August 20, 201312 yr Author lol that was thnly thing that wouldn't come off.......whatever works,right?
August 20, 201312 yr Haha the hardy looks just fine. But I shutter to think about forging such large stock by hand. A striker with a sledge is a wonderful thing!
August 20, 201312 yr Author well...my hands were all i had :unsure: sooooooo......I don't mind it too bad i just enjoy the time at the forge
August 20, 201312 yr Very nice. that tool will serve you well. I made two hardy tools this past weekend and like you I was my own striker. It took a little longer but gave me great satisfaction when completed. Mark <><
August 20, 201312 yr Good work. It's almost approaching the shape of a cold hardie. I don't think that cold hardies are manufactured anymore, but FYI, they were made with a little "belly" on the two sides and were dressed to a 60 degree included angle for cutting mild steel. I have two of them, one shop made and one old manufactured. Sayings and Cornpone Why do dogs eat horse's hoof trimmings? "Because dogs are natural scavengers." Al Kremen, farrier extraordinaire [RIP]
August 20, 201312 yr Very nice work. I have some larger stock like that, but I dread trying to hammer on it.
August 21, 201312 yr Author good looking hardy there. Great job! thanks kyboy Very nice. that tool will serve you well. I made two hardy tools this past weekend and like you I was my own striker. It took a little longer but gave me great satisfaction when completed. Mark <>< I hope it works well:)and yes it is satisfying Very nice work. I have some larger stock like that, but I dread trying to hammer on it. thanks,go for it,it is not that bad just work it HOT
August 21, 201312 yr Author what kind of steel was it. 2" HC is rather a bear to work by hand! yep it is hc,idk wat the exact carbon content is but its fairly high..... Good work. It's almost approaching the shape of a cold hardie. I don't think that cold hardies are manufactured anymore, but FYI, they were made with a little "belly" on the two sides and were dressed to a 60 degree included angle for cutting mild steel. I have two of them, one shop made and one old manufactured. Sayings and Cornpone Why do dogs eat horse's hoof trimmings? "Because dogs are natural scavengers." Al Kremen, farrier extraordinaire [RIP] so are you saying I need to make it thinner?thanks for the info
August 21, 201312 yr "so are you saying I need to make it thinner?" Rhett, one of the reasons a lot of smiths are using a hot cut that has a radius to the edge like Brian makes is because it reduces the surface contact area to the absolute minimum, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the hammer blows. For cutting hot metal, yours will certainly work, but it will also increase the deformation of the metal at the cut much like a fuller does. The edge is nothing nothing more than a wedge (one of the reasons they are similar in spelling, maybe) and the wider the wedge the more metal you have to move as the wedge passes through it. Many backyard smiths are making a hot-cut by sharpening the one leg of a piece of heavy angle-iron and welding a stem to the other. All that said, your piece shows great hammer control and a good eye for moving the metal in the right ways. With skill like that, you'll quickly have a smithy full of good pieces of kit.
September 5, 201312 yr The availability of high alloy steels that stay hard even when buried in glowing steel makes thinner hardies work well. However mine is just an old jackhammer bit with the broken end forged down to fit the hardie. I dress it as needed---for a hobby shop the extra time is not that much compared to a production shop where using H13 or S7 would probably pay for itself fast!
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