March 8, 201214 yr I am sharing with you the 2nd (last part) of our documentary movie "The Birth Of A Tool". It shows traditional timber framing chisel/slick making process. Thanks for watching. John
March 8, 201214 yr As before, very nicely done. Only thing that threw me was all of the old way of doing things and then using what looked like a laser machince to sign the handle. Beautiful tools!
March 8, 201214 yr Fine quality film, immense knowledge of tools and quite a range of practices. How did you come about making documentaries about work?
March 9, 201214 yr John, that is a wonderful video. May I ask if the initial shape of the socket is cut or forged?
March 9, 201214 yr Last? What do you mean last? You cannot stop now, these are the best I've seen, and you have to continue. Please!
March 11, 201214 yr Good looking tool. It made me curious. I have an old slick probably made in England. The rectangular portion measures 3 7/16" x 9 1/2". It is stamped with tiny lettering, difficult to read, "MWWetherby; Warranted". The slick has a slight, smooth bend on the flat about one third of the way from the socket end (rectangular section) toward the business end. Being nit picky, I retrieved the slick and measured; the bend rises three degrees up from the non beveled side, I was told years ago by a woodworker that the bend was intentional and it was to get the worker's knuckles away from the framing;. for example, if removing material inside a door or window frame. For the cutting edge, this particular slick has a bit of high carbon steel welded to the wrought iron body. The thickness has a smooth taper the entire length from 1/2" to 3/32" where the cutting bevel starts. This is a quite heavy slick and I'm certain that they come in various weights and sizes. I give the measurements only as a point of reference.
March 11, 201214 yr Hi John, Very nice. I happened to show your axe video to some people today who are not blacksmiths or woodworkers. They were spellbound. When will your web page be up. Larry
March 11, 201214 yr thanks john for both of the videos.my 3 year old sat on my lap and watched the axe video,he never moved or fidgeted.he didn't speak,the at the end he asked "can we make an axe daddy"your work is inspirational on so many levels,thanks mat.
March 11, 201214 yr Hello John, Very nice video, with a lot of good information on forging tools. Would be nice to see a little more on the beginning of forging the axe. Thanks Jim Riddle
March 12, 201214 yr GREAT VIDEO...very inspiring!!!!! Who is the musician playing the soundtrack in the video? Look forward to seeing more from you.
March 12, 201214 yr Not to take anything away from John's incredible sense of craftsmanship but, has our society moved so far away from physical work that the practice of making is placed so high?
March 12, 201214 yr Not to take anything away from John's incredible sense of craftsmanship but, has our society moved so far away from physical work that the practice of making is placed so high? I did a demo in Washington DC and one of the most asked questions was "Is that a real fire?". Michael, If they can not recognize fire how can you theorize how hand work is viewed? I wish I had someone following me around to make my work look as good as John's work in those two video. Ric
March 12, 201214 yr Its called marketing. Its one of the most overlooked aspects of business success and is why many talented companies and people go out of business every day. They do not spend the time and money on putting their name and product out there. If you put your chisel and his on a shelf next to each other they will likely buy the cheaper priced tool. But people who watch these videos want to go out and buy a john neeman tool even though they may never use it, just to say they have a handcrafted tool with the soul he displays in the video. They won't want your chisel but they will want Johns after watching that video. EXCELLENT JOB on marketing your skills and product!!!!!
March 13, 201214 yr Heck yeah! Each of those videos should sell 100 tools each! It is unfortunatly rare to see such high quality video production techniques in the blacksmith world. Of particular note is that these are made to sell work to the customer, not teach other smiths, every full time smith here should take a page out of his book! Great work too, by the way, I really enjoyed watching them! Caleb Ramsby
March 27, 201214 yr The soundtracks for both videos are Holocene and Re:stacks, consecutively l. By bon iver
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.