from a bulldozer, it is 8 and 5/8 ID and has a 2-1/2 inch ram with 32 inches of stroke. Lets calculate the working pressure of this cylinder.

The second cylinder is only 7 inches ID and has 13 inches of stroke with a 1 7/8 diameter ram, so has less power than the big one.

I had the need for a small portable forge that could be easily transported and built for very little money. I have a camp on the Pearl River in Mississippi and wanted to be able to hammer some iron while there but didn't want to go to the expense or trouble of building a second full-blown forge. I already have a gas forge built from a Freon tank but it is permanently secured to a rolling cart in my shop and would not be easy to transport. And I wanted to be able to quickly pick a forge up, throw it in the back of the truck and go so I needed a forge that was very small, lightweight, easy to build and cost very little. I looked at several designs and including the bean-o-matic but it seemed just too small. I needed something a little larger. Please note that I got the idea for this forge from Larry Zoeller's web site so I want to give due credit to him for this design.

First thing you need to do is weld the plate on one end of the pipe. I used an 8"x8" 1/8" thick plate because I had it laying around the shop. I decided not to cut it down smaller because the excess on the bottom would be used as a foot for the back of the forge. I place a brick under the front to support the front. You could fabricate legs, but the brick works good for me. Next you need to drill a 3/4" hole in the big pipe halfway from front to back. I oriented this to be about 22 degrees from top. Then weld the 3/4" pipe over the hole you just drilled in the big pipe. Next drill and tap the 3/4" pipe for the thumbscrew so that you can secure the MAPP torch head when in use.

As you can see, the little forge get pretty hot. I was able to heat and bend a railroad spike fairly easy. To help hold the heat, I placed a couple of firebricks at the front to open and close the forge opening as needed.

The spike twisted.

The spike knife a little farther along.

This forge serves me well for the purpose intended. When not being used, I can remove the torch head from the forge body and and it stores easy. It is light and can be moved to other locations really easily. To set up, all you have to do is insert the torch head in the side of the forge body, tighten the thumbscrew and light the torch. After a couple of minutes, you are up to forging heat.

If you are working on two anvils with two different size hardie holes, many times the quick way to make things work is to make a spacer - not a new anvil tool.

Take a piece of angle iron that will fit into the large hardie hole.

Cut it 1 inch to 1-1/2 inches deep at the fold.

Put it in the vise and bend both sides of the cut away from the inside of the angle.

Now all you have to do is to slip it into the hardie hole.

And your anvil tool with the smaller hardie post will work on the big anvil with the big hardie hole.

Another way to do the same thing is by using a piece of tubing and flaring the top edge a bit so it does not go into the hardie hole.

And yes, the photo is a bit strange as that is a 3/4 inch hardie hole on the anvil and a 1 inch piece of tubing. But is was taken this way to show the difference in sizes.

Lay out a full sized diagram of the chair on cardboard.

Using a seamstress tape measure I measure the length of the pieces and deduct the necessary amount to allow for drawing out the points.

Using ring roller, roll the flat bar into a circle. The inside diameter should be 16”

Weld ends of ring together and grind the weld down flush.

Put the ring back in the roller and roll it again to even out the welded area.

Cut 2 pieces of ½” Round stock 60” long. These will be the base for the seat and the legs.

Mark a spot 3” from each end and score with a punch so the marks will be visible on the hot steel.

Draw both ends of the rods out from the mark to a length of 6 inches

After the ends are drawn to a point, scroll them

Cut a ½” section out of the center of one of the rods and chamfer the ends for better weld penetration

Cut rods butted to the second rod and position for welding. Tack weld then remove magnets and weld solid

Mark a spot on each rod 8” from the center

Position ring on marks making sure it is exactly centered

Weld ring into place

Heat legs and bend 90 degrees

Once all legs are bent, check the seat for level and adjust as necessary

Cut 2 pieces of ½”round stock 40” long.

Mark one end of each bar at 3” from end

Draw out to 6” from mark and scroll ends bend other end to a 90 o offset 45 o

Position back and weld into place

Cut piece of 3/16” X 1” flat bar 18 ¾” long, chamfer ends

Roll into a 6” diameter ring weld ends and grind flush

Weld ring and re roll to even out welded area

Cut 2 pieces of ½” round stock, draw out one end of each to a point and scroll, flatten and bevel the other end for a flush fit to the chair back. Position the scrolls and ring, weld into place

Cut 4 pieces of ½” X 1/8” flat bar for the chair leg braces. Drill all in the center for a rivet. Round corners on a belt sander

Flatten ends for a fan scroll

Roll scroll on the end of the bar

All 4 pieces scrolled and ready for riveting

The brace riveted and ready for twisting

Twist as many times as you want, two twists on each side looks good

Weld brace to legs, I picked a spot that was 5 inches from the floor to the center of the brace, but use any distance you want.

The chair with the welds ground down, and scale wire brushed off, ready for finishing

Mix a Watco Black Walnut Oil with a little gold paint to produce an antique bronze finish, the more gold paint you add the lighter the finish will be. The paint does not mix readily with the oil and will want to settle out and clump in the bottom of the container. It is best to use a shallow container and cut the bristles of your brush short so you can mash the paint and keep it mixed. If you end up with a finish that is lighter than you wanted, simply let it dry then put a coat of plain Watco Oil over it to darken it

I used scrap Redwood left over from my deck remodel a couple years ago to make the seat and back. Rip the edges to remove the rounded edge on the boards. Then dowel and glue them together. When the glue is dry sand both sides of the seat with a power sander.

Place the board on the metal seat ring and mark the outside circumference cut out seat with a saber saw. Use the belt sander to finish shaping ring and remove saw marks. Then

Use a ¼” Round over Bit in the router to round the edge of the seat. Then use a straight cut bit to remove enough stock from the under side so the seat just fits inside the ring. Drill the cross braces under the seat and secure the seat with 4 drywall or deck screws. Drill the seat back ring in 3 places and secure the seat back with 3 long deck screws.

Apply a couple coats of Spar Varnish to the seat and back. Sand lightly between coats and if you want rub out the final coat with pumice and oil.

The finished chairs and table

When measuring a piece of stock you need to know what length to cut. Put the end of your "ruler" at the starting point. At the other end of the distance read the marks on the ruler. Take the ruler to work table and place it on the stock, transferring the information, then cut the stock. Now take the stock back to your project and make note of how short the cut stock has been cut. Now back to the work table and cut another piece to fit.

You can measure in Biblical cubits, survey rods (16 feet 6 inches or 1/4 of a chain), survey chains (66 feet) or any other standard of measurement you desire. In school, I was taught to measure by using a ruler with imperial units, feet and inches. They expected you to figure out what all those little lines meant and work in fractions. For those of you using the metric system be thankful, your system of measurement makes sense.

These are a few of my favorite tools. Sewing tape, 6 inch vernier, 4 inch vernier, 16 foot steel tape measure, 6 inch steel ruler, 12 inch steel ruler and welding rods. For longer lengths gas welding (oxygen/acetylene) rods are also used.

The sewing tape is a fiberglass or plastic flexible ruler. It comes in real handy when measuring curved surfaces. This example is how much stock do we need to make a handle. One word of warning, the tape measures the OUTSIDE and INSIDE of the curve. To get things more accurate you need to measure the middle of the stock to get a length that is closer to what is actually needed.

In this example a AA battery is 9/16 inches diameter, or 18/32ths - which is 9/16ths. That is also a good thing to remember when in the field and there is no ruler handy.

The vernier measures the AA battery at 2 inches long. Another good number to remember when a ruler is not available.

The vernier measures the outside diameter of this plastic pipe fitting at 1-5/8 inches diameter.

The vernier measures the inside diameter of the pipe fitting at 1-1/8 inches. CHECK MEASUREMENT

The 16 foot steel tape measure is reasonably straight forward, put the hook over the end of the object to be measured and extend the tape. Then read the distance, in this example 10 and 15/16 inches.

Look at the two photos real close and you will see that the hook of the tape is riveted onto the steel tape and the rivets are LOOSE, allowing the silver hook to move.

This photo shows the length of the movement a little better. The reason for this is when you do an outside measurement the hook moves longer to the "zero" position on the tape. When you do an inside measurement, the hook moves shorter to the "zero" position on the tape. The difference takes into account the thickness of the hook.

Properly aligned to the 1 inch mark, you can then read the rod as being 1/8 inches diameter.

A lot of times we have welding rods laying about.

Line one end of the rod up with the end and mark the rod at the measurement needed.

It doesn't hurt the rod and the rod can be used for welding later.

It is real easy to tell the length required when you get to the work table, but oops, which side of the line is the correct length ?

I fix this by putting an extra mark or dot on one side of the line. In this case, the dot calls for the left side of the line to be left when the cut is made. The X calls for the line to be split with the cut.

If you have an inside measurement longer than your ruler, I tape two welding rods or oxygen/acetylene welding rods together and mark them across both rods in case the tape slips.

This over lap is unimportant as it is the end to end dimension that is the inside dimension of our project. What is that distance? Who cares, it is whatever the length of the measurement is equal to and does not require dimensions.

I have learned that I carry a tape measure of sorts with me most of the time - my hands.

Across the knuckles is 4 inches.

Hand span is 9 inches.

These are good numbers to remember, 4,7,9 and any combination of two give you a wide variety of numbers to work with: 4, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16 and 18.

The thumb at the first joint is 1 inch wide.

The depth of the first two fingers is 3"

You also need to be careful because 1 inch wide masking tape is 1 inch wide, but 2 inch duct tape is only 1-15/16 inches wide. Sometimes you just need a ruler to tell the difference. Did you know that a penny is 3/4" in diameter.

I have found, more than once, that rulers are not accurate when compared to each other. If anything is critical always use the same ruler you measure with to measure the cut. Let me suggest another (better?) way to use that ruler. Measure as before by putting the end of the ruler at the begriming of the measurement. Read as before but this time do not combine the fractions. For instance 7-15/16" is 7 + 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16" and a bit long to remember. By adding all those fractions together and arriving (hopefully) at 7-15/16" there is a good chance of making a mistake. Now to transfer the measurement of 7-15/16" to a piece of stock you have to break the measurement back down into the fractions again to arrive at 7 + 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16" and then make your mark.

Breaking the measurement down adds another chance for mistakes. Why not just leave the measurement as you first read on the ruler 7 + 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16". Although it is a bit long, there are two less chances of getting it wrong.

Many things are divided into half. So divide the original measurement in half 7 + 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16" = 3-1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 + 1/32 and make your mark.

But why go through all than when you can read the ruler the "other" way. 7-15/16 is also 8" - 1/16". It is real easy to mark 8 - 1/16" on the stock.

An easy way to find the center of a piece of stock is to balance it on the hot cut. A whack with a hammer will mark it just enough to keep the measurement.


How many of you had problems figuring out that the rod was 1/8 inch in diameter. To figure that out you had to read the ruler in reverse and you did it without thinking. Why not use that trick to your advantage?

Measure twice cut once .
Measure with a micrometer
Mark with a crayon
Cut with an axe

The width, length and thickness of the pack of cigarettes can be used as a ruler. It is a "standard" size and handy when needed. Just be sure to use the same brand and type cigarettes if you give these measurements to someone else. Leah Fuller

Use your anvil as a ruler, The face has width and length, the horn a length, heel to near side of the hardie hole, heel to far side of the hardie hole, etc. I looked at my anvil and got 20 different measurements from 1/2 inch to 21 inches.

Get to know your anvil. Measure the face from heel to front edge. Then to edge of cutting table ( these are length measures ). Also, from working side to near edge of hardie hole, far edge, and to both sides of pritchel. Numerical measurement not as important as finished goods ( IE how far to draw the end of a piece for a loop ). Then you can repeat as necessary. Easier for me to write down in the book that I need to draw to far side of pritchel than to a measurement on a ruler.

Length measurements handy for hot cutting long hooks at a demo. Just hold the measurement with the thumbnail, transfer to the hardie, nick the stock, and you've got a place to hot cut. You can use 1/2 anvil face length too, and on and on and on.

This ain't machine work, and no need for the micrometer. Same can be said for using the vise ( small hacksaw mark for a specific length, or maybe use both sides of the jaw mount screws, I use both ) as a ruler.

Throat of a pair of tongs works too.

Hammers can be used as rulers. Length of handle, length or width of the head, and so on. Looked at my hammer and got 7 different measurements from 1/2 inch to 13 - 1/4 inches.

Whatever works for you. Write it down, or you'll forget it in 6 months when you want to duplicate something you built today. This ain't rocket science, but may actually be used in repetition for duplication of things needed in large numbers. And faster than using a measuring stick with a marker.

Ten Hammers

Tonight I will try to show how I make fire strikers. (The Steel part of Flint and Steel Fire Starters.)

I start with about 5 to 6 inches of garage door spring, the round coiled stuff. Of course you need to pull it straight first before cutting to length.

Heat steel to working temp insuring you do not get it too hot so you do not ruin it. Now slightly flatten the piece, but DO NOT thin it too much. The leading and trailing edges will be slightly curved. You want this.

Re-heat it and then taper both ends slightly. And in same heat make a small scroll on each end. Make sure scrolls are facing the same way.

Heat again ( with practice you should be able to drop one heat or so). Now once hot, bend into a slightly elongated C shape.

Now have a can of water ( I use a 3 lb coffee can for this) heated to about 180 F. Also heat the striker to the critical temperature ( non-magnetic) I use refridgerator magnets for this, and have one hanging from baling wire near the forge. Bring the stock to the magnet not the other way. When the magnet is no longer attracted to the hot steel, you have reached the critical temperature. Once it is at critical temp then quench the long edge about half way up the arms. Once the edge is cooled below critical dunk it all til cool.

Jim - C asked me for details of the table I use in front of my anvil when doing demos, I took it to OK when I went down to see Jim. I have a bad back and so don't like to put tools on the ground as I have to bend over to pick them up, and everything is handy right in front of my anvil. So here goes.

I started with a 1/8 by 1 1/4 angle iron frame 18 by 24 inside measurements. I put 3/16 flat bar on 3 sides to hold hardy tools, tongs and other things. The spaces on the right hand corner are where I hang a water can to cool tools off and a can of coal dust to dip tools in when punching and slitting etc.

I used short pieces of 1 1/4 OD square tube with one end cut at a slight angle to give splay to the legs and drilled 1/4 inch holes thru both sides to put safety pins in to hold the 1 inch square tube legs in place.

A close up of one of the legs. It was a lot of trouble to cut the tube so it angled both ways so it only angles long ways.

The 4 each 1 inch square tube legs with one end bent to give splay (stability) to the legs sideways and with holes drilled clear thru for the safety pins.

4 safety pins bent out of 1/8 copper coated steel torch welding rod. Yea, I know they are not all the same. LOL

The main frame upside down and the legs installed with the safety pins in place.

The table set up like it would be in front of my anvil. It is very stable and will support a lot of weight.

When veining leaves etc. I sometimes had trouble keeping the object to be veined steady on the anvil surface, so I made this little universal holder to hold a variety of punches and veining tools. I call it my 3rd hand tool holder.

The first thing to do was to make a veining tool with a shorter shank as most of my chisels, punches etc. have 8 inch long shanks to keep my hand away from the heat. This is a side view of the tool.

An end and side view of the tool, it has a 1/16 radius on the end.

Next was a spring holder to fit in the hardy hole made of 1/8 by 1 flat iron.

A view from the other end showing the punch holder which is half of a piece of black pipe welded on.

A small hose clamp used to test the tool with. I didn't want to spend a lot of time making a real secure clamping system till I was sure it was going to work.

A view of using it for the center vein in a leaf.

Veining the right side of the leaf.

Veining the left side of the leaf.

What it looks like now with a more secure and easily changed clamping device.

LITTLE DECORATIVE WALL HOOK by irnsrgn

3/16 by 1 inch flat iron being fullered a sufficient distance from the end to leave about a 2.5 to 3 inch tang 1/4 inch wide, 3/16 thick and tapered on the end.

A little farther along with the fullering, and a picture just to add a note to be careful when doing an operations such as this, keeping rotating the piece as you fuller as the top will always go deeper than the bottom, so I rotate every second or third blow to prevent this from happening.

This is what you should end up with after fullering or side setting.

These are what I call my Set Hammer dies for working close to a shoulder.

The set hammer dies i use after drawing with the right hand quarter peen hammer, these dies allow me to work the thickness and width easier, and then the very end of the tang is tapered with a hammer.

This is what it should look similar to at this stage.

Using a hardy that has all the taper on one side and a piece of 1 inch flat for a gauge, I am cutting a little over half way thru the main part, this allows me to have a nice handle to work with and I am sure of a 1 inch square end to use for fastening and decorating.

With the cut up I am punching a 3/16 hole in the center of the square part. If you cool your punch and leave a drip of water on the end then flip the part over and place the punch on the spot that shows it will cool the thin piece left and when you hit the punch it will shear it out rather than just push it thru and stick.

Counter sinking (chamfering) one side of the hole over a bolster for a countersunk screw. The bolster keeps the point of the tool from hitting the anvil face and also keeps the metal from deforming to the other side as it needs to be flat.

Using a veining tool with a 1/16 round nose to put the design in the piece.

The veining tool and a 5/8 and 7/8 countersink tools.

What it looks like with one more vein or decorative mark to be put in and just prior to being broke off in the vice at the cut and filled smooth.

Rolling the rat tail end toward the back side of the piece.

Rolling the hook around a short piece of pipe with the scroll tongs.

After painting lightly with a brass brush and propped up with a square nail to show the front.

A diamond shape with a different design. This one is used to hang some of my smithing tools on.

One with the hook sticking out instead of rolled around to hold more stuff on, and it has a different design stamped in.

Just a few of the many designs for the veining that are possible.

Thanks to Bob Elliot for this great idea. He was always out of position with the bender and this was HIS solution to the problem.

Ok, you need a bending folk. Grab any round piece of stock, fire up the forge, and bend a "U" shape

While your at it make 2 "U" shapes. Thing of it like a big "S" hook.

Now instead of the usual weld the "U" on the end of a bar, weld one "U" perpendicular to the other.

This way you can bend or tweak easily as usual.

Or flip the tool over and now bend or week the "other" way.

The round bottom has a tendency to make flat iron deform and twist so be careful to stay at the ends of the feet. Or make one with a sq bottom.

Thanks to Bob Elliot for this great idea. He was always out of position with the bender and this was HIS solution to the problem. Works for me too.

After taking a good heat, start the slitting punch --you have to get the piece good and hot.

I made this drift from one inch round bar. I left it long enough to be used for a handle under the power hammer and use anti seize compound as a lubricant.

After driving the drift through the slitted hole (driving it from both sides, top and bottom) so the hole is bell mouthed on both sides, I went to the power hammer. With the thickest side of the eye up, I square up the sides, keeping the thickest side up will bring the hole back to the center.

After the hole is to size and shape, I went to the vice and flattened the face and let the face flair a little.

Now I harden the face and pein of the hammer head, (just the face and pein need to be hardened) the center part including the eye is left SOFT.

After hardening the face and pein and doing some cleanup grinding, I install the handle, tune the hammer handle, and the hammer face, and here is Leah's new hammer.

The finished 2 lb. 5 0z. hammer.

It all started this Saturday…

This picture is of the broken store bought gouge and the one I made.

I will be using a US made 3/8 Allen wrench, worn out of course, I like recycling old tools into new ones.

Now to start a fire, I am using a wad of paper and a stick of fatwood, throw on a scoop of charcoal, start the blower on low … and light.

Two minuets later…

Taking a good orange heat ( It’s best to stay away from yellow heat on high carbon steels. A good rule of thumb is: Big flakes of scale - your burning carbon out of the steel, Small flakes of scale - you are safe )

I first straighten out the “ L “ over the horn first and then true it up on the face, sight down it and turn, you want it nice and straight. Keep in mind that this is high carbon steel and by the time I have taken most of these pictures the steel is too cold to hit.

Now I will be forming the tang , using the front “ sharp “ edge of my anvil and a 1000g cross-pein, form a distinct shoulder. Don’t worry over it too much as we will be filing it square later, just keep it sort of even and in the center. Then taper the tang gently.

I took 6 or 8 Heats to do this, as the ”window” were you can hit this stuff is pretty small.

Here is how the shoulder will look after we file it down.

Now its time to start on the “fun“ end. Take a good orange heat and begin flattening out into a fishtail shape.

Take another good orange heat

Widen the fishtail with the cross pein

It should look something like this

Now using the step of the anvil (because I don't own a swage block), begin to make it concave. Just roll and tap, keep it good and hot, too cold and you will crack it. Use the horn to even it out if you get it lopsided, once again don’t worry too much because we will be doing a fair amount of stock removal before it’s all over . At this point it should look something like this. For a straight gouge stop forging here.

For a spoon bent gouge hold the “ blade “ off the back side of the anvil, give it one good tap.

The top view.

Now Place a small ball-pein hammer in the vise ( facing ball side up ) take one more heat and just even out the cup of the gouge. Sometimes I like to put a little twist in my wood working tools, if you want to now is the time.

Now set it off to one side and let it cool slowly, (DON’T QUENCH !!! ) this is a good time for a lunch break or move on to you next forging project, I did 2 gouges, a skew chisel and a RR spike knife in the in-between times. When it is cool enough to handle file the shoulder nice and square.

It should look something like this:

Now on to the blade, As I don’t currently have a working belt grinder, I am doing this the old fashioned way … Files and sandpaper. Smooth out the bottom and the inside of the spoon, for the inside I used sandpaper, just wrap it around a dowel or stick. I then started a 30 Deg bevel, leaving about a 1/16th of an inch un-sharpened. Too thin and it will burn up in the heat treat.

This is what it should look like

If you let the fire die down, re-start it, add a large amount of charcoal, while you are waiting on the fire, cut 2 rings off a piece of ¾” gas pipe

Using ring tongs and the horn of the anvil to size the ring to fit your chosen handle material, red oak is traditional, I however am breaking from tradition and using seasoned birch with the bark still on it.

Now that I have a good deep pile of burning charcoal I am ready to start heat treating, I usually do several at once. My oil tank is a large stainless steel stock pot with a lid, one of those cheap-o ones from Wally world. Here are the four items I will be heat treating.

I usually hold at a good cherry ( non magnetic) red for at least 30-60 seconds on something this small, To quench , plunge down into oil, moving up and sown , don't swirl. If it catches fire drop the lid on , it will go right out. To temper something like this I usually heat the "shank" keeping the blade away from the fire, for wood working tools the shank will be blue and the faintest hint of straw bleeding into the edge. when this happens quench again in oil. This is a pic of the skew chisel not the gouge but you get the idea.

Now for some work on the handle, while the blade is in the solvent tank degreasing (spaying with brake cleaner and wiping with a rag works too). Take the chosen handle material and taper the ends slightly so the hoops will just start to go on. You want them to fit really tight, drive them on with a hammer, on the " striking end" you want the wood to stick up above the hoop 1/8th inch to protect your chisel hammer or mallet from striking the hoop. If the tang of the gouge is 1/4 " square drill a pilot hole 3/16" for oak or 1/8th" for softer woods, make sure the pilot hole is the length of the tang. Wire brush the blade heavily to remove any scale from the heat treat

To assemble, simply drive the the tang into the handle, if you hooped the handle right and drilled the pilot hole big enough it wont split.

I finished with sandpaper up to 320 grit and sharpened on my gouge designated water stones (they have a grove worn in them) I like water stones personally, they seem to give me a better edge especially on harder tool steels. Be sure to soak the water stones for a few hours before you need them, my finish stone is a 2000 grit, no real need to go much further than that on just a wood gouge. Now to try it out! Using a spoon bent gouge is different than other gouges, rather than pushing or hammering you just kind-of pry out the shavings, working from the center out. really works great on tough end grain, just what I needed to carve my dishing stump.

A view of the gouge in use.

A close up view of the gouge in action.

Evening all, my names Duck so save your fowl comments till the end. Tonight we will be making my version of COAT HOOKS.

Next we will be splitting this cut on the hot cut hardy, and then take it to horn to split them out wide.

Now square up the offset neck back to square, and all the evidence of the twist disappears. Rounding the button is next. On the flat edge of the stake or anvil set the inside point and hit the outside point of the square on the end of the arm.

If they are difficult to line up bend the button over a little. To get the last point, flip the piece on its back on the anvil and tap the last point in. Dress up the shape if it needs it till its round.

Next take the rat tail and carefully bending it 180 degrees using a half inch mandrill, drawing it past the main body so it can be used as a secondary hook.

It looks like this from the side. By the way, I suppose that you could heat the thing and harden it in “Super Quench” but since nothing but hot iron will touch it, I think that’s over-kill. I’m not crazy about Super Quenching welds, even those made with 7018.