dburnard

I don't understand the "problem" with pine charcoal. In Japan, pine charcoal is the preferred fuel, although coke and gas are taking over. I use pine charcoal myself and don't have problems with forge fleas, although I've seen a lot of fleas when using mesquite. I'm using a box bellows so maybe the lower air velocity/volume has something to do with our different experiences.

Apologies for being argumentative. In my first post, yet. I was a bit taken aback by the reaction to the ad copy and surprised by the strict interpretation of what hand forged might mean. The tool makers don't have any say in what gets written about the tools they sell in a different country. The poetic descriptions are usually overdone and often technically humorous - clearly written by someone who barely understands the flavor of the processes involved. Let's not confuse what we see in a 10 second video of a guy making hammers that sell 10000 miles away for $40 (of which he sees maybe $5, about the price of a nice apple in Japan) - as the best he's *capable* of. Most skilled craftsmen are frustrated by the disparity between the high quality and high level of hand work they are capable of doing and what they can actually find customers for. Noteworthy tips: You can also see the spring fuller he uses to create/maintain the waist of the finished hammer shape. Also of note is the tin can of "lube" he dips the chisel into - it smokes rather than steams so it's probably a grease/graphite/molybdenum(di?)sulfide lube to keep it from sticking as the chisel warms up and the hammer head cools. Notice that the slitting chisel is held between two bamboo slats, you create this while the bamboo is wet and wire or band it together. Quite effective and lightweight. I was being facetious when I suggested that you wanted make hammers for a living. It's great that you are going to learn how to make your own hammers and other tools all by hand. It's the handwork that really appeals to me, too, and that's yet another reason why I'll probably never be able to quit my day job (#1 reason is either general laziness or lack of skill). I figure when I run out of hands that are actively involved in critical parts of the process, it's all good. As for knife sized objects, a power hammer would be overkill as would a striker. So no, it's just me and my hammers. When I'm shaping square steel stock for a new forging hammer - I use the power hammer and wish I had a bigger one. When I'm drawing out the reins on the nth pair of tongs - I use the power hammer. Ya know, some of my hammers are "foot forged" since I usually punch with the aid of a treadle hammer. Just my luck, that would show up in the ad copy as some sort of virtuoso clogging performance... Thanks for the welcome, next time you're up in our neighborhood stop by and I'll give you a tour/demo/beer/knife. Yikes that last combination sounds like a bad idea!

Alan, with this definition of "hand forged" or "hand made" you're going to go through life being seriously disappointed or seriously amused depending on your perspective. When you start making larger forged objects, like hammers, for a living - let us know how that works out without a power hammer. I think there are two hammer maker's left in Japan who still do the work with their hands. Mr. Hiroki is the better known of the two and gets a reasonable amount of well deserved attention. IMHO he makes hand forged hammers. It hasn't been economically feasable to be a professional toolmaker without a powerhammer in japan or the west since the 1920's or 30's. It's good to watch someone go through the full hammer making process to see how much hand work is actually involved. P.S. - The marketers that produce that copy for nice japanese tool catalogs aren't japanese. Are Lie-Neilson or LV or Garrett-Wade any better when they wax poetic about the western tools they sell? Nope. That's what catalog copy writers get paid to do... romanticize the product. P.S.S. - historically they mount all but a 6-8 inches of the power hammer anvil in the ground, or they stand in a pit. The video shows a modern air hammer - traditional japanese A-frame hammers are built low to the ground to begin with. I have one and had to build the frame up so I could work seated on a chair height platform.