Quick and Dirty Fullering Jig

I recently started a project that, amongst other things, will challenge everything I have learned over the years regarding smithing. The first piece of the production requires a broad, shallow fuller (Type X blade profile) and the stock I had at hand was just too short to get the length and width together. With the intent of grinding in the fuller, I instead had to turn to forging one in. To assist with the task, I constructed the following quick and dirty fullering tool. In effect, it is a spring swage.

Disclaimer: I am not a welder by trade!!

Right then, onto the jig.

First off I forged the two dies out of a piece of rebar. It doesn't matter much what the steel is, as it will not need to be hardened. This was the most time intensive part, as the piece I had was far too large for the project, but the only thing large enough to use.

Here it is again, cleaned up on the sander and cut in half. To keep the curve consistent, I worked the profile while it was still one piece.

For the bottom die, I cut a channel into the rebar to accept the spring part of the swage. This allows the entire die to sit flat on the face of the anvil.

Poorly welded on all four edges of contact to a length of flat stock. In the future, I will use something a little thicker than this, as it deformed a little too easily. For the job, however, it worked fine. Just a bit of mild steel, about an inch wide and 3/8" thick.

After a quick measure on the anvil face to see where I want it to sit, I clamped a pipe to the bench and bent the spring around. Note that the 'spring' is not heat treated either, as it only has about a quarter of an inch to travel at the most.

Top die welded in place (upside down in this picture). I used the spring tension to hold it in place after aligning it.

Next I cut a piece of 1" square tubing that will serve as the shank for the hardie hole. My hardie is a little oversized, so to compensate, I ground a wedge from the flat stock and welded it to the top end of the tube.

Here it is before welding (shank already in place).

And here is the finished swage. Nothing fancy (actually quite hideous), but indispensably useful. I kept a bit of a handle on the top so I can lift it to get the blade in.

Happy forging!