8620 forging question

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Ghostman3

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Jan 12, 2016
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Is 8620 harder to move/forge than say a mild steel like a36 or 1018?

I have this 3/4" round 8620 rod I am trying to draw down to 3/8 - 1/2" and try and make some tongs. This is also practice for me as this is my first try at it. I figured if I could tackle this I would then move onto forging blades. I did keep the piece really hot whilst forging.

This is about 10 minutes of forging. I wore a blister into my hammer hand. 3lb 16" handle. I can use it easily.

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8620 is made to be forged (excellent forgeability is one of its attributes). In 10 minutes you should have make a lot more progress than just squaring off a couple inches.

I suspect it isn't as hot as you think it is. You don't forge in the red temperatures ( too low), but in the orange to yellow temps. Try heating it up hotter and you will see it move under the hammer quite a bit easier. Forge until it drops down to red and stick it back into the fire. It is a fools errant to try to forge when only red.
 
When the hammer just bounces off , without moving the steel ,it needs more heat !
 
Right it was always orange or yellow and I stopped when approaching red but maybe it's still not hot as I think. It just seemed like it would not get hotter. I was only burning one torch, so maybe I'll turn both torches on and see how it does. I bought a cross peen hammer with a wood handle to see if that gives less of a blister than the other one I had. Thanks for the replies.


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Ghostman3 said:
Right it was always orange or yellow and I stopped when approaching red but maybe it's still not hot as I think. It just seemed like it would not get hotter. I was only burning one torch, so maybe I'll turn both torches on and see how it does. I bought a cross peen hammer with a wood handle to see if that gives less of a blister than the other one I had. Thanks for the replies.
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What type of forge are you using? It takes a good bit of heat to forge down larger round stock. Perhaps the forge is too small, or does not have a sufficient heat source.

Blisters usually indicate something is wrong with your grip. I usually wear a forging glove ( a baseball batting glove works well) on the hammer hand.

Color is very subjective in open sunlight. You can think it is hotter or cooler than it really is. Forging in the shade, or in the evening when there is less overpowering light gives a better color reading. My smithy is very shady and has rather dim lighting in the forging area. That seems a bit odd until you start forging, and realize the hot metal is very clearly visible. I like to do forge HT at night, when you can really see the colors properly.
 
make sure the metal is heated all the way through and not just the surface

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I was wearing regular leather gloves, but I guess I could try some fancier gloves to see if that helps. I have a new hammer now with a solid wood handle and it doesn't seem to bother my hand like the other did.


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On the right hand, I wear fingerless gloves, like the baseball batting gloves. On the left I wear an insulated forge glove (HT glove).
 
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