Smithsonian demo made me rethink my hammer technique

I swung by the blacksmithing demo at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival last Saturday and watched this older guy shape a leaf scroll. He was using way lighter hammer taps than I do, then he stopped and said, "let the anvil do half the work." Idk why that clicked but I tried it in my garage that night, barely touched the stock and got a cleaner taper in half the passes. Has anyone else found that letting the rebound carry the swing changes their result that much?

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simonm6712d ago

Man, that rebound thing is real and it took me way too long to get it. I was doing the same thing, gripping tight and forcing every strike down like I was driving a nail, and my elbow was wrecked after an hour. When you loosen up and let the hammer bounce back on its own, you're basically using the anvil like a spring and your arm just guides the next hit instead of muscling it. What I'm curious about is your grip, are you pinching the handle near the head or choking way back by the knob? I found that moving my hand back a bit let the head do more of the falling and my taps got way more even on tapers. Also, what weight hammer are you swinging, because a lighter head might be what made his taps look so soft.

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