Charles R. Stevens

Rightus ignation, Glenn

Try a 14# one handed

Yes sir, that fallowes my experiance, tho 3# is my go to hammer, 4# when i cant find a striker

I need a thumbs up emoticon! Lol.

Personaly I dont know, but I Imagine not. Heating to welding temp (if its a forgable alloy) and consolidating may help. Extruded aluminum is a forgable aloy, cast not particularly. Aluminum bar is usualy extruded wile pistons and bearcans not so much. Welding temp for aluminum Dosnt even glow, just gets sticky

Unless your looking for a bronze age sword, then copper alloys are aproriate, as is your cast and forge technich. But that is bronze smithing, not blacksmithing, lol in any event brass is not a good material for that and your going to have to talk to the archilogial metalergests as to what alloys were used

Yes, Arkie that certainly aggravates the situation, as dose to lite a hammer or indecisive blows. But after making that mistake you are keen to correct it and with large stock you can correct the problem as it happens. But even with proper heat and square corners the stock will try to fish mouth if you try to taper toward the tip instead of driving the edges back and starting your taper at the tip then drawin it out. It's simply in the way the hot steel moves under the hammer. Your problem was in not starting the taper off right, made worse by uneven heat and from your description inefficient technique. After grinding out your oops, you were on guard and either changed you technique, ground a radius on the end or corrected as you forged. But if you make stone carving tools you want the struck end to fish mouth, lol

Billy, you will also find that the apron (or in my case chaps) lends itself to suporting your tongs against your thie for bending the harway off anvil bends and off anvil upsetting As to alignmet of tool building. Its called cheating, lol. If you coat your anvil with a splatter guard (milk of magnisia works, of buy some from the weld shop) and place a peice of heavy wall 1" (or apropriat size for your hardy) in your hardy and build around that. Then cut it out of the throught. This alighns the hardy and the tool guide (it is the hardy shank, bottom tool holder and uper tool guide. Dont forget to file out the flash

Also look into H13 or S7 for punches. 4060 works good for hand punches as we can cool it evey wack or two, if you use a high hot hardness steel then heat is less of an isue. If you have, say 1" square tooling in a 1+ a hair guid with apropriate bottom tooling ("V" 1/2 round etc you will face fare less hastle. This dose limit you to the size of stock unless you use a desighn with a larger throught. Bigger than 1" (tool) and you need a sledge, and at this point use a striker, press or powerhammer. To much mass in the struck tool vs the hammer realy eats up effency

Your welome. Like anything you hear or read, make our own judgement and in the case of smithing try it if it apears safe. All to often arm chair experts regurgitate what they have heard, or the well meaning misunderstand the question.

Actually your thick stock will fish mouth at a good heat if you have a square edge and try to forge a taper with out pointing it first. That is if you don't correct your error. Thin stock gives you less of a chance to catch your mistake and correct it.

Sorce the appropriat automotive shock. The valving is very similar and will be built much better. Heavy vehicles such as 1 ton vans and trucks will offer more resistance wile shocks from a Pinto will offer less.

This is the cure 1, starting stock 2, first blow 3, second blow 4, forth blow 5, sixth blow 6, eighth blow

Ok, so this is the problem, 1, starting stock 2, first blow 3, second blow 4, forth blow

Same thing when pointing a bar before drawing out a punch or chisel. When you start playingwith larger sections you can see it happaning because it takes multiple heats to draw it out, and it takes more than a quick pass with a grinder to fix. I guess ill have to try and draw a picture and let Glenn tydy up the mess, lol

All true, but he wanted to know how to start off to solve the problem. Even a 14# slede wont solve the problem if you dont point the end first. I did have to read the original pos several times to understand the problem and what he was asking for. Basicly when you start out you knock the corners of the leding edge back in to the parent stock, if you dont the leading face will fold and the leading corners will close together. Any one good with sketch up or somthing that can illistrate this? I can sketch it on paper but geting it to somthing electronic so I can post it is beuond me.

No problem, been there myself.

Sounds like what is called "fish mouth" its a cold shunt. grind it off. To prevent it forge a very blunt taper on the end, say 45 deg (meets at a 90) or so, then push the taper back tord the eye, enstead or drowing tord the edge, this shiuld fix your problem. Just another case of smithing being counter intuitive

Judson, Glenn comes around and sweeps up behind many of us, lol. I personaly apretiate it (really check out my spelling!) My experiance is that 99% you get a heads up, be it a message, email or even a call. But contrary to popular belife he is all to human, and forgets.

If your going to the trouble, why not build a larger conventinal forge? Say a 32x60"table with either a 1 1/2" sideblast or a 11" firebowl? This gives you one big coal forge that you can adapt for differant prodjects, wile your at it build a 2 burner gasser. I have straitened more than one set of 2" bale spiked in my 2 burner (18" of heat zone) Small and large gassers are realy good for production and critical heat ranges wile i find my solid fuel rigs to be more fun and better for odd shapes And they are adaptible, a few fire bricks, heavy angle or c channel plus a fadricated adaptor to spred the air and you can adapt your solid fuel to the job at hand (see "the compleat modern blacksmith" for an example of adapting a rivit forge to heat a track anvil) Dont get me wrong i have more than one forge, and im not oposed to diging a hole and using a 12 volt bed inflator to make a teperary forge either but if your some what limited in space adaptability as opposed to a selerat rig might be the answer.

An old anvil. As well as some grades of armor plate ( low carbon back and high carbon face) tho most to day is composite, say 1" aluminum with a 3/16" steel face. Improve you skills, large chunks are easier than little stuff as it stays hot longer and its not as easy to hit to hard.

Much clearer. On option is an adapter that sets diagonal to your coal forge or just build another gasser, lol. You can get fairly long bars heated by moving the stock back and forth threw the fire zone (like running a rose bud back and forthe)

If you can score a 32" piece of 24" just set it in end and fill it with dirt, brings it up to you and iton age iron work was only done in 6" heats anyway. From there its a hop and a skip to Glenns 55 forge. With this you can go from a simple fire bowl, belows stone or termite mound forge in a relitive little time. One can even use a "T" caps and a couple of niples to make a temp. Lively style. Gives you a lot of versatility, and a good standup working hight. I've seen an ilistration of a farm forge made from a larg peice if cast iron waist pipe, compleat with flange. I think it was "farm blacksmithing"

(Insert faverit explitive) Fosty, you have been dethroned for wordieness! We have a cowboy poet among us! I take a middle ground to the practice of farriery, a sho is a theropuduc apliance and if used as such is a good thing. Overuse, misuse and abuse not withstanding. As to the grinding of leaves and fethers? File and chisel.

I get stupid and play with large stock buy hand, rivet forges are desined for rivets, so "S" hooks and other small projects work just fine. 3' needs a deaper fire as well as more air. Yellow heat and a good soak. You have a bigger anvile, time for a bigger forge. Seting down large stock goes so much easier with butchers, set hamers and fullers, earlery their was a thread talking about making hand sledges in to flaters, this is a project were a 2 1/2 pound butcher, set hammer, flatere and 1 1/2" top and bottom fuller come in handy. 10# hammer and a striker is a luxery, don't abuse it. Belive me, one handing a 14# sledge is no fun. If your striker is skilled, grinding a half round strait pein on your sledge and working over the horn works, but its beter to use tooling with the uninisiated.