Mark Aspery

Hello Kevin,
You can see the difference in your work from the first project (the chisel) to the last projects (the tongs and the rose).
Hats off to you!
Enjoy your blacksmithing,
cheers, Mark

Hello Glenn,
I have no problem with any pictures or the content of any and all of my classes appearing on your I FORGE IRON web site.
This permission is good for any class in the future and I will rescind, in writing, if I should change my mind at any time later on.
Thank you for your time in this matter.
Mark Aspery.

My apologies, I couldn't find a way to edit my last post to attach some more photographs.
I'm hoping these photos will show the tool and how to deal with a stuck tool.

TOMPW
I’m looking at your photograph 14:16.
I see where you have drifted and I also see the remnants of what looks to have been a square hole. This may be the result of stretching the eye with the drift in place and not re-drifting with a larger drift or punching with too small-a-hole.
Drifts push and don’t pull for the most part. There need to be some correlation between the size of the initial hole and the final drift.
For example. I make a hammer. The end result is that the eye needs to be 1 1/16 long and 5/8 wide as that matches the handles that I have bought.
I know that I am going to draw the eye (see photo) to get more of a disc shape. I will use the peen for this – with the drift in place. In drawing the eye most of the material will be spread perpendicular to the centerline of the parent bar.
Some, however, will be spread along the axis of the parent bar creating gaps at either end of the drift. I re-drift with a slightly larger drift (from both sides to get the hour-glass shape) to a final size of the handle.
My initial punch is a slot punch (my tool of choice when I am making a hammer eye)
It is 7/8 long and 1/8 wide (the same length as my initial drift). I make this from

My apologies,
I'm new to the high speed thing and I thought I was the last hold out.
Cheers, Mark

Hello Herman,
forge-welding is not a thing of the past, in fact it is quite current. There is a look that you get from forge-welding that you cannot get any other way.
I have a 5 minute quicktime video clip on my web site (www.markaspery.net) that shows some forge-welding up close.
In essence, metal will bond provided nothing is in the way -such as mill or fire scale. To remove the scale you can either super-heat the bars and melt the scale (slag) rather like forming a puddle in a oxy/fuel weld. The bars should not be sparking, that is too hot.
The other way (a must for the gas forge) is to use flux.
Flux (borax) is slightly basic and will dissolve the scale into solution at a lower temperature, as it is a glass, it melts and forms a protective covering around the metal preventing the oxygen present in the forge from forming more scale on the work.
When you unite the bars together and GENTLY hammer them together (initially) the molten scale or the flux/scale combo is ejected leaving the hot metal (read now clean) to join.
If there is a secret to forge-weld it is to prepare the scarfs (a prep to the bars) so that they fit very well together. In this way you don't have to use blows from the west side of hell to unite the bars. You are bonding metal on an atomic level - big blows will blow the weld.
Hammer blows come perpendicular to the welding surface until you are sure of the weld.
You can E-mail me at if you think I can be of further assistance.
You need a pile of shame before you can weld your way to a wall of fame!
Mark