In this video I show how to forge a flatter. Check out my recommended tools/gear: www.amazon.com... If you like my videos you can support me at: / torbjornahman
I have no idea how I haven't subscribed to you until now. There are only a handful of smiths making really genuinely good quality videos on YT, and you're clearly one of them, and have been for years now. RU-vid really needs to get better at matching content creators to interested viewers. Still, better late than never; glad I finally came across your channel!
I usually don't watch entire videos on YT... this one was an exception because of its exceptional quality and content. Learned more watching this than I've ever learned reading about the process. Thank you. Powerful stuff.
thaGkillah For top tools (struck tools) like this you don't need a fancy handle, and it's not wedged in place. Should be easy to replace and the loose fit does not transfer so much of the vibrations
This information was very helpfull! You got a very good point. One more question if I may. For example the flat part of that Iron. It looks incredibly nice (almost industrial grade), but i am asking myself how to make the surface of the flat part even more clean and flat like computer processor heatsinks without scratches. Is that even possible for a black smith?
I am impressed by your craftsmanship. I was glued to your video watching every aspect of your working that piece of metal. Now I know what it took our forefathers to forge those impressive metal tools that help build our country. As I watched you making the hole for your handle I thought why not just drill it, I did not know another way. Thanks for the video.
***** Thank you! The real beauty of punching and drifting a hole instead of drilling is that nearly no material is lost. It just moves to the sides, which makes it almost as strong as it were without a hole.
Mr. I found the quality of your job very remarkable and even hard to believe. Such an incredible dedication and commitment to achieve perfection. Congratulations.
+Landroverdude101 If my dad works at Ford it won't be adopted in his genes. Unless there's a society where everyone with a specific gene only is able to work at Ford and thus survive unlike the people who don't, there is no such thing. I'm taking this way too seriously. Smithing is cool and it ain't my genes saying that, it's smithing itself.
Talk about upsetting. You are a champion! all those sledge blows to upset the flatter into it's final shape. I love making things like that, requiring sweat equity and hard work, it makes me remember all the effort I put into it's creation when I then use it
23 and finally decided to go to college. Studying biology because it will get me a "good job" truth is I fucking hate it, and I wish I was doing something like this. Exactly this actually. But as my father told me, "artwork wont pay the bills." Someday my college degree will pay for me to beat on steel. I miss shopwork and using my hands to create things. Tired of pencils and keyboards. Anyway, I have really enjoyed watching your videos. I like seeing the steel come to life. You do a very good job, and I hope one day I can do the same.
Tomas Merino Thank you! You don't need a flatter, it just makes the grinding easier. If you're careful you can make a pretty flat surface with just a hammer.
I can imagine but I'm pretty new at blacksmithing, slowly gahering the tools, mostly for knifemaking but already forged a pair of tongs, not perfect but handy ^^ The thing I need the most is a belt grinder, files are slow and if the technique is bad the result won't be even, I can tell by experience lol
Atristiel For top tools (struck tools) like this you don't need a fancy handle, and it's not wedged in place. Should be easy to replace and the loose fit does not transfer so much of the vibrations.
Really nice work, I could tell when you were grinding that the steel is good quality. A tip you might try if you want is - I use used motor oil for tempering and even use it on my anvil stump. I leaves a fairly decent finish and it's free. Have a good day and I am looking forward to see more of your work.
I am really enjoying your videos! The quality is good, so I can really see the details of your methods. Also, I do like that you just show the process rather than jabbering away about it for half the video like some smiths on youtube. Liked and subscribed!
I love the fact blacksmiths made there own tools, I wonder if back in the days of old you had to start making a certain sequence of tools to get them all made like a black smithing game of solitaire?
Matthew Smith That's a good question! Sure many of the tools must be made in sequence. You need one to make another one and so on. The basic tools are probably finite but the concept of a "complete set of tools" does not relate to a blacksmiths shop. There is always room or need for new tools for specific jobs!
+Torbjörn Åhman I recently started forging with my grandfathers tools,too bad i was a kid when he died and missed the chance to learn from him,he was one of the best if not the best blacksmith in town,his forged works of art and people who knew him say this.I recently stumbled upon a forging channel and liked what i saw,so i started a fire in the old forge,grabbed the hammer,put the red iron on the rusted anvil....hitted a few times and BOOM i fell in love with it.I really love your channel.Greetings from Romania!
Something I learned with my grandpa and I know the process about working with iron. A tool made by him we have today. A lever made of steel coil spring train, 1.6 meters long.
Congratulation. Excelent work. Please help me with a question... I want to bend a 1/2 iron bar, but the circle is too close, is 3.5 cms diameter, and the bar is too short. ¿How do you will bend the bar? I attach a pictur of the bar. i.imgur.com/pu0qPQw.jpg Thanks.
+Alejandro Arias Thanks. I don't quite understand what you're trying to do. Are you making a new part and use the yellow as pattern, but the yellow has too small rings? You need to calculate the length needed quite accurate first.
T-man... the math at the beginning of the vid was cool and nicely illustrated, but I think I blew a frontal lobe when pi was there at the end. Yeah... I'm a "roughly measure once" and "cut 10 times" type. Love your work, vids and jealous of math skills.
I enjoy watching a lost art form - congratz - I would suggest to you is try holding the sledge at the end of the handle x2 the force and half the swings.
Keith G Thanks. Yes, with half the control :) Seriously, when I use my large hammer which is 2.6kg, I can't swing it at full length, it's simply too heavy. I'm working on my arm...
+Ishmail Vladimir - Same steps, save making the actual piece flat, instead of using a flatter you would use the face of your anvil. Consolidate heat to that specific spot and lay it face down on the anvil, strike the hammer end and it will make that portion flat.
+charlesissleepy The first thing mankind used.... Was rocks.... They used rocks... And as technology progressed, so did the metals used and the ability to make tools from castings and other various methods of forging. Pretty neat history if you care to look into it.
Mithaniel Marr i kind of figured but its still kind of wid to think about. Like along the lines of what would you do if you were on a deserted island. Even knowing what coud be made, how its made, and having all the materials means little without the heritage of necessary tools. You could work around a lot of things but modern tools make it much easier
its so pleasant to see you doing your work ; amazing ! -- one beautiful and most perfect flatter , thanks a lot , Torbjorn !----------- ( excuse my brazilian pc doesnt have those dots to put on J )
Hi mister, you are very bright to did a scare jig for the projet, also your caculate the amont of steel to do it! A ++++++++ Thany you for the lesson. 2019 12 20 Trois-Rives, Saint Joseph de Mékinac, Québec et Labrador
