[TheForge] Re: Light weight forging equipment

[Mike Spencer]

> ...the physics of forging might not require a heavy anvil if you
> simply had two coordinated hammers hitting above and below.

Or both moving side to side?

If you were paying attention two years ago when you went to see the
first Hobbit movie, there was a scene, early on in the movie, from the
sequence showing what great metalworkers the dwarves were.  Two giant
helve hammers suspended vertically so that each hammer head swings
like a pendulum. One of the dwarves takes an orange-hot something from
the fire, holds it at arm's length over his head.  The two hammer
heads, maybe 1000# each, swing together on the workpiece, great shower
of sparks and glowing slag, they swing apart and the dwarf turns away
with the finished whatever.

I tried to capture the moment of impact from the DVD.  The results
weren't very satisfactory, no interesting detail.  But the overall
effect of the two opposing hammers was just lovely in motion video.


- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
                                                           /V\ 
mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^