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We met at Steve Schwarzer's shop in Florida for an impromptu hammerin the first week in November, 1997. The general focus for the meeting was to share our collective knowledge on Japanese swords and steel making. Steve lead off the demonstrations by constructing two billets one from folded and welded steel cable and the other from a combination of cast iron welded to a wrought iron paddle.
The cable was welded up using a set of squaring dies under his hammer. The squaring dies were shaped with square cornered depressions forming diamonds of different sizes on the same die. The diamonds trapped the cable and welded them solid while forming a square crossection. This is a very efficient way of welding the cable and is more reliable then welding using a swage block and rotating the cable. The welded cable was then cut and stacked and folded and welded four more times. This method of making steel was introduced by Michael Bell. Michael Bell is a Japanese trained swordsmith from Oregon and is one of premiere smiths working today. I have tried his method and found that the steel produced using this method is very tough and looks remarkably like the old steel.
Steve, inspired by the first billet, gathered up some serious cable, 1.25" in diameter and constructed a billet that weighed nearly 45 lbs. This was successfully welded using his air hammer and preposterous gas forge. The gas forge was constructed inside a water tank, driven by a positive pressure blower and lined with Inswool and mud. The door was six inches in diameter and Steve used it all stuffing this billet into it. The forge was funky and hot. It roared and shot flame a foot from its mouth, but began to have a charm when the billet got dripping hot.
The second billet was made from a cast iron broken from a large billet and stacked on a wrought iron paddle. This was welded and kneaded through the initial folds under the press. Steve made a few folds and set it aside for later working. A blade will be made from this billet that will be a joint project between Steve, Scott Slobodian and myself. It will be sold to provide seed money for future hammerins.
We also made two new forges. One was a blade forging forge made on my design with the only modification being a venturi burner in place of the pressure burner that I use. My plans can be found on this site. I demonstrated the sword forging and hammer techniques also discussed here on this site.The second forge was to be a digitally controlled propane hardening furnace, but we ran into problems with the controller and didn't get the unit working properly.
Scott Slobodian demonstrated his clay coating techniques and discussed blade finishing. He forged out a carbon steel blade and ground it ready for hardening, but was unable to harden the blade when we couldn't get the forge finished. It is interesting how by working on our own we all find unique ways to solve common problems.
Jergen Steinau gave lessons on scraping and finishing blades. He was on his way back to Germany from the San Diego Art Knife show and provided the background country music for this event as well.
Perhaps the most significant thing for me from this week was to get to know these fine men. Jerry Fisk shared his insights on bladesmithing and the future directions on the ABS. Larry Harley kept us laughing. Jergen and I discussed art and I gained a fascinating insight into life behind the iron curtain.
By far, the highlight of the hammerin was an evening with the Laotian community. We were treated to a wonderful meal and good company culminating with an audience with their spiritual leader, a Buddist monk. Steve has worked with this community acting as liason between them and the authorities and has been accepted into their family. There was tremendous love and respect between them and it was an inspiration to us all.
Hammerins are a wonderful way to share knowledge and excitement for the craft. We all come away enriched by the experience.
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