The Hammer Finish

True "hammmer finishing" is "hand forging" your shape in steel and from start to finish. In swords, blades and horseshoes, how far can you go? All the way is the answer. If raw forging, Medevil flare appeals to you, This is Tight, Sick,or Rad or Whatever.
 

Short Sword
19.5 in. Blade, 26 in. overall

Examples that are shown have not been touched by a Grinder, File, or a Rasp. No shiny finish here. The edge of the blade and sword were dulled with a sander. The sword is mild steel fittings, ferrel, pommel and guard. The blade is 1060 steel, "medium carbon" hardened and tempered. The pommel and guard are seize fitted. The tang is nearly through 7/8s of the pommel, then pinned.
 


The handle is wood core with twisted wire hooked into notches in the wood. Tightly wrapped and I mean it doesn't move! Steel ferrels hold it in place, No glue, No expoxy,and No solder.
 

Saber Blade
32 in. at ricosso to point.

The guard, I believe is gray iron, some scrap that I thought was "Wrought" or "Puddle iron". The gray iron cracks badly on edges but adds character to this piece for me. If I make some of these, I will test it for durability. ...Future Video perhaps.


The only problem with hammer finish is getting it thin enough and not have it warp during hardening. I use techniques that prevent and fix warping of blades during the hardening process, But that's more pages than I care to write at this time.

Bayonet style fighting blade
11.25 in. at ricosso to point

Horseshoes forged from 3/8" x 1" barstock and 1/2" x 1"
Large hind shoe with caulk and wedge

Half Shoe example-Brazed in forge diamond caulk on a Warmblood shoe

Moving on to Horseshoes,
Hammer finished horseshoes are common among competition Farriers-In fact it is routine. The better you are at it, The less filing the is, and if your good you don't even need that.
Some Blacksmiths are phenominal at this, prepping your anvil and hammer, with heat and hammer control make for smoother hammer finishes.

Sparrow Cutlass Sword ~WINS~ Best Fighter Knife of Show

SPARROW CUTLASS SWORD~
X&O PATTERN WELDED BLADE OF 320 LAYERS OF FOLDED STEEL, 5160, 1095, 15N20, AND MILD STEEL, HAMMER FINISHED HILT AND POMMEL, DOUBLE COPPER WIRE WRAPPED LEATHER HANDLE. BLADE LENGTH 21 3/4“, BLADE WIDTH 1 5/16“-BALANCED AT 1 3/4“ IN FRONT OF THE GUARD-A VERY QUICK FEEL, OVERALL 29 1/4”.

A Sample...

 

El Cid

My buddy Ralph Tuttle let me pick up a piece of his art work for the show. This piece is called "El Cid" a 14th century short sword. It is an interesting piece and well suited for the blade show in Eugene, Oregon.
(I hope my table is big enough.)

Pre~Show Preview

Well, It's finally here, well almost...Show time. It's at the Eugene Oregon Fairgrounds Saturday and Sunday April 12&13, 2008. Come see us at table B 12.

These are Gordian knot blades that are acid etched, to accentuate the patterns in the blades. I just fitted them with forged nickle guards and rose wood handles.



I might make a reappearance with the saber style fighter and maybe a Hunter style.

I will also take an assortment of hammer finished blades before any grinding is done.

A Sneak Peek

It's time to start updating after a long period of neglecting my site.

I have several projects in the works on and I thought I would like to share some new patterns that I've been working on. Also, I wanted to share the perfect quench experience.

Before blades are hardened, they are brought to and "ideal temperature". After forging and shaping you cannot see the pattern of your steel through the oxidation and slag left on the blade. But, when the blade is brought to the ideal temp., the slag blows off the surface during the quench leaving the steel bare and the pattern exposed, looking almost like a gray marble.

It's pretty exciting when this happens for you the first time.



The scratches in the blade are from a rockwell #65 file and 120 grit grind marks, at the point of finishing when I usually quench. But still not to the point of buffing for a finished look.


These particular blades are a variation of stacked 1095, 5160, and 15N20. In the Jim Hrisoulis "Gordians Knot Pattern", twisted and counter twist billets are forged together and then twisted again.
This is a lot of forging, it takes a lot of steel. With a Billet of stacked steel measuring approx. 2"x3"x12", you end up with a lot less blade stock than you would think.


In The Master Bladesmith Book, this pattern was developed by Jim Hrisoulos and he has said in the book that "This is a pattern that would get attention at Knife Shows", ...We'll see.

I should have at least 1, and Maybe 5-6 of these patterned blades at the
(O.K.C.A.)Oregon Knife Collectors Association Show 2008 in Eugene, Oregon
Our table # is B12. Come see me.
The dates are :
Dates -- April 12 - 13, 2008
Times -- Saturday 8 am - 5 pm - Sunday 9 am - 3 pm
Admission - General admission $5.00/day