I had some big nails that I forged on the powerhammer awhile back and with the help of Fewood we forged the head on one. It came out pretty nice, this is the result of two heats, we could have taken one more heat and got it a bit flatter, but we were pressed for time. We also "attempted" to make a crane Brian Brazeal style

The striking was fun but my swage block was not bolted down so we were loosing lots of energy as it bounced across the shop

Neat! I see the head upset and did not go down to the swage. I had that happen with the bottom set I am making...turned into grind to intent.

Phil

I can't wait to see the hammer you will probably be forging to drive that big nail. :D

Alright, Clinton and FeWood! You kept it in control and centered. Great job!
Did you guys do a little huffing and puffing?
That has got to be the best striking exercise to do, just like Tom Clark used to say. You and I have seen Tom many times forging huge nails like that, and I got to participate many times and so did my brother, Ed. It can sure get you huffing and puffing, can't it? Tsur and Amit did one at the ABANA Conference. I think Uri Hofi got that all started to help train strikers.

I had some big nails that I forged on the powerhammer awhile back and with the help of Fewood we forged the head on one. It came out pretty nice, this is the result of two heats, we could have taken one more heat and got it a bit flatter, but we were pressed for time. We also "attempted" to make a crane Brian Brazeal style

The striking was fun but my swage block was not bolted down so we were loosing lots of energy as it bounced across the shop

Wow Clinton, how big a note do you want to nail to the door?

Regards,
Tim

Nice nail, heck of a job.

You ARE going to post pics of the lumber aren't you?

Frosty the Lucky.

Certainly a decent sized nail!!

Brian- yes there was some huffing and puffing going on, it is a good work out. And yes it did stay centered pretty well, I have seen some go way off to one side, Tom Clark was doing one with three or four strikers and when they were done he pulled it out of the swage block, held it up and when he showed the crowd he said, "Now we have a shelf bracket"
My swage block was too high and as I said before it was not bolted down, I will be making a proper stand for it this week.

Lookin good! When we headed Tom's Memorial nail at Madison we had the nail about 4' in the ground with the swage block on top of a couple of logs, we had up to 7 people at a time, it was dark and we had been doing a few toasts to the man.

Lookin good! When we headed Tom's Memorial nail at Madison we had the nail about 4' in the ground with the swage block on top of a couple of logs, we had up to 7 people at a time, it was dark and we had been doing a few toasts to the man.

That was a great memorial to Tom! I wish I could have been there. I did get to put my touchmark in it at the ABANA Conference in Memphis, though.

Thanks Dillon- Wow seven people striking now there is some serious huffing and puffing
I made four of these nails and my plan was to get my two brothers and my dad to do the striking, then we would each take one home, but there was too much other stuff going on with the family reunion that it did not meet everyone's schedule, maybe next year I will take the forge and swage block with me (better make some more nails)

Thanks for sharing Clinton! I had fun heading the spike and trying Brian's Crane!
Next time we have to plan more time... As you said, we were just getting warmed up B)