Forging forks

[Rob Browne]

I want to have a go at forging a cutlery set and I can handle the knives and spoons BUT the forks have me beat. How would you go about forging a four pronged cutlery fork?

All thoughts welcome. There has to be an answer.

[dablacksmith]

flatten stock cut 4 slots in stock leingthwise heat and bend the tines so you can forge work um to nice shape bend to be pleasing trim to leingth . i usually go 3 tine...

[Sam Falzone]

I make mine 2 tined.
Works just fine - kinda difficult with peas, but that's what spoons are for.

Sam

[Sam Falzone]

I usually use 1/4" mild for my forks, but if you're absolutely set on going 4-tined, you could start with a slightly thicker stock (say maybe 3/8) so that when you flatten out the tine end, there's enough material to cut out 4 tines (hacksaw or hot cut).

You may want to make yourself an anvil saddle so that you can shape the tines without having to bend them too severely out of the way. (which reminds me I need to make one of those)

Once your tines are shaped and trimmed, you can draw down the shaft end to a more comfortable diameter and aesthetic shape.

If you're looking to sell, cutlery does well if you have a nice pattern. A bit more pricey than S-hooks because of the amount of work, but they do catch people's eye.

Good luck.

Sam

(Anvil Saddle = take a section (around 3 - 4 inches should do) of thick walled steel square or rectangular tube (around 4" wide works well). Weld a stub of square stock on the bottom that will fit into your hardy hole, and there you go ... see photo below).

[Frosty]

I ground a long bevel with a rounded edge on one side of my saddle to make forging in tight spots easier and as luck would have it it makes forging tapers even easier.

Frosty

[Mike Ameling]

You can always make a 4-tined version of the twisted wire forks.

A classic twisted wire fork is 2-tined. Bend a length of utility/bailing wire in half, clamp about an inch of the ends in your vice, slip a 1/4 or 3/8 inch rod through the end, and start twisting it in one direction until fairly tight. Pull a little as you are twisting it. When it is tight up to the vice jaws, twist the end a bit until the loop lines up parallel to the vice jaws. Now take it out and remove that rod for twisting. Trim and point the ends of the tines with a file, and bend those tines out to a pleasing shape. You can curve the tines and/or handle to suit your tastes. There is your basic simple twisted wire fork. Historical examples go all the way back to the mid 1700's and earlier. They were often a soldier's improvised fork.

For 4 tines, just use two strips of wire bent in half and twisted up. One stylistic hint on these. Slip your twisting rod through only one loop, and pull the other loop right up next to it. And you might need to use a pair of tongs/pliers to grip the wire around that rod so that it starts twisting right over the whole length of what will be the handle. This ends up giving you only that one wire loop on the end of the handle instead of a two wire loop. But some people twist those two wires together in the center until they have enough to go around their twisting rod, then twist the whole bundle together like normal. This gives you a two-wire twist loop on the end of your fork. The tines you just bend out to suit your tastes, trim to length, and point with a file.

Bailing or Utility tie wire works well for these. And so does barbwire. But barbwire has a little more "tensile" strength to not flex as much in use. But it also might have a galvanized coating. Soaking it a day or two in common household vinegar will safely remove that zinc coating.

A number of people make forks by tack welding a small round rod onto the end of their handle material - like forming a T. They then cover up that welding by hammering the joint, and then forming the tines out of that round rod and finish the handle as they please. This does give you a nicer transition from tines to handle than splitting the end, unless you do a lot of hammering to "clean up" that area. Plus you can have heavier/thicker tines this way instead of just being 1/2 or 1/3 or 1/4 of the original parent stock. For 4 tines, you would just need to tack weld on two small/thin bars to start with. It would then start to resemble some of those old frog/fish gigs - but without the barbs. The stock for your tines can be either round or square. Each will need tapering anyway. So it's a matter of what "look" you want in your tines.

Just a few options to consider.

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

p.s. #9 brace wire makes a very good twisted wire two-tine meat cooking fork - with that galvanized coating soaked off of course.

Edited May 30, 2009 by Mike Ameling

[Rob Browne]

Thanks for the feedback fellas.

I had a bit of a go on the weekend and it was not too foul. Basically I banged out a flat spoon with a square end, cut the prongs with a saw making the gaps and cleaned them up very carefully. It would need a good lot of finishing and polishing but its a funcitonal fork. Not pretty but functional.

It will get better!