forging steel

[Fred.Rowe]

Almost.... sometimes when someone demonstrates something and you THINK you got it, you might want to take a deep breath, check your ego and find out if you really understand it by telling him the process as you THINK you understand it. I almost got sucked into a hammer at another smith's shop. I sat down and smoked a couple of cigarettes before going back near it. I've seen and treated enough trauma in the Army to know what could have happened.

A couple of walk throughs, is a good way to learn, thats for sure. Accidents happen very quickly in the shop and are always the unexpected never the learned.

The things I have come to understand, the hard way, I tend not to forget; but I would rather work smart, its a lot less painful.

 

[pike3e]

any info on the walmart welder??

 

[scottickes]

I suggest round stock instead of flat bar. You don't learn much from pounding on a flat piece of steel; other than it used to be flat.

Truly; changing the shape, of a 3/4" square or round section of steel, into a knife, takes some skill. I mean, it takes skill to make a knife from a flat bar, it takes a bit more to make the same knife by forging methods.
It also takes steam, using a three pound hammer. builds muscle as well as endurance.

Change the shape of 50 of those rxr spikes into knives and you will absorb a great deal of valuable knowledge, about forging.

Hold your hammer more towards the end than the head, you let the hammer do the work if you do.

Learn about the forge, you purchased, burning up the rxr spikes. Weld them to a piece of re bar.

If you get the bug, buy a power hammer, there great.:thumbup:

Good luck with your new toys, Fred

Great advice Fred. In addition, one thing I learned early on about hammering technique is to raise and lower the hammer by moving your shoulder, not your elbow. Using your shoulder to bring the hammer up and down, has the following benefits:

1. It doesn't stress the smaller joints of your elbow, but instead allows use of the larger joints in the shoulder. I've found I can forge for longer periods of time with this method. I've also noticed I don't have as many issues with pain in my elbows or wrists.
2. You'll have better hammer control, and have less "Miss Hits" when using your shoulder. This is because the larger muscles are doing the heavy work, while the smaller muscles of the elbow, wrists and hands are left only with guiding the hammer. Every miss hit requires two to three extra hits to correct a miss hit hammer blow.
3. When using your shoulder muscles to raise and lower the hammer, you'll find yourself dropping the hammer from a higher point, creating more momentum and harder blows. Since these harder blows are more accurate, you get more work done with each heat.

Also, don't grip the hammer like you want to strangle it. A loose grip, that is just tight enough to keep from losing the hammer, will keep your hand from tiring out as quickly. Tired muscles (whether in the hand, wrists, arms or shoulders) lead to miss hits. Shoulder muscles are the largest muscles, so hold up longer before tiring out.