Here is a great hardy tool that Yesteryear Forge makes that I really like and will use. It is a hardwood block that fits in a holder that goes in your hardy hole. It has 6 sides and ,so far, you can see that I have only used 1 side In the last few days since I've had it. I don't travel with my wood stump, and this has been a great tool to have on the road. The cost of this tool is much cheaper than anyone could make on their own. Thanks, Mike Tanner: Yesteryear School of Blacksmithing

Nice! Great idea.

Robb Gunter has a similiar holder only lower filled with tin for repousee work.

can you use wood for copper repouse work?

Hi Beth, You culd use wood for the raising or dishing of copper or steel, but if you need to produce an intricate or detailed pattern on the surface, then preferably you will need to use some other forgiving backing medium and they are many and varied

thanks john - it was a surface pattern i was thinking of... and thanks also gerald - im going to take a look at that link now...

(wots the wood hardy tool for guys???)

that is a very cool blog - love the antler chandelier - amazing! will have to trawl right through that i think!

You often want a wood surface and a wooden hammer when you want to carefully tweak pieces and leave no hammer marks on them---say a twisted section that has curved slightly. Hard to do without leaving hammer marks on the twist edges with a steel hammer and anvilface. Quite easy doing it hot on wood with a wooden hammer, (I use a rawhide mallet, AKA as the stinky hammer due to the amusing smell of burnt rawhide.)

Great idea that they have at Yesteryear ... what kinda wood is it? Mesquite and Ironwood (lignum viteae) seem almost indestructible ... harder than oak. How do you think it will hold up if used for 45/90 degree angles and making half round out of square bar?

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Tim

Great idea that they have at Yesteryear ... what kinda wood is it? Mesquite and Ironwood (lignum viteae) seem almost indestructible ... harder than oak. How do you think it will hold up if used for 45/90 degree angles and making half round out of square bar?

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Tim

You could put any kind of wood in it, this one came with a block of oak. You could put pitch or lead in it for repouse' work, also. I think I'd use a regular swage block for swaging half round though, but you could use the holder to hold a small handmade swage block. That's a great idea! I'm going to mention it to Mike.
Did you hear that one Mike?

Im all ears

that looks to be about 6"x 6" or so for the base then a cube of hardwood to fit

It is actually 4"x4" outside dimension and fits standard 4x4 milled wood.
It comes with a block of wood and I can tell you that you cannot make it for what it costs. Yesteryear School of Blacksmithing

thanks thomas - there was a large twisted ring on some work on the site gerald mentioned - i was wondering how to do it without losing the edges of the twist and thats how then:) coolio!

thanks john - it was a surface pattern i was thinking of..

Hi Beth, if its only a surface pattern, that seems more like chasing than repousse, and you should be able to make a pattern with a wood backing, the softer the wood, the deeper the grooves.

Give it a try, make something like veins on a leaf for starters (Ivy ?) you will get the 3D effect

I use the term 'raising' when doing repousse as I would then usually push back the pattern from the raised area

I use the term 'sinking' for making bowls, spoons, ladles etc although the effect looks very similar in the first stages

Edited November 26, 200916 yr by John B

.....It comes with a block of wood and I can tell you that you cannot make it for what it costs. ....

I truly don't understand this statement. Perhaps some kind soul could explain.

I made this from scraps in about 40 minutes.

thanks john:) all these terms can seem like gobbledy gook! will certainly play around on some soft wood. with some copper that is;)

cool idea i will have to make me one of those
it saves one from bending down to a short wood stump and also not having a full sized stump in a small workshop at all times

DC

You could put any kind of wood in it, this one came with a block of oak. You could put pitch or lead in it for repouse' work, also. I think I'd use a regular swage block for swaging half round though, but you could use the holder to hold a small handmade swage block. That's a great idea! I'm going to mention it to Mike.
Did you hear that one Mike?

Wow and they think Rapid Prototyping is fast! Brian has an idea today and it appeared here last Summer. Only difference is that my little swage block happens to be cast iron. I guarantee the little setup works almost as good as a hardy mounted vise capable of multi-postion use; for the times when you really want to hold something!

Wow and they think Rapid Prototyping is fast! Brian has an idea today and it appeared here last Summer. Only difference is that my little swage block happens to be cast iron. I guarantee the little setup works almost as good as a hardy mounted vise capable of multi-postion use; for the times when you really want to hold something!

Not sure where the first 2 pictures went..... 1 more time

I truly don't understand this statement. Perhaps some kind soul could explain.

I made this from scraps in about 40 minutes.

The price tag on this tool is $20 or $25. I don't know what your shop rate is, but I couldn't make it for that even if I had the scraps.

Wow and they think Rapid Prototyping is fast! Brian has an idea today and it appeared here last Summer. Only difference is that my little swage block happens to be cast iron. I guarantee the little setup works almost as good as a hardy mounted vise capable of multi-postion use; for the times when you really want to hold something!

Trying-it, I was just responding to a question. I'm sure you and I are not the only ones that the thought has occured to. I think it's a great idea and obviously so do you. I'd like to see some more little swage blocks out there on the market. I have a piece of 3 1/2" square 4340 that Randy Calhoun gave me that will fit in my hardy tool holder that I'm going to have milled with swage dies that I want. I left my swage block and stand with my brother, Ed, because I couldn't haul it around on the road along with my wood stump. This tool is even better than I first thought!

The price tag on this tool is $20 or $25. I don't know what your shop rate is, but I couldn't make it for that even if I had the scraps.

1. $25, plus I imagine that they charge for shipping.
2. My job only pays when client(s) show up. That translates into sometimes being paid about $14 for a whole day's work. I used to have a real job as a software engineer, but got "too old" to work in that profession any more. Obviously my time is no longer considered valuable.
3. I tried selling ironwork, and couldn't make a go of it. Apparently I am not that bright, nor skilled enough to compete with the growing legions of thousands of smiths trying to sell ironwork to a limited market.
4. My understanding is that making of tools is an essential part of blacksmithing.
5. While I admire professional smiths, over the years I have noticed the lack of understanding that non-professionals can't pull out a wad of cash to purchase tools. My guess from observing successful professional smiths
over the past 36 or so years, is that they loose touch with how the other half lives.

Again, I greatly admire your work, and you are very generous in sharing knowledge. The key thing to understand is that not everyone charges or gets paid as much as you charge per hour. Therefor your statement of absolute, "I can tell you that you cannot make it for what it costs." does not apply to everyone. I am glad that you are sufficiently successful that you can't afford to make the tool.

Edited November 28, 200916 yr by UnicornForge

I totally get where you are coming from, UnicornForge. I hardly ever buy any tools myself, and sometimes I don't even make $14.00 a day either. This tool just happens to be one of those tools that I did buy because I needed it and did not have the resources to make it myself. There are several tools out there that I feel are worth endorsing and informing others of their availiability, and this, definately was one of them. I'm excited about it, and have been using it daily and can't wait to get my swage block made for it.

I think you are both right on this, if you have to buy material specifically, then you can buy the finished unit for less most likely. If you can fab with stuff in the scrap bin or on the shelf, then you can do it for less. This is now on my "to do" list, but it is quite far down it for now.

Phil