How To Keep tang aligned during forging

C

Cameron0215

Joined
Jul 25, 2017
Messages
3
I'm an amateur bladesmith, working out of my yard and certainly not to a level of selling anything yet. I took lessons from a local bladesmith and he tought me a ton. I've made several beginnings of blades at home, but after I draw out the tang and begin shaping the blade, that tang will migrate from the center to one side, always the side I designate as the spine. What is causing this, and how do I avoid it? More importantly, can I fix this afterwards? When I start the blade, the tang is centered and pretty straight but after awhile the whole piece curves, even though I work both sides fairly equally, and the tang becomes nearly flush with the spine.
 
Cameron
First, welcome to the blade forums. Trying to fix a movement problem which occurs during forging going only by a verbal description is close to impossible. If you have some photos or can draw a sketch someone might be able to help you. I didn't see where you live in your profile, if I missed it excuse me, but someone might invite you to their forge if they knew you were close to them.
A slab of modeling clay will move very similar to metal a d is a lot faster and cheaper to work with. So you might try using a wooden hammer on clay to figure out what is going on. Sorry I can't be more help.
Jim
 
Its hard to hold a tang with tongs, I always rough out the blade then draw out the tang.
Dunno if that helps your problem, but seems like you are forging a blade backwards.
Oops, btw. I make exclusively sticktangs, if thats important....
 
I'm not sure I'm following either unless what you are talking about is that you want some curve in your handle and as you forge the handle moves upward towards the spine making it a straight handle. If that is the case you can heat up the tang area and hold the blade with a pair of tongs and over the horn of your anvil you can whack it downward to put that curve back in it. Hope that helps.

-Clint
 
Thank you all for your help, these are all ideas that will help me on the future. I've figured out that it's a combination of a nearly too narrow tang and holding my tongs too low, so as I strike the edge of the blade steel, the tang would bend downward, and as I would straighten it out it moved toward the edge, and favored the spine because I work the edge more to shape the belly curve.
 
Lieblad said:
Its hard to hold a tang with tongs, I always rough out the blade then draw out the tang.
Dunno if that helps your problem, but seems like you are forging a blade backwards.
Oops, btw. I make exclusively sticktangs, if thats important....
Click to expand...
This, If you notice, in many of the "basic forging" instructional videos, the instructor forges the blade while it still attached to the long piece of bar stock and doesn't cut it off until is ready to forge the tang. Likewise a lot of guys weld a handle on if they have something short to work with. You don't always have that luxury but it is sure nice when you do.
 
My only welding method is a pretty new oxy acetylene torch that I have have to familiarize myself with before I use it on product, or an arc welder that I'm hesitant to use due to the welding rod material mixing with my product. I don't use a long handle, I use bolt tongs to grip my tang, which I've learned are all smaller than recommended but that's part of learning I suppose
 
Jim Crowell has a DVD on forging that addresses this. May be something online from that, or someone else's vid clip.
IIRC, the issue showed up after Jim cut off the handle end of the steel and started working the tang and finalizing the blade.
 
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