firebug

Here I am in Israel at Uri Hofi's smithy with my Iforge Iron shirt on. I spent 2 weeks there and learned more than I could have imagined.

That is great. You will find that after you get used to it you will notice that you are not as fatigued from squeezing the juice out of the hammer handle. And like you mentioned a lightened grip will not allow this shock of the hammer blows to transfer through the body as much as a tight grip. Also, the lighter grip will allow the hamer to rebound better which in turn helps you to work less. Remember to allow the hammer to swing like a pindelum in your hand. It should pivot between the thumb and the first few fingers just as it is striking the metal. This creates much more speed for the hammer head. Moving the hammer head faster will help create more energy to depart into the hot steel, in turn moving it faster.

That looks like some nice work. Any idea what you are going to sell them for?

I would get the 2.75. If you already have issues with your wrist I wouldn't push it with the hammer weight. Besides, it is not the weight of the hammer that does the work, it is the speed of the hammer. If you can swing a lighter hammer faster than a heavier hammer you will get more work done. I am not talking about swings per minute but the velocity of the hammer head. That is based on scientific fact. I have only been taught hand hammer technique by Hofi and feel fortunate to have had that oportunity. In fact, I am heading to Israel in two weeks for a two week class with him. I can tell you from personal experience that his methods are very effective and I have never had wrist pain or elbow pain in my hammer hand. I have friends that are blacksmiths and they have to wear wrist braces, elbow braces etc. There have been those that have had wrist and elbow problems and after switching to Hofi's method they go away. What ever you do do not place your thumb on top of the hammer. This does many things to damage the body and slows down work progress. If you work at the anvil for 8 hours a day you can very easily strike 15 to 25000 times, yes that is twenty five thousand times. Now you know why it is important to use good form. Where do you live?

I would definetely buy the Euroanvil. I have the 335 pound one. Couls have used a smaller one. Bigger is not always better. The biggert the anvil the more mass it has to draw the heat out of your steel. In many cases the face it too wide to work on for many projects. My opinion now is an anvil around 250 pounds give or take 20 is what you will need 90% of the time. The smaller anvils are easier to get around while forging. I am eventually going to have a Hofi anvil one way or the other. That is a very well thought out anvil. For now the Euroanvil is hard to beat for the money. I would probably buy the anvil that weighs around 260 pounds, not sure of the exact weight. i will probably buy the 175 pounder next to have a smaller anvil to work off of. I would definetely suggest that you put it on the metal tripod stand like they do at the Ozark School. After you get your stand made buy a tube of silicone adhesive caulking and lay in down all over the anvil base plate on the stand. Place the anvil on it and allow 24 hours to dry. The anvil will not move, kills the ring also. You can drag the anvil around your shop and it won't come off.

They are VERY accurate. Worth every penny. I gave my last one to Hofi and promptly bought me another one the same day. I use it all of the time. It has a "custom" mode that simply measures in inches as you roll it around the design. The wheel is thin and small which helps it to be easy to roll around different shapes. I usually measure the scroll more than once and it is the same each time. If you make scrolls for projects especially ones that must fit into certain areas it will pay for itself fast.

You can go to Lowes, Home Depot and look in the tool department. It should be around the other measuring devices such as tapes, rulers, squares etc. Look for a gray in color electronic measuring device shaped like a FAT pen with a red wheel on the bottm. The top is wider than the bottom. You can then turn it on and trace the C- scroll, S-scroll, ring, whatever shape it is and get a very accurate measurment. The tracer wheel is about a 1/2 inch round and works GREAT. You can trace drawings or other peoples finished scrolls and use the measurment to replicate the design. They are not cheap, about 50.00 bucks but the time and wasted material you save will pay for it in about a day or two if you do a lot of scroll work like me. It has a built in scaler too, it is used to figure footage on blueprints also. Example, 1/4 inch equals on foot.