[TheForge] Precision Forging

[Demon Buddha]

Bob Rackers wrote:

> I have a friend who is a carriage-maker, and I know that every time he makes a
> wheel of a different size he doesn't make a practice wheel first to figure it
> out.

	That is how I understood your question.  When you're paying the 
	bills by the hammer, test pieces are not always a practical means
	of testing out one's speculations.  The stories I have heard,
	and they are many at this point, about production-grade industrial
	smiths is that they don't do a whole lot of futsing around.
	They know their craft so well, they don't have to test much of
	anything.  I just heard one yesterday.  This toolmaker, let's
	call him John, needed a large piece of 316L stainless steel of
	a certain large, but odd dimension.  He showed up at the place in
	Newark and they forged stock material to a custom dimension as
	he watched.  They asked what it was for; when he told them they
	said "so you need a hole?  what size?"  "8 inches", "OK, lessee..."
	Guy grabs a piece of 6" diameter stock that was laying around
	and used it as a punch.  "There, that should get you started. I
	guess you need it annealed, eh?"  And that was done as well.
	He said it was absolutely amazing to watch these guys at work.