Forge a point on the end of the bar. This is done by tilting your hammer slightly and applying alternate blows to two sides of the bar. The first blow will cause the metal to stretch, flatten and spread out.
     Rotate the bar 90 degrees and apply the second blow to side of this wider section. This causes the bar to stretch out a little more and flatten in the opposite direction of the first blow. Continue this operation, alternating sides after each blow, until the point is formed.
     Keep the metal at a good orange to red heat throughout the exercise. Reheat the bar as often as needed to maintain this color as your working temperature. Hammering the metal when it is too cold is merely wasted effort.
     A Quicktime Movie® of this operation is available for viewing and may be easier to follow. The footage is taken from my video, "The Renaissance Blacksmith," which is available for order elsewhere on this site. (point.mov - approx. 240K. The Movie will load into its own browser window so that you may continue with the lesson).