Drawing out steel is known as the most basic blacksmithing technique and therefore it is crucial to know how to do it right. Since I saw a lot of interest online among many people related to this topic, I decided to write this comprehensive guide to this technique.
In this guide you will learn:
- What is the drawing technique
- 3 different ways of drawing out steel with a hand hammer
- Which one is better for drawing out, power hammer or hydraulic press
- Safety precautions before starting out
- Tips for perfecting this technique
What Is Drawing Out Technique?
Drawing out is the fundamental technique used in blacksmithing. It is usually the first technique you learn in a blacksmithing course. The major purpose here is to increase the length of the material. You should note that you don’t actually change the volume of the material. You make the material longer and reduces its thickness.
When drawing out, the angles between the metal piece, an anvil, and hammer will determine the final shape of the material. Generally, there are two common reasons to draw out steel:
- To forge a point
- To forge a taper
Forging a point is a crucial skill of every blacksmith. It doesn’t matter whether you are a beginner or experienced smith, you have to know this. Of course, as with any other skill, this one also requires building muscle memory for proper striking and control. The first thing you have to do is to make sure that you heat the metal to its forging temperature before you start drawing out.
To keep the point centered, tilt up the metal slightly. Always start at the end of the stock and gradually work your way down until you reached the desired thickness and shape. Rotate the material by 90° to avoid unnecessary widening. I would suggest using a light hammer (around 2lb) for greater precision and control, especially if you are a novice.
The round point, square point, and flat chisel point are the three most common types. If you want to make a round point, first you have to draw material into the square shape. After that, draw it to the desired size. Now it is time to make it eight-sided while slowly rolling the metal on the anvil.
Forging a taper or also called tapering is another reason why you have to draw out steel. To put it simply, this is a continuous process of drawing until you made a tapered point. However, I recommend starting out with a squared piece of metal. Like forging a point, it is best to put the material at 45 degrees angle and rotate it every few strikes. After assessing the steel, return it to the forge when required.
Consider These 3 Important Things Before Starting
Many blacksmiths rush into forging as soon as possible without worrying about their safety. That can be extremely dangerous. So before you start drawing out your stock, you should have three things in mind:
- Wearing safety equipment
- Setting the anvil at the right size
- Choosing the appropriate hammer size
Let’s begin with the first one.
Wearing Safety Equipment
As with any other craft, there are countless ways of injuring yourself. Blacksmithing is no different. In fact, blacksmithing can be extremely dangerous if you don’t respect safety precautions. Don’t be one of those “badasses” who think wearing safety gear is not actually necessary. Unfortunately, I was one of them until I heard a story about some blacksmith who almost lost his sight due to not wearing safety goggles.
After that, there hasn’t been any forging session that I did not wear them. While that may hurt your small ego, it can save your eyes. I hope you value the second one more. Remember, you are working with hot steel that can melt your skin without a problem. So, don’t make dumb choices, especially when it comes to safety.
Once that ego problem is settled, we can continue.
Good?
Ok, let’s move on.
One of the most important safety gear in blacksmithing are safety goggles. Do not ever start forging without wearing them! Every time you step into your shop, one of the first things you should do is to put them on. That way you will create a habit that will save your sight. As far as I remember, there are no blind blacksmiths, so don’t skip this one.
One fact worth mentioning here is that over 90% of eye injuries at the workplace could be prevented by simply wearing safety glasses. As would Nike slogan said, just do it.
Next would be wearing the appropriate blacksmithing clothing. The shirt should be made of natural fibers, preferably cotton. A cotton shirt is both more comfortable to wear and also less likely to catch fire.
On the other hand, polyester shorts are prone to catch fire easily. I remember one time when I severely burned myself in the workshop. Namely, I was wearing a cheap polyester shirt when suddenly a small bit of bituminous coal popped out from the fire and flew right on my shoulder.
Setting the Anvil at the Right Height
Setting the anvil right is vital for two major reasons: decreasing the possibility of injury and conserving energy. Constant striking on the anvil that is either too low or too high places tremendous stress on your joints. By working on the anvil that is too high, the chances of developing a shoulder injury are drastically increased. On the other hand, if the anvil is too low, it forces you to bend your lower back and fully extend the elbows.
Another great reason to properly set the anvil is conserving energy. As you may know, blacksmithing is a craft that requires a decent amount of physical strength and endurance. Therefore, it is crucial to have enough energy to complete the forging session. Striking the hammer on the improperly set anvil forces you to make negative postural adjustments that will quickly reduce your energy levels.
So, how do I find my ideal anvil height?
Glad you asked.
One of the easiest ways for determining your ideal anvil height is to simply stand by its side. Your stance should be standard shoulder width. Simply make a fist with your dominant hand and observe the height of the knuckles. That height is considered your ideal anvil height.
Choosing the Appropriate Hammer Size
Deciding which hammer you should use is incredibly important. A hammer is to a blacksmith the same thing as the brush to a painter. Keep in mind that the heavier the hammer is, the harder it is to control it. In blacksmithing, you have three categories of hammer sizes: small, medium, and large hammers.
For beginner blacksmiths, I strongly recommend small or medium hammers which range from 1 to 4 pounds. To be even more precise, a 2-pound hammer would be a nice reference to start with. In terms of a hammer style, a cross-peen hammer is usually recommended. Just make sure that the peen is not too sharp, otherwise, it will cut the material rather than drawing it out.
Light hammers offer noticeably better control and precision. Not only that, but they also allow you to work much longer due to their lightweight. Using light hammers also decreases the likelihood of injuries. On the other hand, hammers heavier than 4 pounds are considered large hammers. I would stay away from those, especially in the beginning phase. With large hammers, you don’t have good control and you increase the chances of developing some kind of injury.
5 Most Effective Ways of Drawing Out Steel with Hand Hammer
Now when everything is set and done, you are finally ready to forge some steel. I remember when I was learning this technique. Nobody was there to teach me how to do it properly so, to be honest, I had no idea what was I doing. There were times when it took me 2 hours to draw out a simple metal piece. Unfortunately, back in my time, youtube wasn’t so popular, especially blacksmithing videos. So I had to rely on the pictures in various books and guides.
You have 3 major ways of drawing out a piece of steel:
- By using a hand hammer
- By using a power hammer
- By using a hydraulic press
In this paragraph, we will focus more on the first one, and in the next paragraph, I will compare the power hammer and hydraulic press in terms of efficiency. Ok, let’s start with a typical hand hammer.
When it comes to drawing out with a hand hammer, there are 5 most common ways of drawing out steel, including:
- Flat on flat method
- Hammers peen and the anvil’s face
- Hammers face or peen and anvils corner
- Horn method
- Fuller method
Flat on flat method
The flat on flat method refers to striking the material on an anvil’s face by using the flat face of the hammer. This is the least efficient method of drawing out steel by using a hand hammer and I will tell you why. If you place your metal piece on the flat surface and hit it with another flat surface, you have a large striking surface area which is not so effective. The metal won’t move so much.
The problem gets even worse if you have some thick piece of steel. If that same piece is something like coil spring or 5160, you will have a terrible time drawing out by using this method. The principle is simple, the greater the surface contact area, the harder it is to draw out steel. However, this method is ideal to make the material flat and leveled after an aggressive drawing done on either the horn or the corner of the anvil.
Hammers peen and the anvils face
As you can see, this one is very similar to the first one. The only difference is that you use peen instead of the hammer’s face. What this does is it actually speeds up the process of drawing out by reducing the surface contact area between the hammer and material. This one is a more aggressive method, so make sure you rotate metal every strike by 90 degrees to keep the taper centered.
If you see that you made some mistakes, simply return to the previous method and use the face of the hammers to level things up. One thing you should also keep in mind that anvil act as a heat sink, meaning it reduces heat after every blow you make on the material. When you rotate the stock, you will notice that the side that has been in touch with the anvil is slightly cooler than the rest. This is especially a problem in the winter when temperatures are low.
As we can see, the surface contact area is not only related to pressure, it has a direct impact on the heat. The cooler the steel is, the harder it is to forge. While this may not be a problem if you have only one item to do, it is certainly a problem if you have dozens of them. One possible solution lies in the next method.
Anvils corner method
This is by far the most aggressive method of drawing out steel with a hand hammer. The corner of the anvil act as a fuller which decreases the contact surface area. This method provides a faster drawing process than any other method especially if it is done with the peen of the hammer. Keep in mind that if you decide to use peen instead of hammers face, make sure you are very precise.
If you hit just beyond or under the edge it tends to bend the material. This is why you should flat those created lumps on the face of the anvil every now and then. In terms of which corner you should use for drawing, both of them are commonly used. From what I have seen, the majority of blacksmiths prefer the front edge of the anvil. The near edge is typically used for smoothing things up when you need to create parallel lines.
Horn method
Placing the material on the anvil’s horn is a slightly more effective method of drawing out. Unlike the previous one, the material has less contact and therefore creates much better pressure. You can compare these two methods and you will quickly realize that this one moves the steel better and faster.
For example, if the drawing out on the anvil’s face took you about 10 minutes, placing it on the horn may save you 3 or 4 minutes. As you can see, it is a noticeable difference. All because you decreased the contact surface area. To speed up this method, all you have to do is to use the peen of the hammer instead of the hammer’s face. To strike with the peen, all you have to do is to slightly tilt up the hammer.
So, instead of distributing the pressure across the surface area, you put all the energy in one place and therefore you create much better pressure by using a peen. The steel will move much faster that way and you will save a lot of precious energy that you would lose otherwise. Another benefit of using the horn to draw out the steel is that you can lengthen the steel without much spreading.
Fuller method
While placing a bottom fuller into a hardy hole may seem like a good method unfortunately in practice it isn’t. Since the bottom fuller is not connected to the anvil, every time you strike the material on the fuller, it jumps. That jump is lost energy and therefore makes each strike less efficient.
However, it is still an improvement from the drawing out on the flat surfaces, like the anvil’s face. I would choose any other method except this one.
Drawing out Steel with Power Hammer vs Hydraulic Press
Now, for those who have some extra money to spend on more blacksmithing equipment, I would suggest buying either a power hammer or hydraulic press. In case you can buy both, you don’t need to read the rest of the article.
In terms of drawing out steel, a power hammer is typically considered a better option than hydraulic steel. Power hammer provides you with more time drawing out due to less heat absorption. It is also much easier to control a power hammer than a hydraulic press. On the other hand, hydraulic presses are more convenient for resizing the stock.
If you want to find more information about this topic, check Power Hammer vs. Press-Which Is Better for Blacksmithing?.
And there you have it, everything you should know about this basic blacksmithing technique. My goal is to write a comprehensive guide like this for each technique so stay tuned, more content is coming.
