Josiah Peters

You photographs look like renders from 3D software! At first I was thinking, "that can't be real" and then I went over to your Facebook page and saw you holding it. Great job on the photos, my only suggestion would be to throw something in there that makes it look less fake. (That's a compliment because all your angles on that thing are so straight!)

Awesome job.

Hello
Nice scrolling and nice dog photos.

I live in Buhl and I am also a beginner.

Kirk

Great to find someone within a few hours of me. Once I get a shop built and a permanent setup I'll let you know. Maybe you can pound some iron with me when you're this way.

Jigs or no jigs, nice scroll, cool dog. Nice to meet ya.

Thanks Nobody, I have a feeling my dog knows she's cool. She at least knows she's cute and sweet!

You're one lucky guy Joey, having a smith willing to take you under his wing is a treat many of us would've loved to have. that's a beautiful scroll panel.
 
Looking with a practiced eye it has no flaws but is obviously a lesson or practice piece with four different finials on the scrolls. that is something to hang in your shop with pride and as a reference in coming years to how far you've come.
 
I don't think he's pushing you much, he's taught before, has a plan and knows how to inspire a student. Sure he has jigs, we all have jigs you'll have jigs. Have you made some now you've used them? I don't recall where the post is but someone here recently posted a link to layout drawings and I've spent a few hours watching a terrific set of blacksmithing instructional videos made by a great smith.
 
As terrific as this set of videos is they can't hold a candle to having face to face time in a working shop. You'll progress many times faster with personal instruction. However, watching the videos or anyone else forging will help. I always learn something from watching anyone else forging, even if it's DON'T do THAT! Negative info is still info, it's all useful.
 
I look forward to seeing more pics of your work, tools, etc. Oh yeah, the dogs, pics of the dogs is good.
 
This is our new boy, Baxter.
 
Frosty The Lucky.

I'm very blessed and grateful he's willing to teach me. It's a night and day difference between his teaching me in a properly equipped shop versus me trying to figure it out alone with minimal equipment and YouTube and written instruction alone. I am very happy I spent the time watching videos and reading before he started teaching me though. I already have some understanding of the concepts and terms that he's showing me. I'm sure that helps us keep the pace up.

You're right, as nice as it looks compared to other things we have made, its very much a practice piece. The fact that we made four different scroll ends speaks to the skill of my mentor. And I don't feel rushed or pushed in a negative way. He knows the next step I need to take to learn something new and seems to know just the right amount to challenge me each week.

Do you think you could dig that link up again? I'd like to check it out.

Baxter sure is a cute little guy!

Here is Guinness the dog on the lookout for squirrels. 

 
And here she is just before a local run with your dog race:
 

Welcome nice looking work

Thanks, but credit goes to my instructor for pushing me so quickly and having well planned out lessons for me to do. He already had jigs for the scrolls so it was just a matter of me bending along the jigs. So its definitely nicer looking than if I had tried to freehand it or using jigs I made myself. I'm truely blessed to be able to learn from someone like him!

There is a Blacksmith Association in your area. Hook up with them.

 

There will be "Western States Blacksmith Conference", August 22-26 at Government Camp on Mt. Hood. Check it out on the NorthWest Blacksmith Association website www.blacksmith.org

 

Neil

Neil,

I joined the blacksmith.org forum a while back but I find it harder to keep up with over iforgeiron.com. I'll have to look into officially joining them because I'm definitely enjoying forging and I'm sure I'll be doing it as a hobby for a long time.

I will definitely have to try and fit the conference in my schedule! I remember seeing that on blacksmith.org but I had forgotten when it was thanks for the reminder.

I've made a few posts since I originally created my account, but I wanted to officially introduce myself. My name is Josiah Peters, I mostly go by Joey and I live in Boise, Idaho with my wife, dog and two cats. By trade I'm a software developer and I've always had a great joy for making things.

I was inspired to get into blacksmithing while learning about timber framing by watching a video I saw by

I found the english version if anyone wants to know what they're saying.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scdb18Mp4ac

hey just an fyi...  theres some good info on rifle building in the foxfire book's...  esp some interesting rifling tools...

Which book is that? I'll be interested in picking that up.

I just got my order of steel in yesterday from Ryerson. I ordered 2" and 1 3/4" round 1045. I had them cut the 2 inch stock 4 1/2 inches long. The cost for that 20 foot piece cut into 4 1/2 inch pieces was $245.35, that makes each piece cost less than $5.00. A 4 1/2 inch piece of 2 inch round weighs 3.996 pounds. The hammer we made from it in a class yesterday weighed 3.612 pounds when it was finished.

Brian,

I just checked out their website and it looks like they've got some great product offerings and great prices. Now that I've looked a second time it looks like Ryerson has a location in Boise and I'll be giving them a call or making a trip over there.

From experience, I was making my first hammer by myself. Lessons learned: YOU NEED A STRIKER. If you do not have a striker then do something else! Yes you can make something like a hammer but without the skillset and proper tools ther exist a receipe for unhappiness.

 

But,

    Scrounge all the flea markets and purchase all the economical hammers like shop hammers, engineers' hammers, small sledges, various ball pien hammers, cross pien hammers....You get the drift. Unless they were in a fire they may be very serviceable. And look up some of the other articles about re-shaping a hammer's face. In this world of smithing lies a lot of magic waiting to be unleashed.

 

 

Good luck

 

 

Carry on

David,

Thanks for the advice. I imagine as I work my way up to this goal of creating a hammer from scratch it would make a lot of sense to try using some of the tooling I will have to build on an existing hammer head like a small 4 lbs sledge or something.

I am very excited to learn. I am a software developer by trade and I really enjoy making things. I've been itching to make physical things instead of only digital items and I think blacksmithing will provide me that outlet. Ultimately my goal is to be proficient enough that I can make tools if I need them.

Ohhh let's make one! :D Now THAT would take some striking!~

 

I have not run across any hollow car axles at the JY.

FireyFurnace,

I'm glad you pointed out there are no hollow car axles. I will definitely see if I can get my hands on one. One of my old neighbors works at a junkyard / scrap yard and I will be giving him a call. I also need to get a hold of some coil springs so I can work on making chisels, splitters and drifters.

Here is a chart for hammer weight to length and size it is on page 7 http://www.blacksmithing.org/CB-Archive/2001/2001-02-cb.pdf.

 

Before you order from Mc Master Carr  find your local metal supplier and see if they have Drops. I got a bunch of 2 1/4" 4130 for a very good price I use Alro metals. with the big suppliers its better to set up an account you will get better pricing. Once you have the tools made you will just have to take the leap and make the hammer. If you can punch a hole in 1" there is not much difference its just time and heat.

I just got my order of steel in yesterday from Ryerson. I ordered 2" and 1 3/4" round 1045. I had them cut the 2 inch stock 4 1/2 inches long. The cost for that 20 foot piece cut into 4 1/2 inch pieces was $245.35, that makes each piece cost less than $5.00. A 4 1/2 inch piece of 2 inch round weighs 3.996 pounds. The hammer we made from it in a class yesterday weighed 3.612 pounds when it was finished.

Brian,

Thank you for listing your dimensions! I do hope that I can fit taking a class from you into my schedule sometime in the next year. I really appreciate all your videos on YouTube and the posts you make here.

   it is not that you cannot make your own hammer, but a matter of owning the skills required to carry out the project. When you go to school with Brian your will learn many of those required items, and make a hammer too. Remember that there is no magic in a hammer. The real magic is what comes from using that hammer well.

 

   For the amount of time and money you spend at Brian's, well, you will come home with more tools worth more than the cost of the  of the school, while getting top rate instruction. There may also be someone near you that can help you make a hammer, as they learned from Brian and Lyle

 

Carry on

David,

I couldn't agree more. After lurking here for a few months I know how highly regarded Brian is and my glimpse into his teaching style through his YouTube videos makes me excited to take a class from him. Which I do intend to do. I was actually trying to schedule something over the holiday season because my in-laws live about 3 1/2 hours from his place. Unfortunately my plans fell apart and I will have to wait until the next time we are down there to schedule something. That may not be until late summer and fall, so until then I will have to try and glean as much information and advice from these forums and YouTube.

Hi there!

 

Making a Brian Brazeal rounding hammer for forging would be a wise choice! However, there are a number of tools you need to do so.

 

Hammer eye punch for punching out the hole

Two drifts for drifting the eye

Top and bottom fuller sized appropriately

cupping tool

 

There are a number of tools required to make those tools. Taking a class from Brian or spending some time with one of his students is definately the way to go. Post your location....you could be 15 minutes down the road from one of Brian's apprentices, who has the tools and is able/willing to help.

Having said that, there is nothing like getting it "from the horses mouth," and eventually I would HIGHLY reccomend taking a class directly from Brian, but one of his students might be able to help you get started.

 

For a four pound hammer you need about 5-inches of 2-inch 4140. 

 

Here is an online metals calculator. http://www.onlinemetals.com/calculator.cfm

 

If you need a piece of stock, hit me up in the PM box. I just bought a 41-inch piece of 4140, and can sell pieces. I have easy access to the material at a good price in sizes from 1-inch to 2-inch round. I'll be happy to cut you a couple exact size pieces so that way you aren't paying for extra.

 

A good source of steel for the tools you need, is junk yard car axles. I buy axles from my junk yard for $5.00 each and they yield a half dozen tools each. Sometime you have to bug the hound out of your junk-yard guy, but once you get them to start setting the stuff asside it will always be available when you need it.  

FireyFurnace,

I live in Boise, Idaho. I just finally got my account accepted for the NorthWest Blacksmith Association forums so I will hopefully be able to link up with some people around here. As I mentioned earlier in this reply, my wife is from the south and I look forward to our next trip down there to visit her family, hopefully I will be able to schedule a class then. Unfortunately that may be more than six months away.

I've been trying to build a mental inventory of the tools that I will need to make before I can attempt to make a hammer so thank you for including specific names for some of those tools. I know I will gain valuable experience in creating these tools for this process so I look forward to that.

I will take a closer look at car axles. I had written them off when a friend of mine may have falsely suggested that they were not solid but had a grease channel, though he may have been referring to tractor axles.

This online metal calculator is fantastic! Thanks for linking this, I probably could have avoided posting this question had I known about this because I would have found that a 3" diameter 5" length hammer would be almost 10 lbs!

3" diameter stock is WAY too big for a new smith to make hammers out of!  You will want something very close to finished diameter as starting stock.  At about .891 pounds per inch 3" to 4" of 2" round would be much easier to forge into shape!  

bigfootnampa

I was making a bad assumption of the size of stock Brian and others used based off the pictures. Unfortunately there was no scale on them so I made my best guess. I appreciate you correcting me as it's going to save me a lot of hardship trying to forge a piece of stock that big.

4" of 2" round 1045 is about 4 1/4 pounds.  I would get mine at Online Speedy Metals for $20.92 for a full 1 foot long section.  Which is about $7 for 4".  Onlinemetal.com has 4140 for  One Ft. (12") Length - $29.29.  Either would be excellent for a hammer.  which is about $10 for 4".

Everyone else, 

I really appreciate your input, especially for my first post. While I know that making a hammer is something I am not capable of right now. I am setting that as my goal. I look forward to learning and exploring through creating all of the different tools I will need to forge a hammer. And until I can take a class from Brian I will have to "Learn by doing" for now.

I'm new to blacksmithing and I have been doing as much research by reading books, this forum, watching youtube, and gleaning any other information I can for the past four or five months.

I've recently built my forge and I'm currently working on a pair of tongs. I've been watching Brian Brazeal's videos on YouTube and I've been reading up posts here on his rounding hammer. Right now I've got a blacksmith hammer with a flat face and a cross pien on the other side. I would love to try his style of rounding hammer out.

Obviously making a hammer is a big step for someone new to blacksmithing to undertake. And I'm not planning on attempting the hammer for at lease few months, but I'm trying to get the materials sorted so I can budget for them.

With that out of the way, I've found some 3" round stock on McMaster Carr for what seems like a decent price. I've read that Brian uses 1045 or 4140 alloy steel. My question is, how long of stock would I need to make a Brazeal Style rounding hammer? They have 3" and 6" lengths and larger increments by 6":

1045 - 3" diameter round stock

3" diameter 3" length is $20.86

3" diameter 6" length is $48.48

4140 - 3" diameter round stock

3" length is $28.67

6" length is $48.48

What length of round stock would I need? From some of the pictures I've seen of the process of making those hammers it looks like 4"-5"

If I needed to go with at least a 6" piece of stock is it practical to use a hot cut on a piece that large? I guess if the blanks are 4"-5" in size I could always buy a 12" or larger piece of stock and use it for multiple hammers.

In lurking around here I know some of the answers are going to be to take a class from Brian, which I would love to do and tried to work out over the holidays but my scheduling and situation didn't work out. So until I can get that squared away I'll have to try and do it on my own. I still intend on taking a class from him in the future as he is highly regarded.

Thanks for taking the time to look at this, I apologize if this has already been answered but I did not come across it in my searches.