Forging a Round Swage by Andrew Larson

Young professional blacksmith and toolmaker Andrew Larson visited from Kentucky and we made a bottom tool together- a 1/2” round swage.
#blacksmith #andrewlarson #hdr
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[@TalRohan]

You two were pushing a lot of energy into that, pulling the heat back up into the quenched section and forcing it to heat up with the hammering...very cool to watch. great instruction from Andrew. Thanks for sharing

[@petermcneill80]

Great job guys nice work , good to see the next generation there too observing and enjoying it. Liked the nod to the Sheffield knife makers back in the day there too 👍🏻

[@577bluegrass]

What a skill level you both have , enjoying the content . Thank you!

[@jameswalley2500]

That dropping it on the floor is one of the secret techniques they don't talk about very often. The piece just isn't right if I haven't dropped it in the floor at least once.

[@baxteroliver3319]

Andrew is a very respectable young man!

[@AxeAndAnvil]

Agreed!

[@baxteroliver3319]

@@AxeAndAnvil he is a very knowledgeable person in the craft of blacksmithing

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Nice tool and process.

[@johnnydrummond8738]

"Get your dirty boot off my anvil" hahahaha great video guys

[@richardhazell2601]

Great stuff fellas. All I need now is a friend, top swage, bigger hammer, some round bar...then I'm putting that in to practice. Cheers.

[@AxeAndAnvil]

Ha!

[@BarrRunForge]

Andrew is top notch. One of my favorite hammers is one of his. Great young man, as well.

[@man-qz8ki]

The filming is very enjoyable

[@Jellooman]

Such a nice video.

[@TheBeardedCarpenter]

Howdy y’all- man, this was as enjoyable video to watch. Very interesting to see how some tools are made. God’s blessings to y’all

[@AxeAndAnvil]

Thanks man! God bless you as well!

[@broadusthompson1666]

While I do agree most modern knife makers don’t know how to forge worth a frogs rear end, “For a good edge to win, you must forge thick and grind thin” is 300 year old advise. For sharp tools there are traits inherent to steel that require a certain amount of grinding work, and with certain laminated forgings there can be required stock removal to get the steel in the right place (such as on chisels and plane blades where the iron will push past the steel in welding). Forge as close as you can, but sometimes it can’t be as close as you might wish. The grain of salt is that thick as Moxon says is probably a lot thinner than what todays thick forgers think right. Good video! Good clean forging!

[@AxeAndAnvil]

And I totally agree! I should have qualified what I said a bit more. But I guess “thick” must be defined. I think the old videos of the sheffield cutlers and other edged tool makers show that the traditional “thick” was often what most modern smiths would consider very close. Can’t wait to get into plane irons BTW…

[@dragonstonegemironworkscra4740]

Very kuul process! Accented by actually forging to finish! Thanks y'all! Blessings aboundant Crawford out🙏🔥⚒️🧙🏼‍♂️

[@blackdiamondforge5868]

Great video I also enjoy a few of Andrews tools in my collection

[@blkacid]

Jordan is dipping then toes in the Brian Brazeal way, he will join us soon enough... This is the way. ;)

[@AxeAndAnvil]

Haha there’s actually a ton of common ground. But nah, I don’t ever plan on getting sucked in all the way.

[@jonathanpinkston124]

This is the way

[@dragonwaterforge]

Awsome

[@Carterironworks]

Great video once again sir, I've been meaning to make some of those myself. I need to make some top tools as well which might help though

[@AxeAndAnvil]

Thanks! I think it is actually much easier to make the bottom tool first.

[@AxeAndAnvil]

You don’t have to have the top tool to make the bottom tool. Just use several pieces of clean round stock to make the impression.

[@Carterironworks]

@@AxeAndAnvil I have several to and bottom tools all of them are old that I can use as long as I am willing to do a demonstration every June for the museum my shop space is on. I want some of my own though as no one can tell me I can't use them then if management changes.

[@hipjazzbone]

I didn't know you could cool 4140 in water to control your heat. I learned. Thanks!

[@shortfuse43]

Almost all the hammer makers I have seen use 4140 and quench in water. Tempering is usually done by a red to yellow drift in the hole letting the heat travel to the face.

[@glennwilck5459]

You two work well off each other I could see a partnership being born..work trades. I echo your sentiments about showing skill forging to finish too many people are more skilled at the grinder than the anvil!

[@AxeAndAnvil]

I hope we do get to do some collaborative stuff for sure!

[@ericritz2853]

Going to make more shows

[@AxeAndAnvil]

Videos? Yep, one coming out tomorrow (Friday). Trying to get one up every two weeks at least.

[@BrianRust89]

Gotta love that male ego coming out haha. Nice of him to come out and help you make tools though!

[@okiedoke6373]

Found Andrews Channel you didn't have it in the description not much to speak of though so the video just started I'm back to the video

[@AxeAndAnvil]

Yeah, Andrew said he wasn’t doing much with the channel and not to bother linking to it. He does more with Instagram.

[@glennwilck5459]

Too bad he would do well with it if he had someone to film like you.

[@okiedoke6373]

I found his power hammer looking at bilding one good job

[@okiedoke6373]

@@glennwilck5459 no no im not the cameraman , but he would do well

[@jens-eriklangstrand1689]

Andrew holds the sledge correctly, and hits the workpiece as one shall ...

[@broadusthompson1666]

You know Jordon… touchmarks work real good as indexing marks… those some dressed up fancy tools lol.

[@AxeAndAnvil]

Haha! I know, should have thought of that in the moment

[@dragonstonegemironworkscra4740]

1st kinda Maybe let's watch 🙏🔥⚒️🧙🏼‍♂️

[@zachrapattoni6981]

"Just say lighter then" If you were reading the material, you would have lightened up, and no verbal direction is required. "Read the material" is a lesson, not a direction

[@zachrapattoni6981]

Thank you for posting this video by the way. I love watching (and listening to) Andrew and his boys do their thing. I've learned a lot from them

[@AxeAndAnvil]

You missed the fact that it was a joke. 😂 We both had to give each other a hard time.

[@zachrapattoni6981]

@@AxeAndAnvil good, the kid needs it lol. This was just a detail I picked up because I was trying to catch all the details

[@dougclem7711]

Two many cooks in the kitchen.

[@CleaveMountaineering]

Maybe I'm a bit sensitive but I found this really upsetting.... Great project, you really know how to move some metal.

[@AxeAndAnvil]

Haha! Thanks!

[@rldoyle5705]

How about a boxing match now

[@okiedoke6373]

When he opened the video he said they've been butting heads you have a teacher and a experience blacksmith doing the same thing just a smidge different yeah it's never going to make it they may be friends later but right now I don't think they like each other and the kids right when you make it something like that you need impact resistant material A36 grade 50 or even t110 yeah I don't think so you need that Chrome you need that impact resistance because t110 is too brittle it would crack

[@AxeAndAnvil]

Yeah, Okie you misread the situation big time. “Butting heads” was a joke, and I like Andrew a lot. Proud to call him a friend. The comment on material was not meant to mean that mild is better, but that it would do in a pinch. Actually, most of my current bottom tools are mild and holding up just fine. Some need to be impact resistant, some don’t. Dunno how blacksmiths got along for centuries without any fancy alloys 😂

[@AxeAndAnvil]

Haha RL! We had a lot of fun hanging out. Andrew is a great guy.