February 4, 201412 yr Can anyone out there share their knowledge in how this decorative punch may have been forged? Pictures attached of the tool and the imprint it leaves on Steel Please give as much detail as you can, would love to hear from you. I would like to re re-crerate this old punch. Thanks in advance.
February 4, 201412 yr Forge taper on end of bar high or medium carbon steel. Doing that by hand will tend to cup the end to start. Drive a ball punch into to the end, forge out bulge then drive punch again. Anneal punch. File and or grind the taper and a small flat on the end of the punch around the perimeter of the cup depression. Layout the flutes and file them in. Harden and temper the punch.
February 4, 201412 yr Pattern looks a lot like a cotton picker spindle to me ... https://www.google.com/search?q=cotton+picker+spindle&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=mBbxUtqENcb0oAScpILwBg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg&biw=1338&bih=810#imgdii=_
February 4, 201412 yr J, nailed it. The flutes are flied in by hand. Rather easy to lay out once you've got the dimple forged in. As a stone-working tool, what you see now is going to be heavily eroded compared to how it looked when first made.
February 4, 201412 yr I'd have to agree with Mr. Mullins , its first life was a shaft of some sorts , it even appears to have a flat milled on one side in the third pic. Follow the others fine advice and have at it,a three-square file would work great for cutting in the flutes.
February 4, 201412 yr Repurposed drive shaft with a (male) spline end. Or, a tapered bob driven into a (female) spline and then dressed. Something like the drive components of a front wheel drive vehicle. Just guessing but It looks to concentric to be made only by hand. Peter
February 4, 201412 yr Lots of Southwestern Indian silver stamps are made by filing, sometimes accompanied by hot work, and then heat treated. They are beautifully done, so that one would think they were somehow machined. Just careful workmanship.
February 4, 201412 yr Do you fellas think that handle piece has been welded and the weld has failed, or is it made like that?
February 5, 201412 yr Author Thank you all for your replies. This tool was eventually used as a decorative stamp which put a nice little finish on gate latches, old fire cranes etc. Yes, the handle was fire-welded around the tool at one time, must have come loose over the years. I was thinking it must have been a triangular file which cutout the flutes, as they seem to be slightly tapered. Thank you again.
February 5, 201412 yr Do you fellas think that handle piece has been welded and the weld has failed, or is it made like that? Most likely not welded, but rather made to allow for changing punches using the inherent 'springy-ness' of the iron to grip the punch securely
February 10, 201412 yr Most likely not welded, but rather made to allow for changing punches using the inherent 'springy-ness' of the iron to grip the punch securely I don't think the end would have been scarfed like that it if it hadn't been intended to be welded. In the first picture, near the end of the overlap you can see an area where the two surfaces match, probably where they were inadequately welded.
February 10, 201412 yr It was clearly handmade! It may have served as a shaft at some point but the flutes are definitely NOT uniformly spaced... pretty sloppy work for most machinists that I know! I think it was always intended as a decorative punch and it has a definite blacksmithly look about it! Brian Brazeal makes similar ones to decorate jewelry and flowers... though his are quite accurately done. If I were out at my forge with a fire going, I'd figure this for about a twenty minute job, excluding the handle work.
February 17, 201412 yr Author It was clearly handmade! It may have served as a shaft at some point but the flutes are definitely NOT uniformly spaced... pretty sloppy work for most machinists that I know! I think it was always intended as a decorative punch and it has a definite blacksmithly look about it! Brian Brazeal makes similar ones to decorate jewelry and flowers... though his are quite accurately done. If I were out at my forge with a fire going, I'd figure this for about a twenty minute job, excluding the handle work. Fancy trying it out next time you get 20 mins and upload a few pics? Would be nice to see it accurately recreated...
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