It takes brute-force and a lot of precision to hammer a chisel through a 20mm thick piece of steel. We did this in order cut two knives out of one piece. Its Vinh's passion to forge large knives, meat cleavers, and tools such as spades and other hand tools. I think this is the biggest one to date in terms of weight. Each cleaver weighing in at around 5lbs (around 2.3kg).
just before the cut was complete
When hammering a piece of steel this thick, it takes a lot of strength to draw the steel out for the length you want to achieve. We do this using the straight side of the hammer which is difficult to do because when hitting with two hammers, you have to hit on the same axis as the other hammer in order to move the steel in same direction; but it gives you a lot more control and precision in how the metal moves.
After hammering and heating, hammering and heating, hammering and heating... we're just about finished
Vinh hammers the bevel out alone
You can almost see how the knife begins to thin out toward the left side
Perrier. We just had this water bottle in the forge so that we can keep hydrated when I thought about the connotation I have in my head about the people who drink Perrier. Maybe not in Europe, but in the States I feel like people that drink Perrier are of the "high class" society. This obviously is not true, and I have no idea why thats what I think, but when I thought that, I laughed out loud because I thought about the two us, dirty, poor, and drinking Perrier. So Vinh asked why I was laughing and this is where that video (see other post below) came from.
...shrugging it off
When you forge a lot, and when you forge large things, the anvil heats up tremendously. So much so that its too hot to touch, and if it gets too hot it can damage it. So we pour water on it to cool it off.
Now, the completed meat cleaver we call The Beast. This knife weighs just as much as that hammer!
You can see the difference in the sizes. When we started they were both the same size but using the straight side of the hammer we drew it out. If we had used the flat side then there would be a large bulge in top of the knife.
