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People are the best part of blacksmithing. Dan and Judy Boone last week end, Dave Hammer who is a constant friend, Roger Smith from Richmond, Randy McDaniel, the Albin D'ski........the list goes on and on. Today I delivered a job to a former school teacher so she could mount a big school bell in her front yard. She was quite happy. A former customer who had me build a fireplace crane a few years ago stopped by to order another piece, and he was pleased with the crane's durability and smooth action. I did demonstration blacksmithing today, as I do every month's first Sunday afternoon at historic Jerusalem Mill with the help of really old Latham Martin (who is responsible for the site being functional by his neighborhood clout), and had a raft of kids and teenagers up to the anvil. Each newbie helped make the piece that they walked out of the forge holding. Very cool to watch a pair of twin boys about 7 years old separately forge hooks with different skills. One pumped the bellows while the other hammered. The 11-13 year old girls were however the treat because they were astounded to be given an opportunity that was the farthest thing from their minds when they walked in with Mom. They each made a J-hook. Camera opportunities for the parents of the kids, and Mom was proud of the teens.
The new shuttle valve that was installed in the Octagon 50 yesterday also served another purpose today. I brought my demo & delivery trailer up to the shop and tested it using the Octagon 50 on a sustained session of forging. This rig runs a bit slow because the pulley is small enough so that my welder/generator will start it without grunting. At Dan Boone's a week ago it seemed too slow based upon hammer reciprocation speed; workable, but too danged slow at the business end of the hammer. Well, it wasn't the compressor at all. The valve was causing slow running, not insufficient air pressure, according to today's results. This proved that the comparative calculations made during the planning in late 2009 were correct and that, indeed, this hammer will run NON-STOP with a 5 hp two stage Quincy piston type compressor on a 60 gallon tank. Oh happy day! :-)
More good news. Video material has been placed on the company web site www.ironkisshammers.com. One set of three videos show the making of a miniature anvil, one single video shows the making of a handled tool, and another shows the making of a faceted jewel. All these show use of flat dies and hand tooling by industrial smiths whose names you may recognize--Clifton Ralph, Curt Ferenbach, and Steve Parker.
I also invented a simpler stroke adjustment lever assembly for the small hammers and got one operating on the 50 before having to go to the old mill demonstration. The plan was to use a simple T-handled nut, as was used for years on the older hammers, but over morning coffee this idea formed. Will now see how it works at the Fire and Brimstone knife makers' show this upcoming weekend in Marriotsville, MD.
The new shuttle valve that was installed in the Octagon 50 yesterday also served another purpose today. I brought my demo & delivery trailer up to the shop and tested it using the Octagon 50 on a sustained session of forging. This rig runs a bit slow because the pulley is small enough so that my welder/generator will start it without grunting. At Dan Boone's a week ago it seemed too slow based upon hammer reciprocation speed; workable, but too danged slow at the business end of the hammer. Well, it wasn't the compressor at all. The valve was causing slow running, not insufficient air pressure, according to today's results. This proved that the comparative calculations made during the planning in late 2009 were correct and that, indeed, this hammer will run NON-STOP with a 5 hp two stage Quincy piston type compressor on a 60 gallon tank. Oh happy day! :-)
More good news. Video material has been placed on the company web site www.ironkisshammers.com. One set of three videos show the making of a miniature anvil, one single video shows the making of a handled tool, and another shows the making of a faceted jewel. All these show use of flat dies and hand tooling by industrial smiths whose names you may recognize--Clifton Ralph, Curt Ferenbach, and Steve Parker.
I also invented a simpler stroke adjustment lever assembly for the small hammers and got one operating on the 50 before having to go to the old mill demonstration. The plan was to use a simple T-handled nut, as was used for years on the older hammers, but over morning coffee this idea formed. Will now see how it works at the Fire and Brimstone knife makers' show this upcoming weekend in Marriotsville, MD.
