brianbrazealblacksmith

I have done the punched hole many times and also the 180 spread and bent tines out of the way. I've found it much more effecient to let the metal yeild itself to your hammer. Notice after I split the material, I don't try and open it up. I reduce the stem first and then work the Y. This opens the Y up for me. The first thing I'll look for when someone shows me any split is whether or not they forged the crotch and made it stronger.

Dick L, I took a few pics of forging the tines on the diagonal. I hope this helps explain it.

I make mine like LDW and Frosty described. Nakedanvil also described a nice way to forge an eye. I posted some pictures in this section under "Tools from spring that show an eye punch, and here are some pics of how I did it along with a nose punch. I first forge a sqare taper, then mark the eye punch with a bob punch cold. Next, take a short heat and use the bob punch to make the depression with your punch locked in the vice [ don't hit too hard too fast because you don't want it too deep and you don't want to upset it]. If you go too deep, your eyes will look like they are "bugging out". Then I grind or file 2 opposite corners off leaving the other 2 corners sharp. This gives a nice eye with tear ducts and the 2 sharp corners will show you how to orient your eye to your piece. The nose punch is the same except I round one cornner and use a chain saw file on the opposite corner. I have 3 different sized nose punches and 6 different sized eye punches. They work for 3-D and flat work.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and encouragement! Karen and I have been mapping out our path and E-mailing our contacts that we know along the way, and depending on the responses we get, our route may change. We will try and document our travels as best we can.

Yeah, Frosty, I talked to Mark Aspery about what it took to write his books. It took alot of time and effort on his part, but once he was done it was well worth it. This year is the first time I have taken the time to document some of my work. The economy and my location have alot to do with that. I used to be too busy making things for others. Now, nobody is coming by wanting anything. I'm just glad I got hooked up with I Forge Iron. I like going out to the shop and taking pictures of something others may be interested in. Karen and I are getting ready to take off across the country with our old Dodge van and my traveling station. We have to be at Yesteryear School of Blacksmithing in Virginia in November, so we're goining to work our way there. We'll leave in September, head out I-40, stop where someone will have us, work, hold clinics or workshops, do demonstrations, whatever, and document it all the way. Eloy Rodarte, called me a "Gypsie with a hammer".

Where are you going this weekend, Fe- Wood? I'm going to Bill Stewart's this weekend to cut up a bunch of 4140 for hammers. I can get tons of the stuff and you are welcome to have some. We are getting ready to take off for the East Coast in September and we may not be back for a while.

Beth, here's a picture of that hammer. It's a repouse hammer like Alfred Habermann made. This one is larger than normal, 2 1/2 pounds. It was forged by hand with a striker, my brother Ed. We donated it to I Forge Iron for the fund raiser they had and Jeremy K was the high bidder.

I don't know, Frosty, maybe when I can get someone to take some pictures.

I've used vinigar, muriatic acid, and washing soda with the battery. At this point, so far, sodium bisulfate seems to be the best option for me.

Alright! Jeremy K, That's what I like to see! Good job! I know what you're talking about with the stainless. You should try some pure silver or copper, they are nice to move around. P.S. How did you like that hammer?

Hey, I sometimes think I am funny. Thanks for the opening. I do not forge but I sometimes understand what Brian talks about (constantly), haha But life is pretty much all about blacksmithing. KM :)

OK, I took some pics of what occurs while forging the stem or band. I still can't hold the steal, hit the metal, and take a picture at the same time. I used 3/8" square stock for this so it could be seen better, and I made a chisel mark at 2" to show the amount of material that I isolate. There is 7/16" of the 3/8" material isolated on the end and 1 1/4" left on my side of the piece leaving about 5/16" that I'll be working on. That is not that much material, and that is one major reason why this can be done so efficiently. I take a little and do alot to it. The 5/16" forged out to a little over 3", and I could have done that in one heat if I wasn't taking pictures of what happens along the way. I use my fuller side of the hammer to do all this work except to straighten in the end, then I will use my flat side. If you will notice the picture where the piece is curved, that happens while running the taper from the edge of the anvil towards the center. The material lifts up off the anvil, and if you use a gentle fuller it will only curve slightly to your advantage, keeping your material hotter because it is not laying on the anvil. This is what I would call a two sided taper.

Very interesting, and very nice work Mikey!

Thanks, Frosty. It's good to have you back on the Forum! I had the same computer problems a while back.

Thank you, Hofi. You bring up a very important aspect of forging. I don't have any pictures showing the hammer blows and what occurs during the forging. [i need someone to take pictures while I'm forging.] The pictures I take are always after the forging. I will try to explain why the sholders are forged 180 degrees to each other. I already said how I isolated the material that became the flower with half hammer faced blows over the far side of the anvil. I can only hit two sides when I do this because of the sholder that the half hammer faced blow creates [turning 1/4 turn back and forth]. I will take some pictures of this today so everyone can see that stage of the forging. Now, because of the sholders on the two sides, I isolate the material with half hammer faced blows on the other two sides on the near side of the anvil. This creates two sets of sholders that are 180 degrees to each other. The material that will become the band is now isolated. To forge out the band to under 1/8" round and maintain structural integrity I have to keep the sholders off the anvil. I can only hammer on the two sides that allow this, so I go back and forth from near to far side of the anvil. The band starts out very short, but I can hit the spots I choose either by tilting the flat side of my hammer or using the fuller side of my hammer. I go for the high spots and create low spots which creates high spots ... until I get to the dimension I choose. This allows me to isolate and control the forging of whatever amount of material I choose. I'll take some pics today where I'll stop in between heats or steps.

Hi Beth, This is Karen (the GF). Brian went back to the forge. Are you reffering Brian's posts? If so you can click on his name and then on statistics it will show you all the links to Brian's posts and threads. If you are reffering to a class to attend, you can look at the IFI calendar. If we ever get to the UK it should be posted there. I would have to charge extra for any of that middle of the night business though. (haha) IFI offers a wonderful place to share blacksmithing, thanks for the nice words Beth. Keep asking questions! Brian loves to talk about the metal! KM ;)

That was a piece of 1/8" diamond plate that I found in the scrap pile. If you bend it it will be stronger, and it comes on and off.

Get in touch with Brent Bailey. He uses Atlantic-33 for his hammers. I believe I read somewhere on-line where Brent explains the whole process of making a hammer.

Thanks everyone. Beth, it is as simple as it looks. It's just not that easy. It takes practice, but understanding what will happen when you strike a piece on an anvil is what it is all about, and anyone can know that by thinking about it. Forging is very simple. You just hold your piece under the dies [hammer and anvil], and it practically makes itself. When forging such a small piece, it is important to hit squarely and accurately so you keep the heat in the material. I also never use the full face of the flat side of my hammer. I mainly use my fuller side of my hammer especially when doing half-hammer faced blows. The same applies to larger stock also.

Hi, it's Karen. Came home from work and thought I would check out IFI and see what Brian did today. So even though it's my guy, I want him to read- WHOOHOO ! ( ring mine) I even understood what you were talking about! haha

This is the same as forging larger stock. I am using 1/4" round stock, and I marked it at 3" to show how much material I'll be isolating. I'll only be using a little over 1/2" to make the ring. First I isolate about 1/4" with a far-side half hammer face blow on two sides. Then where that taper stops I'll isolate from the rest of the rod with near-sided half hammer face blows on the other two sides. I'll forge back and forth on either side of the anvil and forge a square bar, then forge that round. Flatten the end out to form a pad, then round that up. Chisel the pad. Mark with round eye punch. Fuller petals. Forge with round eye punch. Forge a square then to round taper with near sided half hammer faced blows. Bend on round rod. Twist it off.

Heck, I don't know how to do all this computer stuff! I found it under threads that I started. It is now in this Tools section at the top of the fourth page.

That's pretty interesting. I would have assumed there would be a greater difference also. I don't think you will find much of a difference with a larger section going by information. 1", 10", 100", 1000"... What's the difference when you put it in something sufficient enough to bring either up to temp?

I didn't know you had such a great warranty or such a catchy slogan. That's great! One of the most frequently asked questions I get when I'm out and about is, What tongs do you recommend?, and I've always recommended your tongs. Well, except for that 8 months I was traveling with Tom Clark, of coarse. The subject never came up then, and he did insist that I exchange all of my old OC tongs for new Tom Tongs. Believe it or not, I am telling the truth, and I still say Your tongs are the best deal out there. And now I can tell everyone they are even a better deal. Now, I am not dishing Tom or his tongs or trying to get anyone to buy any certain tong. I'm just giving you all my opinion because someone asked. I told Tom the same thing when he asked. P.S. Grant do you think you could make and market a pick up tong like the ones I posted in "Hammer making tongs". I've been doing some hammer making classes and people want to buy them from me, but I'd rather buy them than have to make them by hand.

I was just informed there is also a blueprint on a tool like this in the Blueprints BP0149 Spinning Bolster Plate