[TheForge] Snarling iron (Re: Minimum Tools...) begins.)

[Michael Horgan]

At 07:12 AM 1/24/2004 -0600, you wrote:
>OK guys, time for me to show my stupidity yet again.  What the heck is a
>snarling iron, and can someone post a picture of one on the photo access
>page?

OK Rick...  Take a 1/2 inch bar, about 18 inches long and upset both 
ends.  square one end up to fit your hardy hole tightly.You  don't want 
that end to move at all.  The other end of the bar is upset to become a 
polished hammer head for the last 3/4  of an inch, then a 90 degree bend at 
the hammer head end.  At the hardy end take it about 4 or 5 inches above 
the anvil top, and bend 90 degrees again, so that the hammer head on the 
other end is now pointing straight up.
Now you have a short hammer on the end of a springy bar, with the other end 
fixed to your anvil.If you tap the bar with a hammer, the hammer end 
vibrates . Find the sweet spot to hit, and the hammer will move quite a 
lot. Listen to it hum.  Now you can put a hollow piece of work over the 
iron, set the hammer head against a dent, for example, and tap the iron 
again, and listen to it snarl.   This lets you hammer from the inside of 
places you can't even fit a hammer into. You can use it for raising 
designs, shaping, or just for taking out the dents.  I'll try to get a 
picture of mine up.


Michael D. Horgan , lughaid@earthlink.net
http://members.aol.com/lughaid/
posting from
  A BRAZEN FORGERY
Blacksmithing and Metalwork
Claremont, Ca.