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Hey, me again! Not much progress with the sword, as to be expected. I'm still setting up the new place, I will hopefully make a killer forge in a week, and then some tools to pile up. This is the problem: I want to make a sword with a base thickness of 5-7mm, base width of 2.5-3 centimeters and length of at least one meter, and a lot of extra material to grind because I don't trust myself enough with making clean forging work in there. I've got a 5mm thick 6cm wide 70cm long piece of spring steel. to get both higher thickness, length and take advantage of the axcess width I want to upset as much of it as I can. My question is: What is the width to thickness ratio at which the leaf will no longer upset but just mushroom or crumble? or more simple to me: the maximum width at which you can still upset a 5mm thick bar? I'm no expert in this and I don't want to fight metal for too many hours, so this needs to be a reasonable width as well, I will square the bar beforehand with a disc, but I'll also cut the final working bar out then and for that I need the width. I changed my mind and the bar will not be sword shaped as in the picture but just rectangle. I'd also welcome some general upsetting tips And a quick question: How'd you recommend for me to show the advancements in the sword project here?

I made this rivet heading/upsetting tool today based vaguely on pictures I saw online. I think it will work all right, I plan on using it to make some tong rivets soon. Stupidly, the center of mass makes the spring side dip down when trying to clamp it in the post vise... I might shorten it up someday so it doesn't take 3 hands to use this thing. I'll also take a die grinding bit to the countersinks and round them over some more tomorrow. I clamped a shim in the jaws when drilling the holes so they will grip the rod well. The holes are 1/4, 3/8, 5/16, and 1/2".

Using TPAAAT. Probably 150lbs. What's the pocket for? Upsetting? Anyone with an idea of maker? That's concrete sprayed all over it. The "pocket" is about 1 1/4" in diameter at the bottom with rounded corners. It's hard to see but there's a clip horn.

Hey pals, just me forging an over kill nail to practice both tapering large stock material and striking/upsetting in a swage block: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=LrYuATVaeTE As always a high-res picture of the finished product: Yours - Daniel

In response to a question regarding the use of some of the tools illustrated in Introduction to Blacksmiths tools, I will try to illustrate how they are used when making a tenon. The tenon we are making is one that was used on a hanging basket. The tools we are using are; butcher, side set, set hammer, and possibly a square edge block /hardie if your anvil does not have a good clean square edge. Before starting, the mating part, (in this case the backplate) was completed and ready for fitting, this gives a size to work to for the tenon to be made to fit, in this case we are using a square tenon (tenons can also be round) we punched a square hole and used a ball/bob punchto countersink it from the base side. This gave us the finished size for the tenon we have to make, and we can use the punched plate as a bolster to monkey/monkee the tenon to fit nicely First the bar end was jumped up/upset to give more material to provide a firm joint and spread the loading, this could be equishaped as illustrated, or offset as in a heel bar for a gate or frame. You are now ready to use the curved butcher to mark the shoulder all around for forming the tenon. the curved blade marks the corners of the bar, ensure the blade is square to the bar's axis, and that the angle side is facing the short end of the bar where the tenon is to be formed. you can then turn the bar 90 degrees and continue marking all four sides, this leaves a crisp shoulder to work from. Now using the side set start the tenon and either continue with this or if your hammer skills are good enough, forge the tenon to the to a near finished size equally from all four sides, using the existing hole in the backplate as a guide If the anvil edge is not a clean square corner, use square block/hardie but note a sharp edge in the corners at the base of the tenon is not desirable, and ensure there are no hot shuts or cracks in the metal. This can cause premature failing and fracture later. You can then tidy up and finish forge the tenon and mating faces using the set hammer Until the tenon fits into the hole in the plate The tenon should be central to all sides, ensure it fits and beds down nicely by monkeying/monkeeing it by using the backplate over a bolster,( swage block, hardie hole or in this case the pritchel hole) of an appropriate size to support the work adequately as it is being bedded in. I then allow the bar to cool, assemble and mark out for rivetting,the rivetting allowance is approximately one and a half times the thickness of the tenon, and then saw off excess. The workpiece is then ready to be finished for whatever you need for its other working end, When the item is finished ready for fitting, reheat the tenon and using the leg vice or some other suitable method to hold it, rivet the item into place, use light rapid hammer blows working all around the tenon and keeping it straight to give an even head, and mainiain its squareness, you should be able to do this without having to reheat the rivet to finish, as it cools it should tighten further Here are a couple of finished examples Hopefully this will clarify the use of these tools,

Don't find a technique forum, so posting here. Apologies if this isn't the right forum. How do you upset to one side of a square rod? I've wanted to make a pair of holdfasts for a joiners workbench since I first read about a guy named Rob Tarule using them in an article in Fine Woodworking. They're very fast and flexible compared to a vise. Since I read that article, Chris Schwarz has gone on a tear and popularized the Roubo workbench, so much so that you can't hardly swing a dead possum without hitting one on the Interwebs. Peter Ross recently made a close if not exact replica of the holdfast illustrated in André Jacob Roubo's L'Art du Menuisier, the book that started the whole thing, for Schwarz and you can see the original illustration here and Ross' results here http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/workbenches/that%E2%80%99s-not-a-holdfast and some "work in progress" shots here: http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/workbenches/straight-from-the-frenchmans-mouth In the first illustration of Ross working on the bar it looks to me like he has upset on one side midway down the bar. The upset is to make the mass for the shoulder of the head. I've upset on end, but not midway and not to one side like that. What's the technique? I know you can make a holdfast by bending but that's not what I'm interested in. Thanks for any suggestions

I’m interested in knowing the most efficient method of upsetting the end of ¾ and 1” square bars. The process of forming a 50% larger bulged end for table legs up to 45” long. I need a more productive way to accomplish this than, dropping a hot bar on end on a heavy plate on the floor, or hand hammering it while supported through a square hole in a big swage block. I’ve been thinking about making a 50-75 lb treadle or pneumatic hammer, with the front of the anvil open and shaped like a u. Make the anvil from three very heavy bars or plates welded together. I could then place a removable die block with various square holes in it on the anvil and key it in location. This would support the bars to be swaged. The die block would slide out to the front of the hammer to allow install and removal of the bars. I could core drill a 2” hole in my shop floor to allow the long bars a clearance for their length. I’d pre swell the ends of the bars so they would stop in the die block in the correct location. You all have vast experience and I’m pretty new to blacksmithing. So I need to know if I’m missing something or any better ideas are out there . I’d use this hammer for other operation requiring top tools also.