- Joined
- Aug 6, 2007
- Messages
- 5,060
I have been on Long Island and working in a friend's ironworks helping out as one of his guy's scored his dream job at a hot rod shop (1 year paid internship) and gave his 2 weeks notice. His shop is like a scaled up version of all my stuff, bigger power hammer, bigger anvils, bigger tool collection hehe. Went in on Saturday to play about a bit, had some 2 1/4" round 1045 I wanted to make into a real offset handle cutler's hammer. I WISH I remembered to bring my camera! I upset the one end of the bar to get a larger face, then drew it octagonal and back into a taper. The next step of making the eye was tricky. Before I got to handle one and take measurements, I didn't know how to do it but getting to handle and measure an original old one another smith by the name of Jesus Hernandez (thanks Jesus!) owned showed me how the angle was obtained. If you measure the angle of the taper, that will equal the angle of the handle proportionate to the face, because when you punch the hole, one side of the hammer will lay flat on the anvil and you are driving the punch straight down, so when you tip the handle up onto the face the hole will be angled. I'll have some pictures in a couple weeks when I get home and can upload them, and get the hammer heat treated and handled up. It weighs 5 pounds, but i'll try it out before cutting some material off to lighten it, the one I handled was about 4 ish pounds. Looks real "authentic". I also made a small stump anvil from another piece of the 1045.
OH YEAH, also have been doing ACTUAL PRODUCTION FORGING on a powerhammer, over two days I headed 399 nails in a special die, with a header my boss made and I heat treated from H13 (which held up VERY well, considering at times it was a dull red heat), forged down 5 2 foot sections of 2" hex bar into 1 1/2" hex bar (they grew about 8 inches) which will be sliced into 3/4" long pieces and drilled and tapped as nuts, I will be forging bolt blanks from 1 1/2" square this week. It's a RIOT, very fun and also exhausting but VERY satisfying work and EXCITING to be doing paying work on a big powerhammer in a production setting. I am working on the larger model say mak hammer which is very nice.
OH YEAH, also have been doing ACTUAL PRODUCTION FORGING on a powerhammer, over two days I headed 399 nails in a special die, with a header my boss made and I heat treated from H13 (which held up VERY well, considering at times it was a dull red heat), forged down 5 2 foot sections of 2" hex bar into 1 1/2" hex bar (they grew about 8 inches) which will be sliced into 3/4" long pieces and drilled and tapped as nuts, I will be forging bolt blanks from 1 1/2" square this week. It's a RIOT, very fun and also exhausting but VERY satisfying work and EXCITING to be doing paying work on a big powerhammer in a production setting. I am working on the larger model say mak hammer which is very nice.
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Are you living down there or just commuting? 
I don't have your number, I lost my cell phone and that email, but I don't have access to a phone here either, shoot me an email is the best way for contact till the end of the month.
