The racket Charles refers to is the students raising bowls or
vessels. Raising requires some force on the downward stroke but I
always relax just before the hammer hits the metal. When I am raising
and going well I try to utilise the bounce of the hammer to help my
lift but still relaxed, after the hammer has been lifted to the fall
position, I apply force, then relax again. Planishing is different in
that the hammer is guided in its fall, perhaps just a bit of force and
before it hits the metal, relax, then use the bounce to lift with
some help.
The reason I advocate relaxing just before the hammer hits,
especially when raising or forging is that the wrist should be loose
at all times. Students who hammer from the elbo with a tight wrist
tend to get rsi? This is hammering all day of course. Also the handās
grip should grip and relax in sync. Good for pumping the blood.
Indeed hammering should be like cracking a whip, force starting from
the shoulder, being augmented at the elbo and completed by the loose
wrist so the hammer gains maximum controlled speed for a controlled
hit.
I do make my own tools I will try to post images when I return from
Morocco in three months.
Yes I do! Started a list but it will take many hours to elaborate.
Nothing is sacred when it comes to modifying existing tools. My
latest modifications are transferring the shutter and light ring to
a better (Stereo Zoom) microscope for the Orion pulse-arc welder. The
welder delivers 100% after 2 years, and a shutter is by far best
means of eye protection while giving a clear view.
As to the makingā¦a device for quickly changing the electrode
in-situ because this is the main bottleneck; a home made electrode
sharpener; and a poor personās filler wire dispenser made from bamboo
chopsticks.
Am I hammering correctly? Half of my hammers are home made and only
a few of the others have escaped modification.
we can also move origin up and down the axis. If we move origin
closer to punch face, we gain in stability. It may be good for
punches struck once (stamping). For punches designed to be used for
creating overlapping textures, it is advantageous to move the
origin towards striking end. We loose in stability, but gain in
maneuverability. And it goes without saying that the thickest part
of punch should always correspond to location of the origin.
Regarding the design of a punch, please critique this drawing
that illustrates my attempt to understand your explanations.
As needed, more than ten generations of blacksmithsā¦ I think it is
the bones, I even tried to run awayā¦
I make most of my repousse tools oval basically, flattened rounds.
They feel good in the hand and are easy to hold and direct.
I am sure that the taper of old punches from the striking end to the
face has more to do with frugality than anything else. Tool steel
was really expensive and you would only use as much as you needed.
Sometimes I taper them when the tool blank in hand is too short, to
stretch out the material. but for most tools that I produce, the
steel is cheaper than the forging time.
that illustrates my attempt to understand your explanations.
It is not bad, but try to combine idea of geometrical center with
punch weight distribution. We moving center closer to striking end.
if weight of the punch will be distributed around this center, only
then we achieve maneuverability.
Think about in the following terms. We hold punch in the middle. If
punch is symmetrical, the weight above grip equal weight bellow the
grip. When moving punch we have to deal with complete weight. When
weight above grip is greater than bellow, when we move punch to the
left, letās say, the top will tend to stay behind and even will shift
to the right lifting face end by itself. That is the idea. It may
appear minor, but when doing it all day long, you would feel it.
To summarize: geometrical center help with vibration control. If we
can arrange that centers of face and striking end coincide we control
not only vibration, but recoil as well. Combine punch geometry with
weight distribution and we can obtain either stability or ease of
movement.
I will try to post some illustrations, but not before couple of
weeks. I have to leave in a day or two and will not be back before
25th. Remind me than, and Iāll arrange for some pictures.
I created it to hold knife blades in place perfectly straight while
dental plaster hardens in the handles. I also have accessories for
this jig when holding forks, pie paddles, and other unusually-shaped
components in place.
I created it to hold knife blades in place perfectly straight
while dental plaster hardens in the handles. I also have
accessories for this jig when holding forks, pie paddles, and other
unusually-shaped components in place.
Now youāve let the cat out of the bag Plaster in the handles,
thatās interesting, and Iāve never heard of it beforeā¦ do you use
a type of hydrocal?
After the plaster has hardened enough (after the curing has taken
place and the heat that was generated subsides) to remove the
finished knives, I place the knives in a 140 degree oven for two
hours. In all the years Iāve been using this method, only one knife
was returned for reinstallment. By the way, I place the empty
handles on a fish tank aerator while filling with the plaster so the
material will vibrate to the bottoms of the handles. This will ensure
that there are no voids in the handles.
Plaster in the handles,