tutorial on forging a socketed spearhead?

[David Stifle]

I want to forge out a nice socketed spearhead, and I was wondering if anyone could give me some pointers or a lead to a good tutorial. Thanks guys.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Here are some:
http://tutorials.livinghistory.ie/Home/making-a-spear-on-a-forge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIa7ubfBT50
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/845243-Cheap-aids-for-socket-handles

A method rarely used, but very old, is to fold the bar in half and forge weld the billet up from the fold. Weld it about half way up and leave the rest un-welded. Forge the spear head and neck from the welded part and then flare the un-welded parts out, round them, and either separate them as two side pieces, or shape them and weld into a solid socket.

Sam did a tutorial a while back, but the photos are long gone.

Here is a post I made five years back on this subject:
"I haven't made a spear in 45 years, but here is how I did it back then:
Take a piece of 3/4" to 1" round stock. Forge the blade in the shape desired, tapering back about 3" past the blade. Cut the stock about 10 inches from that point. Start flattening and flaring the metal until the tang is a fan shaped piece about 10" long and 4" wide at the base (it sticks out like wings) and 8" wide at the top. Using a drift or mandrel (forged from a piece of 1" round stock), start rolling this into the cone shape of the socket. With a little luck and a bit of work, you can make a nice socket. You can weld it with your stick or gas welder ,forge weld it, or rivet it. Once welded up, use the socket drift to shape the socket to final taper. Cut the end off to make a nice throat.
It worked good enough for us kids to go into the woods and play Watusi.
Stacy "

 

[David Stifle]

Good stuff, Stacey, exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

 

[Storm Crow]

Here's a three part video I made a few years back. Should get the general idea across:

[video=youtube;Q3wNjA2U6GM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3wNjA2U6GM[/video]

[video=youtube;cap22dm6IjE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cap22dm6IjE[/video]

[video=youtube;GQp1_A5By_U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQp1_A5By_U[/video]

 

[quint]

Thanks for sharing those videos, very informative seeing how thats done.