Forging & Bladesmithing
Anvils, Hammers & Tongs: Outfitting a First Forging Setup
Nobody ever quit knifemaking because their anvil was too small — plenty quit because they spent the whole budget on a 250-pound showpiece and had nothing…
ForgeBrain
Forging & Bladesmithing
Moving hot steel on purpose: choosing a first forge, anvils, hammers and tongs, forging a blade from bar stock, hammer control for clean bevels, and the thermal cycling that makes forged steel blade-ready.
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Forging & BladesmithingBall Peens, Found Hammers & Cheap Starts
Nobody needs a hundred-dollar hammer to forge a first knife. The ball peen in every flea market bin, the engineer’s hammer at the hardware store, the dead…
Forging & BladesmithingBlacksmith Hammers: Types, Weights & How to Choose
The hammer is the cheapest tool in the forge and the one your body will know best. Every smith eventually owns a rack of them, but they all trace to a…
Forging & BladesmithingChoosing a First Forging Hammer (and What Smiths Swing)
The first hammer question generates more forum pages than heat treat, and the honest answer fits in a sentence: two to two and a half pounds, faces you…
Forging & BladesmithingCross Peen & Straight Peen Hammers: Drawing Steel
Before there were rounding-hammer debates there was the cross peen: the standard European smith’s hammer for centuries, and still the most efficient hand…
Forging & BladesmithingThe Dog Head Hammer: The Bladesmith’s Specialist
Most hammers are general tools that forge blades; the dog head is a blade-forging tool. Its silhouette explains the name — a long asymmetric head with the…
Everything else in Forging & Bladesmithing
- Choosing Your First Forge: Gas, Coal, or Two Bricks
- Forging a Knife, Step by Step: From Bar Stock to Blade
- Forging Bevels: Hammer Control and the Counter-Bend
- A Short History of the Hammer
- Hammer Materials & Construction: What Makes a Good One
- Hammer Technique for Bladesmiths: Control, Rhythm & Saving Your Elbow
- Normalizing & Thermal Cycling: The Step Between Forge and Quench
- Presses & Power Hammers: When Muscle Stops Scaling
- The Rounding Hammer: Why Bladesmiths Switched
- Charcoal & Coal Forges: Solid Fuel, the JABOD, and Fire Management
- Tuning a Gas Forge: Getting to Welding Heat (and Fixing the Sputter)
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I machine the parts, hand-assemble, track and test Torus grinders in Sterling, Illinois. Most orders ship in seven to ten business days from time of order.
Nova 2×72 Aluminum Belt Grinder
Current dual-axis platform with a fiber-laser-cut 6061 chassis and single-knob tracking.
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Nebula 2×72 Steel Belt Grinder
Current dual-axis platform with a steel chassis, more mass and less vibration.
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Torus 2×72 Classic Aluminum Belt Grinder
Prior-design aluminum chassis, 90-degree tilt and 1.5-inch tooling arms.
Starts at$995
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I answer my own email. Tell me what you are building and what the steel is doing, and I will tell you what I would try.