- Joined
- Dec 27, 2012
- Messages
- 385
I was fortunate enough to have attended Travis W's hammer inn this weekend and I thought I'd share some really cool things I learned.
Let me begin by saying that that the Wuertz family are incredibly generous and wonderful hosts.
I arrived at about three o'clock on Friday and was greeted by Travis. Travis introduced me to Tim Hancock,
Michael Quesenberry, and Eric Fleming. That's a lot of talent in one room.
I watched as these gentlemen worked on some modifications of Tim's press.
I'll do my best to explain how awesome this press is. In the photo you will notice a silver dial with a cam attached to it and a limit switch. Tim wanted the ability to set limits on the press to make forging more efficient. Normally you would use blocks between your dies to set the thickness of a billet. With this system you simply slide your dies into the press, zero your cam and you are good to go. So, if you want your billet to be 1" square, you set the cam to one inch and simply hold the foot peddle or joy stick down and the press will automatically stop at that 1" hight every time.:thumbup:
Here is a pic of Tim and Eric working on the press.
One thing that really impressed me about Mr.Hancock is his desire to keep finding better and more efficient ways to forge/make a knife.
Tim showed everyone his method of using beveled ladder dies in the press.
Tim explained that when you use the beveled dies in the press you have less material to grind away later and the patterns in the end are simply beautiful.
Here is a pic of Tim at the grinder working on the knife that he forged with the beveled dies.
Mr. Gary LaBlanc gave a great lesson on bolsters. Take it from me, you cannot see a line between the blade and bolster when Gary is finished.
Michael Quesenberry was also on hand. Mike is an extremely talented maker and taught a class on forging as well as parkerizing.
Although not at the Hammer in as a instructor, Shane Carter was kind enough to do a demo on forging.
In 1984, Shayne was the first American to win the World Champion Blacksmith Competition (WCBC) held in conjunction with the Calgary Stampede. Matter of fact, he was the only American who won this prestigious title until 1999. Shayne is still the youngest participate to win the WCBC title at age 23.
Over the years, Shayne has been very active in competitions. Winning spots on the American Farriers Team in 1986,1988,1990,1993, 1997, and 1998. A competition held at the annual American Farriers Association Convention. The top ranking farriers participate in classes that last for several days. The top four Americans are placed on a team that represents the USA at International Competitions in Scotland, England and Canada. Shayne was the team caption (National and Overall High Point Winner several of the years he was on the team.
The amount of control this gentlemen has with a hammer is amazing.
There were many famous and talented makers on hand as spectators as well,
Mike Tyre, Mike Mooney, and Hans weinmueller were all there and very kind and generous with any questions asked.
Our host, Travis W, was a man on fire the entire weekend. He is truly a genius when it comes to anything mechanical. He demonstrated how incredibly efficient the TW-90 grinder is.
Here is a pic showing how to surface grind the bevels into a 10" kitchen knife in about two minutes a side.
Here is my favorite pic of the weekend. I was lucky enough to eat breakfast with these incredible gentlemen every morning.
Group photo with one our own from BF, can you identify the gentlemen second from the left?
I'll end this with a pic of out host,Travis W. in his assembly area.
Thanks for looking,
-Eric
Let me begin by saying that that the Wuertz family are incredibly generous and wonderful hosts.
I arrived at about three o'clock on Friday and was greeted by Travis. Travis introduced me to Tim Hancock,
Michael Quesenberry, and Eric Fleming. That's a lot of talent in one room.
I watched as these gentlemen worked on some modifications of Tim's press.
I'll do my best to explain how awesome this press is. In the photo you will notice a silver dial with a cam attached to it and a limit switch. Tim wanted the ability to set limits on the press to make forging more efficient. Normally you would use blocks between your dies to set the thickness of a billet. With this system you simply slide your dies into the press, zero your cam and you are good to go. So, if you want your billet to be 1" square, you set the cam to one inch and simply hold the foot peddle or joy stick down and the press will automatically stop at that 1" hight every time.:thumbup:
Here is a pic of Tim and Eric working on the press.
One thing that really impressed me about Mr.Hancock is his desire to keep finding better and more efficient ways to forge/make a knife.
Tim showed everyone his method of using beveled ladder dies in the press.
Tim explained that when you use the beveled dies in the press you have less material to grind away later and the patterns in the end are simply beautiful.
Here is a pic of Tim at the grinder working on the knife that he forged with the beveled dies.
Mr. Gary LaBlanc gave a great lesson on bolsters. Take it from me, you cannot see a line between the blade and bolster when Gary is finished.
Michael Quesenberry was also on hand. Mike is an extremely talented maker and taught a class on forging as well as parkerizing.
Although not at the Hammer in as a instructor, Shane Carter was kind enough to do a demo on forging.
In 1984, Shayne was the first American to win the World Champion Blacksmith Competition (WCBC) held in conjunction with the Calgary Stampede. Matter of fact, he was the only American who won this prestigious title until 1999. Shayne is still the youngest participate to win the WCBC title at age 23.
Over the years, Shayne has been very active in competitions. Winning spots on the American Farriers Team in 1986,1988,1990,1993, 1997, and 1998. A competition held at the annual American Farriers Association Convention. The top ranking farriers participate in classes that last for several days. The top four Americans are placed on a team that represents the USA at International Competitions in Scotland, England and Canada. Shayne was the team caption (National and Overall High Point Winner several of the years he was on the team.
The amount of control this gentlemen has with a hammer is amazing.
There were many famous and talented makers on hand as spectators as well,
Mike Tyre, Mike Mooney, and Hans weinmueller were all there and very kind and generous with any questions asked.
Our host, Travis W, was a man on fire the entire weekend. He is truly a genius when it comes to anything mechanical. He demonstrated how incredibly efficient the TW-90 grinder is.
Here is a pic showing how to surface grind the bevels into a 10" kitchen knife in about two minutes a side.
Here is my favorite pic of the weekend. I was lucky enough to eat breakfast with these incredible gentlemen every morning.
Group photo with one our own from BF, can you identify the gentlemen second from the left?
I'll end this with a pic of out host,Travis W. in his assembly area.
Thanks for looking,
-Eric
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