Making a socket smaller?

L

Leon Husock

Joined
Jul 17, 2019
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320
So I realized after I forge welded the socket onto this lugged spear that the pipe I used is 1" on the inside and 1 5/16" on the outside. I'd really like the shaft to be flush with the outside of the socket for a smooth line, but 1 5/16" seems too thick for a spear shaft. Is there any way to forge down pipe to a smaller size? I can taper it and I can neck it, but I've never tried just straight forging the whole thing down.

Alternatively, please let me know if I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill and this is a fine thickness for a spear shaft.
 
You would need some sort of swage block and have to rotate the hot pipe as you worked it. A top swage-die hammer would also help. It is best done as a two-man operation.
It isn't too hard with a swage block. but it can't be done on a flat anvil face.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
You would need some sort of swage block and have to rotate the hot pipe as you worked it. A top swage-die hammer would also help. It is best done as a two-man operation.
It isn't too hard with a swage block. but it can't be done on a flat anvil face.
Click to expand...

Hmm. All I have is rounding dies for my press which are 1" and will just crush the pipe into nothing. Sounds like I might just have to settle for either a haft that's a little too thick or a spear head that isn't flush with the haft.
 
FredyCro said:
What about tapering the shaft?
Click to expand...
It'd be a little hard to do because I don't have a lathe, but in general I'm reluctant to do it because it tips the weight of the spear more towards the head and it's not meant to be a throwing spear. I did end up making a bottom round swage out of some square tubing and got the socket reduced; now I have a new problem (of course), because it somehow got shorter in the process of reducing it and now it's only a 4" socket. Ah, well.
 
For turning shafts/posts

Didn't really watch this, but skimmed it.
start at about 4 mins in.
I've seen people use a sharp point of a screw as the tooling instead of the router bit, going perpendicular to the wooden shaft. Same principle.
 
Huh, it's an interesting method certainly. My plan was for rounding the shaft overall was just to knock the corners off as much as I could with my table saw and then use a hand plane and sand paper. A less than perfectly round spear shaft is a little grippier anyway. None of her solutions would let you taper a long pole the way you can on a lathe, though.
 
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