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I Forge Iron

"Of Shoes,and Ships,and Sealing Wax ..."


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Phew... am just coming up for some air... been super busy as of late between my "day" job and with the blacksmithing work... madly trying to finish Christmas orders, been doing the market every Saturday, which apart from the first week has been great. This week has been hectic, trying to replenish stock and get the orders done.

Beth I love it, it's very sweet!! And, sometimes white is really good as a finish!!! I know I am generally not a fan of painted steel, i love the natural colours of bright steel, scale, oxides and rust!!! But... sometimes you have to concede that a painted finish is best, and will accentuate the piece! Share a photo when it's painted and in situ!!! I made a sign for a farm just recently that I painted white, otherwise it would have got lost in the background of a hedgerow!

Yes, I've heard of Bex, she was on a television show here. She shared a workshop with an acquaintance of mine in London, but I have never met her, her work is great!!

Randy, where do you get this book from?

Jake, there was something I saw the other week and thought of you... It was an attenborough film about the arctic, where indigenous Siberians had their houses on skis, little chimney poking out of a wood hut set on huge skis, pulled by reindeer of course..!!!! (how festive!?) ... I was thinking of your little forge hut, on skis...little chimney poking out the top, and a cling-cling-clang-ting of the hammer and anvil ringing out from inside...

Here is one of my special orders... Although I'm afraid I won't be getting any points for traditional joinery... I fear you will all lay scorn on my happy use of my mig welder. (I love my mig welder, you know!) One day I might be able to forge weld the bundle of leaves, and rivet the flower onto the stem.... I live in hope....

Beth, not too early now for Happy Christmas!! Although, we've not yet got a tree, although some decorations are up, and i haven't even begun Christmas shopping...

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Beth, great to see some of your work! Very good! Interesting combination of items. Leaves are well done and great taper on the stems. Usually when doing natural items I go out of the way not to get shapes or sizes uniform, but this works. Looking forward to seeing more.

Colleen, edge treatment is something that I focus on. I don't like a piece just cut out and nothing done on the edges. Like thining or rounding or texturing. The edges of your leaves speak realism and the torch cut on the flower is very interesting. Adds another dimension to it. No problem with your welds at all. Now if there was splatter every where and not cleaned up... Good job! I wrote recently that one of the best places for flower patterns is the local craft supply store, such as Michaels or A.C. Moore. Don't know what you have across the pond. I buy the best looking silk flowers, even used plastic on occasion. Pluck it off the stem, flatten it and trace the pattern. Works great.

Currently the book is available through Schiffer Books http://www.schifferbooks.com/newschiffer//book_template.php?isbn=9780764338762 Once it gets distributed Amazon and others will have it, too.

Just finished up a dragonfly and several sea shells. Need to get some photos this weekend. Keep the Sparks A'Flying!

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What I normally do when I've got to make a flower, is go to the florist and buy a real one, and dissect it with drawings... although I have heard about getting silk flowers as they make really good patterns... but for this I didn't have time, so i just looked at some photos, it's my first daffodil. I didn't even have a piece of pipe for the trumpet bit of the flower, I had to use a bit of sheet and weld it together.
With regards to the edges, I did deliberately leave them flame cut- but I made sure to wire wheel brush the edges to remove any sharp bits. I would ideally have used thicker sheet, makes for a nicer edge, but for this it was ok as the flower is quite small and delicate.
Would love to see the dragonfly and sea shells!!!

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I really like your little gate Beth! Personally though I'd paint it yellow or orange or maybe sage to harmonize with the plants in the background... white seems too close to the stone color to me. Any way it's a nice looking piece of work and I am sure that I'll like even more in it's final colors.

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Had a real unique request this weekend, but will have to wait to explain. Keeping someones' secret until the first of the year. It's amazing to me that when someone wants something different done people will just reject it or say it can't be done instead of trying to find a solution. More later.

Anyway, finally got the pictures of the dragonfly and shells. Would have liked the brazing on the wings to be better, but the rod is welding rod and real easy to melt before it would braze. The shells were laser cut out and then I had made top and bottom dies and used my 60 ton press to form them. They were wire wheeled and I tried coloring one with a torch. Then clear coat of laquer.

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Here you go... I start the blank hot by hand hammer to make sure the piece is centered, take another heat and squish. Jobs this size is where I wish I had more tonnage. Remember that the tons of pressure is per square inch so the bigger the piece the less overall push you have.

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Beth, your gate is wonderful. I really like all the elements. My personal choice would be to leave it black so it contrasts against the white stone.

Colleen, your daffodil is amazing thank you for showing it.

Randy your shells are fantastic. I'm running out of adjectives to call all the wonderful work.

I got to spend some more time hanging out with Jake and working more on the axe. I've included some pictures of us slitting the slot. There are a couple of things I would do differently. One, I would profile the chisel for hot cutting, its a cold chisel. Two, I would make a pair to tongs specifically for tools with eyes. I'm in the process of doing both right now. I do plan on making more axes. Its a heck of a lot of fun. The rotund guy with the hammer and chisel is me. And thats Knots43's hammer I'm using.

Jake and I were shaping the blade and eye of the axe. I was running the camera so I didn't get any shots of me working on it. But, another great time was had. I'll get pics of the axe as we continue to shape it and also of the tongs I'm making. Not done with them yet but I did get a good start on them. I'll add pics as we go.

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thanks for commenting on the gate you lot :) makes me happy !
bryan the photos look so cool - bet your having a lot of good lessons up there!! keep on posting - i for one look very carefully at the work :) i would SO love to make an axe - it would somehow make me feel more valid on gods earth! one day i will, but not with the fabulous and hair brained mr pog (maybe it will be under the fine tutelage of the fantastic and knowledgeable mr bellamy...) hope you two are getting encouragement from he bsmithing company :)
does anyone know about those bleeding heart axes and wether or not its a gimick or something real and symbolic for native american people and their axes? i would be interested to know, cos i DO love hearts, and theyve got em... :)
randy - the shells are wicked - theyre reminding me of something, cant tell if its just The Birth of Venus, or funny fancy dress bikinis or what - but i like them, they look extremely tactile, which, we like!!!!
i am back on home duties (obviously) as its christmas and the kids are all off, and im up to eyes in cooking and festiveness - but i will be working on some clay and wax sculptures, which i will cast or have cast, IF i get a minute. i have a tiny space at home i can use for such lovliness, but as its got cold, my husband needs to store a couple of special jetwashing machines indoors, cos ridiculously, so badly designed, they are impossible to drain, without a huge fiddley effort with a compressor atttchment, SO they will take up residnece in my little room, i can hardly object, rob makes all manner of allowances for my creative needs! so not much room over christmas. we will see . lovely to look at what everyone else is doing as usual though - thanks you lot ;)

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Beth, here's an easy way to make a heart punch. Forge a square punch. Put it in a v-block, which you can make by hammering a piece of cold square stock into a hot block, and round off the top of the square punch with a hammer. Use a triangular or narrow file and file out a "v" in the center and then finish shaping to your desire. Filing works best. Heat treat it and there you have it.

There is a drawing here, just click under the "attached thumbmails".

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ah no randy/bryan - i have a heart punch :) i made one on johns courses - more like a hole in the shape of a heart right through the thin flat part of the axe. ..


Then make yourself a punch with a flat square end as Randy showed from an old coil spring, and use that to punch through for the hole, same as you did for your round punch you made on the course

Or if you want it larger, use a half round hot cut and a chisel to make the shape.
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Before I forget I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas.
I've fired up my new forge a couple times now (I'm a weekender) and am really enjoying it.
I enjoy seeing your projects. They give me inspiration. Beth, love the gate and colleen, love the flowers, and Randy's scorpion as well.
Bryan, Jake, John B, Rusty and all, the greatest of luck with your projects.,
To all, A Happy New Year

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and to you jawno! look forward to seeing what you are going to be making :)

john, i wasnt really asking about the method :) just about the history of the bleeding heart axes really - i was wondering if anyone knew about them, i can see how id make one, just interested in why they were on there, or as it looks they were probably as bryan said - a tourist gimmick ! i like the look of them anyhow...

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  • 3 weeks later...

I could put this in a new thread but this one has been kinda idle lately so I thought

maybe this would wake it up again.
I'm a noob at this forgery stuff. I tried making some horseheads after seeing the

technique here in another thread. When I got to where I wanted to do the eyes I had a

bit of a problem. I'd been holding the work in one hand and hammering it with the other

and all of a sudden I needed to hold a punch too. I was reminded of Jake and his

"stomach vise". It would have come in real handy for a third hand. So I was wondering

what you folks do when you need a third hand? Do you call over your assistant or do you

have some tool like a stomach vise that you use to help you position things? Any good

ideas on how I could go about making a "stomach vise"? I can conjure up a few images

but not sure how practical any of the designs are.
I probably should have put this in another thread because it doesn't have much to do

with the philosophy of forging but I thought you would all understand what I was

talking about when I mention a "stomach vise".

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jawno - the only thing i know jake uses for stomach vise is wedging the work in his belly button! he is not easily online at the moment so we might miss his wisdom , but im sure the guys will have some actual tools that are useful like hold fast or i use a little stand behind the anvil when i just need to Rest a length of metal, rather than Hold it...

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On thin stock I use a vise grip welding clamp hooked through my hardy hole. No modification needed, grips tight for me, but has a limited range of thickness it works on. Here is the thread that inspired me to try it.


here is a modified clamp


a number of ideas


a video showing 3 different ideas


Call me a link monkey today
Phil

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