R Funk

I agree wi.th the earlier post on starting with a 4 lb hammer to make a 3 pound hammer. I have modified multiple hammers feel that based on my experience it seems reasonable. If you want to modify a sledge, modify into a straight pein sledge. They are very useful for some stiking work but very hard to find on the market. I made one several years ago. I started with a DeWalt abrasive saw and it was to slow so I pilled out the gas axe and roughed it out, ground to final shape and re-heat treated

If properly annealed you should be able to cut with a band saw. Since it is relatively thick section you will be cutting you will most likely have problems with chip loading slowing the cutting process but it still should work. What kind of a hammer are you trying to make?

Plumb used to a good name in hammers started by a "Mr Plumb" in the mid 1800's. They were bought out by a conglomerate several years ago. They are now made in China. I have not used a chinese made Plumb. However many years ago when I was a kid a Plumb was know as a superior hammer.

Why not use tool steel that Clifton Ralph recomends for hot tools, OTS? OTS is ordinary truck spring. I am certain a sections of OTS could be found that is approriate but it may require remaking the guillotine. Be sure you harden and temper it appropriately.

I am frustrated with all the concern over net carbon output. I am a degreed engineer with who has read alot on the subject and been involved in air pollution reduction. The few hundred pounds or less of carbon that a seroius hobiest would emit from coal or coke forge will put out over a year is inconsequential. (about as much carbon as Al Gore's private jet that transports him emits in few minutes) You could contact Mr. Gore and see if you could buy some carbon credits,if you feel guilty. On the subject of charcoal, I could never in good concsious (sp) recommend any smith burning charcoal for enviromental reasons. The poster is correct that charcoal is "carbon nuetral" but about 50% of the energy of wood goes up in smoke with many carcinigins and unburt hydrocarbons. Thus 50% of the value of wood is wasted in the form air pollution. I worked as a consultant to the charcoal industry in Missouri trying to reduce the pollution and energy waste. At one time, several years ago, charcoal porduction was the largest single source of air pollution in the state. (i don't have current data but I doubt the situation has not changed much) The working conditions in the charcoal industry is horrible. I discussed with my manager the hazards of the industry. We discused the risks the employees faced included CO (carbon monoxide) poisoning, black lung disease, tars (carcinigens) etc etc. At some charcoal facilities we were amazed that the employees were not overcome by CO. A very enviromentally unfriendly industry. Coal and coke production are not without enviromental impact but much much less than charcoal. "Dirty Jobs" had program on chracoal production however they did not show the most polluting process, the pyrolysis of the wood in a Missouri Kiln. The air pollution from one kiln can be detected form many miles from the kiln. The situation in the 3rd world is worse. Charcoal production is a major contributor to deforestation and air pollution.

I have thought about contacting a local tech school about having them turn a multiple lead screw for me. I worked as an engineer in a large machine shop that turned multiple lead acme screws. It is not that difficult if you have the right tools... Unforatunately I do not have access to that shop anymore. Has anyone tried their local tech school?

Ribs or stiff backs would be cheaper than a very thick plate. I assume that the design of the tile will be sysmetrical? If it is sysmetrical ram slop is less critical. If you have a non-symetrical pattern ram clearance or slop would be very critical.

Yes those of you that discuss raising the piece in the fire will reduce oxidation are exactly on target. As the air enters the fire it contains about 20% oxygen and as the air moves up thru the fire more and more oxygen is consumed. Toward the top of the fire all or nearly all of the oxygen will be consumed and tied up as CO2 or CO. With no oxygen at the place you have it in the fire, the piece will not oxidize until you remove it from the fire. So with good fire management and placement of the steel oxidation in the fire can be controlled and minimized. In addition to placement of the steel, make certain you are not "over blowing" the fire. If too much air is provided the oxygen will not be consumed before it reaches the top of the fire. I have always wondered why it is very difficult to nearly impossible to weld with Ox/Propane. I know that Ox/Propane I have both Ox/Propane and Ox/ Accetylene The propane burns to CO2 & water just like accetylene... Has anyone seen a technical article on why it does not work?

I have gone to my local Farm Fleet store (similar to Tractor Supply) and looked thru the catalog for plowshares, chisel points etc. In the back they listed the steel that the item was made from (~1070 if I remember correctly) But please check if it is important. It may be on the internet sites of the mfgs. Look thru the catalog for mower parts in your local ag store and it may contain that information for mower sections, as they are called. However not all manufacturers will use the same steel. I would guess that the steel may be any where between 1050 to 1090. However if you want to put a lot of effort into the knives, buying steel may be money very spent. On a side issue, Section Rivets for sickle mores are in all these ag stores as a ready and easy source for rivets. They are a little on the small side for many blacksmithing applications.

Matt 87 I would draw the struck side of the tool to reduce chipping when struck. I tend to be conservative but I would draw (temper) the struck end to almost a dull barely visible red. It is easier to reforge or grind if it mushrooms. It is much harder to repair if it fractures plus the safety hazard of flying steel chips. It is hard to know what steel it is but I am certain is not a great steel. But it should be fine for top tool. On a side note I never use a wedge or similar on a struck top tool handle . If the tool is loose on the handle it is less likely to break the handle on a miss strike.

The traditional presses that made these tile were a free falling drop press. They were phsyically quite large presses but I do not know the tonnage. The presses in the factory I am familar with are rope operated press. They had a constant turning shaft or drum with several wraps of around the drum that was connected to the ram (hammer). The operator pulled the rope tightening the around the drum, lifting the ram. At the right time the operator released the rope allowing the ram to fall. I assume board hammers were used as well but I do not know for certain. A board hammer is a common type of hammer still used in drop forging. The board hammer has a long heavy board attached vertically to the ram. This board is located between 2 counter rotating rollers. When the operator actuates the press the rollers clamp the board lifting the board and ram. When the ram reaches near the top of the stroke the rolls open and board and ram fall. I have considered making a power hammer of this design. It would require activation every stroke and control may be difficult as how long you hold the controls the falling height and energy of the falling hammer. I feel the idea in the earlier post of of the hard topdie and the resilient lower die has merit. Typically the lower die is urethane and this concept has served well for lower volume work. Hard top die pushes the steel into the resilient lower die conforming the steel to the shape of top die. The blanks will need to oversized and trimmed to exact size after forming. I would search the net and see if information exists on the size of press required. Of course the actual tonnage will depend on the type of detail your tile has. (more detail = more tonnage)

I have multiple 4.5" grinders to prevent the effort of changing wheels (1) for a grinder wheel (1) for a flap wheel (1) for a cut off wheel (1) for a cup wire wheel (1) for a radial wire wheel Plus several spares. These are all essentially identical older style Dewalts and Black and Deckers Thus I can interchange parts as they fail. I bought these all at various pawn shops over the years with a average price of about $20. So far I have not had one fail.... I guess I don't work enough... I was going to buy some new China grinders but as saw these in US made in pawn shops I quickly changed my mind.

Unfortunately I do not have a camera to post a picture of the the hammer. In fact the radiuses are gentle enough that they may not show up in the photo. Remember these are a 5" cylindrical radius which may be only 1/8" removed from the 2 edges of each hammer face Yes what I am describing is essentially a cross pein and straight pein hammer. However instead of "pein" it is a large cylinder radius (not a spherical radius) ground on the hammer. They are very very blunt peins. So blunt it can be used for finishing but yet it moves metal significantly faster than a standard hammer. By flipping the hammer over as you use it from the "cross pein" side to "straight pein" side you can easily control which way the metal is moving. Of course a large spherical radius, as Ten Hammers describes would be beneficial in moving metal in both directions as would be desired for ladles. I trust this helps clarify the concept. I feel I am not doing the best job describing.... Ten Hammers: I don't remember seeing the hammer you are referring to, but a combination spherical faced and ball end hammer would be good for making ladles and similar in concept. From what I gather from your description a combination of the ball end and the radius end is used to draw the ladle to size and the ball end to form the ladle shape.

Cast Iron is the natural product of a blast furnace. The carbon in the coke or charcoal used to fuel the blast furnace get absorbed by molten iron. Typical carbon content is 3% to 4%. To produce steel, the carbon is burned out the cast iron in the "basic oxygen process" which is basically a large crucible in which oxygen is injected to burn out the carbon to a 0.1% to 1% level. Historical Steel production processes included processes to add carbon to wrought iron. Wrought iron has essentially no carbon content but appear fiborous due to fibers of silica or slag.

Ice Czar makes a very good point. The subgrade under the slab is almost as key as the slab or foundation itself. Unfortunately there is no concrete answer to whether a slab will crack under a power hammer (no pun intended). There are too many variables. These variables include: *Type of soil (clay, sand, high organic matter (muck) etc *Mositure content of soil both at concrete pour and current mositure level *Compaction of soil prior to concrete pour. *Strenght of concrete in psi (typically 3000 to 4000psi) *Thickness of Concrete *Reinforcement if any *Hammer characteristics (Total weight, hammer weight, speed etc, wood subbase etc) and many other variables. You could go to an engineer and ask them to design a slab to withstand the hammer operation. However the first question they will ask is what is energy and characteristics of the hammer impacts. I would not know where to go for this information. Plus the cost of engineering a slab is not likely to be money well spent on engineering may be better spent on more concrete and reinforcement. To be safe an independent foundation would be recommended. However as you can tell by the many comments that people have had sucess and failure placing a power hammer on a slab. If you are pouring a new slab make certain that the subgrade is undisturbed low organic matter soil. If the soil has been disturbed it must be compacted in 4" to 6" lifts of soil. Place 4"-6" of soil compact, place another layer of soil, compact and repeat. Use a plate compactor or other vibaratory compactor. A bulldozer or similar equipment is a very poor compactor and not acceptable due low ground pressure of the equipment. A 4" or 5" slab would not be adequate in most applications When pouring concrete get at least 4000 psi concrete. DO NOT ADD WATER to make the concrete easier to work as this will decrease the strength of concrete. Do not allow concrete to set up in direct sun if possible. Wet the slab periodically with a light spray of water as it cures over the next several days. Add reinforcement as reinforcement is relatively cheap in the overall project cost. Use "chairs" under the reinforcement to hold the reinforcement off the ground. It does not work to lift the reinforcement as you pour as it invariably ends up on the ground at bottom of the slab. I have demoed a lot of slabs and found the reinforcement on the ground at the bottom of the slab. If slab is more than 15' to 20' in a linear dimension, joints should be cut to reduce slab size as soon as it cuts with an abrasive wheel without damage. (3 to 6 hours after the pour). One rule with concrete is if you pour it it will crack. As concrete sets up it shrinks. This shrinkage will cause cracks in larger slabs. It is better to cut expansion joints so the cracks will be uniform and straight and not random spider webs. Clays and high organic matter soils move more due to the impact of hammer operation. Clays are bad for transitting vibration to your neighbors. A foundation will reduce this vibration transmission Adding a wood subbase decreases the likehood of slab cracking as the wood cushions the impact from the hammer on the floor. Likewise rubber reduces the impact as well. Good luck in what ever you decide.

Clay, Welcome to the site and the world of blacksmithing! I spent several years in Rolla getting my engineering degree and working for a small consulting firm. I still own real estate there. I trust that you have found the BAM website and have made contact with several of the members. Several members are from Rolla. One member has a shop near Lecoma if I remember correctly and has Hammer-ins from time to time. I bought my apron at Harbor Freight for well under $10. Nearest locations are St Loius and Blue Springs (Kansas City, MO) and there may be one in Columbia and of course the web. However it has been several years since I lived in Missouri. The apron is leather and not the best quality, but I dont wear it that much and forge without an apron much of the time as they can be very hot in the summer.

I have a engineers hammer (double faced hammer of similar size to a blacksmith cross pien) that I ground each face to a 5" cylindrical radius. I used a 4.5" grinder to do the modifications. This radius, does not appear to be agressive, but makes a significant difference when drawing out a forging. This is used when you want a one directional drawing action, but a cross pein may more agressive than desired. On this double faced hammer, I ground the radiuses at 90 deg to each other. For example when I am drawing out a leaf, if I desire to make the leaf longer, I use the face with the radius at 90 degrees to the length of the leaf. If I desire to make the leaf wider I flip the hammer over to use the other face, without having to repostion the work or myself as would be required if I were using a standard cross pein. I of course use this this hammer in conjuction with a standard cross pien smithing hammer but find I use my cross pein significantly less. I have modified a sledge to this configuration as well. Think about whether you want the radiuses to parrellel and perpandicular to the hammer or whether you want these 45 deg to the hammer or if you are a hammer nut like me, make both configurations. Another useful tool is a stand, made of 1" square tubing. This stand is a 18" X 24" X 30" simple rectangular weldment with a 1" square tubing on each edge. This makes an adjustable height work stand. Height is adjusted by which way it is stand is laid. Of course stands of other sizes and heavier materials could be fabricated. However I have found the 1" tubing to be more than adequate for my usage. This stand is a much more attractive to me than sawhorses as it all one piece, and if the height is wrong I simply flip the stand to the desired height. Appropriately sized plywood or steel plate makes this a adjustable height work table.

I have been having some health problems that have a side effect of dry skin. My Dr. recomended Eucerin. Being a cheapscape I bought a tub of the "Equate" brand generic equivalent at Wally World. The Eucerin was $13 and the generic was $4 for a failry large tub. It has worked very well suprising me. I have put it on very dry and pealing skin and in 24 hours my skin clear with no sign of dry skin. I am sold on it and better yet it is cheap.

Humidity in an unheated shop can be very problematic. The problem comes from the outside air being occasionaly warmer than the contents of the shop. Warm air can contain a lot more moisture than cold air and when air contacts items colder than the air, condensation can occur. This is the problem, warmer outside air containing more humidity, contacts the colder items in the shop and condensation occurs. Items that reduce the condensation problems are. 1) Seal the shop to the maximum extent possible, particularly on days when the weather is warming. This will reduce amont of higher humidity warmer air in the shop and resultant condensation. 2) Do not sucumb to the tempation to open the doors wide on the warm days of spring unless you have heated the shop so the items in the shop are warm. The items in the shop may be cold enough to cause condensation. The warm air containing higher humdity coming into the shop will condense on the colder items in the shop. 3) Circulate air. Run fans to circulate the air in the shop. This will tend to keep the items in the shop at a temperature closer to the air temperature, reducing condensation due to cold items. 4) Keeping the shop heated. However my budget does not permit this. I had a problem in one of my previous shops. The mositure was coming from the gravel floor. Do you have a concrete floor in your shop? If you do, did you put a poly vapor barrier underneath the floor? This can be a significant source of humdity. But you can can place a poly vapor barrier under the gravel or dirt to reduce this source of humidity. I am not confident that a standard dehumidier will work in a shop in the fall, winter or spring. Most standard dehumidifiers require a 60-65 deg F operating temperature to avoid freezing up. I had a dehumidifier freeze up in my basement in the spring when the basement air temperature was approximately 65 deg F. Dessicants such a charcoal, calcium chloride generally will not work in open enviroment such as a shop as the ambient moisture quickly overwhelms the capacity of dessicants. They will work in relatively tight cabinets and drawers. Light bulbs or other low powered heaters reduce condensation as they heat the items reduces the potential for condensation. Be careful as they can cause fires.

I would be concerned about wearing vintage safety glasses. To what standard were they built if any? I suspect that many were not built to any standard and most have glass lenses. These will shatter much easier than plastic. Removing glass from your eye is much more difficult than steel as steel is magnetic. Modern safety glasses are available in vintage styles except for the plastic side guards. Remember over half of all treated eye injuries occur from none powered tools. (hammers, chisels, screwdrivers, wrenches, pry bars etc)

I am sure that there is a variation in steel selected by the design engineers based on the exact application. But most any of them would be appropriate hammers and tooling as they are a high strenth steel with good hardenability I do know that John Deere Tractor axles were made of 1045/1050 steel based on a discussion with a retired John Deere Engineer. (at least this is what was used during the time he worked at Deere) Historically blacksmiths looked at axle shafts as good stock for hammers and tools. So have at it. Just make certain you stress relieve prior to hardening and temper back to reduce potential for chipping. On a side issue temper colors, which are oxides of iron formed on the surface of the steel, are a function of not only temperature but of time. So if you are using an oven or kiln for heat treatment, as some of the earlier posters have mentioned, the temper colors may appear hotter than actual temperature that they were exposed to. As an example at one of previous jobs we had tooling that operated at 400 deg F with tooling temperatures controlled by a electronic temperature controller. This is less than "pale yellow" at 450 deg F. However these tools appeared "dark blue" which is nearly 600 deg F inspite of the fact they never saw temperatures more than 400 def F. I am not familiar with exactly how long exposure it takes at 400 deg F to turn the tool blue, but the first time new tools came back in the shop they were all dark blue. So I guess bottom line is that if you have access to oven or kiln, and leave your steel in the oven trust the oven not the color. Remember the commercial heat treater's rule of thumb. 1 hour at temeperature per inch of thickness. This is hard to do in a forge but with an oven or kiln is easy. For best outcome many industrial tooling and dies are "double drawn" that is double tempered, Heated to tempering temperature, cooled and reheated to tempering temperature again and cooled.

I admit I have cheated and used an arc welder and 4.5" grinder to make that detail. It turned out well and nobody really knew how it was made. Throw it back in the forge after you do the grinding so the grinding marks are oxidizided off and a few hammer blows will remove the evidence. I trust nobody will insist I be removed from the site do to my impure work practices.

Historically most hammers were made from plain carbon steel (10XX). However after WW II alloy steels became more available and most commercially made quality hammers were made from steels other than plain carbon steel due to superior toughness. I would recommend hammers be made from steel containing alloys which make the steel tougher. Remember hammer chipping is not only a tool failure but a significant safety issue. I am sure we have all heard the stories of fatal accident(s) (I have heard of 2) involving chipped hammers and countless minor to more significant accidents where chips of hammers have penetrated bodies or eyes. A readily available alloy is 4340 which is tougher than many steels as it contains nickel. Another issue is to related to hammer chipping is to make certain the center of the hammer is harder than the edges of the hammer. Unfortunately normal quenching methods cool the edges of the hammer faster than the center of the hammer, making them harder. Some good hammer makers quench the head with a garden hose focued on the center of hammer face, thus quenching center more agressively than the edges.

J Bennet Best of luck on your patent! Let us know when you get it and can discuss it. Patents can be a very interesting process. Are you going to go for several international patents or will you stick with US only?

High Carbon Steel Melts at Approximately 2600F and low carbon steel melts at 2800F Often cast steel is poured at a few hundred degrees hotter for adequate fluidity. This is why high carbon steel burns easier when forging than lower carbon steels. I suggest going out on the web to learn of available refractories.