n3cron99 Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 Hey all I just want to start by saying this site is awesome,there is so much information here its unreal. I had started to get discouraged when I first jumped into this,but that was before I did quite a bit of reading here. One of the biggest things that helped me was the bit about how to correctly hold and swing a hammer. I'm a pretty stout dude but I was having a lot of trouble swinging the 4# hammer I have,it was really getting me down. Then I read how to do it right and could instantly tell the difference. Its not muscle memory yet but now when I work i can tell when I start to do it wrong because it becomes a 1000 times harder to do the work( also the anvil I have is a 55# cast steel with no rebound so good form is real important ). I plan on trying to attend the HABA meetings to get some real instruction but I work shift work so I am going to miss this months but maybe next month but until then this place is serving me well. A while back I acquired a hammer that i thought was really cool but not in great condition. With a little work it cleaned up real nice, it had some real deep nicks, some bad pitting and really soft ( the face was mushrooming ). And thanks to IFI I was able to harden,temper and put a handle on it. Now it is a real nice 2#ish hammer that even though i cant say i made it, I can say I brought back to life and I think that's awesome. I also made a, well I'm not sure what its called but the thing you use to move the fuel around as you work. Its ugly and it probably doesn't work as well as it could but I learned a lot while working on it and am proud of it as the very first thing I have made. well that's all I got, the wife and kid will be out of town this weekend so I'm hoping to get a pair of tongs made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 It's a coal rake, the second thing I made, and looks a lot like mine. Good job on it and the hammer, and welcome to IFI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 3, 2013 Share Posted May 3, 2013 Welcome aboard, glad to have you. Very nice job rehabbing the hammer. I love a straight pein and that's a dandy. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junksmith Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Off to a running start! Love the hammer. Let us know how it holds up with use. I'd like to redo an old one I have too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Coke Posted May 5, 2013 Share Posted May 5, 2013 Greetings N3, Looks to me like you got things going in the right direction... We are all students myself of 40 years so take your time.. read this thread... find a local group and go for it... Nice hammer... Welcome Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oddtodd Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 I'm just getting started too. I went with a loop on the end of my cola rake so I could hang it up on my forge when I wasn't using it. I'm making the other end tomorrow. Mines a little heavy though, it's made out of a scrap of rebar. I'll post it when I am done. It will be the first thing I made too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 6, 2013 Share Posted May 6, 2013 Todd: Just draw that rebar out some, it'll get lighter and it'll be part of the show, maybe put some decorative twists on it. I have a ring on mine too but it lives in the house with the wood stove. I'm a gas forge guy but a hook would work a little better for my coal forge. This craft is an endless learning curve. If a person were to study hard their whole life they'd learn but a small fraction of what's out there. Enjoy the ride it's one rush after another. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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