gearhartironwerks

A 4x4x24" solid weighs about 108lbs. Why use tubing? JE

I think it's good to make your own tools as you need them. I built 2 Kinyon style hammers before the business grew and dictated that commercial hammers were a necessity. Starting out, I bought tongs and tools. Now, I take pride in making my own as it is part of the creative process, and is part of the independence and self sufficiency that I enjoy about being a blacksmith/metal artist. JE

Spend money? Why not make your own hammer, or hammers? That's what blacksmiths do, right? Forget all this "licensed Hofi" stuff...unless you're a collector, not a smith. Hofi graciously showed us another way to work efficiently, including making the Haberman/Hofi style hammer. There is no need to buy a hammer. JE

think hydraulic press with a 2 stage pump. it may whine a little, but won't keep you neighbors up with the thumping of a power hammer. JE

Grant, Empire Rubber in Portland,OR. makes leather belts. I bought some for my South Bend lathe. JE

Hello Brian, Hope you and Ed are doing well. I attended the S.Cal CBA conf when you and Ed met Alfred Haberman. George Dunajeski hosted Haberman as they both spoke German and were good friends. Tom Clark presented Haberman with a Hofi hammer he had made. Habermans only comment was that the oval in the hammer head for the wood handle was unnecessarily large. Otherwise, he seemed to be happy with the hammer. That hammer is an amalgamation of many styles that Hofi researched and developed a specialized technique for hand forging. I feel that we are all indebted to him for bringing that technique to the forefront as an option to hammer efficiency. Certainly, it is innovative, and it seems to me that many of those techniques can be applied to almost any hammer. Thanks Uri! That being said...and having 2 Hofi/Clark hammers as well as various home made hammers similar to that style, I still find myself mostly using a 2 lb German style hammer found at a garage sale for 50 cents and made by a local blacksmith long gone years ago. New handle of course... Hope to see you and Ed on the left coast sometime soon. Mississippi? JE

This is a sculpture forged this past weekend of stylized birds. The material is 2.5x1" and 3x1" mild steel. The ht of the birds is 44" and the fabricated base is 40". Joinery on the birds is tenon/rivets. The birds are finished w/black Guilders paste, and the base is painted black. Both are clear coated w/satin lacquer. John Emmerling Gearhart Ironwerks

Grant, You're the guru. Put a link on the site to YouTube. JE

Pics of the top and bottom dies for bolt tongs for my Saymak 60kg. Could be adapted to any hammer via a 4 post die setup working from the length of the dies. The "Monster" of metal has my jig, so I can't show the process. Blame him! John

Having not seen Clifton's idea, that general idea is pretty much what I came up with also. The amount of mass allowed for on the working end of the tongs after the initial forging requires some experimentation, but his concept is solid. Thanks for posting it. I'm sure tong makers with much more acumen than me had this figured out a long time ago. I just like the process of figuring out how to do things with the resources at hand. That's the beauty of blacksmithing. John

Xxxxxx thieving blacksmiths! I turned my back, after having provided my exalted guest with some good single malt scotch, and the jig was gone. Now, he'll probably come up with some jig that is self forging. Good thing I didn't show him the updated, modified version. JE

I just use automotive coil springs. It is my understanding that they are not always 5160. Our local spring manufacturer uses 5160. My feeling is that if they work for car springs, they will probably work for tongs. And, no heat treating is needed. My recycling effort seems better to me than sending steel to China. JE

I'm not too concerned about using new steel for tongs as I don't make them for production/sale...and I'm cheap and love finding junk! Tongs are expendable and when they're toast, I make another pair. Usually I have some extra blanks pounded out ready for adjustment. 5160 is pretty tough and holds the work well. It's hard to ruin 5160 tongs. The jig for the bolt tongs is made and works well. As my top dies for the Saymak 60kg air hammer do not recede into the tup cylinder wall like the Chinese hammers, I am able to attach the top part of my jig to my dies. I will modify the jig to be used w/o attaching to the top dies to make it more universal, then post a youtube vid. Thanks for asking. John

I like using 5160 from car springs. They're readily available, are usually free, and require no heat treating. Glad you all like the jig. Thanks! John

So, a friend who is a master at making pointy, sharp things suggests using 1 part diesel to 4 parts atf for the quench. apparently this mixture pretty much eliminates the flash factor from quenching. haven't tried the combo and am still using atf straight and thinking i should get off my lazy ass and get some diesel. JE Gearhart Ironwerks

i have a muskovic anvil...all 627 lbs of it. it is wonderful to work on. renato says it is a 17th century southern german pattern. you can contact renato at: muskovic@hotmail.com john emmerling gearhart ironwerks gearhart, oregon

I met tom clark in april, 2002 when i bought a 50 kg sayha from him. he blew in...in tom clark fashion...set up the hammer, gave me a quick demo, talked me into taking his power hammer class that august, and was on the road in a heartbeat for another delivery. several weeks later i became aware of a knocking sound in the hammer. after numerous phone calls and tearing the hammer apart, i deduced what i thought the problem was. tom vigorously disagreed and said he would come to oregon after the abana conference to repair the hammer. i suggested he bring another hammer in the event his repair failed. tom wasn't happy, but did show up with another hammer on the truck. he spent 2 long days tearing the hammer apart and repairing what he thought...ignoring what i thought... was the problem. he then pronounced the hammer repaired and turned it on. within 5 minutes it was obvious to me the problem was not solved. the knocking was back. tom thought i was nuts and argued forcefully that the problem was solved. we had a few words, tom offloaded the new hammer and left in a huff. in august, not knowing what to expect from tom, i went to potosi for the class. i arrived sun afternoon and walked in the shop where the demo power hammer was running. after about 15 long minutes, tom greeted me and asked if i noticed anything upon entering the shop. i said the power hammer was knocking and had the same problem as my former hammer. tom shook my hand and said that he owed me an apology and that my assessment of the problem was correct. apparently 8 or 10 of that batch of 12 hammers had the same problem. he had repaired my "old" hammer and i used it all week in the class. bill bastas and bob patrick were the instructors that week. bob now owns my former hammer. it's still running great. my impression of tom changed dramatically during that week. i spent quality time talking with both he and thelma. they visited while in oregon, and while passing thru, tom stopped and upgraded my hammer at no charge. several months ago, i purchased the 60kg saymak. i wish tom could have delivered it. we've kept in touch every couple of months, more frequently when abana was in the forefront of his mind. tom is a gentleman and i am a better person and blacksmith for knowing him. my heart goes out to both he and thelma. they are the salt of the earth. john emmerling gearhart ironwerks gearhart, oregon

do you suppose empty...of course...single malt scotch bottles would look good? might be able to supply a few. hmmmm.

Excellent! where is the sculpture garden. i live in the great nw and would like to go there.

Hello to Everyone, For the past 6 years i have owned a 50 kg Sayha (now Saymak). I am considering a larger hammer. I am interested in either the 60 kg Sahinler or the 60 kg Saymak. I realize that both Turkish hammers are similar, but does anyone have a preference, and why? Real time stories? Thanks