Power Hammer Dies

#1 · April 10, 2023, 12:58 pm

I currently have a set of flat dies and separate drawing dies for my 106# Anyang. The flat dies with a homemade "saddle" attachment definitely open up a world of blacksmithing possibilities. That being said, I'm focused on making knives at this time and find that the drawing dies stay in the hammer all of the time.

I cant help but wonder about a set of these combo dies from Anyang. It looks like they would be great for a few different things. I really like the idea of having a flat die readily available. The combo die includes a "fullering" die which is much more aggressive that the standard drawing die I'm currently using.

The fullering side looks great for drawing out tangs, billets, etc. I'm not sure how it would be for edge bevels when butted right up against the flat die, but I'm curious....

Has anyone used a similar setup in your hammer?

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#2 · April 10, 2023, 3:42 pm

Hey Matt!

When I purchased my Say-Mak hammer, I paid the extra money for a set of those type dies (pretty much exactly the same). I tried and tried, but found that for me.... the drawing portion of the dies is/was too severe, and I ended wrecking a lot of steel/blades, and the flat side....there just was never enough of it there to do what I wanted. Long story short, those dies haven't been in the hammer since before you were here! Like you, most of the time, the mild drawing dies are in the hammer, and those are what I make nearly every blade with.

For special uses, like making round stock for Damascus pens, ect, the flat dies with a hardie hole saddle arrangement is great for all those spring fullers/dies.

As for my set of "combo" dies.... my idea is to make the drawing side into something I can draw out the bits of hatchets/axes with....but that's gona require a ton of grinding. Maybe some day. 🙂

Ed Caffrey, ABS Mastersmith "The Montana Bladesmith" "Nobody Cares What you Know, Until they Know You Care!"

#3 · April 17, 2023, 12:01 pm

Thanks for the info Ed. I was concerned about that die being too severe as you mentioned. I do love the mild drawing dies that I'm using now, so I'll stick with them!

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