Trad Gang

My biggest kick about making knives is making the hot steel move around.  My blades are mostly forged with grinding to clean up my tapers.  In doing that style you become pretty familiar with your hammers to move & shape the blade.  I recently tried one of our farriers Hofi Style Ergonomic Hammers.  These hammers are real easy on your arm, elbow, wrist...body!  They stretch & thin hot steel very well.  The balance is great.  For those of you that forge, if you get a chance...give one a try. I think you'll like it.  It's now my hammer of choice...Doc

2.4# Hofi Hammer
 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tippit/Knife%20Shop/Centaur004.jpg)

where can you get them ?  Drew

Drew,  There are several different styles.  I debated on the diagonal peen vs the cross peen.  Occasionally you'll see them on fleabay but I bought mine here:

http://www.bigbluhammer.com/products/blacksmith_hammers.shtml    

If anyone wants to come up and help dig out from the 1 1/2 feet of snow that's scheduled to come in tonight, you're welcome to try the hammer too   :bigsmyl:

I have wanted one of those for a loooooooong time. I'll bet you become good friends.
Here is what I am getting in about a week or so:
http://www.caffreyknives.net/Angle%20Pien%20Hammers.html

I will get one of the angled piens.

Karl,  I have an angled peen hammer that I've used for all my length wise drawing.  That's why I was torn when I got the Hofi (they do make four head shapes).  For some reason, that hammer just fits my style better than than the off set peen.  Good reason to be able to try both if you can.  Again the Hofi is so much less wear & tear on my arm after use, maybe not someone else.  When I forge, I'm usually doing 2-3 blades at the same time so everything flows evenly in & out of the forge.

My forging is just a means of relaxing.  I don't intend to sell any of my forge work...but it does make for great trades.  The head guide at Solana Ranch really want a knife and offered a Big Buck.  He might have been serious...we'll see next year   ;)  Doc

PS:  Karl's link to Ed Caffery is a great site.  Ed Caffrey's DVD on beginning forging is a superb learning DVD...Doc

One more reason why the straight peen works for me:  

I tend to stretch my steel off the edge of the anvil rather than along the length of the anvil.  As it is stretched it will curl up.  The advantage is the steel isn't always in contact with he colder anvil...thus being able to forge longer on the anvil between heats.  Again, ya'll have to find what works for you...but any tip can make things easier & more enjoyable.  I'm done now...Doc

I have a hard time with finding just the right hammer. I don't use any flat stock. I don't even own any!
Most of my forging is with 5160, but I have 2400 feet of 1 inch square stock made back in '84. So, I use my power hammer to knock it fairly flat to about .275 - .300 and about 1 1/4 wide. Then I forge my knives from that. When I say I "forge" a knife, I really "forge" a knife! My W1 knives come down from 1 or 1 1/8" round. So, anyway, I have a lot of steel to move around. It takes me about an hour to forge a simple 5 inch hunter. But I know I can cut that time down a little if I had just the right hammer to move the steel a little more efficiently.
I'm always in search of the right hammer!

I have one of Tom Clark's hammers of that style. I use it a lot.

   Here is a 1 lb ball pein I modified just today. I have a 32 oz I done the same way and like it so much I decided I needed a smaller one as well.
 (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2401/2190589173_87571656ca.jpg?v=0)
 (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2218/2191376274_ac179c5b19.jpg?v=0)
 (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2003/2190590413_2d7ebfe659.jpg?v=0)

I'll get a handle in it and try it out soon. Lin

Lin, That looks real nice.  I'd like to know if the sharp edge of the peen moves metal as well as a rounded edge.

Karl,  I use flat and round stock.  For now this hammer is working better than my others.  But I know the grail is still out there  :)  Doc

I intend to round the straight pein a little more and remove the abrupt edges. This should move steel in tight places. Cant hit it too hard or it will chop it. This hammer is for finishing up the blade forging. I will use a larger pein on more open areas.
                                 Lin

I find these old ball pein heds and give them a new life. You can make one each of the cross, straight, and 45 degree. Just customize the face and pein to suit your forging job.
 On the above head, I also made a drift to enlarge the eye a little. I will take an old broken sledge handle and reshape it for the handle.
  The steels in these are usually S-7 which is air hardening steel with no particular heat treat needs. Wear safety glasses while giving it a few test taps on a scrap of steel.
                                   Lin

Anyone ever try a japanese-style forging hammer?  It's similar to something called (I think) a cutler's hammer.  Most of the mass is at the face and the angle of that promotes a slight rocking when you hit the steel, helping to move it in just one direction.

The first project once the new forge is (finally) fired up will be a couple of tongs and hammers.  I figure the best way to start refining my hammer skills is to do some basic blacksmithing...

I tried one for a couple of hours at a hammer-in last year & just couldn't get on with it. It moved metal very efficiently, but with all the weight being forward of the handle, it just felt wrong, like my anvil was 8" too high. My arm constantly wanted to move another 8" downward, as I'm used to with my own hammers & this was causing the hammer to 'flop' over on every strike. It made a real mess on the billet I was working on, with the edge of the face leaving ugly & very deep scars.

All I ever use these days is a pair of standard ball pein hammers, (32 & 24oz) A 2lb club hammer & a little 12oz farrier's cross pein. Saying that, I don't do much hot forging now. It's all stock removal. I really need to get back at it!

Jeremy,  I have a Japaneses style hammer I'd be glad to let you try  :D   Like Rob, I find it very difficult to control and thus tiring.  My hammer is my connection to the steel so it becomes a very personal feel for me.  

I'm home today sitting out a snow storm (gave my clinic staff the day off) so here's a picture of my Japanese style hammer...Doc

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tippit/Knife%20Shop/JapaneseDiagonalPeenHammers001.jpg)

If I have to move a lot of steel, this modified sledge hammer head with a right hand diagonal peen is what I use.  The diagonal peen works great when pounding the steel down the center of the anvil.  It's a blacksmith beater of a hammer though...that's why I'd like to replace it with a 25# Little Giant power hammer.  Still looking...Doc

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tippit/Knife%20Shop/JapaneseDiagonalPeenHammers002.jpg)

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tippit/Knife%20Shop/JapaneseDiagonalPeenHammers003.jpg)

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v110/tippit/Knife%20Shop/JapaneseDiagonalPeenHammers004.jpg)

Here's my hammer I like best  :D  
A little dark but that's Jeff running the 25# Meyer Bros power hammer
 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v82/gotahunt/R0010352.jpg)

How much is shipping from Montana?  

That's exactly what I was talking about Doc!  I'd love to give it a try at some point.  Like Rob, I'm just using a few standard ball peen hammers and a cross peen.  I end up grinding too much though (hence the need to refine my hammer skills  :D )

I watched a guy pound out a bowie last year... on the horn of the anvil.  It was U-shaped when he got the distal taper done, but it was about the fastest I've seen an even distal taper put into a large knife.  Admittedly, I ain't seen that done too much tough  ;)   Any thoughts?

I am heading to Ed Caffrey's next month to take his beginning forging class. So guess I will get to check out his hammers up close. They Look pretty nice in his video. I will give a report when I get back.

Ever given any thought to a treadle hammer Doc?  They don't look too hard to make...

Jeremy,  I think the power hammer would be more versatile for general forging and for making damascus steel vs a press or a treadle hammer.  I maybe wrong since my experience is limited there.

tomh,  That should be one heck of a course!  We all expect details when you get back...enjoy  :wavey:  Doc

Yeah, I was just thinking that $100 in scrounged parts is a whole lot more in reach than the serious cash for a power hammer.
I think the only advantage of the treadle hammer over a power hammer would be the ability to control/change the power of each blow.  I don't know much about power hammers though - do they have some sort of foot operated control, or is it full power with each strike?

Foot operated for the speed of the hit.

That makes sense!  :D

man I have lots to learn :0)

Working steel is on my short list of things to do.  I have bid on several powerhammers on **** but I have seen most of them sell for 2000-3000 depending on their condition, which is more than I care to spend on anything except maybe a real fine horse.  I have several old truck springs, railroad ties, Ibeam steel etc. that could be fashioned into a power hammer.  I am planning to build my own powerhammer this spring when things warm up a little bit.  I came across the appalachian power hammer with my online searches and I ordered my plans from these people:

http://www.appaltree.net/rusty/super_rusty.htm

My father and his buddy are building a power hammer based on the appalachian plans. They should have finished it by now, but I think ice fishing got in the way of smithing.  Don't make sense to me: spend the cold winter months on a wind swept frozen lake or spend them sweating in front of a coal fired forge.  Kind of a no-brainer if you ask me!  :D

For hand hammers I use only the Japenese style and the swedish style. Odd combo I guess but that is what I ended up doing best with

Hey Jerry! I'm glad you stopped in! Let's go huntin.

Guys, Jerry Fisk is one of the best at forging blades. I hope yall get a chance to see some of them sometime.

                                  Lin

The Jerry Fisk?!!
Sir, I've been admiring your your knives for years!

Huh, I started to stutter there for some reason!   :biglaugh:

Hey Lin, Karl, good to be here. My fingers are doing better so I will try shooting the bow more for awhile and see how that goes.
I am putting a small hunt together if all goes well the week after Arkansas show when Ricardo is here. Should know within two weeks how that is going.

I was invited on an outing down yonder, but I'm afraid I have to opt out. I heard you and Lin would both be there.
We'll see - it's still 50/50.
Single digits here tomorrow, so the South looks pretty inviting!
For you guys "building" power hammers, I would  have my own opinion. If I was to invest a little money in something home-built, and hope for great success, I would put it in a press! Power hammers just require too much precision, and I think you might end up with issues right off the bat, or in the future.
I'm building my own press, and I HAVE a power hammer.
I vote for the press if your only options are to home-build.

What are you thinking for your press Karl? I've had my hammer for several years and had intentions of building a press for years too just never have gotten around to it. I've played with a couple different presses and like what I see a bunch... someday....

I just emailed a file to you on press building. Mine will end up something like 28 tons with a 5 inch cylinder.
Hopefully I'll have it up and running this Spring before the Blade Show.