Benona blacksmith

I make hammers and axes and find all the different shaped holes to be extremely useful. For making knives not all that practical. I need to make a new stand for mine so I can use all the edge shapes. Right now it's just a down and dirty oak 4x4 stand. 

Back to the original question. You may find the first few initial blows to get the punch started can be a pain but once you have it started it's easy to keep the billet in place with the punch alone. But forging some flats like you did helps immensely. 

The balance is good. There is almost equal amount of material in the peen as there is in the face. I really like the peen side. It's not so aggressive and is easy to get the hammer marks out.

13 hours ago, Chris C said:

  I never have seen the need to buy a 150 pound chunk of steel with about 10 times the number of slots and do-dads I'll probably never use.

You would be amazed how universal and handy a swage block is. I have a 250 lb antique cast iron one and a 66 lb Holland anvil one. I prefer the Holland anvil one for most things as I had a miss blow on my cast grey iron one and hit my friend in the chest with the shrapnel from the cast iron. That's another reason I belive cast grey iron anvils should not be used. Cast ductile iron is okay for general smithing purposes on swage blocks and anvils. 

Made my fist leaf (looks like xxxx). I'm really liking this hammer. 

My latest hammer "design". Losely based on a swedish cross peen and a hammer that I see John Switzer at black bear forge use. I still need to wedge the handle and shape it to my liking.

Here is some more pictures of my new grinder. I have to order a new contact wheel for it. I'm thinking 12 or 14 inch. I have another one coming for parts also that's missing the tensioner and tracking wheel.

the tensioner works on air. I have thought about gutting the air cylinder and using a spring inside it.

5 hours ago, Olorin said:

I have heard of many people using motor oil as a quenchant

Unloading my hammond 132 inch belt grinder. This thing is a beast!!!

I've always tack welded it. The only time I mess around with teeth or tabs is with an axe. What YouTube video was it? Can you post a link?

After running my 88# TZ Runfa for a year making hammers and axes it leaves me wanting more....anyone else feel they want a bigger hammer after spending a small fortune on a hammer?

There should be 2 other number on each side of the 2. This would be the english stone weight of the anvil. 

Thank you Jennifer... I made one other pair of tongs based on a video GS tongs on YouTube made. They turned out okay but the boss is really thin and they bend easily. Other than that all I have done as far as tong making is assembling the quick and rapid tongs from kens custom iron.

Set of wrought iron farrier style tongs 

Here is a few more photos if the hammer. Looks like it has a brake on it.

It's coming from Austria figured I wouldn't find what I was looking for around here in Michigan or even in the states and had the opportunity so i took it. 

On 5/3/2020 at 2:41 PM, Hans Richter said:

Hi, maybe some additional information with you hammer.

Thank you sir for the information!!!

Ok so the motor plate that I posted a picture of I dismissed as having any information about the actual hammer itself. But after looking closer at it, it says 50kg in the lower right hand corner!

Unless that's the weight of the motor?

It says 2 kw or almost 3 hp

I'm also getting this 26 kg Kuhn Reiter 

When I get it all set up I will make some videos of it running and smashing hot steel.

Does anyone have any info on this style hammer? I am buying it but dont know much about it. It is listed as being in good working order. There is no info on tup (bär) weight. Mainly what I'm interested in is the ram weight. I will try and get some more pictures.

On 4/23/2020 at 12:47 PM, foundryguy said:

You need to visit us in Holland sometime, we have a lot of new things going on

I would enjoy that. I will set up a time after all this corona stuff.

Forged in the bevels yesterday. Still needs some work. My daughter spent the day in the shop with me. She even forged her own little hunting knife with my help. 

3 hours ago, Randy Griffin said:

So, does this mean those cast iron aso's we all steer clear of are actually worth their weight in gold? Or rather $4-$6 per lb. like some of the more cherished names?

Absolutely not. Cast iron ASO's are dangerous as is an anvil that's too hard.  A piece can fracture off and hurt someone badly. I dont even like my 250 lb cast iron swage block for the same reason. My buddy got hit in the chest with a piece of my swage block. I much rather use my Holland anvils swage black that's a ¼ the weight.

Borax and acetone works. The idea is to dissolve the borax and when you pull the billet from it the borax will get between layers and the acetone will dry off leaving the borax. 

There is also the kerosene trick.

I have personally met and talked with Dan Moss I would trust his word over Trenton Tye. If Trenton Tye told me it was raining I would go outside to see for myself.