Axe forging | "Traditional" Blacksmithing | Forum

Yeah, I really like that video. Pretty impressive axe work on the log house, too -- at least as far as I'm concerned.

Another thing to note is that the high carbon bit sits below flush in the groove. That leaves little lips that are then hammered over to hold the bit in place while it's brought up to welding heat, and during welding. That's a lot easier than some other approaches. But the mild steel moves faster under the hammer during shaping, so they have to trim the edge back to expose the high carbon once the forging is done.

I hadn't actually connected the hand forging video with the Gransfors videos, although I kind of suspected that the master in the hand forging video might be Lennart Pettersson.

thanks for posting this Grant. very informative

Cybo;4850 wrote: That's it, Matt. whew- 53$ huh?
I'll step out on a limb and say it's every bit as good as Edge of the Anvil. (No offense Jack!)

I also found it to be a good reference book, and recommend it to our students and other more competent smiths', but with some reservations that I queried with the author.(who did agree with the concerns and said if there was a reprint he would have it amended) I do have some copies of the book, but if someone purchases a copy off myself (currently £20 sterling) I enclose details containing my concerns and amendments which were discussed with the author. The translation was done for the American market, and that may differ from UK English.

My main concerns were concerned with safety, and for those who have a copy I would be pleased to hear from them on their opinion and if the details I noted appear in the book on sale in the US.

My main concerns were

The rear cover, the chart on the lower part is labelled Annealing Colour, this should surely read Tempering Colour.

Reading through, here are some of my other notes with page references given

Page 21 the Master talks of a box that holds a hectolitre (this is a volume of fuel, and for those not familiar with the metric volume system is confusing)

Page 22 talking about tools being within easy reach, “the tongs might hang in a row with their handles up, so you can see what you need” This should read “Jaws up” as illustrated on page 20, it may also be worthwhile to mention cooling these jaws before returning them to the rack.

Page 27 (also in the Glossary page 207) Anvil cutter, is more commonly known as a Hardie this is clarified somewhat with the illustration on Page 28, however, the caption next to the hardie looks more like it is labelled ‘Chisel plate for splitting or cutting’ and the lower picture is labelled ‘Anvil cutter or hardie cutter’

Page 28 The text on this page is also confusing, as at first read it did not seem to make total sense.

The problem is. The columns of print are juxtaposed, switch them around, ie read the right hand column first, then the left, and then continue on to page 29 and they make perfect sense, A printers error in the layout I believe.

There are a few other minor errors, none too drastic, I particularly liked the picture on page 104, titled "The Old Nailmaker", sat using a large tilt hammer, (heck of a nail, or he may just be using it to draw down his stock to size.

and then another potential safety area

Page 202 “On a Sandstone with water, you had the rotation towards you. You had more control over what was happening. All the other rotating machines grind away from you and there’s a reason for that. The piece won’t catch and get away from you, a safety precaution.”

Comment to the author regarding this passage; As far as I am aware all other grinders in the UK and USA also rotate in this direction, (towards you) it is more important to position the piece being worked on so that if it does catch, then it will not come at you, I think this is what you are trying to convey, but I have difficulty with this description in your narrative.

The sandstone wheels turned much slower than the modern machines and there was more danger of the stones disintegrating than the high speed trajectory created if the blade grabbed

After repeated reading of this section, it may be a word missed out at the start of the sentence or something lost in translation, I would suggest a rephrasing along the lines of

ON all modern grinding machines grind with the sparks going away from you, towards the floor or rear of the machine and there’s a reason for that.

Should the piece catch, it will travel away from you, rather than hit you, a safety precaution.”

Page 207 Glossary Anvil Cutter, also known as Hardie, Coke, also is partially burnt coal used for forging

Page 208 Under Punch, Fire pokeris in wrong place

Tempering; Heat treatment where steel is heated to a certain temperature and then let cool slowly

This is more applicable to normalising or annealing, and the description only applies if the process is done in a temperature controlled oven.

Should read something like;
Tempering, removes brittleness whilst retaining hardness, an item is hardened first, then tempered to a desired condition for the item and its use.

Despite these errors, I still find this to be a worthwhile addition to any smiths' library, and the author was happy to have me attach these "clarifications" to the English/British sales. Would like to hear others comments regarding these amendments (The author did approach and ask me for my opinion and any comments I could make abot the book, and he was most concerned about the potential safety issues which apparently had not been previously noted or commented on)