Forging Tapers The Forwards Taper:

Alec Steele
19/02/15 Half on half off the far edge of the material
How to Forge Tapers
Ok, so I know you might be scrunching your eyes wondering why on earth I have devoted all this time to something as sim-
ple as tapering. Well, the truth is: if you want to bang away at some steel and force out a taper, it is very simple! However, if
you want to forge in a principled manner, focusing on increasing your efficiency and accuracy at the anvil so you can forge
faster and cleaner, the following guide is essential! I suggest you read and watch both the Ebook and the video several times
over!
Let us remember these three basic principals of forging:
Surface area contact at the point of impact is inversely proportional to the steel moved.
The heat of the bar is proportional to the malleability of the steel.
Steel always moves in the direction of least resistance first.

The Forwards Taper

Half on half off the far edge of the material
1 2 3

25

Begin by holding your bar at around a 25-30 angle near the far radiused edge of the anvil. Then, tilt your hammer over away from you until the center line of the head follows a
bisection of the angle on the point of impact [1]. Considering the angle at the end of the bar is 90, this naturally means your hammer will be tilted (45+25) 70 over. The reason for
holding such a drastic angle is that by striking on a bisection of the point of contact, we are reducing the surface area contact as much as possible. The benefits, as outlined previous-
ly are that more steel will be moved per blow, and, that less steel will be bearing on the anvil and hammer, leading to less loss of heat through conduction - the most efficient form of
thermal energy transfer. Strike in a manner that follows the arrows: straight up and down. Hit once on all four sides. Each blow should emit a resounding thud. If the bar bends, it is
because you did not hit with obtuse enough an angle. It will feel odd to strike with such a heavy tilt of the hammer, but the rewards of learning to forge like this greatly outweigh the
costs of learning to hold the hammer at this angle.
1 2 3

Hold the same angle on the bar and keep striking with the hammer at 70. This will create a very obtuse/steep taper. Bring the tip down to the finished dimension you desire.
Note where the hammer is [2], it bypasses the level of the anvil over the edge when hitting the steel. This is why we really need to be at the far edge of the anvil. If we were in the
middle of the anvil, the hammer would hit the anvil before the steel and thus the steel would not be forged.
Notice the angle created where the forged area meets the parent bar. We will use this angle to our advantage when extending the length of the taper. By lowering the bar to around
6-10 or so [3], the aforementioned angle is the only point of the bar in contact with the anvil; less surface area contact means more steel is moved and less thermal energy is lost
to the anvil. Regarding your hammer blow: swing straight up and down, with your hammer tilted to the extent that the center line of your hammer bisects the angle at the point of
impact.
1 2 3

Strike hard on all four sides, once per side. The reason that we do not strike more than once per side when trying to move a lot of steel is that it would leave a large surface area of
steel in contact with the anvil for a prolonged time. It is quite shocking just how much this can reduce your forging time at the anvil! The shorter the time we can forge at the anvil,
the more fuel we have to burn to get our steel hot. Efficiency is reducing the input and increasing the positive output.
1 2 3

Notice the large flat spot created from holding the angle shown previously [1]. We now want to avoid hitting the same angle due to the grossly increased surface area contact. In
creating this flat spot, we have made another two angles. So, we should raise the angle of our bar a few degrees to rest it on the point of greatly reduced surface area [1], and, strike at
a more obtuse angle, bisecting the angle at this point.
After having struck another four blows around the work piece [2], we can now attack the second of the two angles which is higher up the bar [3]. We lower the angle of our steel and
adjust the angle of our hammer to strike in line with the bisection of this angle. notice the very small amount of material in contact with the anvil [3].

1 2 3

By striking on all four sides again, a straight taper should have been created. We do not want the taper to be convex (bullet nosed) or concave.
Once we are near to the final dimensions of the taper, we can strike more than once on each side and lay the entire surface of the taper on the anvil. This is because, at this stage:
more surface area contact with each blow = less steel is moved = more precision! We will also have more success planishing forged surfaces at a lower temperature, because similarly:
the lower the temperature = the lower the level of malleability = the more precision is possible.
 The Forwards Taper:
Half on half off the far edge of the anvil
Half on Half off the far Edge of the Anvil
It has been said that forging over the horn is the most efficient way to draw out large amounts of material at the anvil. 1
I would argue that this is a fallacy and lies in the superstition of tradition rather than reason. Reason certainly dictates it
is faster than forging on the flat face of the anvil, but it also refutes the claim that the horn is most efficient.
The Argument:
The horn of the anvil is unsupported and so vast amounts of energy will be lost to vibration rather than transferred
into the work.
The horn of the anvil is conical and so will have a tendency to corkscrew the material.
The horn has a large amount of surface area.
The far edge of the anvil is supported by the body of the anvil so less energy is lost. x
The far edge of the anvil is straight, helping keep your steel un-twisted.
The far edge of the anvil has a much smaller surface area so more PSI is exerted.

Therefore, the far edge of the anvil is more efficient and the original claim is refuted.

Hold your bar of steel over the far edge of the anvil, held at the angle of the finished taper you desire to forge [1]. Then, with the round die of the hammer positioned half on half
off the anvil, strike once. The round die is used because the reduced surface area contact helps concentrate the force directly onto the point of impact, leading to more PSI, so more
steel moved. On the underside of the steel, the reduced surface area of the anvils edge and the steel moving in the direction of least resistance will create a lump in the hot metal [2].

2 3 4

Turn 90 after each blow and pull in towards yourself ever so slightly between 1-3mm (1/16 and 1/8).
It is important for you to strike over a radiused edge of the anvil. A sharp edge can have a tendency to create too harsh a transition, so when the lump is hammered down it can create
a cold shut (a fold in the material that is not welded back into the steel and can develop into a crack)
1 2 3

When you turn 90 for your third blow, you will notice that the lump, created by the first blow over the edge, is upwards and facing you [1]. Continue to strike half on half off the
edge of the anvil and notice that the lump is cleanly hammered flush with the top surface of the steel and a new lump is formed on the underside [2]. The beauty of this technique is,
that despite forging on an area of greatly reduced surface area contact, we are able to clean up the forging as we go, avoiding unnecessary and lengthy planishing heats to finish the
forging.

1 2 3

With each blow, continue to pull the material in towards yourself.

It is important to be aware of the angle of the bar you are holding. This technique is extremely effective for drawing long tapers, where, if the bar is held too high you can easily
reduce too much material too fast, destroying the finished structure of your forging. In the words of Brian Brazeal, the man who introduced these techniques and concepts to me:
Dont go too far too fast
1 2 3

Notice how with each blow the steel lights up and in fact gets hotter. This is a testament to the efficiency of this technique as it shows we are inputing more energy into the steel by
hitting it than the steel is losing to conduction with the anvil and air!
Continue forging all four sides and pulling the material into you. Stop just proud of your desired finished dimension!

1 2 3

Afterwards, you can switch to the flat die of your hammer to increase the surface area contact of each blow and strike with 3/4 of the hammer on the anvil and 1/4 off [1,2]. This gives
us an extra degree of precision necessary to forge a clean taper.
You can refine the taper by planishing all four sides with the flat of the hammer on the flat of the anvil at a low heat. This is a good opportunity to relieve the corners if you so chose!
1 2 3

To make a square taper into a round taper, we must first create an octagon. It is easy to fall into the thought process that this is merely taking off the diagonals. However, this opens
the door to the possibility of not going to a full octagon before trying to make a round, which will leave unsightly flat spots on your taper. You must make the taper have an even 8
sides, and subsequently on larger stock such as this 16mm (5/8) square, 16 sides before beginning the process of rounding. You can efficiently forge an octagonal taper by working half
on half off the far edge of the anvil with the flat die of the hammer.
You will note that in the video at this point, my hammer blows did not pass far enough off the edge of the anvil. This led to a reduced efficiency. Strike as illustrated above.

1 2 3

Once a 16 sided taper has been forged, you can position your hammer blows 3/4 on, 1/4 off the anvil and begin to round it off from the base of the taper up to the tip. Very gently
hammer and slowly rotate the bar in one direction through 360. With each full rotation, you should pull the bar in around 10mm (3/8) to work the length of the taper. Naturally, a
small lump will appear on the top surface of the steel, created by the anvil edge. This however will be hit flush by the hammer as it hits the top.
1 2 3

You can also taper flat stock in much the same way! An interesting point to note about flat stock, once it gets above a 3:1 ratio from the hight to the width, the steel will have a ten-
dency to buckle and fold rather than forge into itself!
To keep the proportions of the taper correct on the rectangular bar, you will have to strike more on the high side than on the wide side.
Start by forging with the round die of the hammer half on half off the far edge of the anvil. Strike once and then rotate the bar through 180, pulling the bar into you around 1-3mm
(1/16 to 1/8 of an inch). Repeat until the width of the bar begins to greatly exceed that of the parent bar.

1 2 3

Lowering your angle so the bar is parallel to the anvil face, strike alternate blows between both sides of the bar. Make the width equal to that of the parent bar.
1 2 3

After bringing the taper to the finished dimensions, use the flat die of the hammer to clean and planish the forged taper.
When taking the diagonals off, remember that on a rectangle, you cant forge the diagonals when the bar is tilted to 45. However at the tip of the taper, where it has a square cross
section the diagonals can only be hit at a 45 angle. This means you have to change the angle of your bar as you take off the corners down the length of the point!

Take note of the illustrations below. Showing how when forging square, we must tilt our bar to 45, but when tilting flat bar to 45 it will twist and slap down onto the anvils face as
the points of contact of both the anvil and hammer are not perpendicular from each other. To forge the diagonals of a rectangle, tilt the bar so that the points of contact line up
to a perpendicular line and hammer at a slight angle. This is an important phenomenon to note.
 The Bar:
Half on half off the near edge of the anvil (with the flat die)
1 2 3

If you want to reduce the cross section of the steel while keeping the sides parallel, such as when needing to make rectangular stock from round bar perhaps, we call the process:
making a bar.
To do this, we must bear in mind that the only structure the far edge can achieve is that of a forwards taper. The reason is that steel always flows in the direction of least resistance
and so it will fall off the far edge, creating a forwards taper. However, by feeding in our stock from the near edge of the anvil, using the flat die as a stop we can forge a bar.
Start by holding 1/4 on the anvil and strike half on half off the anvil [1,2] before rotating the bar through 90 and feeding in another 1/8.

1 2 3

Notice how on the third blow (2), you forge down the lump created on the first blow. Again, this is the benefit of this technique; we can keep our forging relatively clean as we work!
The flat die acts as a stop because, once the small surfaces of contact (1/8 on the top and bottom) are reduced, the flat die comes in contact with the entirety of its face on the steel.
This huge amount of surface area prevents any more work being done, so the forging is brought level and no further!
1 2 3

To bring the forging to a round cross section, you can do much the same thing on the diagonal of the square!

1 2 3

Once you bring it to an even 8 sides, you can position your hammer 3/4 on the anvil 1/4 off and begin rounding the bar as you feed in the metal [1].

[2,3] To make a rectangular bar, forge with alternating blows on the wide side of the rectangle. Only hit once per side to minimize contact between the material and the anvil.
1 2 3

Once you have established these two flats, rotate the bar 90 onto the high side of the rectangle and do the same here.

1 2 3

These hammer blows will have a tendency to cup the steel [2]. Remember to check this back to plane with the flat die.

Once you are close to your desired finished dimensions, you can increase your surface area contact by working with the flat die over the middle of the anvil to create a smooth, clean
forging.
 The Reverse Taper:
Half on half off the near edge of the anvil (with the round die)
1 2 3

The fastest way of reducing material is over the far edge of the anvil. Bearing this in mind, when creating a reverse taper on larger stock we can reduce the material beforehand over
the far edge of the anvil. This of course creates a forwards taper rather than a reverse [1,2].
To bring the material down to a reverse taper, we forge heavily over the near edge of the anvil, this time, with the round die of the hammer.
The reason for using the round die in this instance is that it has a much reduced surface area of contact, so, unlike with the flat die that stops when it is level with the rest of the bar,
the round die will penetrate to below the surface, causing a reverse taper [3].

1 2 3

Continue feeding in the bar, hitting as usual on all four sides until you get the rough dimensions you desire!
1 2 3

As we get closer to the parent bar, we will notice it is increasingly difficult to reduce the material enough with each blow. Therefore, we again go to the far side of the anvil to further
reduce the area adjacent to our reverse taper.

1 2 3

Notice how again working over the edges of the anvil aids in transferring a lot of energy into the steel, so much so in fact that at each strike, the steel heats up enough that it
visibly changes colour!
Once you have a clean reverse taper, you can make it round by using the flat die, half on half off to take off the diagonals to an octogon.
1 2 3

1 2 3

Once octagonal, we bring the hammer 3/4 on 1/4 off the anvil and begin rounding the material as we feed the taper in.

So why are the forwards tapers, bars and reverse tapers important? Well, in one form or another these structures play a part in almost every forged piece and knowing these funda-
mental principles of forging will greatly help you as you as you embark upon further forging projects!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! See you on the next course!!

More Resources:
For Custom Tools and Private Classes: www.blacksmithingtools.co.uk
For more free blacksmithing videos: www.youtube.com/alectheblacksmith
To learn blacksmithing online: www.beginblacksmithing.com
Questions?? Email [email protected]