a man that isn't afraid to admit his mistakes on camera , is a man to learn from! Thank you

I absolutely love Black Bear Forge's attitude and commentary with projects. Just chill AF and Humble.

Knowing that you make mistakes and can fix them is very encouraging to us beginners. Thank you.

I made a very simple cut-off hardie from a rail spike today. First I forged the spike's head to fit in my hardie hole. Then I blocked the bottom of the hardie hole with a file clamped to my anvil so the hot rail spike would rest at the bottom and hammered it over 90 degrees to sit flat along the anvil face. Next heat I clamped it in a vice and hammered the spike's tip up, and it's done.

This video helped me make my first hot cut hardy tool. Thanks!!!!! Immediately after seeing it, I drove to my own brand new workshop, and made this from a coil spring. I really appreciate your videos. Actually, this is my first Blacksmiths tool I've ever made myself.

Another great video by my internet dad. Thanks, internet dad.

The "I don't know" bit is from either an auger or continous miner. Those bits are unbelievably hard. Having worked underground for 7 years, I've seen what those can do and rocks do not stand a chance against them.

Justified getting a propane forge for my 64th birthday. Got some tong blanks and a nice 75k english anvil from the 30's. Have to assemble/cure up the forge and go through the misc. steel I've come across. I've some truck leaf spring I may cut, fold and beat into fullers and such. Have some broken jackhammer bits and will play around with old ball hitches. I'll be beating on rebar to make fire pit stuff and other trinkets until I develop some intuitive muscle memory. Looking forward to it, I've appreciated your videos for several years now.

you do a great job teaching. I've done this a few years now and have started watching your videos. I also give lesson's. we, need to keep this craft going. thank you.

Nice save on the hardy.Good to see your human.Thanks for another awesome video.

wish i had seen the last one 8 years ago then i got my own shop started. have used a hacksaw or the hardy on my biking stump for years

Great

Great simple ideas!

A 45° Hardy might have been a good idea, but you are here to teach, so showing a "fix" is fine too. The plus is, you get to show the issues with forging large steel bits after twisting. Great teaching moment, thanks.

Thank you, Love it.

Thanks!

A hardy my head with age !

As usual stellar stuff!

This video is fantastic thank you so much

Just realized this after watching a couple videos. You are the Ron Swanson of blacksmithing. Love the videos.

Thanks so much for sharing all this information. You sir are one hell of a teacher.

Mr. Bear, finding your videos very helpful, easy to understand, and down to Earth. Thank you.

Great learning every time Thanks again Sir

This is my new go-to for blacksmithing!

What a great video to learn from. I've learned tons from your videos and I am very Thankful. I don't have a great deal of smithing experience, especially being a cabinetmaker. But I have made hardware needed to restore period antiques or repaired and made missing pieces. I had a small forge, I called it the BBQ forge with a cast iron pan and blower. A small anvil about 50 or 60 lbs and it worked okay. I lent them to a guy years back, with some hammers and a few tools, and he disappeared. My mentor gave me the forge and the anvil was my Grandfathers and that's what hurt the worse. So I've looked for anvils, I have a blower or two and can make a forge but anvils are expensepive. But living here in Lancaster Co. Pa. farm country, I keep my eyes open for that anvil that will fit my needs. With all the antique German box locks I've restored or make parts for myself, I've made keepers, a bit of forging on the latch and riveting to a back plate I made traditionally with files and the like. So your videos help a lot. One of the professions of my mentor was, born in 1889,' was a blacksmith in a carriage shop, where he learned black smithing and made 6 cents an hour in his teens. I did learn things from him though he couldn't do much work in his 80s and 90s. But I'm sure you can see something done and do it. Your work is beautiful and I love how you maintain the tradition, which I believe is very important. I use traditional old tools in my work. And I have seen many many pieces of traditional hardware for furniture and houses, which I've been involved with restoring. I have a deep respect for craftsmanship and the creative arts, the art of spirit and making something not just for its practical use but made as best as possible. And I also love running across pieces where someone wasn't necessarily skilled but did the best they could and made it work. In the old day people seemed to have a deeper appreciation and did the best they could. Thus folk art. Something almost lost and a few keeping it alive. I believe there has been a growing interest in all the skills and new appreciation for them in the factory produced goods of today. People are beginning to miss the beauty and spirit place in the love of creating something. Weather it be an apple pie or a beautiful piece of iron crafted with skill, experience and a love for the art. This you do and I'm very Thankful for this and your sharing your art. It keeps it alive. DaveyJO in Pa.

Awesome video thank you!!!

Your videos are instructional and inspirational thank you for making them.

I really appreciate the quality and diversity of content in your demonstrations. Thanks for your contributions and efforts in advancement of one of our most noble art forms .

You are an amazing person with an amazing sense of understanding

I am recieving a great education with your videos. Thanks for the excellent content!

Nice. I have some jackhammer bits n didn't think about using them. I can get a bunch. Thanks for the tip. I use whatever seems hard enough to make hardies

Ive never blacksmithed in my life but i love your videos they are fascinating , many thanks for the content

my favorit channel =) picking up blacksmithing because of u

Thank you, just starting need to keep practicing,

I am very glad I found your channel! Very informative and well explained details. Good job, please keep it up!

Great tutorial, thanks for putting in the effort and uploading this to share...

Your keeping good pace with your videos, and there not short either. Also its good efficiency as you keep signing off with " get out to your shop" or similar and I end up rushing out and trying something lol so I spend more time forging and not just wasting away watching you and others do it.

Ya know....after 25 years blacksmithing i still love seeing the myriad ways people do the same work and i never stop learning...there maybe 10 million ways to do something wrong but theres 10 million ways to do it right ...keep doin what you do

Watching your videos really makes me want to start blacksmithing. The last hardy is what I've seen at renaissance fairs and really makes sense for the first hardies ever made, because it's quick, simple and effective.

Thank you for the 3rd cruder hardy. It's an interesting quick & dirty path to have taken with many other tools e.g. a bending jig as well as options for refinement & variation for example welding a third, central piece of tool steel between lower carbon scrap.

Your brilliant Sir thanks for such educational videos I have a lovely old anvil but no tools at all, I want to preserve some forgotten arts and will try to make some tools from your very educational lessons...Thank you for sharing your skill's with us, Toby

THANK YOU

i absolutely love your blacksmithing channel, and the wealth of information, the detailed explainations, and your cool demeanor, your structured approach to things. With my limited blacksmithing experience the first jackhammer hardie you are making, i can tell that its a very tough material, but i also see with your experience you know to work it in the bright yellow range, to easen the workload, its a pleasure to watch :)

Thank you so much for doing what you do, your videos are amazing well presented and broken down in a way that can be understood by less experienced viewers, without "dumbing it down" as only an experienced craftsmen can explain. So stoked I found your channel, and that you are in the same neighborhood of Colorado! I just recently was fortunate enough to become the owner of my first forge (forced air and far larger than a beginner needs but it was priced to well to pass up)

I liked it better at a 45 deg angle. (just my .02) I do love the videos and have subscribed. Thank you for taking the time to make them. I have learned a lot.

great video John... I'll be contacting all the rental places for sure!

Thank you! Thank you! I started today, what a great day - and you're right, sooner than later. I just need to make a notch on a long piece (coal rake) and I can't hold the peice and some chisel at the same time... Sure appreciated your mistake and repair as well!

You fixed it!! Learning how to fix the F-ups is needed. Thank you. 😁😂

Good tip I am going to call my local tool rental place and see if they have any bits!!

Hey good job buddy thanks for sharing how to fix it to

Maestro super

thanks John ive been hoping to see a hardy tool video1

Thank you for all of your videos! I have learned so much from you and you do a great job explaining and demonstrating it! Again, thanks so much and look forward to more videos!

This kind of satyfying

Good

Dude, your videos are the best educational blacksmithing videos on KZfaq in my opinion. I have started making my own equipment to do some projects and the tips and tricks you show are helping me visualise what I need and how to go about it

Just fantastic. Thanks for the inspiration..... Probly the best blacksmithing vid I've seen to date. Im out to the workshop....... Thanks for helping to keep blacksmithing alive.... All I learn is to teach my son as he gets older, he's only 6yrs old so I've got a bit more time up my sleeve yet be4 he's really ready, even though he already has his own anvil and hammers. He's just got to be doing whatever dads doing..... My lil right hand man in the workshop.... So once again thanks for putting in the time and effort you do in making these tutorials.

I really enjoy how much quality content you put out! Thanks much and keep up the good work! Always a pleasure.

Car springs are very versatile!

I enjoy watching your videos. Most people will edit their mistakes and show only the perfect finished product, you show people how to correct the mistakes. Good job sir

John I was watching the orientation of the Hexagon as you started forging the cutting edge and thought I might mark an indication to keep me on the right track...As it works out I would NOT call it a failure, reason being as I'm very restricted to space around my anvil to move around so it's better for me to have the cutter at 45 degrees so I stand in the centre and still swing...Just a thought, I guess everyones needs vary...Toby

Any recovery that results in a working item is a good recovery!! But you do need to have a bit of an ideas to what can be done. Your videos give that iea. Thanks...keep up the great teaching

Thanks John, I'm woodworker who is trying to learn blacksmithing. Every winter I try to teach myself a new trick I can add to my quiver. This winter I chose blacksmithing and your videos have been invaluable! I watch them every afternoon when I get home from my shop and learned so much, with a few chuckles thrown in. My hands are feeling a little numb from spending the day making square shank nails for a customer out of quarter inch round bar. That will make you appreciate automation 😂 Keep up the great videos! I'm learning a lot from you!

Sweet Video black bear forge, mahalo td

Great video. Eventhought the last example was very hokey. Sometimes you gotta make due with what you have on the fly...and that's A-ok 👍👍

Another great video. I'll probably use that fold method since I need to fit a 2inch Hardie hole.

Thank you for your video. I am not a blacksmith at all and probably never will but I love how you showed the process of it. It reminds me of life. Sometimes life gets hot and you get hit hard but in the end it works to make you come out right. Just like your tools. Thanks for the video!

Good video

9:07 sooo hypnotizing

Thank you for making that mistake, because it hammers( pun not intended) out the lesson of keeping you mind on your work. I think I learn more from mistakes, because I make so many of them, oh well, I learned a lot. Keep pounding away, I am watching.

Big thing: "What to do when things go wrong"... Thanks.

It’s funny, but your fiascos are some of our best work!

I was thinking of making one of these out of a log splitter i got this week.

I used a couple of those mushroom looking things that came out of a blacktop eating machine to make some hardies. They worked fine but one thing to watch out for is making sure to knock out any carbide tip in the end of it before you go to forging on that end. (experience talking here, had to grind out the mark in my hammer.)

That tooth you were talking about is for a ditching machine commonly used on pipeline jobs to of course cut ditch sometimes called a rock saw. The tip of the ditching machine tooth should have a tungsten carbide insert so dont try forging the tip lol. Sorry if you covered that in the vid i paused it halfway to comment.

Regardless of mistakes, you're a straight up bad@$$! Love your videos, man. I'm just days away from completing my forge, and quite excited to start forging some projects. Not sure what the first one will be, probably a chef knife, but I see scoops and spoons on the creative horizon :)

Wasn't a mistake, you just made it for hexagon or even an octagon shaped hardy hole :) I notice you made the standard convex curve on the cutting edge. I actually saw someone using a hardy that was concave, it made the material being cut tend to jump towards the centre of the tool when struck rather than tending to slide off the edge. I liked the look of it and am going to give it a go. I have also seen and used a hardy made from a straight piece of mild steel angle iron, seemed to work okay as long as the steel was good and hot you were trying to cut.

Enjoy all your videos. I work in the oilfield, here are the wrench sizes (flats) for the sucker rods you mentioned: Body Wrench 5/8 7/8 3/4 1 7/8 1 or 1-1/8 1 1 5/16 1 1/8 1 1/2

Another great video, and very informative. Looks like you got a package from Ken's Custom Iron.

Thank you

You touched on something that tripped my brain up. Your use of Vermiculite in annealing; I was wondering if you had a video on that process. The questions I have, for things as big as the hardy, do you bring the whole thing up to cherry temp and drop it in a box of the stuff, or what? Preciate the info and I'm learning lots.

Great video. Really appreciated! (sorry my english)

I hope to forge someday, I have the bug bad from a hundred+ videos... Many on how to get started for cheaper... I've checked out many comparisons on anvils or anvil shaped objects or not even shaped much like an anvil pro's and con's. Cheaper forges or maybe just a fire, charcoal and something to blow on it. I have a pretty good idea which tools I need to buy and which I can make sooner or later. There is a pay to play forge in a nearby city but I'm thinking it's pretty expensive. Also it seems to be structured more to classes than free time, which I could use, but would rather mostly do my own thing, thus my own forge once I have a place to put it. Anyway for now I gain knowledge from people like you. How to do, what to use, why to do it. Things like normalizing, heat treating, etc... I'm starting to understand more. Why some metals, what the differences are, etc... Even if I never get to use it I find it very interesting, and if you don't start somewhere you never go anywhere... Thanks for the info, I would certainly have a hardy hole if I buy an anvil or if I make one, and a cutoff would be my first tool.

great stuff. im 60 and feel like im a first year apprentice. im ok to learn.

hey that piece of steel your holding at 6:00 is a tooth from what i think is a vermeer trench digger ther are super cool pieces of machinery at least i think thats what it is

That last salvage piece that you talked about is a tooth to a milling machine for asphalt. When I used to work for the city's asphalt crew, the machine we used had a big cylinder full of those teeth. They're super hard, and can take a beating. Given, we had to replace them every once in a while due to wear and tear, but they can withstand all sorts of abuse.

Make a hardie tool that has a spring which curves back towards the edge of the anvil and has a flat plate which is in line with the edge of your anvil that acts as a set hammer

the i don't know bit is from rock grinding machines. these are replacable teeth with carbide tips that end up wearing off. check to make sure the carbide is gone. vermeer sells these and you could find info from them .

Hmm, this sounds like a perfect excuse to attempt a collar weld as well!

New to smithing (JUST got anvil, but forge needs to be completed and I can get started), but was looking for feedback on a hardy idea: flat bar (either from round stock such as coil spring and forged or already flat) about the width of my hardy hole, worked like your third tool but folded on itself from the center of the bar and the ends folded outward evenly as the shoulders. Small wedge hammered in to stretch the flat stock like you do when fitting a wood handle to a head (axe, hammer, etc), only slightly wider. Forge welded together (hence slightly wider, to correct for welding and hammering). Wedge has more of a diamond shape so you can forge weld another piece of smaller, folded, v-shaped flat stock over it that can be hammered to a chisel point for the hardy. Wanted thoughts for longer lasting tools for those of us on a budget? The second flat stock can be a harder steel, but I was thinking just using coil spring as well, since I was also thinking of hardening the first a bit as well just under the shoulders? For the stresses of being used as a counter weight against the inside of the hardy hole? What do you think? Anyone and everyone else? I'll seek further feedback on other videos as well but this will be one of, hopefully many, as I actually get started. Thank you all for any criticism and feedback offered.

The hardy hole on my small anvil is i wanna say is the same width as a railroad spike.I may make a few cut off hardys and some swedges and fullers.I have some thicker steel around to make what i need.My cut off i made out of a railroad spike head actually does well but its not the best.

Thanks for your videos you are a real asset to people who are new to this craft it should shorten the learning curve for anyone aspiring to learn the trade. I will send you pictures of a couple of hold downs I have made that work pretty good for me. What type of audio system do you use when you make your videos. Thanks for your teaching. Regards Terry

Given the way my anvil is oriented, I would prefer the 45 degrees

What kind of coals are you using? Where do you get them? Thank you for your expertise. You’re a great teacher.

..I did the same thing with a 45 degree. Made another one right but i like the one a bit off better. Everything i cut falls into my catch bucket instead of hitting my stand and going elsewhere...

The unknown metal "cone" piece of metal comes from a grader blade for finishing roads or breaking ice

First of all, thank you for doing these videos. I took some classes but when you get home, you're always left trying to remember what you learned and your videos are awesome to remind me or even show a new way! Keep the videos coming! Question about your hardy hole conversion plate... Did you make it out but it? If you made it, maybe a video? If you bought it, where? I have a Fontanini anvil (same one you got) and some free hardy tools but they're too small for the l my anvil. Thanks and keep the great videos coming!

Carbide tipped grader “Stinger” the last one

Nicely done, I made a hardy cut off tool today from 1060, didn't put a collar on it. Wonder if I need to weld something on there, it stays in place because the hardy hole is tapered.

The closed caption listed your first hammer strokes as (music)