KYBOY Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 (edited) Tonight my wife was working on one anvil while I was fixing up a tri pod with a welded ring on another..I was using a 2 1/2# rounding hammer and she was using a smallish' cross peen..She got her work done and I jumped anvils for just a minute and grabbed up here hammer..I went to really make a dent in that 1/2" stock and must have missed by three inches I guess where I had been using my bigger hammer I just wasnt holding my mought right for hers :confused: Soon as I felt that hammer slap the face of that anvil instead of soft steel I threw my head to the left and I swear that cross peen rebounded and just whizzed by my ear If i hadnt of threw my head out of the way my Im sure my nose would have been smeared all over the shop walls.Scared the manure out of me but was real funny to my wifes way of thinking :D Edited October 6, 2009 by KYBOY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glyph250 Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 You've got a wife who forges and enjoys slapstick? AWESOME. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dablacksmith Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 ive done the cross pien to the forehead thing... saw stars it left a nice bump .. ben a few years ago but i remember it well ... gota watch that tho it can hurt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 I once heard an old blacksmith saying or a toast, "May the peen marks on your forehead be few"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBrann Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 I have rediscovered I should not work tired, about 10 years ago working tired and in a hurry, I was tapering a rod for a rotissere, whacked the face of the anvil, thud into my forehead. Bought 3 stitches for that one. The about a week ago I was working on something else, in a hurry... bounced my straight pein on the face .. bought a new set of safety glasses from that one. At some point I will slow down and pay attention... not work tired .. I wonder when.... I am tired of picking up scars with stories that start I was in a hurry.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisfrick Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Now I feel better! (read: I've never done that, and I'll never do it again!) I *almost* contacted my forehead with 2 3/4# crosspeen a while back as I was working tired and the sun was going down. On the other hand, it was a really good, scientific test of the hardness and tempering of my home-made anvil. No dents, cracks, marks at all and it sent my hammer flying! I actually think it's harder than that particular hammer. Using a 3# Hofi now, and haven't "checked" the rebound of my anvil...yet... -Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 When I was a wee lad in the trades, I saw a guy with a roofing hatchet..... yup you got it, now he has a permanent crease right between his eyebrows, if you notice the blacksmiths stance in most of the old drawings, he is hammering slightly off to the side. Good reasons for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcraigl Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Tired and in a hurry cost me the tip of my left thumb on a table saw 15 or so years ago.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Take a look at your body position . When you stand at the anvil, the work aligned to the center line of your body, the hammer is out of position to hit the work. If you bend a bit (as most of us do when forging) and you mill a blow, the hammer takes only a nadasecond* to reach the level of your forehead. Take a half a step or so to the side, the hammer now aligns with the work, and you do NOT need to twist your arm, elbow and shoulder for the hammer head to reach the work. If there is a missed blow, the hammer can (and should) pass over your shoulder. *Nadasecond, somewhere between instantaneous and too small to measure. The time it takes for a hammer missing the metal and hitting the anvil to travel the distance between the anvil and your forehead. In many cases a nadasecond is less then the reaction time of the fellow holding the hammer, resulting in the hammer hitting him in the head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyGeorge Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 I like that explaination, Glenn. I was in the shop this evening, after I first read your post. I checked my regular stance. You were right. Couldn't have lined up the crosshairs, on my forhead, any better if I had tried. Thanks. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Next time your at the anvil take the stance of body in line with the work. Now twist your body shoulder, arm, hand, and hammer to place the hammer on the work. You should NOT be able to see where you are hitting the metal as your sight is being blocked by the hammer. Take a half step or so to the side and align the hammer with the work. Put the hammer down on the work and from your body position you CAN SEE the hammer face on the work as the hammer head is not blocking your vision. This is the reason they make both left and right diagonal peen hammers. Right diagonal peen in the right hand and you can see where the peen is hitting the work. With a left diagonal peen in the right hand the vision is blocked by the hammer peen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisfrick Posted October 7, 2009 Share Posted October 7, 2009 Great explanation, Glenn. Perhaps the reason I did not contact my head was due to the fact that I forge exactly how you explained--slightly to the side of the work. I've never lined myself up with the work because from the side, I can see what I'm doing. Just feels natural to me. -Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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