Jspool

I am a happy camper. Tonight I was measuring the distance between my dies to see how much room I have for tooling. There was only 4", but I realized that I could loosen and slide the rocker valve up a couple inches giving me 6". Checking out how the hammer runs with the rocker valve all the way up surprised the heck out of me! Now when I apply a small amount of air the tup will dance without striking the dies, and as I increase exhaust, I can tap the work, slam hard, or anything in between. This is great!

All the cast hawk drifts seem to be from the same manufacturer. I have one and it works, but it needed to be ground out smooth by me, and it mushrooms. I also have a tomahawk drift made by Brent Bailey. It is top notch in size and shape, and is forged from either S7 or H13. works great and shows no signs of damage after I've wailed on it!

I have to admit that my "metal" shop has kept me away from my woodworking , but I did work the walnut handle for the adze! In use pics are tough, but I'll ask my daughter to help out with that. The angle of this adze lends it well to be a chop and drawn tool, with one hand on the handle and the other on the aft end of the head at times.

Thanks Bigfoot, i wanted to draw out the cheeks, but when I tried to do so on the air hammer, the drift fullered them longer rather than wider. I have since been told to use a top and bottom fuller, and to do so earlier in the process in order to draw them out. Hopefully I'm more successful with my next attempt. Gotta love the journey!

Thanks guys. It's my first try at an adze. I have made a few knives, and I tried to do a RR spike hawk a few weeks ago with a piece of 52100 welded in for the edge. I totally screwed that one up, especially the weld! I use it to spread epoxy.

Thanks Frosty, Li see you're from AK. I lived in Kodiak for 18 years. It's over 90 degrees in Port Orchard WA today. Probably won't fire up the forge. I miss Alaska!

I'm a beginner at moving steel, but have an extensive background in woodworking. So I thought I would try my hand at making some woodworking tools. First on the list was a small straight adze, next will probably be a curved adze. I used 1 1/8" Cruforge V and a chunk of walnut I had laying around. here are a few shots of my process.

My plates are 3.75x3.75,and you are correct, I cannot fit a larger plate to the hammer as the travel will not allow it. So I think I will go with a 3.5" long by 2" wide by 2.5" tall die top and bottom. Any suggestions on whether it's best to go with S7, T1, or another tool steel?

Sorry for the delay. I was away for a bit. here is a picture of my hammer and a close up of the anvil, tup, and die setup. i am contemplating how to implement larger dies. One idea is to bolt a wider plate to the anvil, and the new dies would be two bolt and would bolt to the new plate just outside the anvil. I'm thinking about going to two bolt in order to facilitate die changes. thanks for the help and ideas.

Ok. Here are a few pictures of my hammer, and it's plumbing setup. i did lube up the foot pedal/exhaust valve, and it works somewhat better. When I exhaust just enough for a light blow, the hammer is very slow to rise. I'm not sure if this is normal. Extending the foot pedal might increase my control. There is no inline oiler. Just a cheapo air filter/dryer. A recommendation for a particular one to get would be appreciated. I am in the Port Orchard WA area and would love to meet up with other blacksmith/blade smiths in the area. Thanks so much for everyone's help.

I'm away from the shop for a couple days and will post some pics when I get back

Thanks guys. I appreciate the replies. I'm not afraid of learning through my mistakes, but am smart enough to try to learn through the experience of others before I make them!

My dies are set up for a left handed user. When I turn them 90 degrees they no longer align with each other due to their nor being properly centered when originally fabricated. I want to make new dies and am unable to locate a process to make sure they are properly laid out when welded up so that they perfectly align. I am thinking about bolting the top and bottom plates on to the anvil and hammer, aligning the top and bottom dies with the hammer holding them together, and tacking them in place. Is this this the best way to go about it?

I'm thinking I can use two regulators, one set at 100psi, the other somewhat less, and select between them with a selector ball valve.

Hi. I've lurked here long enough. I'm a novice blacksmith and bladesmith. I just picked up an excellently built Kinyon 55lb hammer. It runs great, and hits HARD. I have difficulty getting it to be more delicate however. Would adding a pressure regulator at the hammer inlet, giving me the ability to decrease operating pressure, be my best initial approach? If so, are there regulators out there that are switchable to a few different settings rather then set by turning a knob? Recommendations as to what measures to take and which equipment to use would be greatly appreciated.

Hi, I am new here and glad to be part of the forum. I am about to embark on forging my own hand tools. Fullers, punches, chisels, etc. I have enough 3/4" S-7 kicking around for around 15 tools. Is there anything imparticular I need to take into consideration when working with S-7? Thanks much.