Hammers, for bladesmiths

[Sam Salvati]

So, first let me say thanks to Aldo Bruno and Bob Eggerling. Without either of them I could not have managed to fulfill one of my life goals. Aldo introduced me to Bob and he allowed us to come over and hang out and helped us figure out how to put a nice eye in the hammer head blanks. Bob Eggerling, in case you've been living under a ROCK, is one of the world's premiere damascus makers, and IMO a true artist. He is also a top shelf tool builder, his hydraulic presses are second to none and he has alot of other neat tips and tricks around his shop that are really cool. Here's photos:

Aldo and Bob's hammer, the first Say Mak imported into the US

A Hammer bob's working on that has a mosaic damascus panel on the back

Then we went to visit Dave Martell

Dave had some nice knives in the works

Then we went to a scrapyard, that was AMAZING

And what did we find?

Yes that is a vat of damascus billet cutoffs

Aldo picked this up, 12"x12"x18" A2!!!!

And these:

we got the hammers done, all before lunch!

And Bob MOST EXCELLENTLY sourced perfect handles for us:

And the man himself "Smitty"

And here's hammer #1

They are forged and heat treated 1045, with a hickory handle and weigh in between 2.2 and 2.5 pounds.

BIG THANKS TO MY FRIENDS BOB AND ALDO!!!!:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: I feel so lucky and blessed

 

[NickWheeler]

Totally frick'n awesome Sam! :thumbup:

That's a lot-O hammers! :thumbup:

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

Cool!

 

[DaveMartell]

Robert Eggerling is such a gentleman, the man makes me smile every time I talk to him.

It was great seeing you guys, thanks for stopping by.

 

[Battle Creek Knives]

Excellent post !!! but somewhat confusing for me, while I may have some fundamentals under my belt I don't quite get how you know for certain what metals are what.. And how do you make anything with such a huge block of steel??

I've talked with Aldo at great length and the little time I've had to pick his brain he appears top notch, seems like a really great guy.. you really are blessed

 

[Makermook]

Sam, those are awesome! I know this isn't the place for buying and selling, but will some of those be available to us smiths?

 

[Mike Davis]

Wow...Sam, my pant's got a little tighter seeing that! What an awesome day! You really are blessed. And i agree with Nick, Thass alotta hammers!

 

[Barry Clodfelter]

That was quite a day! Nice hammers and yes I do want one!!

 

[Burton Harruff]

Awesome Sam. Good to go.

 

[Rick Marchand]

STOP........


[youtube]otCpCn0l4Wo[/youtube]

 

[JMJones]

Where did all those damascus cutoffs come from?

 

[Atlas Knife Company]

I miss bicycle pants, almost as much as I miss fitting into them, hehe. Aaah, those were the days. Five miles through the snow uphill both ways!

You are definitely the man, SAM!

 

[Steinerj]

Excellent post !!! but somewhat confusing for me, while I may have some fundamentals under my belt I don't quite get how you know for certain what metals are what.. And how do you make anything with such a huge block of steel??

I've talked with Aldo at great length and the little time I've had to pick his brain he appears top notch, seems like a really great guy.. you really are blessed

Im pretty sure Aldo just licks the steel and he knows the certs

 

[Sam Salvati]

[youtube]SmzsK_IQsfE[/youtube]

 

[Carl_First_Timer]

Sammy making it look easy. I like the toss into the big pile of hammer heads at the end there.

 

[Railrider1920]

Looks like fun. Nice score at the scrap yards!!

 

[deker]

Where did all those damascus cutoffs come from?

I'd wager a good beer they are from Mr. Eggerling's shop....

-d

 

[Rick Marchand]

I like the underbeard look, Sam....

 

[Salem Straub]

Sam, great thread. Looks like it was an amazing day. I agree, a good scrapyard is utterly dumbfounding to a blacksmith. You end up wishing you could trailer all your best picks home for free, maybe two or three trailers. Hell, maybe just buy the scrapyard and build a house next to it.

Killer shop pics too. Nice hammers. I wish I could watch the vid, but I have dialup... siggghhhh.

Thanks for the entertainment.

 

[Carl_First_Timer]

I wish I could watch the vid, but I have dialup... siggghhhh.

Simple steps to watch video on dial up:

1. Click on the video.
2. Hit the pause button.
3. Go forge a knife.
4. Come back and watch the video.