brianbrazealblacksmith

I cut my handles at 15 inches because that is the length that fits best on my belt grinder where I shape them. I prefer long handles, and 18 inches would be my length of choice. I have hand hammers that range from 1 1/2 pounds to 6 pounds. I started out as a farrier and stand on the farriers side of the anvil to forge horseshoes, but I stand on the other side to do most of my blacksmithing. If you stand on the horseshoers side to forge and address the anvil from the heal side like Habermann and Hofi do, you need a short handle so you don't break your handle in the hardy hole or interfere with the anvil face. But by standing on the other side my handles dont hit the anvil no matter what the length. I initiate the up swing of my larger hammers close to the head because of the weight, but I do use the full length of my handle when needed.

I think you're talking about having your hand up close to the hammer head, but your hand would be on the handle and not on the hammer head. Check out videos of other smiths like myself, Hofi, Habermann, or anyone that has been around these people awhile, and you should notice that there is a lot of tilting of the hammer to create smaller surfaces to forge with. Holding a hammer down the handle like most will do won't allow for much freedom of motion, and it would be stressful to your joints. Also, if you do larger work and use a larger hammer, it would not be as heavy to hold up by the head. Watch people forging with sledges also, when they are doing heavey work. No one would ever hold a sledge down low to initiate the throw of a large hammer.

I have forged many rings, bracelets, and bagels out of steel, wrought iron, pattern welded steel, fine silver, copper, and titanium. I forge it like everything else at a forgeable state. I don't have any videos of forging rings but there are some where I'm forging flowers, leaves, horses, and sea horses, that I use for jewelry. I just forge them smaller with the same hammer and anvil, and I forge it all without having to use tongs which could mar it. I don't know how to link videos from YouTube, but there are some techniques that you'd want to try before you do the tiny stuff, if you want to forge the rings. There are other techniques besides forging that most usually use to make rings and other jewelry, also.

Jdawgnc, I use coal or coke most of the time because I mostly do hand forging where I move the metal into different proportions. If you are mainly wanting to bend or twist your material or have power hammers to move it, I'd use gas. If I was wanting to produce products, I'd have both, and I'd get induction. 2 hours away is a very short trip to get coal, and it would probably be the most economical of all those choices, initially, especially if you live by a coal mine.

Reverse electrolysis, like John McPherson said, will work without the cost or hazards of acid, and it will be less expensive. Washing soda and water and a battery charger an easy route.

Ausfire, I'd stick with the vice and chisel method. I've posted a few roses and grape leaves on this site before, but something happened to the pictures. I do the chiseling before I have taken the leaf too thin, and for the grape leaf, I chisel a lot farther, so I'll chisel straight in with one hit then diagonal with one hit then the other diagonal with one hit, until I get to the depth I choose. The main thing about chiseling is to only hit once and remove, and then replace or move and hit again. Do not use a chisel like a plow!

Nicely said, Nuge! I owned it, but I gave it away freely, so no one owns it now. It is everyone's for the taking.

Ryerson is where I order mine from. It comes in 24 foot lengths and I have them cut it to size for 50 cents a cut.

Thanks guys, but I'm not that concerned about them not appearing here on IFI for myself. They do help other people, though. I have all those pictures on CD's and DVD's and more, and I doubt that I will have time to repost them. Anyone who wants to repost them here or on any other site is welcome to.

All the pictures that I posted before 2010 were attached, not linked. Where are the pictures that I posted? Are they lost?

I did attach the photos to all the threads that I started back in 2009 on my old computer. The only links that have been made were done by my wife, Karen, and those few pictures still show up. So what happened to my photos? I was able to see them up until that last big shutdown that occurred on IFI.

Yeah, what happened with the pictures? I used them for classes, also. I spent a lot of time taking those pictures, and now they are all gone.

I've done a lot of shows where I sell what I make on sight. The easiest and most durable finish is to apply a black finish with oil on towel material after the piece is forged and is still hot. At the right temperature the oil burns on in layers kind of like seasoning cast iron cookware but a lot faster. If the piece is too hot you will burn your rag excessively. If it is not hot enough, your just wiping on hot oil. Bunch your rag up so you don't burn yourself and don't touch the black metal with your bare hands. To clean any dirty oil just wipe with another rag with clean oil and then wipe off with a clean rag. I prefer to use vegetable oils instead of petroleum distillates.

Great job!

You should go see Rashelle. She can help you immensely. Making a hammer is simple, but there is a lot of details. If not taken into consideration, a one hour job can turn into a job that never gets done. Rashelle came here earlier this year, and she has all the tools to make the tools. The hammer is one of the simplest to make. It's just a little bit larger than the other tools. The NWBA also has a striking anvil at their clubhouse from when Alec Steele demonstrated at their Spring Conference. Another member named Tracy (I'm not sure if it's ok to use his full name) got the other striking anvil they made for the auction, and he also came here earlier this year and has all the tools you'll need.

Your welcome. I don't know why most of my older posts don't show the pictures, but they are still out there somewhere if you google me.

Forborg, the tongs that I made back in 2010 did not have Habermann bends. They were bent while they were round then forged oval. The last few I've made have the Habermann bends. Both ways are more than strong enough. I don't have any ways of measuring or calibrating the difference in the strength, but the Habermann bend is stronger. ALSO, the Habermann bend allows you to set the inside and outside angles and lines so that they are easier to make and line up. Karen, my wife, is posting some pictures of the last ones I made with the Habermann bends.

The size of hammer would be determined on the work. I use hand hammers ranging from 1 1/2 pounds to 6 pounds with what I do. I also use strikers for larger work, and then there are power hammers. They used the appropriate hammer for the work at hand.

I work with strikers on a regular basis, and have made many things that I would not attempt on my own. I've made hundreds of hammers with different strikers, 12 years old to 88 years old, male and female, and most have never struck hot metal with a sledge. We're ussually working with 2 inch and under medium carbon steels and sometimes larger after they gain experience. We normally use a 12 to 16 pound hammer for this size work, and I would not suggest using anything smaller unless you're forging 1 1/4 and smaller. I also use a striking anvil that has not been hardened for safety reasons, and I don't let just anyone strike on my anvil. People will miss when learning to strike and a soft anvil is not as apt to throw the sledge back in their face nor break shards off. When you are making tools like this, striking is more like splitting wood with a sledge and wedge. If you have ever split wood, you know that it doesn't take long to know how to swing a sledge. A missed hit is a missed opportunity, witch means you have to take another hit to bust that log. People learn rather quickly and learn to let the hammer do the work. Just take a look at Alec Steele. He only weighed 88 pounds and was only 13 years old when he first came and threw a sledge. Now he weighs 110 pounds and can use any of my sledges with ease, even the 30 pound sledge.

Good job, Todd (Black Frog)!

Daniel, I wouldn't harden the working end on that tool because it is only for working hot metal. I don't harden any of the tools for making hammers except the flatter, and that is only because I use the flatter at lower temps for some things. For hammer making though, none of the tools need to be hardened except the hammers you are using because they are hitting cold steel. The best materials to use for the tools are suspension parts like axles, sway bars, coil spring, and such which is tough stuff and easy to obtain. You will like it when you get your strikers.

Alright, good job! The next axle you cut should be a lot easier with the hot cut hardy instead of the hand held hot cut.

You're welcome, we'd love to have you come.

Yes there is, Charles. The bulge of the hole is out of the way so I can set the angles and the lines easier, and like with my hammer tongs, which can get misaligned sometimes, it allows them to be realigned easier or adjusted with ease. This last approach with the "Habermann bends" makes this all a lot easier also as opposed to just the bends.