Forging round bar by hand. Worth it?

[Justinschmidt 3]

So fastenal has w1 for a really good price in round bar. How big of a pain in the neck is it to forge round bar by hand? I'll probably make some Japanese pairing knives with it.  I'd like to make chef knives with them but idk how tough it is. 

Thinking 1/2in to 5/8 maybe? 

[Geoff Keyes 672]

I figure 1 inch is about the upper limit for a hand hammer.  I you have friends who will strike for you, or hold while you strike, it goes pretty fast.  You can do some interesting things with round bar, but if you can get the same stock in flats, it will save some time.

Check out the pinned topic on the air powered forging press.  For not much investment you can have a small press for breaking down stock.

 

Geoff

[Joël Mercier 709]

For a chef knife, you'll need 3/4" or more.

I hand forged a santoku from a 7/8" W1 round. It was my third knife and second forged so it's definitely doable. Just make sure your steel is hot enough and you should be fine. 

[Jerrod Miller 595]

I got some W1 15/16" as a really sweet deal.  It is ...difficult to move by hand.  I like having a press.  Not just handy for the round bar, too.  

[Justinschmidt 3]

My anvil is pretty sub-par so I'm worried about that. But I'll probably pick up some 3/4 round bar anyway. 

Geoff itll just be me so I'll just have to suck it up lol

Joel I loved that santoku with the forged finish you did

Jerrod what makes it difficult to move? Just the mass of it?

[Zeb Camper 787]

W2 is just tough stuff. You can feel the difference even with a power hammer. It's not what I call a fun thing to forge. I'm sure there is a metallurgical reason. 

 

[Troels Saabye 42]

Once I managed a 1½" round bar O1, NEVER again by hand

Edited July 27, 2018 by Troels Saabye

[Justinschmidt 3]

1.5in round bar. Yeah that doesn't sound fun at all. The tungsten, vanadium  and chromium are probably what make them difficult to forge. 

But I've heard w1 varies alot I its composition. So that kinda sucks 

[Troels Saabye 42]

Not fun at all   but great learning ^^ and excellent workout O.o

 

[Joshua States 2,502]

I use the 1 inch rounds in W-1 and O-1 for knives and although I do most of the reduction with either the press of the power hammer, I do the initial forging of the end down into a point (to avoid fish lip syndrome) all by hand. Work at substantial heat (Yellow) and keep it hot.

Edited July 27, 2018 by Joshua States

[Gerald Boggs 301]

It comes down to how good of hammer swing you have :-)

[Jerrod Miller 595]

To be clear, it is totally possible by hand, yes.  But that is a lot of material to move, and it certainly doesn't move as easily as mild.  You'll definitely want a big hammer and anvil (or a press).  

[Justinschmidt 3]

Starting to sound like I should wait till I have better equipment and just get some 1095! No problem with that at all

[Gerald Boggs 301]

Or get stronger :-)

[Alan Longmire 3,784]

3/4" round W1 isn't too bad by hand, but that's about as big as I'll do that way, because I do have a power hammer .  1" round wrought iron is easy.  1" round mild steel is not.  

[Justinschmidt 3]

I'll forge some 1095 for a bit and once j get a real anvil I'll try round bar. 

 

[Joël Mercier 709]

Good point, you'll waste a lot of energy without a good mass under your hammer.

[Justinschmidt 3]

That's what I'm kind of worried about. I just have a 55lb Chinese anvil. Hoping to get a peddinghaus by the end of the year 

[Joshua States 2,502]

4 hours ago, Justinschmidt said:

That's what I'm kind of worried about. I just have a 55lb Chinese anvil. Hoping to get a peddinghaus by the end of the year 

C'mon, you must have a friend or acquaintance that wants to learn how to do this and can be conned, no convinced, into doing striker time.