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Beginning
the forging
We
forge the latches in a coal forge, heating the mild
steel to about 1800°. The metal cools quickly while under
the hand hammer and some processes require several heats. Our
tools are simple, a coal forge with a hand operated blower,
a 2 pound hammer (we use several styles depending on the effect
needed), tongs that hold the stock, vise and our anvil, in this
case weighing about 150 pounds. The forge, anvil and vise are placed
close together. The vise is a 180° turn from the forge. The
anvil, between the forge and vise, is one step away from the forge.
During
the initial stages of forging we use an additional tool called a
blacksmith helper, or guillotine swage.
We are able to use different dies, and a gauge to help position
stock, to achieve different aims. During the beginning of the forging
we use the blacksmith helper to set out the amount of stock for
the top and bottom cusps.
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Heats
1 & 2
We
use the blacksmith helper to fuller
the stock to separate the material used for the cusp from
the material used for the grip part of the latch.
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Heats
1 & 2
The
first heat is finished. The stock is forged behind the fullered
mark into the grip area. The piece of original sized stock
is shown. We use a piece of mild
steel that is 1/4 inch thick, 3/4 inches wide and 7 inches
long. If we were making a bean latch the stock would be 6
inches long.
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Heat
2
The
stock is being forged at the other end in the grip section
of the bar.
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Heats
3 & 4
We’ve
upset the
material for the cusp, driven it back onto itself while hot,
holding it in the vise, so that it will be thicker. This will
give us more metal when spreading the cusp.
The
piece to the left has been upset, the piece on the right is
original size.
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Heats
5
To
start to create the heart shape on the cusp we put a point
on the end of the cusp portion of the stock after upsetting
it. This photo shows the point about half way through the
heat. The stock will be drawn to a sharper point.
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