Forging ?

[RobertHankins]

As I sink deeper and deeper into the Abyss that is knifemaking I have convinced myself I NEED more stuff.
My question is this If I want to make some cable or Chain Damascus on a regular basis: Is a air powered 20ton press the answer? I know a hammer and anvil are out in my neighborhood, so is a trip hammer. Grainger has a small one for around $800.
Question #2: Am I better off building a gas forge or buying one ready made? I plan on doing swords also.

Man my credit card is in danger

 

[Sylvester]

I know what you are talkin about.
I would love to hammer some steel
but the neighbors would hang me.
Maybe when we move to Tn.

Jay Hayes has a 14 by 24in forge for
$375.00.

Or 10x12in for $180.00??

 

[Bruce Evans]

Bob,Being in the city like you are,The gas forge is the only way to go.I would suggest a good quality ventury style forge that is rated to be able to weld with as it is quieter than a forced air forge.
As for the press,I believe that you can weld with it and that would be your quietest way to go also,I still weld with a hammer and anvil and it isn't that noisy as I have the anvil mounted on a stump that is buried in the ground and I don't have a real big anvil so it doesn't ring real bad anyway.
I would suggest only forging during the day when everybody is at work and then work in the rest of the shop in the evenings.
Bruce

 

[Bruce Bump]

Robert, I had a power hammer and sold it for more than I paid for the parts to build a forging press. All the parts came from Northern and totol ost was about $1000. Indian George has a parts list and some pictures on his website. He maybe has a pic of my press there still. My forge is store bought but isnt high tech. It has a blower and will weld very easy.

 

[Gib Guignard]

You can make an anvile quite down (take the ring out
out of it) by puting a large magnet on the side of it
or hange a weaight from a belt on the horn Gib

 

[TedT]

Originally posted by Sylvester
I know what you are talkin about.
I would love to hammer some steel
but the neighbors would hang me.
Maybe when we move to Tn.

Jay Hayes has a 14 by 24in forge for
$375.00.

Or 10x12in for $180.00??

Anyone have a picture of any of these forges? sounds like it is just what i am looking for. would build one myself but i have seen to many explosions as it is

 

[NickWheeler]

Robert-

Good questions.

First off, have you forged very much yet? When I first got my little forge going, I was only interested in cable and chain... but then I realized that I knew nothing about how to make the metal move the way I wanted it to.

Luckily I had help from Tom Ferry, Bill Cottrell to get me started, then we went to Ed Caffrey's hammer-in and the ideas gelled a little more, and then I took a class from Mike Vagnino and it all came together well. With lot and lots of practice in-between.

My point is (IMHO) it's important to get the basics down in forging first just so you have a solid base. Then get as much help as you can to improve at a rapid rate.

If you can weld, or have a friend that can, I would really recommend building your own forge. There are many things you can do to greatly improve on what's on the market. For forges available for purchase have a flat floor in them that will be eaten by flux. A vertical forge with kao-wool lining and a castable floor will get to welding heat in 4 minutes, and the floor will wistand the flux.

My next tool for forging will be a press. A press manipulates the material from the inside out while a hammer works on surface manipulation. While a hammer is better for drawing, a press will allow you to make welds that wouldn't happen any other way, and you can use it to forge a lot of the contours of a blade if you're careful. Plus it's usually way less money, or about the same if you buy one (like a Carlisle).

After that point you have to decide things like if you want a 4" cylinder for speed, or a 6" cylinder for "more squish" with less speed.

Anyway, a simple answer would have been a vertical forge and a press

Nick