February 3, 201214 yr That professor may have been annoying but you never found out if he had something to teach you or not. Some of my most intimidating and or annoying instructors were the ones I learned the most from. I will send a 5" chunk of 1-1/4" to anyone willing to give this a shot if you don't have the material, but in return you must post the results.
February 3, 201214 yr How the hammer is held and manipulated by the hand is vitally important to effective forging technique and an important part of maintaining healthy joints. Basically what is shown below is the bottom part of my down swing. These pictures show the action of the hand. While loosely gripping the hammer handle with the thumb and index finger which also act as a fulcrum, the lower three fingers act to lever the hammer down for additional acceleration, (additional to the wrist and arm motion). Upon rebound the hammer head quickly is returned to a position above and behind the hand which reduces strain on the wrist and uses the large muscles of your arm ( and maybe body) to raise the hammer for the next strike. I ain't no spring chicken - This is just a small snippet of the whole picture but a method that has allowed me to continue forging long beyond the point that my body said stop. If you do not agree I invite you to provide a similar graphic presentation showing a better way. The rubber mallet was used to void damaging my anvil.
February 4, 201214 yr That professor may have been annoying but you never found out if he had something to teach you or not. Some of my most intimidating and or annoying instructors were the ones I learned the most from. I will send a 5" chunk of 1-1/4" to anyone willing to give this a shot if you don't have the material, but in return you must post the results. Is it allowed that I do the whole tool in one heat under a power hammer? Ric
February 4, 201214 yr Rick you do what ever you want to you know what you are doing. I did not set the terms I just want to see if any one can. Lots of talk around here not much action lately.
February 4, 201214 yr ! 1/4" square stock is an odd size for a lot of us . What would be an equivalent challenge using 1" stock ?
February 4, 201214 yr gonna be hard to make a hardy tool for a 1 inch hardy upsetting 1 inch square. I did make a turning fork that way, I hot split a few inches of 1 inch square 1045, spread the halves and worked them round, then shaped the halves up using a steel spacer. It sits in the hardy on the spread for the fork, and works very well. It was also surprisingly easy to make. The only thing I don't remember is if I cut the stock off to length first, or last (I think I cut it first and used tongs) Phil
February 4, 201214 yr Author OK, I did write "Challenge" but it wasn't really a challenge. It was more a dig at those whom say/write "only my way is the right way" So far, most of those folks have stayed quiet. I think one inch would work fine for a hardy tool. Simply upset the mass about an 1 1/2 -2 inches from the end and than draw down the end. If I was doing it, I would start with a long bar and cut off after I did the upset and drawing.
February 4, 201214 yr You have a good point Gerald. Upsetting 1 inch enough to stick in a 1 inch hardy hole for further upsetting is rather easy, you don't need to upset it very far at all. Upsetting it a bit towards the middle (chill the end some?) would give more material at the end to work with. Phil
February 4, 201214 yr I had a little extra time so I gave it a shot 1 1/4"x 1" 4140 that is the closes I had in stock need an other harder tool. one heat
February 5, 201214 yr 4140, Wow! YEAH! I've got some 2" solid 4140 if you want to try that next Cole! LOL
February 5, 201214 yr I got 1 1/4"x 1"x 5 1/2" 600 pounds. Paid .30 a pound it was a bag of drops. Pays to stay in good with your metal supplier LOL. They called me as soon as they came in. I have 1 3'/4", 2", and 2 1/4" round for making hammers. I used a 5 pound rounding hammer.
February 5, 201214 yr How come the bar must be drawn to a point for the shank of a hardy tool? I realize that many hardy tools have shanks that are drawn to a point. But many old ones are nearly straigth sided, and seem to fit just fine in hte hardy hole. A partial taper would take less time to do.
February 5, 201214 yr So I do plan on attempting this as an exercise after I complete just *one* of my many other unfinished projects, but I have to second freek's question. I've made a few hardie tools out of 1 1/8" inch axle stock, and just fullered them down to 7/8" square, then upset and finished. Why bother with the taper? It seems like a lot of unnecessary work, especially if you're sans power hammer.
February 5, 201214 yr that is the exercise. I use my power hammer with a set of kiss blocks to give me 1" square sides.
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