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  #1  
Old 02-25-2014, 01:04 PM
Eddie Mullins Eddie Mullins is offline
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Location: North East AR
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What smithing related tools are used for forging blades

I wasn't sure where to post this, or if I am asking this correctly, but I was wondering if there are any smithing tools being used for forging blades? and if so, how? For example I have seen post somewhere that was I believe a swing arm fuller, but couldn't tell what it was being used for.

Part of this curiosty for me stems back to seeing the Sheffield knife makers anvils and the multiple hardy tools they used. Plus I like making or forging tools as much as anything so am looking for a goo excuse : ) .

So are you guys using swing arm fullers, spring fullers, guillotines, hardy tools of some type, etc., and if so what are they and how are they being used?
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  #2  
Old 02-25-2014, 06:48 PM
Ed Tipton Ed Tipton is offline
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Eddie Mullins...Pretty much, forging is forging. The forging of a knife is not much different from anything else. The tools that I mostly use are hammers, tongs, anvil, hot cut-off, spring fuller, bending forks, hot punches, guillotine tool, etc. Making knives is a discipline that is only limited by the imagination of the maker, so eventually, probably all manner of tools will be used. Obviously, knives are relatively small items compared to the heavier work some smiths are involved in working with, but all things considered, it's hard to rule out any specific type of tooling. Pretty much, I make tools as I need them....and then they become decorations until next time they're needed. As many tools as I have, it seems that I never have the perfect tool for whatever it is I'm working on at the moment.
I like to tell people that I'm a knifemaker, but actually that's just what I do when I'm not making tools.
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  #3  
Old 09-23-2014, 05:11 PM
jmccustomknives jmccustomknives is offline
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Generally, your fullers are used to make the tang. In some cases a top and bottom fuller will be used to make the "blood grove" in a blade (they are really called fullers). I personally use a bottom fuller and spring fuller in starting my tangs. Of course, blacksmithing in general has many different tools and how or when one uses them varies from smith to smith.
Those anvils you spoke of were made for production, where as most have anvils for general use. I'd think most bladesmiths would be like me in that they'd have a normal anvil and a post anvil.
Experience and need dictates the tools you'll use. In forging, the tool isn't necessarily needed but allows for faster or cleaner forging.
If you can come up with a tool, make it. The experience alone is worth the time.
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  #4  
Old 03-29-2015, 10:45 PM
Will Will is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2002
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I started with nothing more than a 3 lb. hammer and a cheap cast iron 50 lb. anvil. A little later I moved up to a pair of harbor freight russian cast steel anvils, one of which I cut the horn off of to make a blade smith anvil. They worked for a number of years, but were still a bit too soft.

I am moving a little into blacksmithing and decorative iron work and finally broke down and got a good anvil, a new Refflinghause 330 pounder. Man, what a difference a good anvil makes!

Since getting into more of the decorative iron work I've really spent a lot of time making tools and fullers and such. For blade work I had 3 or 4 hammers, a spring swedge, a square block of steel for forging blades and other than a press and power hammer to make big stock smaller that was about it. I did wind up buying a japanese forging hammer, about a 3 lb., that I absolutely love for blade work, but other than that, and maybe a couple sets of box jaw tongs, the tools are pretty much the same. You can get or make diagonal peening or drawing hammers and a few other things, it's a learn as you go. A good source of info is Wayne Goddard's 50$ knife shop book.


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  #5  
Old 03-30-2015, 05:37 AM
jmccustomknives jmccustomknives is offline
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All you really need is a forge, anvil and an assortment of hammers. I went for a long time without ever using tongs. I'd weld a handle on or use vice grips. Forging is the easy part. With experience your tooling will grow to accommodate new techniques. The hard part of knifemaking is what comes after the forging.
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