Punching eyes...in tool heads

[Stormcrow]

Due to some rather unfortunate injuries to one of the students in the Toolmaking Class portion of Balcones Forge's Bluebonnet Workshop, a slot opened up for me to take the class. I jumped on it. I was really wanting to get some instruction on making eyes. Sure, I had seen what Brian Brazeal has said on the subject here on the forum, but there is only so much that reading can tell you.

Sure enough, we spent time making eyes. Among other tools, I ended up helping to make four eyes, and due to Brian's instruction, they came out great.

Here's what I ended up with. The big one is about a 3lb. rounding hamemr still needing ground and heat treated; it got a bit burned on the last heat. Dang coal forges! The other is a tool blank, to be forged out into whatever is needed.







I had met most of the other students before. I'd never met this one before, but he seemed familiar. I think I've seen him on T.V. building motorcycles or something.



And, most importantly, I was able to apply the knowledge gained in the class when away from the class. Here's the best hole I've ever punched on my own:







It was punched using my homebrewed power hammer and hyrdraulic forging press. I didn't get in any hurry and didn't yet have the nifty tongs that make handling this kind of work so easy that we used in class. I'd say it was probably between four and six heats to do the hole. With some practice and the tongs, I'm betting I can get it down to one. It hasn't been drifted, just punched.

Thanks to Brian, Lyle, Balcones Forge, and everyone involved in the class. I achieved what I set out to with y'all's help.

[tomhw]

Stormcrow, it looks like the eyes on both hammers are well centered on the steel and perpendicular through it. The plug on the last picture indicates that you drove the counter punch exactly. Well done, sir.

[glen56]

good job mate ,nothing wrong with that,

[brianbrazealblacksmith]

Due to some rather unfortunate injuries to one of the students in the Toolmaking Class portion of Balcones Forge's Bluebonnet Workshop, a slot opened up for me to take the class. I jumped on it. I was really wanting to get some instruction on making eyes. Sure, I had seen what Brian Brazeal has said on the subject here on the forum, but there is only so much that reading can tell you.

Sure enough, we spent time making eyes. Among other tools, I ended up helping to make four eyes, and due to Brian's instruction, they came out great.

Here's what I ended up with. The big one is about a 3lb. rounding hamemr still needing ground and heat treated; it got a bit burned on the last heat. Dang coal forges! The other is a tool blank, to be forged out into whatever is needed.







I had met most of the other students before. I'd never met this one before, but he seemed familiar. I think I've seen him on T.V. building motorcycles or something.



And, most importantly, I was able to apply the knowledge gained in the class when away from the class. Here's the best hole I've ever punched on my own:







It was punched using my homebrewed power hammer and hyrdraulic forging press. I didn't get in any hurry and didn't yet have the nifty tongs that make handling this kind of work so easy that we used in class. I'd say it was probably between four and six heats to do the hole. With some practice and the tongs, I'm betting I can get it down to one. It hasn't been drifted, just punched.

Thanks to Brian, Lyle, Balcones Forge, and everyone involved in the class. I achieved what I set out to with y'all's help.

I'm glad to see you countinue trying it! With the right tooling, you could do it in half a heat.

[ThomasPowers]

Good looking eyes!

Those "last heats" are killers. Last Sunday I had a couple of students mess up 4 hours of work in their "last heat"---it was an eye for a odd type of bearded axe and they stuck it in the VERY HOT FORGE as they had been working heavy 1084 and went off to get a drink of water and came back a while later and tried to do the final drifting on the eye which cracked due to being semi molten when they worked it---I was over coaching a beginner who was supposed to need the help not them who were in the advanced class.

I had warned them that the forge was HOT and to NEVER leave a piece in it and walk off; but being engineering students....I figure it was a valuable lesson I just lament the waste of a good heavy chunk of 1084.