Tooling up for some upcoming projects

[M.G.]

Thanks M3F

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

I'm pretty sure my next hammer I make will be a Viking style at around 2.5 lbs. I really like yours and so does my wife.

 

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sails. ~ Semper Paratus

[Shainarue]

That's a nice looking hammer MG!

[M.G.]

Ah, thanks IronDragon and company. I really appreciate it. I can't wait to see your version.  

I know this still needs a bit of refinement. So I am looking forward to making another. I hope to bring the next one in at about 3lbs. Maybe 3.25lbs. I feel it will be a really comfortable weight for this style hammer.

I may try to find longer or just all around bigger handle blanks for my next few hammers. 

[M.G.]

Thanks Shainarue! I'm glad you all are enjoying it.

[M.G.]

Yesterday I fired up the forge and as I was collecting myself and my tools to start working on some strap hinges for my shop doors, I reached down to pick up my spring fuller and realized that it was bent out of alignment. Mind you, this was just your run of the mill quickie spring fuller made from bent up mild round bar,  with a flat spring section. It has had some pretty heavy use over its time, so it's already on its way out. but as I took a closer look I noticed a small fracture at the step between the round stock and the flat spring section. Gave it a light tap and it let loose. I guess making the straps that session wasn't in the cards.

So I figured I should take the opportunity to make a more long term solution tomorrow(today).

But, with the forge hot, I went ahead and rolled my hinge plate barrels. I'm making the hinges from 1/4 inch plate. And I needed a 5 inch section rolled for the barrel on the plate. Way more work than I was expecting. But it's done. 

I had to make a pretty long drift for to fit the long barrel, I picked up some random farm equipment springs from the scrap yard, i left it in a normalized state for use. 

Today I got in to the scrap yard first thing and made it home to light the forge by 9 am. I picked up some inch and a quarter round bar to make some hardie shanks from. Once the forge was hot I threw that in to heat up while I preped a couple of 3 inch pieces of coil spring and a length of 1 1/4" flat bar. 

I forged down each end of the flat bar to about a 3.5" section at 3/4"x3/8". 

Then I knocked a square taper on about 3 inches of my 1 1/4" round, and broke the corners to fit my hardie hole. Then cut it off and upset it in to the hardie hole using my 13lb sledge for the first time!!! Made real short work if it. Only took 3 heats to upset about 1 1/4" of 1 1/4" down to about a quarter of an inch. I love it! 

I also used the time between heats to bend up the flat bar into my spring shape. I preped all of my welds. Grinding a flat on the back of the coil spring steel, so it doesn't try to roll away and sits flat on the surfaces of mild steel spring ends, which will also be the struck portion of this tool.

I gave the spring steel fuller bits a good long pre heat with a torch before burning them on to the spring section with my mig welder. I also mig welded the hardie shank to the bottom of the spring. Taking special care to orient the shank correctly with how it fits the hole in my anvil. Gave it a clean up with the grinder, and a final tweak or two for alignment. And finished up before noon. 

Back on with the hinges tomorrow.