February 21, 20197 yr Just new here on IFI I like to introduce myself in short. At first : living in Germany I hope that my English is not to bad I´m farrier since 20 years and since working with horses I always was interested in real blacksmithing. After the last years I built my shop little by little, making more and more tools etc. All this with help from tips I read here on this great forum. Greetings from Germany Sascha
February 21, 20197 yr One of the differences between farrier hammering and blacksmithing hammering is that blacksmiths use a heavier hammer as 2-3 pound and use a much heavier blow. The horses hood provides little or no rebound to the hammer where the anvil provided good rebound to the hammer. By a heavier blow in blacksmithing mean start with your hammer and hand up to where you fingernails touch the top of your ear. How swing the hammer down and drive it to an imaginary point 1-2 inches below the face of the anvil. Always use hot metal between the hammer and the anvil face. The hammer WILL jump off the hot metal on the anvil face so grab it on the way up to conserve energy. This is a power stroke or blow. For hammer work that does not require such a heavy blow then adjust as needed, including choking up on the hammer a bit. Farriers put the thumb on the top of the hammer handle. Blacksmiths tuck the thumb around the hammer handle like holding a tennis racket. With heavy blows this tennis racket grip allows the wrist to bend and the stress of impact is not transferred to the elbow and shoulder. Different techniques for different applications.
February 21, 20197 yr Welcome to the forum and the addiction of blacksmithing! We love pictures so can you post some of your shop.
February 21, 20197 yr Author Hi Glenn and Kevin, thank you very much for your welcome. I will take some photos next time to post it here Glenn, thank you also for this well done explanation, I completely agree with you. While horseshoeing is mostly done by taping the horseshoe slightly with the hammer to make it suitable for the hoof, moving the metal during a blacksmithing process is something completely different
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