Broomhead

Thank you Wayne. I was mistakenly searching this site for a thread or post.

Could someone link me to Frosty's T burner topic? I've searched multiple times but haven't come with anything.

Banan, I'm not sure what the residential pressure for natural gas is in Poland, but is that what you're feeding from? Can I see what type of burner you are using?

Sorry, no stories. People have always came up with variations, though, and I thought I'd heard them all...until one guy called me Swiffer. My brothers got the teasing a lot worse than I did. I was a big kid so that usually stopped most of it, but there was always the idiot that had to push it...

You do get around the forum, don't you? I see your posts all the time and learn something with almost every one. Thank you. 10k posts...Wow, lol.

Here's my first stock-removal knife.

My 2nd completed knife, it was a Christmas gift for my dad.

A couple hawks I made just playing with some spare claw hammer heads.

The "Estwing" hawk.

My 1st spike knife, it was a collaboration with my dad and the first thing we ever forged.

What happened to a rasp knife when I thought it hadn't hardened in oil...so I quenched it in cold water.

My web handle is my last name, friends use it as a nickname. I use the same name on all the forums I'm a member of.

I need to take some pics of my work, I'll get on it an throw them up on here soon. I may even get my daughters to model them, lol.

Thanks for the welcome.

Alternatively put the scoremark on a large piece of angle iron placed on a cinderblock, now stand on on end, have someone drop an anvil(large) on the other end. Post video! We'll either be very impressed or very amused :D  And You'll either owe someone a "thank you" or a "good kicking"

 

Ian

Hmm, the Darwin Awards come to mind.

How should I orient the rail, as it normally would sit or on it's side?

Teebs, sorry to derail your thread.

Hey all. My name is Broomhead and I am an aspiring knifemaker, bladesmith, and blacksmith. I have always had a thing for edged weapons/tools and so I decided I wanted to start making them. Blacksmithing has always intrigued me, something about making useful things from scrap, plus it goes hand-in-hand with bladesmithing. I'm 33 and live in Nashville, TN. I'm a Professional Dad with three daughters, 1, 3, and 9. You'd think being home all the time would give me ample time for smithing, but alas that is never the case. There always seems to be something else that has to take precedence.

My favorite edged weapons are tomahawks, of which I have made two, one from an Estwing brick hammer and the other from a piece of RR clip (both need a handles). I have completed two stock-removal knives, ruined three of them, forged three RR spike knives and a kiridashi from an old Nicholson file, which still needs to be heat treated.

Right now I'm trying to be a sponge and absorb as much info as possible, learning whatever I can. I have plans to start making small items like bottle openers and such to get practice and have something to show for it. I look forward to learning from this great wealth of knowledge that is IFI and its members.

On 7/2/2013 at 12:21 AM, Frosty said:

As a rail road tool I'll bet it was used to score rail to break. Simply score rail at the point you want it to break, lift it and drop it on another piece of rail at the scored place and it'll snap surprisingly cleanly. I've heard it can be snapped with a hearty blow from a sledge hammer but haven't seen that done.

On 7/2/2013 at 11:51 PM, Frosty said:

I don't have a piece of rail long enough I think the drop trick will work but I'll give the sledge hammer method a try. Maybe Deb will shoot video.

On 7/2/2013 at 11:52 PM, monstermetal said:

I vote for Frostys answer.   I have a one as well and I someday plan to try and lop off some rail with it.   They scored all the way around and then dropped the rail on another peice and it broke at the score

So, in theory, the 8ft length of rail that I have, of which I have attempted to cut with a 7" angle grinder in two spots and is cut all the way around, should be able to be snapped at those points by either dropping it on another piece of rail or by a hefty blow from a heavy sledge? That is very good to know. I have reached a point with the angle grinder where the blade catches too easily and I've had two blades blow up on me. I'm done trying that, to say the least, it's a xxxxxxx heart attack every time they blow.

Very nice. I need to find some time to get out and make some stuff. I want to make some bottle openers to start out with.

Beautiful! I really like it. The blade and mahogany really compliment each other.

Now, just if I had a swedge block...lol.

I got a chance to try out my modified hammer and it worked great, really moved the material faster than I thought it would. However, I think it can be a little better, so I'm going to round it a bit more. The biggest issue I've had in rounding it is that it is a square faced drilling hammer, not octoganol like smith's or engineer's hammers are. I may pick up another smith's or engineer's hammer and make another one. I'm in the process of getting my smithy set up, but hopefully that won't take too long and I can get to pounding some more steel.

I want to thank all of you for your help and I will keep this thread updated as best I can with my progress with this hammer.

Awesome work! I like the angular lines.

Yes you can clamp it too hard. The epoxy will squeeze out and leave an adhesive-starved joint. All you need is a spring type clamp to hold things in place while the epoxy sets for about 24hrs.

 

here you go hope this helps,

Dick

Saw that, it's what made me want a rounding hammer.

Those do help, they look similar to the pictures I googled but are closer. Now, on that hammer, is the left side "square", or is it just rounded differently?

A squashed ball does make more sense, allows for more varsatility. I can visualize that easier too. Thanks for the clarification.

How much radius will depend on wot you forge with it,,And wot you want the surface to look like after,,,try it like it is,,,modify and try again see how changes affect the work....It also depends on your skill and ability, the better you get the more you can see wot you want a hammer to do.

That makes perfect sense.

I did read through that, it deals mostly with making a cheap hammer into a better hammer, not so much with rounding hammers though. I have the tools and the knowledge of the how-to. I'm looking mostly for the how much. What kind of radius should I be looking for?

It's a 2.5# drilling hammer.

I'm looking to modify an extra hammer I have by grinding it into a rounding hammer. Problem is, I have no idea how round/pronounced to make it. I have Googled images of rounding hammers and think I have an idea of where it should be. However, I wanted to get some input from the masters, or at least the masterful. So...how round is your rounding hammer?

Does anyone have any detailed pics?

I got the sledge head mounted with the silicone. There was about a 1/16"-1/8" gap so it was a snug fit and I was quite liberal with the silicone. Now to let that set. I tapped it with a small ball-peen and had the hammer rebound as high as it started, about jumped out of my hand. I'll give it 24 hours to set and then I can test it with a lawnmower blade that needs straightening. I'm really hoping that after all this work, it will be usable and work for my needs for the time being.

Won't the concrete just slowly braek apart with repeated hammering on the sledge?  Concrete doesn't like vibration.

That was the thought behind the silicone, to dampen the vibrations going directly from the hammer head to the concrete. Like I said before, the head still will contact the top plate metal to metal, there won't be any silicone between them, only between the head and concrete. There is only about a 1/8" gap between the concrete and hammer head, so it should fit tight without wobbling. It will also help quiet any ring that the head might have.

There is a little bit on concrete between the plates that are lined up side by side, mostly the bottom half to keep them from moving too much. All of the plates are touching metal to metal, though, especially the top horizontal plate. The hammer head also contacts the top plate metal to metal. Before I wiggled the hammer head and made it loose, I struck it with a hammer and it had some really good rebound to it, not as good as my friend's 100-something pound Kohlswa, but good nonetheless.

You are right, though, it'll work till something better comes along.

I decided it was high time I get a working anvil going. This will be used primarily for blades, therefore the work face doesn't need to be huge, just larger than the face of a hammer. I had an older 12lbs sledgehammer head laying around that I found at my old house...ding, ding, ding. I figured I could make a bucket anvil using concrete and a 6gal bucket. Then, I had a friend give me several scrap metal plates that were all uniformly sized. Awesome, now I have a lot of mass that will transmit the kinetic energy down to a 3/4" steel plate under the anvil and back up to the face...I think that's a good thing. I know the extra mass is good.

Here are my materials, minus the Quickrete.



Now, never use a hammer to break out the bottom of the bucket, because you will crack it.



I cut out the bottom of the barrel so I wouldn't end up busting it out sometime down the road while in use.



I also had to grind down the corners of one of the plates so it could sit flat inside the bucket.




I forgot to take pictures of how the plates are arranged, but, when viewed from the side, they'd look like this:

____|____
| | | | | | | | | | 

The plate I ground down sits on top of the other nine plates with the hammer head centered on it.

Then, I set the  bucket on a piece of wood, filled it halfway with concrete and gently pounded the nine plates in place. I filled the bucket some more till the concrete was even with the top of the plates, then I set the tenth plate on top with the hammer head centered on it. I filled the bucket with the remainder of the concrete. I let the concrete start to set, wiggling the hammer head as it set. I wanted the hammer head to sit loosely so I could use some silicone caulk to mount it to reduce vibrations into the concrete around the head, it will also quiet any ring that the head may produce.

Here's the bottom plate I will use.



The concrete is setting.



Sitting on a scale...I was barely able to lift it enough to get it on the scale. BTW, that says 195lbs.



Now I just have to finish letting the concrete dry and use the silicone to mount the hammer head.

For the handles, start with a thickness around 3/8" for each side and work it down till it's comfy. Just remember to give it smooth flowing curves, you don't want it blocky.

Ohh ohh me, me...I'm in Nashville. I'm always looking for some one on one, or one on group instructuction. I need some new friends, lol.