When I started out blacksmithing; about 30 something years ago; one of the fellows I learned from did a project together. We used a 20” piece of 2” square stock; cut it in half. Then welded them together on each end; and drilled 1/4”, 3/8”, 1/2”, 5/8”, 3/4” and 1” holes down the centre (Canadian, eh?). Cut the welds and welded on hardy shanks on them; each of us got one swedge block‼️
Dude...I can never not give you a like but the yippee for the rain warrants an extra like. :D Great vid and thanks for posting. I will make a swage hardy soon.
Thank you for your videos, my grandfather had commented on one of them about fuel types. I am the grandson who accidentally forge welded with wood. He really enjoyed your videos, and now he is finally at rest.
Thank you! Still learning from the old videos as well as the new. Now if I learn to watch your videos first before I try it the hard way I'll really be cookin' with gas!
Insight said Fuller the deep àway from the hardy hole so not to have to hammer hard above the hardy, Easy to call the game in film You still the best Thanks
Thank you John, I like your straightforward no nonsense approach and intend to try forging this swage block. You have been there as long as I have been pursuing this craft, and I sure have enjoyed it.
John I made one of these except I don't have a fly press so I forged a tennon off of my Hardie shank and rivieted it. Even used a square punch so it won't rotate. Thanks for idea
Great Lesson Yet Again from our tutor how to create tooling. You know what John I love it how you are so honest to yourself when you know when it's time to quit, I mean like the 60 degree File depression. It inspires us too to know when we reached the limit of what we are trying to make. Self critical is a very good thing, thanks for all you share#
Hey "Iron Man" another great video. This is the first time that I have been impressed by a flypress. Thanks for showing us that. This is a very useful tool and I plan to make one.
Every moment making these tools saves hours in the future for sure. Work QUALITY improves a lot too eh. Thanks again for this one John.Where would we be without jigs and fixtures eh ? Nice natures serenade there today bud.
Very interesting, I had never imagined it, it is very useful for us who do not have a swage block, thank you very much for the idea, now I'll just trying to make one, is very useful, thanks for taking the time and share with us 👍👍
👍👍👍love the tool builds as I'm just getting started. Made a 1//4 swage but like the multiple idea!! Made a set of tongs and fixed and modified some old ones but that's about the extent so far....
That's great to hear, Gib! I've been practicing myself....one of the reasons I've been off social media for awhile but I should make some videos on my setup and progress I guess. I'm working on my first set of tongs from scratch to hold smaller 1/4 material. John's videos are like taking a class...so much to learn!
Thanks John. I really enjoy all of you videos especially the ones giving some guidance on making tools. Since I've found you channel i've not bought any tools, made them all. You're an awesome instructor by the way. Also I've taken away some good ideas to set up my shop, which is not very easy since I'm about 60% blacksmithing and 40% machine shop. Keep up the great work
Should've done the 60° V BB before you did the 90°. If you would have put the 90 over the hardy hole, any deformation due to the hardy hole impingement would have been slightly mitigated due to the geometry, (you know 45x2=90. It would have leaned a little, but you still could've gotten your square bar deeper into the block
There is two variations I've seen to how you attached the hardy shank on the tool. One is to drill and bolt the shank on. So if you are making a lot of tools or if you're making bigger tools, this allows some weight savings and easy of manufacturing. The shank can be made out of some 3/4 ish sized square pipe capped on one end. And the other is a welded on shank. That you take the block (with of the anvil) and drift a square hole though the middle then reduce a section a section of the shank (3/8- 1/2) and hot rivet or weld them together. Both let you build blocks a bit thinner and as wide as the anvil without much extra work of hammering a much larger bar to size
Thank you very much John; another great video and a useful tool. I 'd like to clarify: do we or do we not need to, harden the swedge block? Will it not deform quicker, if it is not hardened? Should it be tempered at least? Many thanks.
Awesome! I've been watching for a reasonable deal on a swage block, the only one near me (over 100 miles) is $850. It is a very nice block, but I'm not sure if I am ready to spend that much for one. This is an inexpensive way to make swedges while I keep an eye out for a good deal on a block!
I did, and just watched it again! Definitely got me thinking again, but this is a little different than found objects! Using both ideas gives a smith a lot of choices!
I know this is an old video, but I'm just getting started in this hobby. Question: Would you have been able to get all five swages on the bar if you had started on the hardy shank end first and push the material along the top of the anvil?
With the 3/4 swage, it seemed like you weren't getting the heat where you needed it. You put the heat where you needed it on the first & third heating for the 90 V
Could you also forge weld a piece on by cutting of the hardy hole bit and welding it on. Am wondering if a straight weld could be done without having a scarf type blend. Would it be strong enough? The reason I am asking is because I plan to make a hammer at some stage and would like to weld hammer faces that would be larger than the main body. Looks great and yet another great video.
It could certainly be done that way. Since the hardy shank doesn't receive lots of stress it should be plenty strong enough. Although I do have some old swages without the hardy shank that had been done that way and broke at some point.
Morning... nice small swage for the hardie this is a good project for the afternoon. When you make a tool for yourself do you still put your touch mark on it.... thx... Paul
I think I might have found my dream anvil John, It's a Peter wright 120lbs 100 years old, It just came up for sale here in canada for $500, do you think its worth it? I know if I were to try to make a swage with my Vevor 55lbs cast iron I would end up breaking the tail right off!!!
@@BlackBearForge I was comparing prices, and yes I think its fair. I am going to buy it tomorrow. I have already broke even and now made $70 profit, I took your advice and have kept track of everything I have spent except time. I can't wait!!!!
I like this idea. I am a recent subscriber so I have a lot of catching up to do. I need a swage block so this is a great idea. I would like to make a swage for bowl shapes and for fireplace shovels. Have you ever done anything like that?
Could this be done for a tapered half round? I have a need to end up with a half round taper from 1inch bar to about 3/8 over the course id a 2 foot long bar. Making several a really long octopus legs.
One of the things I’d recommend for anyone using files this way is to anneal them in play sand/anything that insulated heat well (downside is the annexing process is cooling the metal down at a rate of about 80° a minute, which can take about 15 hours before the process is done. It’s very time consuming so prep is recommended). Annealing will soften the steel enough that you won’t have to worry so much about a cold piece marring your hammer. You can also grind/sand one face of the file completely smooth, it’s a common practice to make “safe edges” with files for many reasons, even for more... non traditional uses for a file like this one lol
Very interesting and useful video, and ties in to my desire to make my own tools. Is using a through mortise and tenon joint a reasonable way to attach the hardy shank, or just too much work?
I have made some of the top tools. I start with new material. Regular hammers don't seem like they have the mass in the right place for making a swage.
Next time, try putting the larger swages out on the end. The metal does not appear to cool off as quickly and that will cost you a great deal less effort.
John I made one of these except I don't have a fly press so I forged a tennon off of my Hardie shank and rivieted it. Even used a square punch so it won't rotate. Thanks for idea
When I started out blacksmithing; about 30 something years ago; one of the fellows I learned from did a project together. We used a 20” piece of 2” square stock; cut it in half. Then welded them together on each end; and drilled 1/4”, 3/8”, 1/2”, 5/8”, 3/4” and 1” holes down the centre (Canadian, eh?). Cut the welds and welded on hardy shanks on them; each of us got one swedge block‼️
Oh I might have to try this!
Think I found my next project thanks
Dude...I can never not give you a like but the yippee for the rain warrants an extra like. :D Great vid and thanks for posting. I will make a swage hardy soon.
Thank you for your videos, my grandfather had commented on one of them about fuel types. I am the grandson who accidentally forge welded with wood. He really enjoyed your videos, and now he is finally at rest.
I am glad to hear he found pleasure in the videos.
@blackbearforge thank you John! I’m wondering- does the next impression you make close the last one you made at all?
You are not just a great blacksmith, Mr. John! You're also a great teacher! Thanks a lot!
I really in joy all of you video you explain how to do it
Thank you! Still learning from the old videos as well as the new. Now if I learn to watch your videos first before I try it the hard way I'll really be cookin' with gas!
You are an excellent teacher. Your communication skills are very good.
Thank you! 😃
Again Sir well done and a great leaf.
Thanks for teaching me and anyone willing to listen.
Rain on a tin roof, one of the neatest, and sweetest, sounds ever!
Im definitely making one of those soon thanks for being a great teacher
nice build
Insight said Fuller the deep àway from the hardy hole so not to have to hammer hard above the hardy, Easy to call the game in film
You still the best
Thanks
Thank you for video!
I admire how you have the power hammers etc but often you choose to use the old fashioned hammer skills at the anvil .
Looks Great....don't forget to put your touch mark on it .
Thank you John, I like your straightforward no nonsense approach and intend to try forging this swage block. You have been there as long as I have been pursuing this craft, and I sure have enjoyed it.
I have been trying to figure out Swage with half rounds. This is it. Thank you very much
Got to love the sound of rain. Great video, very helpful.!!
Great video John, very natural. I feel like you are talking directly to me 😀
Now I was just thinking, the other day ,I wish I had a small swage block! So the next time I fire the forge, I'll be trying this! Thanks John!
Nice to hear the rain. It´s also raining here right now.
great information! thanks for sharing John!
"I've upset that end"! You got some great sayings
Upsetting is the process of making the material shorter and thicker
John I made one of these except I don't have a fly press so I forged a tennon off of my Hardie shank and rivieted it. Even used a square punch so it won't rotate. Thanks for idea
It's honesty as ever. One of the really valuable assets in all of your videos: the absolute absence of pretense. Thanks! For being you I guess :)
Very useful project! Thanks for sharing!
Great Lesson Yet Again from our tutor how to create tooling. You know what John I love it how you are so honest to yourself when you know when it's time to quit, I mean like the 60 degree File depression. It inspires us too to know when we reached the limit of what we are trying to make. Self critical is a very good thing, thanks for all you share#
Thank you John for showing us how to do that swage
I imagine you don't want each one too close to each other or you can deform one groove while making the other one.
Super maestro of albania jes lajk nje miljon love
Love the swage. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Hey "Iron Man" another great video. This is the first time that I have been impressed by a flypress. Thanks for showing us that. This is a very useful tool and I plan to make one.
You can use case hardening compound like chery red to make it harder as well
this was a great simple video. Easy to follow . Thank you. I'm also glad you finally got some rain that was so sorely needed.
Come to England if you want rain.
Every moment making these tools saves hours in the future for sure. Work QUALITY improves a lot too eh. Thanks again for this one John.Where would we be without jigs and fixtures eh ? Nice natures serenade there today bud.
Thanks mightily
Glad you gettin some rain! Maybe knock down those fires! we finally are getting monsoons out here in the desert also.....thx John....always good info!
Great info!
Very interesting, I had never imagined it, it is very useful for us who do not have a swage block, thank you very much for the idea, now I'll just trying to make one, is very useful, thanks for taking the time and share with us 👍👍
👍👍👍love the tool builds as I'm just getting started. Made a 1//4 swage but like the multiple idea!! Made a set of tongs and fixed and modified some old ones but that's about the extent so far....
Sounds like a good start
That's great to hear, Gib! I've been practicing myself....one of the reasons I've been off social media for awhile but I should make some videos on my setup and progress I guess. I'm working on my first set of tongs from scratch to hold smaller 1/4 material. John's videos are like taking a class...so much to learn!
I love the simple ideas.. This is going on my list of tools to make more than once :)
Think I'm going to have a go at this one will save loads of time in the future 👍
As always good down to earth information. Was wondering why upset the end to fit in the anvil and then hammer it back again to fit Hardy Hole ??
Thanks John. I really enjoy all of you videos especially the ones giving some guidance on making tools. Since I've found you channel i've not bought any tools, made them all. You're an awesome instructor by the way. Also I've taken away some good ideas to set up my shop, which is not very easy since I'm about 60% blacksmithing and 40% machine shop. Keep up the great work
I love the sound of rain. Anyway would room temperature brine work just as well as super qwench
Super quench is faster than brine because of the Surfactants.
@@BlackBearForge oh ok thank you
Should've done the 60° V BB before you did the 90°.
If you would have put the 90 over the hardy hole, any deformation due to the hardy hole impingement would have been slightly mitigated due to the geometry, (you know 45x2=90. It would have leaned a little, but you still could've gotten your square bar deeper into the block
Very good John, loved this, I have one or two but doing one like this all in one, yeah It's time to get to it.
There is two variations I've seen to how you attached the hardy shank on the tool. One is to drill and bolt the shank on. So if you are making a lot of tools or if you're making bigger tools, this allows some weight savings and easy of manufacturing. The shank can be made out of some 3/4 ish sized square pipe capped on one end. And the other is a welded on shank. That you take the block (with of the anvil) and drift a square hole though the middle then reduce a section a section of the shank (3/8- 1/2) and hot rivet or weld them together. Both let you build blocks a bit thinner and as wide as the anvil without much extra work of hammering a much larger bar to size
Thank you very much John; another great video and a useful tool. I 'd like to clarify: do we or do we not need to, harden the swedge block? Will it not deform quicker, if it is not hardened? Should it be tempered at least? Many thanks.
Awesome! I've been watching for a reasonable deal on a swage block, the only one near me (over 100 miles) is $850. It is a very nice block, but I'm not sure if I am ready to spend that much for one. This is an inexpensive way to make swedges while I keep an eye out for a good deal on a block!
Did you see the video on swage block substitutes? th-cam.com/video/BEgV4T7m7Ro/w-d-xo.html
I did, and just watched it again! Definitely got me thinking again, but this is a little different than found objects! Using both ideas gives a smith a lot of choices!
I know this is an old video, but I'm just getting started in this hobby. Question: Would you have been able to get all five swages on the bar if you had started on the hardy shank end first and push the material along the top of the anvil?
Thats a good idea and worth giving it a try
With the 3/4 swage, it seemed like you weren't getting the heat where you needed it. You put the heat where you needed it on the first & third heating for the 90 V
By the way, I love to forge while raining!
Could you also forge weld a piece on by cutting of the hardy hole bit and welding it on. Am wondering if a straight weld could be done without having a scarf type blend. Would it be strong enough? The reason I am asking is because I plan to make a hammer at some stage and would like to weld hammer faces that would be larger than the main body. Looks great and yet another great video.
It could certainly be done that way. Since the hardy shank doesn't receive lots of stress it should be plenty strong enough. Although I do have some old swages without the hardy shank that had been done that way and broke at some point.
Morning... nice small swage for the hardie this is a good project for the afternoon. When you make a tool for yourself do you still put your touch mark on it.... thx... Paul
Most of the time I do.
I think I might have found my dream anvil John, It's a Peter wright 120lbs 100 years old, It just came up for sale here in canada for $500, do you think its worth it? I know if I were to try to make a swage with my Vevor 55lbs cast iron I would end up breaking the tail right off!!!
In todays market thats a good price. Thats a good size anvil and should serve you well.
@@BlackBearForge I was comparing prices, and yes I think its fair. I am going to buy it tomorrow. I have already broke even and now made $70 profit, I took your advice and have kept track of everything I have spent except time. I can't wait!!!!
I really appreciate all your hard work for our benefit. I've been going nuts wondering what the sticker says on the tool box over your shoulder?
The sticker says "if its free its for me" it was on the box when I bought it
I like this idea. I am a recent subscriber so I have a lot of catching up to do. I need a swage block so this is a great idea. I would like to make a swage for bowl shapes and for fireplace shovels. Have you ever done anything like that?
Could this be done for a tapered half round? I have a need to end up with a half round taper from 1inch bar to about 3/8 over the course id a 2 foot long bar. Making several a really long octopus legs.
You would probably need several in graduated sizes. However, that sounds like something that might be overkill for this simple tool.
When you picked up that file the Marine part of my brain jumped out and thought, Perfect shape for a Dagger, maybe a twist or two. 🤷🏼♂️
What do you use a sewage for
One of the things I’d recommend for anyone using files this way is to anneal them in play sand/anything that insulated heat well (downside is the annexing process is cooling the metal down at a rate of about 80° a minute, which can take about 15 hours before the process is done. It’s very time consuming so prep is recommended). Annealing will soften the steel enough that you won’t have to worry so much about a cold piece marring your hammer.
You can also grind/sand one face of the file completely smooth, it’s a common practice to make “safe edges” with files for many reasons, even for more... non traditional uses for a file like this one lol
What's the temper colour for tool steel that takes a hammer blow like the 3/4" tool you used?
I was curious why you didn’t hot file it, then I remembered that you tempered the file..
Very interesting and useful video, and ties in to my desire to make my own tools. Is using a through mortise and tenon joint a reasonable way to attach the hardy shank, or just too much work?
It would be. I did that on a tool in an earlier video.
Yes, of course, that had slipped my mind. It was the "Making a tenon spring die without welding". Thanks for reminding me.
Thank you!! Do you make your hammer-swage tools? Do you begin with a commercial hammer to making it into an upper swage?
I have made some of the top tools. I start with new material. Regular hammers don't seem like they have the mass in the right place for making a swage.
Thank you for your reply!!
Next time, try putting the larger swages out on the end. The metal does not appear to cool off as quickly and that will cost you a great deal less effort.
when doing this with bigger stock, is a heavier hammer useful?
I think it would help. Just don't hurt yourself swing to large of a hammer
13:00 no, it's the same amount of work your just doing it 1/2 at a time but twice as much. great vid though.
7th like, 1st comment
17:10 I know he tempered it but it still make me cringe lol 😂
Is superquench Marvel or DC ? 😄
I think if Superman DC, then superquench must be also. if it was Marvel it would just be Quench
Thanks Iron man.
1:47
Where is banjo?
John I made one of these except I don't have a fly press so I forged a tennon off of my Hardie shank and rivieted it. Even used a square punch so it won't rotate. Thanks for idea