Goods Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Yesterday evening, I made a bottle opener and started on a small cross pein hammer. The hammer still needs a lot of clean up and it’s still in vermiculite. (Just realized I didn’t do any forge welding. I try to do some type of forge welding every time I light the forge…) Keep it fun, David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Nice opener. Good clean lines, and nice detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Put your hammer on top of the anvil face. Grip the hammer handle with your thumb on top of the hammer handle, and push the hammer head down against the anvil. You should be able to feel the stress transferred to the thumb, wrist, arm, and shoulder. Now grip the hammer handle with your thumb wrapped around the hammer handle, like you were holding a tennis racket. Push the hammer head down against the anvil. Your wrist will bend. There is little stress transferred to the wrist, arm, and shoulder. Alternating thumb positions, repeat the grips and pushing the hammer head down hard against the anvil several hundred times. Hofi has a different hand grip on the hammer. Notice the thumb not wrapped around the hammer handle, but beside the hammer handle. Grip the hammer handle as shown, between the thumb and fingers. Push the hammer head down against the anvil. The hammer will rotate between the thumb and fingers. There is little stress transferred to the wrist, arm, and shoulder. This technique takes some getting used to but is well worth the time invested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Saturday I spent a couple of hours at the scrapyard, ended up buying 139 pounds of steel; but a lot of it was "worked" Bought a real nice old heavy duty tool box with 4 drawers for my 4 grandsons. I'm going to clean it up and repaint it and my wife will callig their names one to a drawer and I will add a starter set of tools---colour coded for each kid. Now the fun part was that the tool box had some stuff in it, files, cold chisels, a rock chisel and a buck 110 knife in decent condition that I could sell for what the whole load cost me but will probably go to a SiL for Christmas. Also found 2 of the steel folding saw horses in good shape---my travel postvise is mounted on a previous find of one and so happy to have a set I can use. Also a strip of heavy rock grating---3" holes and 1/2" "wire", A couple of black pipe to make chili peppers out of. Found a bunch of plastic bins and salvaged the unbroken ones for cleaning up my storage shelves some. Finally a large "pretty" "gear" that will probably end up as a stand base. Fired up the propane forge after lunch and a friend worked on a knife while I twisted some rusty barbwire tighter in prep for making more barbwire basket icicles for the kid's Christmas trees. Sunday I cut two wooden "runners" to lift up the couch as both me and my wife were having more trouble getting up and out of it. Much easier! Got to use my new sawhorses too! (6"x8" softwood, using my bow saw as of course NO ELECTRICITY IN THE SHOP!) I also selected and cut barbwire I had prepped to make 3 sets of the icicles; then got a call from an old metalworking acquaintance who was not doing too well. He's shutting down his shop---mainly machine tools and at prices I can't afford; but I went over and talked with him, showed him what I had been doing lately. He'd been making some money making welded up "sculptures" of cranes; but the venue for the festival of the cranes has been shut down for several years now cutting off his income. I offered to help him take his scrap pile to the junkyard next weekend. He's on O2 with emphysema/COPD, type 2 diabetes, he's had 7 heart attacks and is only 73. He smoked when he was younger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Looks awesome Goods! This morning I went to the library for the first time in almost twenty years, because I wanted to try out that ill that I’ve heard y’all talking about, so after running some errands I went there and got a library card and then asked them about getting the book I wanted to borrow, but after 20 minutes of looking they weren’t able to find it or get it, figures that’s just my luck lol, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Pumpkin looks good painted John. Pat, on heavier hammering I try to keep my thumb wrapped around. I have a habit of having my thumb up the handle for lighter more precision hammering. Nice looking opener Goods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Which book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Thanks, Das. A thought that's been coalescing in my mind is that thumb-on-top is a precision grip, while thumb-wrapped-around is a power grip. I suspect that novices trying to hit for power will often slip into a TOT grip unconsciously when they aren't confident in their precision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Boarders away vol 1, with steel edged weapons and pole arms by William gilkerson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 ILL is a voluntary system, so unlike your local library, you are very much dependent on another library being willing to loan out a particular volume. It's quite possible that there's some library out there with this book in its collection, but they're not willing to part with it. I ILL'd the Mark Aspery books some years back, and they came to me from the library at Colonial Williamsburg. I tried again a couple of years later, but they were not available. One time, I got Postman's "Mousehole Forge" book, but it came from the collection of the Library of Congress and was not allowed to leave the building of the college library that had secured it for me (so I had to read the whole thing in one sitting). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 It’s crazy that book isn’t really that old, it was printed in the early 90s, you would think it would be easier to get hold of, the lady at the library said it’s just a weird situation and that they normally can get hold of books without any trouble, she saw two copies of his second volume about firearms, I asked if I could get one of those, she said she would try but she didn’t sound very confident that we could get that one either, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 (edited) JHCC, did you let her use that new swage for that spoon? Your pumpkin looks like it is floating in that pic. Rainy day yesterday so i did not get to heat treat my big ol' knife. So instead i rigged up a better smoke stack for the day and fired up the forge. Christmas is getting closer so i did a little work on that. Got this here BBQ fork done. 1/2" x 1/8" flat stock i had left over from my deck railing. I had waxed it then noticed a few little snags on it so i took a file to it and now needs waxed again. Edit: Forgot to add i found a use for that rod dog (in the background of the pic) i found buried in the barn. It holds round pipe quite well for forming hot metal around. Edited October 25, 2021 by BillyBones forgot ssomething Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Yes, after I demonstrated with my own spoon (as I'd done with pretty much every process throughout the project). The pumpkin is hanging from a length of copper wire that didn't show up in the photo very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Masterson Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Very helpful with the pictures Glenn, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 2 hours ago, JHCC said: I suspect that novices trying to hit for power will often slip into a TOT grip unconsciously when they aren't confident in their precision. Not to slip too much into the topic but it may also be positioning as it is all waist height roughly. You have a good point. Funny enough, I don't recall seeing anyone with thumb on top hammering in a nail. It would seem difficult to have tot hammering vertically, more possible hammering a nail in on a flat but I haven't noticed anyone doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Interesting thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobtiel1 Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Interesting discussion on the hammer holding, I think you have better control with your thumb on the hammer, but in my now 1.5 years of forging I've never felt the need for that extra control. And hearing how it can really damage you due to the shocks, I don't feel the need to hold the hammer that way anyway. If I want more control for finer forging, I grab a smaller hammer! It does help that I inherited my grandpa's toolkit with 500, 600, 700, and 900 gr cross pein hammers. ~Jobtiel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 We also need to factor into the conversation the power of the hammer stroke, whether full power and heavy hitting, or just a little power for fine work. The technique changes with the amount of power you apply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frazer Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Jobitel1, true, but it's not always convenient or efficient to stop what you're doing and switch hammers. Choking up and/or slightly adjusting your grip can be done with less interruption. Glenn also makes a good point on the amount of force being applied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalfgreen Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 I believe for me my thumb moving to the top is from the way I control my chef knife at work with my thumb. 25 years of 1 grip makes hard for switching of muscle memory thumb use to being in control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobtiel1 Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Frazer, I choke the grip too when needing finer control, I only switch hammers between heats, often leaving my main hammer on the anvil for when I need it again. In my new shop I plan on putting a hammer rack close to the forge, so I can switch while tending to the fire. ~Jobtiel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 My hammer rack is just to the right of my anvil; I've been known to switch hammers in the middle of a heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobtiel1 Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 JHCC, also a good idea, I do plan on making it movable, so that I can always decide for someplace else. Right now my hammers and top tools are hanging on my stump I use as anvil stand. It is getting a bit full now though, so a hammer and tong rack are high on the list for the new shop. I do plan on forging it instead of fabrication. ~Jobtiel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 I have a couple tips on making nails, one goes against what Glenn just suggested but he's been smithing since just before iron was invented. First bit of advice if anybody asks about heads laid over like those just tell them how long it's taken you to get them just like that. It's NOT a coincidence, BS and BlackSmithing share the abbreviation you know. When you cut the nail off to head roll it on the hardy so the pinch off is centered. If you just cut from one side the pinch off is angled and hammering on it deflects the force and it wants to bend. Lastly, Use a light hammer to head nails or modest blows. Guys who've been doing this for a long time can sometimes head a nail in one blow with a 5lb. hammer. That isn't a beginner's skill level. A lighter hammer will take longer to head it but you'll have time to correct deflection and even shape it. Try angling the nail stock into the forge from the side or the dragon's breath will heat WAY more than necessary. If you were using a solid fuel forge you could make a fire with a heart 2" across and be able to hold 6" stock bare handed. A lack of close localized heating is a bane of the propane forge. <sigh> Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Funny how we start with a hammer or two and over the years... Nails with laid over heads were a style used for flooring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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