[Jewelry making - Article 00703] - Re: [Orchid] Chasing Tools and Tree Stump

[Trevor F]

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>     ... If you put soft materials under the tree stump to absorb the
>     vibrations do you still have the full force of your blow acting on
>     what ever it is that you are hammering? 

Hello RR,

    In a word, no.  The more solid the base under the stump the more of
    your hammering force goes into the metal.  Solidity (more or less)
    equals hammering "efficiency" but of course it's a trade off between
    that and shock absorption. 

    This is where the concrete slab on some soft thing comes into it's
    own. The force of your hammer isn't enough to move the concrete much
    so you get high hammering efficiency. But the concrete sits on spongy
    stuff so any force that it does absorb is not transmitted
    effectively. It looks like a lot of hassle to set up but it works
    like a dream. 

    That said the old stump on blankets thing works quite well unless
    you're into substantial forging. In my experience it's perfectly
    satisfactory for jewellery level forging and chasing but I wouldn't
    want to use it for hot forging knife blades or the like. When you're
    doing jewellery stuff the stump is proportionally heavy enough that
    your little hammer taps aren't enough to get it moving much hence you
    have the perception of (sufficient) solidity. 

    As ever your mileage may vary. 

Cheers, 
Trevor F. 
in The City of Light

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