I haven't found a really good book yet but, this from Kevin Cashen's website explains the process. Read a lot of his site to start with then read Ed Caffrey's stuff.

http://www.cashenbla...om/forging.html

Thank you for the advice Mr. Brackett, sounds like a great place to start. Much appreciated.

Yes Ronald, Kevins site is full of information. I am sure he can recommend some good books on the subject.

Brion

Thank you Mr. Tomberlin, I started reading Mr. Cashen' site and I really like the way he explains things. I had also read a post on what happens during a forge weld and I immediately understood what he was wanting to explain.

When I get a question like this I turn my office chair around 180 degrees and scan down the shelf of books directly behind and try to determine which would best suit the inquiry. This one is tough because I have about a half a dozen in front of me that would definitely cover the topic but would do it in such a heavy and dry way that it would be very hard to extract the basics; these are not what I would call light reading, and my idea of a good time is curling up with a serious metallurgy text. What you want for the specifics of plastic deformation at forging temperatures are texts covering physical metallurgy and those can get so darned egg headed that they are mostly just pages upon pages of equations. Any texts that I would recommend are going to be easier to read if you first go through the book "Metallurgy Fundamentals" by Daniel Brandt. From there You could try "Principles of Physical Metallurgy" there are a couple of older texts, one by Coonan that is definitely out of print, and another by Hultgren that is probably a little more relevant but still tough to find. There is "Introduction to Physical Metallurgy" by Avner that is a little more advanced but still readable by somebody with a basic metallurgical grounding. "Fundamentals of Physical Metallurgy" by Verhoeven is not a good idea unless you have metallurgical training and will show you exactly how much he dumbed the topic down for "Metallurgy for the Non-Metallurgist". A great comprehensive text that will cover the topic among all the others in general metallurgy is "Metallurgy" by B.J. Moniz. I have others devoted specifically to the topic of plastic deformation and forging processes but they are very technical. I have a fairly extensive collection of books on the topic, some that I have a very hard time reading, because years ago I discovered that the craft of bladesmithing was rife with myth, nonsense and misinformation about the forging process and I decided that if I was going to sort out the truth I needed the solid facts and so I began many years of research, and am still learning today.

Thank you very much Mr. Cashen for your recommendations. I'm going to order "Metallurgy" by B. J. Monica as a starter. I found several copies new and used on amazon. I really appreciate you guys taking the time to share your wisdom and knowledge. You guys truly practice what the ABS promotes and I'm very thankful to be here. I'm sure I will have lots of questions as my skills progress over time. The time you guys take out of your day to help a newbie like me will always be appreciated and never fall on deaf ears.

Metallurgy of Steel for Bladesmiths & Others who Heat Treat and Forge Steel

I found this link very informative, though there is a lot there and it takes some time to digest.

Thank you for sharing Mr. Carnecchia. I'm definitely going to check it out. I'm trying to soak up as much as I can.

Mr. Cranker, are you trying to understand the physical property changes, or the process of forging?

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Mr. Cranker, are you trying to understand the physical property changes, or the process of forging?

Hello Mr. States. I'm wanting to understand the physical property changes. The difference between the different crystalline structures, causes and effects etc... Thank you for any feedback, I appreciate it.