THE HANKY MAN OX THE FARM. 



859 



The first essential is a good heat. What is called a good welding heat 

 s the best results. If not heated sufficiently the bar will almost certainly 

 split during the process. 



When it is required to reduce the thickness of a bar from A to the thickness 

 B, the first step is to fuller the bar, as in Fig. 14a. The fullering reduces the 

 thickness abruptly at the right point, and it is an easy matter to get the 

 thickness in 14b. 



When the rounded fuller is used, no injury is done to the iron. ' A bar if 

 broken shows a fibrous structure like the grain in wood, and it is this property 

 which enables it to be bent at the will of the smith. It is absolutely essential 



Fig. 14.— DRAWING DOWN. A— Bar fullered. B— Bar drawn down. 



that the fibre of the iron should be maintained. If iron is nicked with a sharp 

 tool the fibre is destroyed, and it can easily be broken. A peculiarity of iron 

 is that if a bar is cut round with a chisel it can be snapped off readily, and 

 the fractured structure shows a crystalline nature instead of the fibrous con- 

 dition seen when it is broken without nicking. When the fuller is used to 

 make a depression, it merely changes the direction of the fibre without causing 

 any break. 



To draw the bar down after fullering, it is taken up to welding heat, laid 

 upon the anvil and hammering commenced about 1A inches from the end 

 farthest from the smith. The bar must be worked down in square section 

 without regard to its ultimate shape. For instance, if a | inch round bar 

 is to be reduced to h inch round, it must be work(d down to about h inch 

 square before commencing to round it. If an attempt is made to draw it 

 down in a round form, splitting is sure to occur. When the bar is laid on 

 the anvil and struck with the hammer, the effect is to make it spread side- 

 ways as well as to increase in length. The side-spread must be prevented 

 by turning the bar a quarter round quickly so that it is hammered on every 

 .side. 



