Manliest way to forge

[Jura T]

This weekend I attended a blacksmith event here in Finland (http://www.rautasulka.com/en/). On Saturday a Finnish blacksmith, Jesse Sipola, and his crew forged a face sculpture by using various size jackhammers. That was just more than cool. And I thought forging with a power hammer is manly. Here are a couple of pictures of the demo. Unfortunately, they can't really show the noise, flames and all the action involved in the process.The plate they used for the face was 16mm thick.

[youngdylan]

Absolutely awesome. My personal preference is for the face as shown in the fourth photo. Awesome

[pete46]

That was amazing,the pics of the festival too!
What does RAUTASULKA mean?
Thanks.

[Swamptroll]

That was amazing,the pics of the festival too!
What does RAUTASULKA mean?
Thanks.

Iron feather according to Google translator

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

I see someone else had the same idea that I do about using a jackhammer. I was thinking about how one would work in a frame though, and used more like a power hammer, as opposed to freestyling like they do.

[pete46]

Swamp Troll; Thank you!
[use google what a Brilliant idea]
tech still makes me shake.
THANKS AGAIN!
P.S. Josey Wales is da man.

[Larry H]

Now thats my kind of smithing!! and fellow scandinavians too, it doesn't get much better than that !

[thingmaker3]

Feh. REAL manliness is using one's BARE FIST to pound the glowing iron!

I witnessed a similar demo at the 2006 ABANA conference in Seattle. It is impressive see the metal moving under a jackhammer, as well as to see the smith manipulating the jackhammer about the work.

And those Finlanders do nice work indeed!

[lbas]

If you go to Helsinki you must go see the famous sculpture of the blacksmiths working in the center part of town. It's not too far from the train and bus stations. The Finns have been famous for blacksmithing for a long time.

life begins at sixty

[monstermetal]

Man.... That just goes to show there is always someone doing something.... Great shows... I love the anvil/tongue shot

[Jura T]

The Google translation is correct. It is "iron feather".

There were about 60 smiths from nine different countries in the event. Each smith was given about two hours to make their own piece for the Gate of Pohjola (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pohjola). I made a Swan of Tuonela (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Swan_of_Tuonela).

BTW, the current pictures on the Rautasulka www-pages are from last year. The same photographer was there also this year. You can find his pictures here: http://vesanopanen.kuvat.fi/kuvat/Rautasulka2010/

I witnessed a similar demo at the 2006 ABANA conference in Seattle. It is impressive see the metal moving under a jackhammer, as well as to see the smith manipulating the jackhammer about the work.

Do you remember who gave the demo?

[beth]

thats amazing! ive never seen that done before - cant believe the control he obviously has of the hammer - really funny! would love to go to that festival too - will look it up next year - looks like a lot of fun. THANKS for posting that -ace!

[ThomasPowers]

BGD; about 15-20 years ago there was a website with 2 different takes on using a jackhammer in a frame for smithing.

As I recall one of the issues was that the jackhammer has a very short stroke and so you need to be able to adjust the depth easily to get the most from it.
Another was that the jackhammer was not made to be in a rigid frame and does not do well in one but needs some give in the system---or to paraphrase how they put it "something to act like the 90 pounds of belly hanging over it in use...". They used heavy duty springs if I remember correctly.

[Mainely,Bob]

BGD; about 15-20 years ago there was a website with 2 different takes on using a jackhammer in a frame for smithing.

As I recall one of the issues was that the jackhammer has a very short stroke and so you need to be able to adjust the depth easily to get the most from it.
Another was that the jackhammer was not made to be in a rigid frame and does not do well in one but needs some give in the system---or to paraphrase how they put it "something to act like the 90 pounds of belly hanging over it in use...". They used heavy duty springs if I remember correctly.

THAT is the primary reason you see these being phased out in manufacturing,they use the operator as a shock absorber.
The consequences to the human body from long term use can be quite severe.The orthopedic clinics and workmen`s comp boards are seeing proof of this on a daily basis.

Manly today may equal crippled tomorrow,something to think long and hard about.

[firebug]

The Google translation is correct. It is "iron feather".

There were about 60 smiths from nine different countries in the event. Each smith was given about two hours to make their own piece for the Gate of Pohjola (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pohjola). I made a Swan of Tuonela (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Swan_of_Tuonela).

BTW, the current pictures on the Rautasulka www-pages are from last year. The same photographer was there also this year. You can find his pictures here: http://vesanopanen.kuvat.fi/kuvat/Rautasulka2010/




Do you remember who gave the demo?

Very Nice Swan.

[CBrann]

I wonder how it is to forge the tools that fit in the jack hammers.... How do they figure out what the working end should be? I am guessing trial and error... but...

Amazing work though!

[John B]

I wonder how it is to forge the tools that fit in the jack hammers.... How do they figure out what the working end should be? I am guessing trial and error... but...

Amazing work though!

Surely just large chasing/repoussee forms, after all its only a scaled up version.

[KNeilson]

Very interesting, I too saw the demo in Seattle.........

Do you remember who gave the demo?

It was EA Chase

[Jura T]

Very interesting, I too saw the demo in Seattle......... It was EA Chase

Thanks. I Didn't find anything about him using jackhammers, but I did find his www-pages. Very nice work there.

[Dillon Sculpture]

Great pictures of the event, very cool pieces as well. Its defiantly fun for the first five minutes or so... haven't got anything hot yet but the 1/4" aluminum moved pretty well.

[Mainely,Bob]

For a much lighter and lower impact pneumatic tool than either a chipping hammer or jack hammer try those long soil compactors we used to call "pogosticks".They seem to become weightless and just float in use.
For close in detail work you could also use a needlescaler rather than a chatter gun(pistol grip pneumatic hammer).The needlescaler uses a square shank to drive the hammer so you can steer the bit by turning the tool barrel.The round shank of a chatter gun allows the bit to float so it`s hard to steer unless it`s in a cut.
Just some helpful household tips for those thinking of doing this type of stuff.

[youngdylan]

What do all the "up and down very fast" machines do to your hands/arms? Are antivibration gloves any use. I got some nasty tinglings down one arm for a week or so after doing a few hours worth of small (1/4 I think) stainless rivets cold with a 7X aircraft fitters rivet gun and holding 2kg chunk of steel as a bucking bar. Worn the gloves ever since.

[MLMartin]

such maddness, Ill have to make it back down to GA soon

[Mainely,Bob]

What do all the "up and down very fast" machines do to your hands/arms? Are antivibration gloves any use. I got some nasty tinglings down one arm for a week or so after doing a few hours worth of small (1/4 I think) stainless rivets cold with a 7X aircraft fitters rivet gun and holding 2kg chunk of steel as a bucking bar. Worn the gloves ever since.

What that vibration does is aggravate the nerves enough to inflame them and if you continue to do it long enough it leads to chronic inflamation.
When nerves are inflamed they cause the body to release a compound that attacks surrounding bone and causes it to become porous and this leads to bone loss.It also causes any tissue that rubs up against that porous bone to wear away.Rub a steak on a cheese grater to see what I mean.
Now if that tissue is muscle it can grow back and repair itself but if it is something like a tendon or ligament then it wears to the point of failure and there`s little chance of it being successfully repaired to what it originally was.
Surgery is required to grind the bone down to smooth again and to repair the nerve channels or move the nerves to an alternate position in order to halt the nerve damage.Once a nerve dies that`s it,you don`t get it back.
Sometimes there is so much bone damage they have to grind away bone that things anchor to and then you have a permanent loss of range of motion and things happen like your arm no longer swings naturally when you walk and it throws your balance all out of whack till you learn how to walk and run again.
Once the damage is repaired it is not a matter of if but a matter of WHEN arthritis will set in.
I learned about all this a little too late and 6+ surgeries later it was spelled out for me and now I live with what is left.

This is NOT something to be taken lightly.That pain, stiffness,tingling,or swelling is your body communicating to you that it is being damaged by your actions.Ignore it at your own peril.

BTW-this kind of damage can be done by ANY vibratory tool.That 4-9 inch hand held grinder or sander will cause the same type of damage as a jackhammer,it will just take a little longer.The doctors told me that air tools or any type of high RPM tool that is hand held is a workman`s comp case in the making.Stationary tools and low speed/low vibration tools are far less damaging.
It is also my understanding that while anti-vibe gloves help a little it is very little as they cause your to lose your sense of touch and connection to the tool which causes you to grip it much tighter than normal.You can learn to compensate for that loss to connection/touch but most people find it difficult to resist the death grip.

[mashin' metal]

On 8/22/2010 at 7:14 PM, BIGGUNDOCTOR said:

I see someone else had the same idea that I do about using a jackhammer. I was thinking about how one would work in a frame though, and used more like a power hammer, as opposed to freestyling like they do.

wont work to swell I wouldnt imagine, a jackhammer works with its weight sitting on the piston basically, if you have it mounted solid and a cool shaping tool on the end and then when it does touch the hot metal, its gonna have to touch with a lot of pressure just to start going ape xxxx like its supposed to do and by then your hot metal is gonna be so blown out and distorted all over the place.
If you do decide to rig one up, please video for us so we can enjoy it too. :-) I'm guessing you wouldnt have a lot of control over it real world, dunno though.
Timothy