Subject: "Excercize in splitting"

From: [email-masked] (MR WILLIAM A HOCHELLA)
Date: Sat, 31 Aug 1996 20:37:11, -0500

To All,
I have been looking through my stuff trying to find the table that 
was published in the "Anvil's Ring" or "Hammer Blows" or whatever 
detailing the method of first drilling the ends of a split to 
facilitate making a hole. I have "The Blacksmith's Cookbook" by 
Francis Whitaker in which there is a table describing splitting 
chisel length versus finished hole size. I thought that he had 
revised his thinking on the sublect and came up with the idea of 
first drilling the ends of the split. I saw the new table somewhere. 
Does anyone know exactly where?

Thanks,

Bill Hochella

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From: [email-masked] (George Dixon)
Date: Tue, 3 Sep 1996 15:43:43 -0500

I have never drilled a set of holes prior to splitting a bar.  Although
that would mark the length of the intended cut, I prefer to layout the cut
cold with the slitting chisel, then work hot.  If the holes are small, then
they just serve to delineate the cut length, if they are larger, then there
is a possibility that they will leave a mark at each end of the cut.
If the cut length is undersized enough that drifting obliterates the
drilled mark, then there is too much stretching going on.
There is no need for such a machinist approach to a basic forging operation
that can be achieved with the chisel alone.
One last point.  The chisel cut layout, done cold onto measured lines,
leaves a cut that the same tool 'feels' when the bar is bright from the
forge; it is a positive relationship.  The drilled hole approach does not
orient the chisel at forging heat and small holes may not be appearant at a
scaled, yellow-white heat.  In short, you can drill two holes in more time
than a chiel layout takes, and still set the tool at a bad angle when you
go to cut at temperature.
G Dixon