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Flatter and Forming Stake: Smoothing and Doming Tools for the Smith
The flatter is a top tool with a broad, flat face: set on the work and struck by the striker, it takes out lumps and hammer marks and leaves a finished surface (Practical Blacksmithing, 1889); a round-edged one leaves round corners unmarked. The forming stake is a domed iron head on a shank set in a stump, for hammering sheet into curved shapes. Forge both.
The picture: our diagram, a flatter with its handle and a domed stake in a stump.
Intermediate
Two days
Instructions
1
1
Forge the flatter
Forge the flatter
Upset tool steel into a block with a flat square face about 50 mm across (our size), the body tapering up to a flat top to take the sledge. Punch and drift an eye through the body for a handle.
Materials for this step:
Octagonal Tool Steel Bar1 kg
Charcoal3 as requiredTools needed:
Blacksmith Forge
Anvil
Cross Peen Hammer
Sledgehammer
Hot Punch
Drift
Blacksmith Tongs
Welding Gloves
Safety Glasses2
2
Face and handle
Face and handle
Grind the face dead flat with its edges slightly rounded (more for a round-edge flatter), harden the face, temper it to blue, and fit an ash handle.
Materials for this step:
Ash Billet1 piece
Water10 litersTools needed:
GrindstoneBlacksmith Forge
Quench BucketBlacksmith Tongs3
3
Forge the stake
Forge the stake
Upset the end of a heavy wrought iron bar into a dome about 100 mm across (our size) and draw the rest to a tapered square shank. File the dome smooth.
Materials for this step:
Wrought Iron Bar2 piecesCharcoal4 as requiredTools needed:
Blacksmith ForgeAnvilSledgehammerBlacksmith Tongs
Metal FileWelding GlovesSafety Glasses4
4
Set it in a stump
Set it in a stump
Saw a hardwood stump level, bore and chop a tapered square hole in its top, and drive the stake's shank in tight.
Materials for this step:
Hardwood Logs1 pieceTools needed:
Crosscut Saw
Hand Drill
Chisel SetSledgehammer5
5
Why the flatter smooths
Why the flatter smooths
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Materials
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Tools Required
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