[TheForge] hardie hole tools and swages

Sat Oct 19 20:17:01 2002

Justin, it is actually quite easy if the dies in the 50lb LG do not have
sharp edges and are not too wide.  The dies I keep in my LG 95% of the time
are about 1 1/2" wide with an approx. 1/4" radius on the front and back, and
are flat on top.  The top and bottom dies match.  Roundish drawing dies
could also be used if the front edges do not dig into the cone.  The process
for making a cone is as follows:  On a long piece of 2" - 2  3/8" axle,
forge the shank for the hardy hole on the trip hammer (pretty straight
forward).  Hot cut the portion of the axle that will be the cone, off about
2 1/2" long or a little more, above the shank.  Usually the transition
between the shank and the cone are a little rough at this point.  To fix
that, heat the transition point, place the shank in the hardy hole and with
a sledge hammer, strike the top to forge nice flats at the transition.  Then
forge the part that is supposed to be the cone to a point.  Forge square
first, then octagonal, then round as best you can.  At this point the cone
will be rough and not smooth as it will have marks left by the hammer dies.
To smooth it and make it more round, use an old horse shoe rasp and rasp it
hot.  The cone doesn't have to be perfectly round to be work well.  If you
look in Otto Schmirler's book, the cones shown (all hand made) have a little
squareness to them, particularly at the base.  Anvil horns are not always
perfectly round either.  Well, that's the process. This is actually the
process for many forged items that are tapered on the trip hammer.  Of
course if you have tapered dies you can use them also, but I don't).  This
is the process I use for making hammer head hole drifts, larger chisels and
punches.  It is also a process where you can use some of those old, big
tongs you've picked up, before you learned how to make them yourself.  Ask
if you have questions.  Hope it works for you.

Dick
Grand Island, NE

----- Original Message -----
From: "Justin Fisher" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, October 19, 2002 5:17 PM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] hardie hole tools and swages

> How did you make the cone?   That sounds like a difficult project (I'm
> trying to visualize how you'd use the 50# LG)
>
> Justin
> Northborough, MA
>
> At 02:58 PM 10/19/2002 -0500, you wrote:
> >     The 3 I use most often are a cut off (by far the most used), a
bending
> >fork, and a small 2" diameter by 7" high cone.  All fit in the hardy
hole.
> >I made them with hammer and anvil (sometimes the 50lb. Little Giant) out
of
> >old big truck axels (probably 4140).  The bending fork and cone are not
heat
> >treated, just forged and used.  The cut off is heat treated with water
even
> >though oil is suggested for hardening.  There are a hundred ideas for
bottom
> >tools for the hardy hole (many which are quite useful depending on the
> >project) shown in Otto Schmirler's book Werk und Werkzeug des
Kunstschmieds
> >ISBN # 3 8030 5040 5.
> >
> >Dick
> >Grand Island, NE
>
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