forging to shape

J.Marsillo

J.Marsillo

Joined
Nov 8, 2000
Messages
1,255
One of my goals making knives is to forge as much as i can to shape.Not nescasarily neo tribal, but just for the nostalgia of it.
i just picked up a copy of 50 $ knife shop and there was a good chapter on forging to shape in there. with little help in person i'm finding it tough to get the hang of forging without having to do so much grinding.Books are helpful tutorials are a godsend,but the 3 dimesional hold it in your hands way is the way iv'e always learned.
Here's something that i tried this morning,quiet sunday morning,residential neighborhood,hammer swinging on some modeling clay.No noise no wasted fuel or materials,but it seems to move similar to steel under the hammer albeit alot faster moving fullering and drawing work the same.Am i on the right track here? like i said i get very little shop time and hate wasting "hammer time" and materials/fuel
 
Never tried the modeling clay, but if it helps, it helps. I still only go about 80% forged to shape. Even if I was able to forge 100% to shape I'd leave a grinding allowance to clean decarb off.
 
Joe,

FYI, at SUNY's Ashokan Field Campus in Olivebridge, NY they have annual knifemaking and blacksmithing weekends. The New England Bladesmiths Guild seminar is always the 3rd weekend in September. The blacksmith's weekend was always shortly after that, but it looks like they moved it to the beginning of May this year. I checked MapQuest and looks like you are less than 70 miles away from Ashokan. You can email Tim Neu and get on their mailing list if you like.

Ashokan adult retreats.

Fortunately, Kevin Cashen doesn't update his website very often :). He's still got the info from the 2004 Bladesmith's seminar on his site. Ashokan 2004.

Mete, aren't you in New York too? If so, you should come to Ashokan (maybe even teach a class?). It would be interesting/amusing to hear you and Kevin get into one of those esoteric discussions on metallurgy.
 
Joe, Bring home some of the scrap 60 grade rebar from work. Thats how I leaned how to forge. Get good enough doing it you can sell them the the fellows at work. There was a few jobs I made two paychecks doing that. Just don't expect to much at first with your forging but don't give up on it. It takes time to get the hang of it. It took me a good 3 years before I felt like I was finally starting to get it.
 
thanks guys :)
Chris i was planning on going to ashokan this year.I went there on a feild trip in 5th grade,we stayed for a week and had a ton of fun.We got to make a fire poker in the blacksmiths shop,I think that experience has been burning inside me ever since.I worked right over the hill from ashokan this past winter i could see the reservoir from the top of the mnt.
Thanks for the encouragment Ray,its pretty good to hear it from a pro :thumbup: your work is phenominal.

Will i think half my material is decarb its in and out of the forge so much :D

I dunno mete if i go ahead and draw out some nice clay billets do you think we could get a HT recipie together ;)

I also found this place Uri Hoffi teaches there on occasion.Its only 20 minutes from me.
 
Joe,
One thing that helped me move a long ways towards learning to forge to shape was making the shift away from power tools and grinders to working only with hand tools and files. You quickly learn that extra time spent at the forge eliminates alot of hard work later and practice practice practice. Love the modeling clay idea. Anyhow, that's just my two cents worth.
 
Modelling clay works pretty well, another item you may want to try is lead. It acts a bit more like steel, and can be remelted when you are done. just make sure to wash your hands before you eat. I get most of my lead from tire shops. they usually have a bucket or two of old lead weights for balancing wheels.
 
Thanks for that link Joe. Looks like an interesting place I might like to check out sometime. I too like to forge pretty close to shape. Don't always get there, but I like the idea. Practice is essential, but watching somebody else do it is really helpful for me. I've been through the the ABS school and several hammer in's and always try and spend as much time watching other smiths as I can. I can pick up more in a half hour watching a master smith than in a month of stumbling around on my own.
The clay idea is a good one and has been reccommended by master smiths (i forget who).
I looked at the map and you're only about 100 miles from me. I'm in Widsor NY right off of 17 (just before Binghamton). Right now I've got 4 anvils, two forges, a sort of half assed press, and the standard cold shop equipment.
If you'd like to come down for a day some weekend and bang on some steel, let me know. I'll be gone memorial day weekend, but should be available most weekends after that.
Ed
 
Spend a day with a smith in your area and you will take months to years off the learning curve.
 
I'm throwing my 2 cents in with Happycat. I went to the ABS school in October of '04 with zero experience. What I learned in two weeks I swear I shaved 2 years off my learning curve. It was worth every cent. I also had one of the best times in my life and made some good friends.
Also like he said, find a journeyman or master locally if you can. I've been mentoring under Red StCyr for the last year and a half and just watching has given me more knowledge and encouragement than I thot possible in a year and a half. Check out my website "hershbergerhandmade", if you'd of told me I'd be capable of doing that a year and a half ago I'd of told you were crazy. I owe it all to the ABS and Red, and dang I'm havin' fun!
 
I know Ed already did but, I'll be glad to extend an invitation as well. Your about 2 hrs from our place. I'd be glad to share what little knowledge I have and an afternoon in the shop.

Your also only about an hour away from Joe Szilaski. I know he's really busy but, he's a really nice fella and a veritable wealth of information on forging and everything else.
 
Thanks guys I'd love to come out to play :) I have to convince the wife now.....:o She hates everything i do.
 
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