Objectively Best Way to Swing a Hammer in Blacksmithing
Вставка
- Опубліковано 31 сер 2023
- I intended for this video to be an unedited, low-effort video. This has turned into a multi-month project with different added scenes and consultation with friends. This is by no means as comprehensive or detailed as it could’ve been, but I feel it gives a really good foundation for hammer technique in hand forging. Please take time to listen to the entire video, including the disclaimers and exceptions near the end.
www.ethanharty.com
Great video.
As a blacksmith, and a career hand surgeon, you need to use your small finger and ring finger to rotate that hammer around right at the end of your swing. The small and ring finger are the strongest flexors (grippers) of all fingers. Try to grab a hammer with only your thumb, index and long finger. You won’t be able to swing the hammer. Now, try to swing a hammer while gripping it with ONLY your small and ring fingers. You’ll be able to swing it. So, the small and ring fingers are very strong. Your swing grip is perfect. Just use the small and ring finger to push the handle end, and cause the hammer end, to rotate quickly right before impact. That’s the only thing I have to add. And I think you already know how to do this. Just wanted to point it out for the others.
You make some great objective points in this video and some subjective as well. I've done a objectively true video on choking a hammer illustrated with slow motion video showing the path of kentic energy at the different hand holds. On a quick note the hammer" head" velocity is developed from the leverage of the Hammer handle on a lighter hammer Head and the specific technique involved. Vs the heavy hammer Head requires the technique your describing in this video. God bless you brother and your family and continue to put out great content 🔥
Thank you for the encouragement and I will check out that video. I’d love to chat sometime about your relationship with Christ, for there is no higher objectivity than the fact of his Gospel, his Lordship, and his kingdom:)
God bless
I am a pretty big guy and swinging the hammer has never given me any discomfort, so I have not given it any thought. After watching this I want to be more conscious about my technique to not only help with my long term health but also I am curious of the change I might see in my work. Thanks, very informative.
Thank you for your knowledge. This is exactly what I've been wanting to watch.
Thanks for acknowledging farriers in their own class because we do work around our anvil awkwardly compared to blacksmiths. A lot of people think farriers are too bent over at the anvil but what they don't see is our bent knees taking the pressure off our back - just like lifting with your legs. Upsetting toes on horseshoes everyday will teach you how to use your shoulders! Thanks for the video.
That's some great content, Ethan. Thanks so much.
Excellent Video ! This is vital information ! Thank you for posting this !
Thank you for this, I will try it out!
Thank you Nathan. Always good to have a refresher. BTW I like the Elmer Roush style hammer you made for me. Seems like whomever I ask, they have an excuse why they can’t make that style of hammer.
I gained some excellent learning from this video!
I started as a professional mechanic 18 years ago and started blacksmithing as a hobby 3 years ago. The way I swing a hammer at work is drastically different from my coworkers now.
They asked me why and I explained this. Also my accuracy is way better. I can jar a seized part loose in half the time with a smaller hammer than my coworkers
Thank you for this great educational video! Love to see more of these kind of videos! Love from Austria 🇦🇹💪🏼
Amazing video! This topic and topics like this should be discussed more!
Good video Ethan. That`s a beautiful 4# hammer too... I`m a farrier by trade and made a step to blacksmithing years ago. I never had any problems while shoeing but my hammer technique was no good when drawing out heavier material. So, long story short, I had to quit swinging the forging hammer ( swinging body hammers nowadays...) to get all joints healed. I`m looking forward to do some hot work again, but still hesitant...
Thanks Ethan, I enjoyed the video and an opportunity to hear your thoughts on hammer technique. I deffinatley fall into the catagory of someone that has an unorthidox hammer swing.
Bang on, Ethan. Thanks. I'll look for a video from you on tong selection and use. Fatigue & frustration aint limited to the hammer side of things. Keep it up 👍 (Vancouver Island)
That was a joy to listen to! It makes sense ;-) and as always; practise makes perfect. I always find it hard to explain to students how I swing my hammer, this has been very helpful thanks! Keep up the good work. Cheers Lute
I wanted to check out your video because I have lower spine injuries that now, a decade after my first surgery. I’ve now been told I have bulging disks… I asked which ones and was told”all of them”. I wish I was joking… I always wanted to do metal work. I really wanted to not just knives but doing lathe, milling and even things like custom sheet metal work. I finally managed to get a little single burner forge and a makeshift anvil. Unfortunately I just can’t do very much before I have to stop and end up stuck in bed for a few days. I did learn a solid anvil and hammer make a big difference my railroad chunk didn’t have any rebound and the small hammer I had just wasn’t big enough. I still don’t have the best of hammers.. and the anvil is just a cheap harbor freight one. I’ve looked into finding a power hammer or hydraulic press or maybe even repurpose an electric log splitter. I just don’t have the tools, skill or physical ability. I did look into other press forms but never found anything useful that I could afford or trade for.
As far as swing mechanics, a would love to see you speak with a reputable physical therapist. The back and uneven use can really leave a person in pain not to mention how fragile our skeletal system is to in proper functioning. I fractured my back the first time as I was putting a part in place on the aircraft I worked on. As I lifted I had a bit of a weird twist and bang, that was it. I wish I had a better story of how I ended up the way I am today.. Regardless, I worry about others having to go through the same stuff. I had friends that did and a couple of them couldn’t manage the depression and anxiety that comes with the pain and agony, and they took their own lives. I know we tend to not have our body weight centered correctly or over use in one side of the body compared to the other, fosters injury and joint problems as well as affecting other parts of your body. For the longest time, I thought I had something wrong with my knees and hamstrings but it was my hamstrings working overtime to pickup the slack for my lower spine. The reason I thought a PT would be good, is they could point out the even the smallest things and tell you what’s wrong but how to go about fixing it. I just wish I had the strength that my grandpa and great grandpa did working in mines and constant physical labor. Anyhow, thanks for the tips and best of luck!
If I held my hammer that close to the head, I'd be shouted at for choking it.
A very good presentation Ethan IMHO, I would add that perfecting form is a goal that is to be constantly worked toward. Different body types well be able to do better than others. Make the best use of what you got and like Grandad used to say "Son use that lump on top of your shoulders for something more than a hat rack. Work smarter not harder."
Thanks for sharing this! When I am trying to get work done, I look almost exactly like Andrew at the end.
I think it is mostly a confidence thing. I for sure don’t want to raise my arm up so high using my shoulder because if I miss, I’ll have a lot of power coming down wrong.
But, I probably miss so much because I am swinging incorrectly. So I need to use my shoulder more, tuck it into my body more, and stand with my hammer parallel to the anvil, I think.
Too bad I already got my forge time in this morning!
I like a light hammer because I use longer handles than most people. There is more material to dissipate the shock from the hammer and more distance from my finger to the hot metal.
As an axe swinger, can assure you the lift is done by the whole body (thx Neuton) with the input energy coming from the shoulders and quads, the head raise is best done close centre of the body line. Peak swing isnt the loss of upward momentum to gravity but the capture of this remaining energy into the swingers body for use on the downward swing.
Correct for maximal swings, keep in mind though that while related, the outcomes and goals for swinging a hammer and an axe are slightly different.
Also Ethen. have you seen Roy's video on Christ center ironworks. and placement of hand along the length of the handle and how much shock that goes back into the arm and wrist. very good video.
Mr. Harty. Thank you for such a very well explained technique video. I will defiantly show this to a few of my students. After over 40 years of smithing the biggest problem that I face is with students and others that watch me at a demo, or they see someone on UA-cam. doing a project. that they tell me that the technique they "SAW" me/ or them doing did not work for what they were doing. Or that their arm or Rist got sore. Then I always need to explain to them that I use many different hammer holds, strikes and body angles at or around the anvil to achieve my goal. if it were a video, I try to review the video with them to see what is going on. I have had many try to do the drum snare roll technique that i use with an 10z0z, hammer for fine planishing, with a 5lb. hammer. :( Yep. there's your problem...I love that you explain the difference from farrier, and carpenter, the way that you did. I loved that you use physics of mass location vs velocity, body mechanics, just like the late Uri Hofi use to. He used to explain very weel about different techniques, hammers, and anvil shapes from around the world, and why they were the way they were. People have been smithing for thousands of years, they found out early what worked for the style they were doing in their own region, and as borders expanded, those tools and techniques changed. because there where new STYLES to try, and those styles needed different stuff. That is why i have loved smithing for so long. that you can take the same seven basic skills and use different tools and techniques to achieve and endless number of styles. and that in my opinion is both the blessing and the curse of trying to "LEARN" smithing on UA-cam. opposed to learning traditionally. is that if you are not proficient enough in the basics or have someone in a school or guild to explain it. then you may not be able to breck down the WHY of what someone is using a certain technique for, or if they themselves don't know either. But then again, there are MANY GREAT smiths on UA-cam. Sorry for the long response. and thank you again for a wonderful video. And would love to see more of these in the future.
The best example I've ever seen of using a hammer was 60 years ago in my engineering apprentice days. We worked mostly with cast iron and chiseling was a quicker way to remove large amounts of cast iron.than filing. The boss used to send us to an old guy named Harry Hall who would demonstrate using a 2 lb ball pein hammer and a cold chisel how to cut through a piece of 1/8" steel plate held in a bench vice by cutting across the top of the jaws. After demonstrating this firstly (with his eyes closed) Harry then went on to show off with his party piece which was to rotate the hammer 1/4 turn after each blow and hit the chisel with the face, the side, the ball pein and the other side of the hammer. To cut through a 1/8" steel plate 3"wide requires considerable force and Harry did not take prisoners. As engineering apprentices we all all took up Harry's challenge and all went home that night with varying degrees of hammer rash and a huge amount of respect for an old guy who made it look so easy.
Thanks for the fantastic video and making the effort to add some real experience based information to a conversation which is plagued by controversy and theories which I feel have no place in the real world being based purely on physics and thought experiments.
I especially like your comment on a "natural" feeling swing. I would agree that it should indeed feel awkward at first just like any other physical activity. Take riding a bike or writing - we must be taught basic motions and learn these techniques through practice before they begin to feel "natural."
My only disagreement is an exception for those trying to match a historical aesthetic. My thought is that most historical blacksmiths especially career and industrial Smiths would have been well schooled in the most efficient and ergonomic way of forging. Smiths from this period often worked long hours spanning decades. This would have been simply impossible using poor techniques which damaged their bodies.
Thanks again for this valuable information and I would encourage you to make similar videos on other topics - especially interested in sledge technique!
I wonder if any blacksmiths in history have considered fitting a pommel onto a hammer handle shift the center of mass closed to the hand and to lessen the torque applied to the wrist joint.
Thank you for sharing what you've learned along the way. 🙂
About halfway through the video I noticed the scorching above the electrical box near your bench and got so distracted wondering what happened there. 😄
It’s actually just dirt, there’s a fan in there and for some reason it has always blown black dirtiness all over the wall.
@@EthanHarty oh good. No close call then🙂
Some good information in here Ethan, there are a couple minor things I think I may disagree with, but I really do need to video myself first to see if I'm guilty of it or not. Videoing ones self is a good idea for checking form. (and give the cat a scritch between the shoulder blades from me.)
I don't know about this kind sir! Andrew Larson does a pretty dramatic "chicken wing" technique and there is absolutely no way he could be wrong! Lol 😆 🤣 😂
Need sledgehammer technic!
Yesss!
Seems like the grip should be like a good drumstick technique. Back of the palm facing up, the smaller fingers providing support, drawing the sound out of the skin. All wrist muscle, not the whole arm
Brazeal Nuts was the term i heard, I'm ok with that. 😂😂😂
Best way to get the muscles to remember a correct swing is to practice really slow motion for a bit, then gradually increase the speed of the swing, and try video recording it to watch and correct mistakes. 😅ha, not 5 seconds after typing all that, Ethan says same thing about recording and watching for corrections.
It would very interesting to actually use a piece of equipment to measure the power of different swings and weights
Nice video. I think you underestimate or under explained the use of legs, hips and back. You spend the bulk of your time talking about wrist/arm/shoulder mechanics (correctly) but your video of tapering a 1" bar shows just how much you use your hips, knees and I would argue, even your toes in bringing the hammer up and down. Blacksmithing is a whole body activity IMO.
P.s. -as an older lady, I went for a lighter hammer…..I have regrets. I will be getting a heavy 4.5 in the future. I like your hammers.
I’m really glad the video helped you. If you are mostly doing general/artistic blacksmithing, a 3.5 pound hammer is sufficient, but generally I’m doing work above half inch square and so I would definitely recommend a 4.5 pound hammer if you’re regularly doing work like that.
I appreciate that information I do want to make some axes and hammers of my own. Getting that going with a lighter hammer feels like trying to move Mt Everest with a hand trowel.. @@EthanHarty
Great video, really enjoyed how you give reasoning behind your theory.
I think Uri Hofi mentions the holding the hammer in two fingers and using the momentum to raise it, he is still using the other three for direction and stabliltiy - watch these two videos on the subject.
ua-cam.com/video/Hi4UtaCQEs8/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/2RSTMv-6P_s/v-deo.html @14:16
Might want to invest in a lapel mic. Audio Volume is pretty low, slightly increases in a minute, but, not the greatest in the start of the video.
It's also not much talk about anvils, you should not have to heavy anvil, because it is to hard rebound, which creates damage in your forarm, anvils that's weight more than 120kg, are called striker's anvils, and is not for handwork you do self at the anvil, it's written in old blacksmith's handbook.
Big anvils you have to have a different teknik.
Huh? Rebound off a work of hot steel is minor. Weight of the anvil is a negligible factor
it's hard to explain for me in English, but you can develop a blacksmiths elbow if you have a heavy anvil, it's like to have a steel handle instead of a wooden handle, don't now if stiff is the right word, but it's to stiff
Hello. if you have a reference for this. I would very much love to see it. or read and learn more about it. Thank you. In all my years of smithing, I have always had the best results with the most mass of anvil directly under to hammer blow. no matter the size of anvil or hammer. This could be a 20 lb. stump anvil driven into an old tree stump with the roots still in the ground. so now thousands of lbs. right where you need it. and will not bounce at all. can actually work better than a 700lb anvil with a short waist, and super long horns, and not secured properly. not much mass anywhere in one spot and bouncing around everywhere. But some projects need a bigger or smaller face to work on, for different styles of work., and different shaped horns. That is why there are so many different anvils and hammers. as far as rebound. To many think of testing the faces with a hardened all bearing. this has more to do with the hardened and tempered aspect of the face and the harmonics of the total anvil. rather I would have you try a 1in ball of play do, or clay and if you have two different anvils, lets say a 300lb twin horn with a shorter waist, and a 300lb, cylinder made of granite that has all its weight in a 4in face. and drop the clay on it from the same height. the one with the mass under the load will do more work with or without the harmonics. and yes of course the steel anvil will last longer. But this is why almost all of the really, really old anvils of poor steel and iron quality had LOTS of mass directly under the load. I am not saying you are wrong. but if you have a source for this, can you please post it for us. Thank you.
@@tombrown879 I think rebound is the wrong word, a agree with you, I don't now how to explain, i have resources, but they are all in Swedish, old blacksmith's book, for example oscar bergman, an old master blacksmith, but I'm obviously not the man to translate..
@@Kristoferskogsberg if it is possible. Can you send me a pick or type the title and author of the book. So that I can research it more. I have many swedish and Finnish friends hear in the states that can translate for me. Thank you again.