SJS

All I have gotten is arthritis;-) I do have a funny story along this line. When I was apprenticing with Jim we had stopped some where in the morning and I had made a full set of shoes with side clips, and then we went to Joyce's. She is a nurse, and I walked out of the truck with a tool box, and she asked, "WHAT happened to your forearm?!?!" It was summer and I had just a T-shirt on, I looked around to see if anything was wrong and didn't notice anything. She said, "your arm its obviously swollen." I told her it was just pumped up. I have had people tell me I look like a blacksmith ;-)

Yep an "anvil block" is a great hardie tool to have. I have one that is just about the same dimensions and radius as one of my hammers. I use the pair of them quite a bit to forge out the neck and shoulders on projects like this. I like to set the block up with two different radius's, hold the stock one direction and you have a sharper edge for shouldering in, and turn it the other way and you have a softer radius for drawing out more. Mine is really ugly but works nicely... Here is a pick of the leaf cup rack I needed to make it for.

They aren't bad. What size stock are you starting with? Do you have a few good pairs of tongs? including a small set that will hold the thin stem? Your tool options, limit your technique options. In a gas forge I might be tempted to work the stem/shoulder first, then cut to the center of the bar with a hardy. Then taper the point as much as I wanted, and flatten the taper enough to be able to draw the width of leaf I wanted with my crosspein. Then chisel in what details I wanted. In a coal forge you are more likely to loose small pieces so I would keep it on the bar as long as possible. So I would work the other direction and taper the bulk of the leaf, then shoulder in to form the stem, then do all my tooling. Then cut it off short and make my ring. I like to spread most of my leaves quite a bit, and for a key fob leaf, you want a nice neat small stem. It's alright to get creative, but it needs to be small and neat, less likely to catch on things... Function informs your decision on design. Long tendrils might be nice to help fill space in a grill or gate, but something in your pocket needs to be pretty discreet;-) and definitely NOT pokey;-) I like a nice shoulder into the stem, a nice width to the leaf and a pleasing overall shape. Then it how to forge in the details in to the leaf, whether to cut lines in with a chisel, punch them in with oblong punch into thicker stock, or just hammer texture with a narrow crosspein? Keep playing with the leaves, there are atleast three basic techniques you can work on, drawing out a taper, fulling with your hammer to spread the leaf, and shouldering in on the edge of the anvil with your hammer. You can forge bunch of basic blanks that all look the same, and by using you hammer move the metal different directions and make all kinds of different looking leaves all from the same basic blank... 1, 10, 100, 1000: how good you want to be at this one skill... Are you hooked up with a local ABANA chapter? There are groups all over the country and all over the world... Come over to the IBA conference the 1st weekend in JUNE and I can give you some hands on pointers:-)

I thought doing something new with a mystery metal, with a partner you have never worked with was just a "Saturday Night Forging Contest" at one of the local Conferences. One of the conference speakers I have seen at an IBA conference, said "Do something that scares you at least once a year!" But I think that was intended to prevent languishing on a plateau, once you had developed a decent foundation and were getting too comfortable. The more you challenge yourself, (IF you have worked smart and developed a solid foundation!) the faster you will grow, and get better. The more you challenge yourself without adequate fundamentals, the more frustrated you will become, and the more likely to quit. Cause who wants to play a game you keep losing... If you find your finished product not matching up to what you visualized in your minds eye, you may need better tools, but most likely you need to go back to the fundamentals. So that you can use the tools you do have better. I keep thinking about teaching a class on that... The most fun you can have with metal is getting it to do what you want.

I love striking, but never have the time because of my job. I'm self employed and my boss is a jerk;-) he works me to death...

I geek precision;-) If I do it on a lathe its concentric, and in addition to the tapered seat, I want a slopped shoulder that I can forge out the rim of the candle cup on too... Most things are doable, even with basic tools, if you have enough time, and perseverance. Of course I barely have the free time to forge one freehand, so its mostly just daydreaming. When I get the time to forge, it is generally for a specific commission, or making some of my standard items that sell. I dream about process... and tools.

Consistency and self discipline are great advice. You can do a lot if you are determined and attentive, but it is easier if you have material that behaves consistently, so you can focus mainly on what you are doing, and how that affects the steel. The other issue with scrap is that you often find interesting pieces that are easy to grab, but still hard to work, like rail bolts and springs. 3/8 round and square are so much easier for a beginner to move and manipulate. Build techniques like your building tools you want to keep and be proud of... Because they are the "tools" you always have with you. If you can taper, and fuller, and shoulder in, and upset you are building your metal toolbox of skills...

I have heard Clifton Ralph uses the term "furniture" for fixtures, jigs, and V-blocks that sit on, or that gets clamped to the bottom die. I always liked the term, and would love to "decorate" with lots of new "furniture". I can't remember what Clifton called the big flat dies, "landscape"??? You can always use tools to make the dies smaller, but its harder to use tooling to expand the coverage of the dies.

I like 3/4" black iron pipe too, I've been tempted to try some Schedule 80 black pipe... If you get a decent sized piece threaded on both ends, then cut it in half so you can also use a cap on the threaded end, to prevent the chimney effect. I also like to taper the sides of the candle cup a bit so that the tapered bases of most candles fit it better. Floppy candle cups don't sell that well... I have been wanting to turn a mandrel with the correct taper to finish the cups to a very consistent shape that holds the candle real well.

The sad thing is there are people who can't see the difference, that don't value the process, and who's only frame of reference is what they can buy at Walmart. I have no desire to compete with Wallyworld, Yes they sell hooks, but they don't look like what I make. They sell axes and hammers, and again they don't look like what I make. I think mine have more character, are sturdier, and are fundamentally of higher value. I value my work, and I try to charge accordingly. If someone can't see the difference they won't feel my work is worth what I am charging because they can purchase something of the same type ( but not the same quality...) at Walmart. I gladly encourage them to do so ;-) but I don't price match... You can educate the ignorant, but you can't help the foolish.

Only wear as much personal protective gear as is appropriate to the work being done. If you are working larger stock that would burn you just swinging the hammer, then maybe use the glove on the hammer hand... BUT it is important to remember that you have to grip harder to feel like you have the same control if you are wearing a glove. This often leads to more hand fatigue, poor grip, and bad technique. Much more likely to have repetitive stress injuries... I love my Kevlar gloves and sleeves. A nice leather apron that fits well and doesn't pull on your back or neck, will save your cloths when grinding or doing a lot of forge welding. I live in safety glasses and steel toed work boots, There are lots of jobs I would rather not do without a good quality respirator and work tunes hearing protection. BUT I hate swinging a hammer with gloves on;-) I generally figure if I need to wear a glove to hit it with the hammer I have, I probably need a BIGGER hammer;-) The best legacy we can leave our children is: knowledge, skill, and good judgement, right after faith, hope, and love...

Because I make WAY COOLER!!! stuff than you can find in any store. I am made in the image of my Creator, and that means that I am creative... There is a great deal of satisfaction in a job well done, when you get to hold something in your hands when your done. Because I haven't had my soul stolen from me by a mindless consumer mentality. Years ago I taught a neighbor girl to blacksmith, her first project was an 18th Century serving spoon. Her sister reacted in much the same way, "who makes a spoon, you go to the store and buy a spoon, and then maybe use it to make something." The next year I helped her make a LOVELY oak leaf candle sconce, her sister didn't have anything snide to say about that at least that got back to me... I am amazed at the number of virtual creative outlets that simulate actual creativity, Minecraft, Farmville, ect.. How you arr brought up makes a big difference, if your family buys everything, and hires out all the heavy lifting, it doesn't even occur to you that you might be able to do these things, and you might even enjoy it. If you grew up in a family with books and magazines on DIY type topics, and self-sufficiency, and you saw your parents study a topic, and then do something. It becomes possible and even normal. If you don't know anyone who has sewn a garment, made a meal from scratch, built furniture, and remodeled a house or two, then its not possible...

Best practice to get the best color, and most consistent temper color is to make sure that the item is CLEAN when it goes in the oven. So wire brush/sandblast/sand/scotchbrite/polish to the desired level of finish. (Wire brushing and sandblasting before using other abrasives, or polishing does improve the longevity of your sanding belts, and polishing wheels, plus gives a better finish.) Then Fantastic (a brand of multi surface/degreaser) does a pretty good job getting polishing compound off of a piece, and the old standard to remove oil and finger prints from the surface is acetone. You can get good results without whipping it down with the acetone, but if you don't you will invariably get a big splotchy finger print or grease smudge on a particularly nice piece, especially if it is a rush job, where you don't have time to redo it....

It will run longer sloppy wet with oil rather than dry. Some new hammer owners obsess about keeping the hammer clean, don't worry about that too much. Don't let the scale form a lapping compound with the oil and or grease, but a little oil slinging off the ram is a good thing. Leaking past a fitting is a little annoying, but you could treat it like a sight window, when its not leaking you need to add more oil;-) Make some lemonade and have some fun;-)

pooh bear, with the head looking maybe a bit more dog like...

The other hammer looks like a German farriers hammer... For what that is worth;-)

Good Job BF, it does look really nice that way. The anvil has some interesting weathering;-) but I really like how, and how much the edges are beveled particularly on the shoulders of the sweet spot...

How big did you make the eye? I need to do this in my "copious" free time;-) I have a bad habit of hitting with a copper mallet WAY too hard, and Way too deep when I am striking a tool... Very bad habit. I think I would make the eye to fit a sledge handle and cut it down for a hand hammer. If you can't retrain yourself to do it right, at least find a work around so you can keep doing it wrong;-) I am still trying to retrain myself, but its hard to talk to the lizard brain... Muscle memory just takes over and the deed is done.

The other trick is progressive quenching. Forge out some test pieces and prepare some different quenching media, air (hopefully you got plenty of that...;-) oil, salt water, and plain old water. Check to see which one gives you the best hardening. For air hardening steels you can prop them up so that air can get to them, if you chuck it in the vice the vice will quench at a faster rate. For quenching in liquids an up and down stroke with a figure 8 swirl works well. Don't want steam pockets causing irregularities...

I will be at the IBA conference. I get to open the conference doing the Friday Night demo. "What to make out of a Farrier's Rasp: other than an Asp..." got to finish prepping for the demo this evening...

I like what Alan said. I also like problems I can solve with a hammer, I'm good with a hammer;-)

I would sell a kidney on the black market before selling that hammer... I suspect you would regret that for the rest of your life. And I thought you loved your truck????

Only wise people can learn from someone else's mistakes. Fools ALWAYS have to learn the HARD WAY, if they manage to learn from their mistakes at all. Ego protection often thwarts the proper learning process... It isn't a crime to be ignorant, it is a crime to stubbornly persist in your ignorance;-)

Tom Clark used to have a fire wood business, and split hundreds if not thousands of ricks of wood without a hydraulic wood splitter. When you are working like that you learn how to only exert yourself as much as you have to in order to get the job done. You also get real accurate;-) A lot of young strong enthusiastic guys wear themselves out. You can't fight the hammer. You can't just jerk it around. You are providing guidance, encouragement;-), and direction. You pull it back, and get it up, and then swing it back into play. A lot of young guys wear themselves out using a sledge that is too heavy for them to use effectively, by which I mean, with good speed, good accuracy, and good endurance. Part of getting older is hopefully getting wiser, learning to respect, but not necessarily be bounded by your limitations. I really like my 8# rounding hammer helper sledge, and use it in preference to any other sledge, but to be honest I find it easier to work with the 6# straight sledge, and I can work longer with the lighter hammer without being winded. If I were striking regularly for someone, I would quickly build the strength and endurance, at least I always have in the past... ;-) But I practically go up a shirt size going back into the gym for a week, I have always bulked up fast.

Skill and good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from learning from the consequences of poor execution, and poor judgment. Part of why I don't do hollow grinds on knives is that I haven't been willing to have a high failure rate. To get good you need to get the bad ones out first, and I don't have the time. So I continue to forge to shape and flat grind most things. With sledges I have gang sledged at demos and conferences before, and I did good enough, no glaring errors, except one hammer clash where I was rushing the strike... ;-) But like HWooldridge's grandpaw for most blacksmith applications I would be happier with strikers using a hand up strike with A LOT more control... Plus most of us aren't forging things where you really need a full swing, its flashy and, it is kinda fun, until someone has a big misstrike that garfs the piece up bad. I suspect I could only put up about an 80%-90% accuracy with a full swing starting cold with an 8# or larger sledge, but I am picky;-) I often do what Francis showed in the pic above, I have the helper hold the steel while I swing the sledge. I know where I can put the hammer. It takes time and attention to train a striker, and the striker has to be willing to learn... If you have a willing an able striker, it can be a true joy to forge as a team like that. But I haven't been that lucky most of the time, generally you only get one of the two important qualifications: willing or able... I am taking Nathan Robertson's hammer making class here June 3rd&4th right before I do the opening night demo at the IBA conference in Tipton, IN. The class will have us striking for one another to make a hand hammer, and a 6# striking hammer. I have made hammers before, but am curious enough and humble enough to wonder what I don't know that someone who does it all the time can teach me, plus it sounds like fun... I have been blacksmithing 30years and still enjoy every opportunity to learn I get, or try to ;-) We will see if Nathan wants us to use a full swing???