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Knock those edges off of that square stock before you twist and it will have more of a "worked" look and be more pleasant to handle.

one way to use it up.

Gotta agree. On my hammers i bet theres about 500 tippy taps for every big honkin' wallup. Its nice to know you're in the ballpark but to pursue the ratings game seems a bit vulgar.

Use bigger stock! They will look nicer, ring way better and not be much harder to make now that you have the hammer. Try some 5/8 or even 3/4.

We've lifted plenty of stuff on and off trailers with three 20' lodgepole pine sections, a chain hoist and some slings. From there its pipe rollers, pry bars and maybe some bottle jacks. Straight outta Lo Cash. Not recommending it, of course.

Sweet piece. I really like the way you did the beard.

It's a good idea to use decorative bolts instead of rivets. Helps the poor sucker who one day has to replace the screen.

Looks like a sketch to me pal. The joint where the arms hit the back is not the greatest. The rivets are susceptible to shear which isn't too horrible in furniture but not the greatest form, if ya know what I mean. After a little while of some big guy plopping down in the seat they will loosen up. Might want to redesign that joint. I rented some shop space from a master timber framer a while back and learned a lot about stout. Making triangles in your design is the easiest way to get there.

Rebar is good when you are beginning because it's strict regarding rule #1; Work the material hot (yellow) and STOP when it gets cold (red). You should prolly look into finding a smaller sized steel yard that sells "remnants". 20 bucks there will keep you pounding for weeks and you can get some fun shapes. Flat bar is great to hand forge. Steel yards are great to visit, bring cookies.

Your pullmax type nibbler would do that well, but slowly.

Yup. And making your own tooling makes you unique when you're talking shapes,textures, etc. A few years ago I picked up some of Sarver's's OCP ball swages at an auction. They're really sweet and come out perfect every time but I tend to deform them mostly because I don't want Grant's balls on my work.

Money Money Money. You're young, have fun, work on your craft, the $ will always be there. You are doing it right pal. The overhead is low (or zero). You could be paying big bucks at an art or craft school for the privilege of a acquiring those skills. Instead you are a self starter and are getting paid a bit to learn. Those peeps are called patrons. Treat them well. It seems you charge what you feel. Good. Keep it up man, the work is progressing great! Thats what it's about, not the cash. A lot of guys don't make nice stuff because no one is paying...

Spears I like your style. Nice effect. One idea I am having while looking at your photo's is to forge the raised line in the first step while the parent stock is still a good rectangle so you could use a fence or trough which would make a more defined Rachis (i wiki'ed that, means the spine). You would prolly have to taper the end first. The second step could be to deform into a more irregular (and believable) shape. Maye you could bust out the texture in the same heat. Cool idea, really has a nice look.

Well, I made three and had to make sure they all performed. R & D man, its tough. And this one is real beefy and looks like a sun ray. It'l own any bottle in the way.

Heres a clapper die i made to put a little wiggle in my life. I've made a few and this one has graduated depths and distances between the round rods creating a bit of a tapered wiggle. I use it under a hydraulic press but a sledge would do just fine. The stock is 3/4 round with a long taper. I made a beer owner out of one of the samples. And I just used it!!

Cool tooling. The thing I've found with power hammer texturing is that it's hard to get a positive or protruding texture. Hammers are very good at cutting or incising impressions but not that great at the former, as you've found with your experiment unless you hold the workpiece in one position, which is usually difficult. Roller printing would be awesome for the type of texture you are after. A press would be good if the material is thick. One of my art professors said "Ya want to sell a painting? Make sure its got texture"

Gotta agree with peacock. You're going to spend a bunch of time buying, setting up, making tooling, all on something you wish was a flypress. And then you will have a 700lb semi-useful thing in the corner of your shop.

I think beginner classes should be really hands on and twelve hours isn't that much time. Instead of showing a bevy of tricks and techniques it might be more beneficial to the student to get instruction on the basics and have plenty of time to work on them. I was recently at a hammer class and there was a lot of demo and not a lot of forging. The students had one shot to replicate the technique. You could tell that the beginners (most of the class) left having no feel at all for much of what was taught. If is truly a "class" it should be about the student working, not the teacher. "Demo's" are a different story.

Here's a great step by step of some copper chasing with air tools. http://www.metalartistforum.com/maf/index.php?/topic/5754-photo-documentary-tortoise-sculpture/

beep....beep....beep...

Screw that, get the big one.

I have the smaller machine because of the electrical limitations (single phase only). Would I like a larger machine? Yup. Sure don't mind having the little one though. When its too big I use gas. Thats easy. If your machine is more for your "hobby" maybe the smaller is the way to go. I think the process is way better suited to heat longer sections of smaller diameter stock than big hunks of mass. Induction definitely changes the way you work. If I start playing with some forms I'll get sucked in and really get into experimenting. "Just one more heat". Then two hours later maybe back to the task at hand. So from a creative perspective you'll be happy with any of them.

Thanks Men - The oiler is a bit finicky in this hammer. I really need to have a look. Whats the best way to clean the valves? A good soaking in some carb cleaner? Drive ropes? Do you mean the crankshafts? How tight should the cylinder bolts be?

Thats a "Striker".