This is the first of a series of articles on two-man sledge hammer team work.  It was originally published in the UMBA Journal, Volume 16, Issue 4.

      At the 1994 ABANA conference there were several excellent demonstrations of good two man striking.  I was intrigued and impressed by the methods these people employed when using bigger hammers.  Like most of us, I did not start my blacksmithing business with a powerhammer already parked in my shop.  It took several years of swinging hammers of many types before I had earned enough money and was producing enough merchandise to justify a powerhammer.  Of course by that time I already had a good case of "blacksmiths elbow," but that's a different story. 

     During that pre-powerhammer time my friend and fellow blacksmith Jeff Knight and I would (and still do) team up together for projects requiring the use of a sledge hammer.  Whether that was punching and drifting eyes in tools or forging out large projects doesn't really matter.  Together we worked out a system, partly by logic and partly by trial and error, that allowed us to get a lot of work done AND allowed us to work with other, less experienced people.  It cannot be stressed enough that experience is the key to an efficient team striking project,that is, experience with the tools and metal as well as with all members of the team.