Ok, forming the socket.... It is ALOT of work to make the socket, I'll tell ya.
When I formed spearheads from RR spikes, the entire first day, about 7 hours of forging, was spent spreading the metal for the socket. This goes much faster if you have a straight pein or cross pein hammer. Otherwise, alternate between the ball pein and flat hammer face. Use the pein (ball or straight) to produce a lumpy surface, and then the face to smooth it out again. This simply moves metal faster than beating away forever...
Once you've got a roughly triangular and thin mass of metal, trim the edges up with grinder, hardie, chisel or whatever you like. The base of the triangle should be about pi X shaft diameter (close to 3x diameter). For a 1" shaft, that's a 3.14" socket base.
Position the heated socket over the edge of your anvil (rr track). Start bending the edges first, and slowly move the bend in. You don't need to do it all at once.
Once you've got it about halfway curved, you can start to continue the bending of the cone by placing it on the face of the anvil and coaxing it closed with the hammer. Gentle work. Curve the sides first, curve the middle (the centerline) last...
If you overcurve any part, I kept a 1/2" iron bar, which I'd forged to a blunt point, in my vice. Just slip the socket over it and use it to help correct whatever sin you committed. Also useful for correcting a banana shaped socket, if ya know what I mean.
You want the edges of the socket to pretty much meet, but there is no need to lap or weld them.
Now, "order of operations"....
When I make a spear or arrowhead,
- I first flatten out the socket triangle (the entire first day, typically, when forging from RR spike)
- then forge transition from socket to blade, (a couple heats.... Leave this thicker than you think you need. You can thin it later, but adding material later is difficult or impossible)
- then forge the blade (an hour or 2),
- then form the socket (an hour)
- then do final straightening of blade and socket, then HT. (half an hour)
Point the open end of the socket away from you when quenching, or it may throw gobs of hot (maybe burning) coolant at you.... which is unpleasant.
Hope that helps, Mok.
J