L R Wicker Design

We began yesterday with our first attempt to make a hammer punch since we took a week-long workshop with Brian Brazeal. Kainon and I spent the better part of the day working out how best to accomplish our goal and managed to produce a fair tool. We weren’t satisfied with it in many respects so we went ahead and made a second with the help of our fellow Balcones Forge member, Tyler Simpson. We met Tyler out at Pioneer Farm and he has been working with us ever since. I thought today would be a good chance to see if Kainon and I were ready to teach someone all the techniques necessary to forge a billet into a top tool, such as the hammer punch. The steps required to finish this tool are applicable to any other of the tools we will make, including hammers. Tyler is also anxious to start learning to make his own tools and a hammer as well so he was very excited to participate.

I maintained the fire and managed the heats while Kainon directed and Tyler did the striking. Kainon and I also guided Tyler and made sure to explain every step thoroughly so that we all knew what we were doing and why we were doing it. I felt that we all had a good grasp on the goal and the work went very smoothly. As the work progressed, Kainon was able to improve his tong handling and Tyler made great strides in his striking technique. Kainon and I were both impressed with the force of his hits and his accuracy by the end of the day.

You can see how straight the hole is in the above shot as well as the tongs used to grip the billet while it is being worked. Kainon and I were lucky to have received the hammer tongs he is using from Lyle Wynn, Brian’s friend and striker. The way these tongs are designed allows the user to easily flip the billet and find the edges of the anvil when positioning the billet for work. You can also see the new system Kainon and I applied to the anvil to improve it’s stability. We had to take care of the issue of a loose anvil before we could even think of working on pieces like this hammer punch.

The punch has been driven through the billet and Kainon is now locating the shadow to finish the hole by driving the punch from the other side. They were able to shear the waste in short order and the finished hole was very clean. It sounds very simple but it is very difficult to master this technique and the guys did a stellar job, I was very impressed and proud of their work.

We felt we should separate the punch mass from the eye area because one of the issues we had on the first attempt was due to the large size of the only flatter we have. We fullered around the mass and then Kainon hand hammered the taper out on this attempt. It was successful but we are still not completely happy with this solution and we will be looking for alternatives on further attempts.

The final flattening of the taper to produce the punch was done with the aforementioned giant flatter. The main beef we have is this thing bottoms out very quickly on our anvil and makes getting a thin enough taper difficult. Kainon persevered and the punch turned out just great.

You can see the results in the photo above. This piece is straight and clean, the hole is near perfect and the cheeks are even. We would have liked to draw the cheeks out a bit more and we will do so going forward. I have just finished grinding the bevels and cleaning up the striking end and I will get a photo up soon after I get a good handle fitted.

This top view really shows how evenly the piece turned out. I am extremely happy with the work and the fact that Kainon and I were able to take someone who had never struck before through the whole process and give him a good understanding of all the techniques involved in tool making. Tyler said he had a great time and was very excited to continue learning more and eventually make his own tools for hammer making. I feel much more confident that Kainon and I will be able to master tool making and hammer making as well as teaching these skills to others.

I can highly recommend booking a class with Brian and Lyle to anyone who wants to improve their technique and learn new blacksmithing skills. Brian has a passion for the work that is unmatched (actually, Lyle is just as passionate in his quiet way) and has many years of experience to draw upon when teaching. His attention to the way metal works and the real science and hard facts of how metal reacts to the dies it is struck with will save you many hours of wasted hammering and sore muscles. I have made more progress in my work since the class than I would have thought possible, I now feel totally confident when I pull a piece out of the fire and set it on the anvil. I know where I am going and how to get there. I think that Brian is responsible for making that possible for me and I am very grateful for his help and friendship.

Thanks for dropping by and keep coming back for more blacksmithing adventures!!!