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Show us your pokers please.


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I know we have posted pictures of forged hooked pokers before, but can we have a thread here showing each person's interpretation of a hooked poker?
Whatever method you use, welded or not, it would be nice to see an array of these so we can make an informed decision on what style we, who are of minimal experience, would like to adopt for our own work.
Actual structural integrity need only be sufficient to poke the fire and shuffle some wood around, so I'm not concerned about welds that would surpass the Queen Mary's anchor chain. If it can be done without welds, all the better.
Some nice handle ideas would be good too. I have made a lot of straight pokers, but only two with a log hook on the end. These first humble attempts are shown below.
Show us what ya got:
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Here is a set I did in 2006 for an outdoor fire pit with a large metal lid.  The family had a cat and a weiner dog, so I used them for finials for the handles.  The handles are about 4' long and were forged out of 1/2" round for the lid lifter, and 3/4" square for the poker and shovel, the hook on the poker is forged flat and then split.  The shovel was drawn free hand on a piece of 1/8" cut with a sabre saw and free hand formed on the anvil if I remember correctly I didn't have a swage block at the time I think... Original handle design had sharp fullered bead at the top and bottom of the twist... twisted right off when I did the cable twist, and had to take it out.  I could have made a tool to do a rounded bead with less of a stress riser but just took it out... slightly embarrassed by the weld on the loop handle for the lid lifter but the client didn't mind and was pleased with the set.  Today I would forge weld that joint, and would make the tool and do the raised bead after twisting;-)

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Wow, nice work. The family would be very pleased you personalised the set with the cat and dog head handles. Nice how you have split the poker tip. I guess you thinned out the shaft a bit, leaving a bigger mass of metal on the end to work with. Very effective.
Thanks for posting the pics.

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A few handle and fire end examples.  We made a run of these 42 in fire pit pokers. They had a larger hooked fire end. We forged the fire end separate and welded them to the shafts. Same with the various handle configurations.

 

Peter

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Cool looking pokers guys, I've only been forging for about a year and only ever made one poker.  I made this last Christmas as a gift for my girlfriend's parents, the only people I know that use a log burning fire.  The log puller is riveted on with copper rivets, partly because i thought it'd be a nice feature, and partly because i didn't know how to forge weld successfully when i made it.  The handle is made from brass and bog oak.

 

PC150001.jpg

 

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Hope you guys like it,

 

Simon.

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Did this about a year ago. These were my first attempts at forge welding. The loop & cut approach was used and only half took (first weld I ever attempted). Fixed with a torch and filler rod and some grinding. The stand was the last piece. The "collared" bits are to hide the arc welds ;-).

 

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Amazing stuff!
01Tundra: Looks like you're using recycled steel there. Nice. I like the delicate wrap on the handle end.
Petere 76: Great. The basketweave handle and integrated loop is very effective.
Foundryman: First one I've seen with a rivetted hook - nice idea for those of us whose welding skill is suspect. Nice how you have combined the steel with brass and wood. The reverse twists look good too.
Eric: A very classy looking fire set. Many hours of forge work there. The loop and cut worked well for you.
Terrific to see these photos. Thanks for sharing your creative ideas.

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  I just needed a way to poke wood and remove ash...

 

And what more does a fire set need to do??

The poker looks like the 'split and fold back' method, right? No welding?

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Amazing stuff!
01Tundra: Looks like you're using recycled steel there. Nice. I like the delicate wrap on the handle end.
Petere 76: Great. The basketweave handle and integrated loop is very effective.
Foundryman: First one I've seen with a rivetted hook - nice idea for those of us whose welding skill is suspect. Nice how you have combined the steel with brass and wood. The reverse twists look good too.
Eric: A very classy looking fire set. Many hours of forge work there. The loop and cut worked well for you.
Terrific to see these photos. Thanks for sharing your creative ideas.

 

I used new steel, that was my first attempt at texturing metal with a cheap hammer that I welded random beads onto.

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Some gorgeous work here already.  I made this out of 1/2 inch square about 7 years ago. No weld, split the end with a hotcut, cleaned the bottom of the cut with a narrow fuller, then rounded both forks of the split, had to cut the straight section short.  Twist in the middle has been straighted out since this pic was taken, with a wooden mallet on a stump. Another twist was added at the handle end so the poker would lie flat against the brick on the fireplace rack. A little heavy for a small, infrequently used residential fireplace, near enough to the front door for home protection I guess. Those are marshmellow forks hanging on the rack between the poker and the broom.

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Here you go. post-182-0-48276600-1396983516_thumb.jpg

 

Not sure where I stole the idea, Maybe the Turner book, Practical Projects for Blacksmiths.

 

two quarter inch holes drilled in the mortar of the fireplace, 1/4 inch dowels driven in and cut flush and then the points of the two hanger legs driven into the centers of the dowels, wedging the hanger into the brickwork.

 

I've got a picture of it bare somewhere but can't put my finger on it right now. About 9 or 10 inches overall.

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Thanks for all the pictures - great to see the variety of work. I have decided on the basic shape of the business end of the pokers I need to make and one is pictured below. A simple cut, draw out and and bend with no welding. A ram's head on the handle end. I'll get it neater with practice.
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  • 11 months later...

Now THAT'S a poker! Pretty nice poker Stan. What's the problem with your brick pile forge set up you can't weld with it? What's happening when you try? Seriously, lots of us weld in propane forges but there are a couple common problems with tuning that can get in the way.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Mine are naturally aspirated and one of the four in this forge is a silver bullet and actually melts the 3,000f fire brick directly under it.

with the right prep and low yellow heat you can weld most common steels easily. Some alloys, high chrome especially can be a PITA and require dangerous fluxes but even then they'll weld.

The most common problem you see with a gas forge that "won't" weld is an oxidizing flame. the flame is hotter but it's contaminating the weld. A LITTLE reducing works much better though it makes more CO to have to vent out of the shop.

Pose a couple pics of the forge at heat so we can see what the flame is doing. One in the door to see the flame shape and one from the side (across the door) so we can see what the flame exhausting from the door looks like.

After you've done it a few times you can tune one by the sound. Do NOT expect a quiet forge, it should roar.

Frosty The Lucky.

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