LDW

Heres some cable knives I made for someone. The oyster shuckers are for the weekend. I started to make one out of cable but I figured it would just rust away by getting all the wet stuff imbedded in the cable. I decided to use spring. It was very easy to do and they look good. I used the forging element Brian uses when he makes the mushroom, and the spring fuller on one. The other I used a spring fuller to divide up the material exclusively, other than grinding on a belt sander. I hardened and tempered so I hope they do ok. I may post some pictures of them being used after Saturday. Brian and I will test them out. https://picasaweb.google.com/106506050631612810521/RecentlyForged3302012

Brad I did a search and found this. http://www.anvilfire.com/iForge/tutor.php?lesson=safety3/demo

Dave forged a bird after Brian went through the process, I was amazed he remembered the forging elements Brian used in drawing out the leg. They then forged a hammer from a piece of 1045 that was 2 1/4" in diameter and was 4 1/2" long. This piece of metal started out over 5 lbs. Brian did the striking. I really enjoyed being able to take these pics, and I think Brian enjoyed striking for Dave, (he does not get to do much striking) Some of these pics may look repititious but I was showing Dave rotating the blank hitting the different sides. This is a heavy piece of metal on the end of a pair of tongs, but Dave did great. Brian wanted Dave to be on the other side of the anvil making a hammer. I was surprised they made the 5 lb. hammer Dave wanted but Dave was doing great, and Brian new he would need a heavier hammer to do some of the heavier forging. At the end of the pics Dave is making a nail. It is a D when driven into the stump. I took a couple videos also. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/DavesLastDayAtBrians?authuser=0&feat=directlink http://youtu.be/od999kN6sfM http://youtu.be/7yM9KstPtNQ

I stopped by Brians today and decided to take a few pics of Dave forging out a taper. They were doing a blob weld with some one inch stock. Dave struck and they forged this big grape leaf. Then they drew out the stem and left about an inch and a half of one inch stock then started drawing out the rest to be a tendril that will hold a candle. the one inch stock was cut almost all the way through then folded over and forge welded. this part was hammered round and reduced down to look as the stem. The pictures are of Dave drawing out the long taper that starts as about 1/2", of one inch square stock. He forges this with his new rounding hammer using the near and far edges of the anvil to draw out this long taper. I was fascinated at how high he was bringing his hammer and using his whole body to swing the hammer. If not for him learning to swing his hammer like this he would have never been able to accomplish this task without wearing out his arm. I will get some good pics tomorrow. He is doing great. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/DaveDay6?authuser=0&feat=directlink

I like horse shoes, I make several things out of them. I like railroad spikes, I make several things out of those too. People like to buy things made of railroad spikes also. As far as shoeing horses. Our President of the MS Forge Councils explains to people when they ask if he can shoe horses, that he can shoe a horse as good as anyone, he then proceeds to put his hands down by his sides with the palms facing the people as if pushing them away and says shoo horse shoo. By the way my Grandfather was a Blacksmith, my uncle asked me one day if I wanted his tools. Thats how I got into this. My Grandfather was also born in 1896. I am not ranting by no means just telling my side.

Dave is going to do great. He started out striking like a pro. He struck for a hot cut and a hammer in these pics. He did the two sided taper while Brian was prepping the hammer for heat treat. He was able to do it without any problem so he was able to make the flower and the fullered leaf before time to harden the hammer. He is going to do great. I will get a few pics in the morning then check back with them that afternoon. Here is the link to the pics and I will put a video of them punching out the plug also. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/DaveCustersFirstDay?authuser=0&feat=directlink Heres the video http://youtu.be/Hzp4sKTcp0E

We had a lot of fun. Dan wanted me to hang around, so the rest of the tools got made that he wanted to take back with him then we were able to on the lighter side. After supper, Dan decided to make a nail to go in Brians stump. Thats the doozy part. All and all Dan was great, he would pay attention and was one of the quickest learners that I have seen. If he did not understand something he would ask questions. When he did understand he would ask questions. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/DansLastDay?authuser=0&feat=directlink

That is a piece of 2 inch round stock 1045 that was 4 1/4 inches long. Makes about a 3 1/2 pound hammer.

I went to Brians this morning and welded up some cable and made a large cable knife. Dan was making tools with Brian so I had to get the camera going. They made some hump tools, then a cupping tool for forging the face of the rounding hammer, and a couple hammer eye punches. I am going to try and attach a video of them striking on the cupping tool, it got a little intense but made a good video. Here are the pics https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/DansThirdDay?authuser=0&feat=directlink http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8HX9d9Iul4&context=C4e5551eADvjVQa1PpcFO0_MN4ohiK7OV_Fi986XrcsFFcKQaGlYg=

Hey Rich I hope it was not me that pushed your button because I started my wish with "share information with the people that have shone a true interest in the craft"

Most people that do blacksmithing are hobbyist. These hobbyist make up a large percentage of the funding that blacksmithing groups across the country generate.When I got into blacksmithing I was a hobbyist, and saw one demonstration a month and got a newsletter once a quarter. I was starving for information then and strive for more information now. Today we have the internet with access to more good and bad information about blacksmithing than ever before. I have been doing this full time now for 15 months and have had the oppurtunity to work with Brian Brazeal for the last 26 months or so. I have learned from Brian that showing people something is only the beginning. It is up to them to try it until they are proficient at it. Most classes are aimed at making something. From working with Brian he will tell you, and I will help emphasize, that making something is not the goal, it is strictly learning the process or particular elements of forging that will produce efficient forgings. These elements change for each individual person because the more you learn the less you have to think about what you are doing. This results in you being able to improve what you do everytime you start a fire. It all boils down to forging something with the fewest heats and hits, this results in the most efficient foring you can do with the knowledge you have achieved. We should all take it on as a personal goal to share information with the people that have shone a true interest in the craft. If you are helping someone as a friendly gesture, always make them promise to do the same thing for others one day. That is something Ernie Dorrill has always said. I hope this thread leaves people with the feeling that they should help the craft of Blacksmithing by sharing their knowledge.

I hung around with Brian this morning and took picks of day 1 of Dan starting his 5 day class. I was amazed at how he took to striking right away. I got some good pictures of a couple tools being made and I dont think I missed a step anywhere. Forgot to check with Brian to see if any of this was proprietary information, maybe I am just a little scared after reading the right to know thread. (maybe he should just quit taking students) I'm just kidding, I almost posted these pics on that thread. Dan did great as you can see, he was hesitant about getting his hammer up at first but after a few swings he was striking like a champ. Heres the pics, https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/DanDay1WithBrian?authuser=0&feat=directlink Lyle

One of my favorite things to do is to see people improve on their striking. When you look at day one pictures I try to get the first time a new person to the shop strikes with a sledge. Whether it is striking, doing the two sided taper, making a leaf, after the first time it only gets better from there. To this day I can see it for myself each time I do these things. Working with you Shawn allows us to see you get better in each element of forging. I said this in my first post " He usually picks right up on the key points and works fluidly at his attempts." and meant what I said. The heat treating details that you shared with us was a learning experience for me and I thank you for sharing. We look forward to seeing you again. Keep your thoughts simple, Lyle

I scored 5.96 on that exercise. made a mistake with the mouse with one. Borntoolate made a comment about Brian on this thread. When I first read the title I thought of Brian because he is the best I have ever seen at judging distances by eye. Whether it is 5/16" or 10 feet. It is contageous as well. Once you learn he distances on your anvil the shorter lengths become more recognizable. I dont know how you develop the more longer ones to such accuracy though. I did learn not to argue with him about eyeballing a length though.

People ventured to the town of Pontotoc MS from all over to enjoy the demonstrators, the people,and all the food. Richie can make a slab of bologna into a gourmet treat fit for a king. He takes about a 4" thick slab of bologna and criss cross cuts to make fingers standing up that you can cut or break off that have been seasoned to perfection and cooked enough to brown the fingers on the edges. We had a big pot of gumbo, and all the sweets you could stand, Bananna Pudding, multiple cakes, cookies, brownies... Travis did a great demo, and Clay showed us some of his successful items he makes. The iron in the hat was great and raised enough money to insure this will happen again next year. John Crawford has got a beautiful shop that was packed with people.Thank You John and Richie for doing what you do. We should thank the wives as well for there hospitality when it came to the food and all the support, We had a great time and look forward to next year. I took a few pics to try and show what a pleasure it was to be a part of this great affair. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/TheGreatPontotocAffair2012?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Welcome aboard Carl, I am Lyle, I assume I met you at the meeting. Good to see you here. Here are the pics I took at that meeting. https://picasaweb.go...feat=directlink A mouse hole is a nice anvil with plenty of support under the hardy hole. I own one myself. We will be heading to Pontotoc MS in the morning for the Hammer-in there. Here is the info on that. http://www.msforgecouncil.com/2011/11/the-great-pontotoc-%E2%80%9Caffair%E2%80%9D-hammer-%E2%80%93-in/

Jimbob, I am assuming you are talking about the picture I took right as the hammer is being plunged into the water. If it looks like it is only hot on one of the faces that is simply the flash effecting the light. The hammer is a higher than critical temp on the faces and less on the body. We always stand the hammers up in the fire and flip them as they heat up until the shadow is gone in the center of the faces, and the scale is starting to form. This does result in the body being at a lesser temperature. This creates a differential hardening. Only the faces get hard. In the two years and 5 months that I have been working with Brian this has not changed. Thanks for asking though, We like questions. Ted T, It was very refreshing to read your post. We really appreciate your thoughtfulness. I in turn appreciate it when I get to participate with a class when Brian has a student. Shawn was a real treat. He caught on fast and made us want to help even more. Brian can shove as much info into a brain as a person is willing to accept. When the student can demonstrate that "he gets it" or she, he or she can just keep on getting it. It appears that you "get it" Ted T and we really appreciate it. It is my goal that through the pictures people can get an idea of what is going on, and the person that took the class can refer back to the pics to act as the notes they did not take so that when they get home the important thing is that they can remember what to practice that will make them a much better smith. I practice everyday and get better everyday. If a student can leave learning the steps to an element of forging that means they have a life time to perfect it. Efficiency in forging is the goal, elements of forging dictate the efficiency. As Brian says its all about the Heat, hold, and hit. Thanks Dick L Shawns a great guy, we enjoyed working with him. Heres a few more pics, https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/ShawnsLastDay?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Shawn has been here for a three day class with Brian Brazeal and has done a great job of paying attention to what he is shown. He usually picks right up on the key points and works fluidly at his attempts. He was a little nervous about striking at the beginning but he caught on without any problem. Here are the pics of the days he has been here. Day 1 https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/ShawnClassAtBrians?authuser=0&feat=directlink Day 2 https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/ShawnsClassDay2?authuser=0&feat=directlink Day 3 https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/ShawnsClassDay3?authuser=0&feat=directlink

I went over to Brians Brazeal's last evening and he and Mark were heating a billet to make a hammer. I grabbed my camera and decided to take some pics. Mark's hand was a little swollen from striking the day before, but he has now learned not to hold his hand so close to the head of the hammer when striking. He started getting his hammer up high and was really moving some metal. The billet was 2" diameter 1045 and it was 4 1/4" long. The pics show, punching the hole, cheeking, dividing the faces from the cheeks, final finishing of the cheeks, hardening of the hammer, ( in the picture of the hammer going into the water you can see the differential hardening that takes place since the faces are heated instead of the whole hammer.) Then the tempering of the hammer by heating the drifts and heating the hammer from the inside out till the faces achieve a slight straw hue. Brian makes a steel wedge at the end to go in the handle. I think thats cool, seems silly but it looks just like store bought. Hope ya'll enjoy. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/MarkWargoSHammer?authuser=0&feat=directlink

We had a great meeting today. Mr. Paul Lebatard demonstrated grinding a knife, he did not have one when he arrived so Brian forged one from a piece of spring and Paul did a nice grind on it. After a big Iron in the Hat, Jim Pigott led a learningful green coal class. All but one forge was going and it was still cold in the shop today. It was nice seeing a lot of new faces working so hard to follow the leader. Today was a great day of forging. This month allows us to have two great meetings. The second one will be Feb. 25th at John Crawfords shop in Pontotoc. For info about this refer to www.msforgecouncil.com Here are the pics from todays meeting. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/MFCFebMeeting2012?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Perry thats a nice hammer, I think I am going to have to make me one like that. Hey David if you will let me know when you want to come by Brians I will try to get Brian to let me strike for a new hammer. This way you can see what 2" diameter 1045 is like. The hammer Perry was talking about that is a pound lighter was made from 1 3/4" diameter 1045. I enjoyed talking to you David but by no means was I trying to dicourage you from anything, just trying to let you know what you are getting into. I admire you for your willingness to work with larger steel by hand. You are going after the true meaning of forging this means efficiency is the key.

I plan on being at this meeting Jamie. I have never been to Buddy Leonards shop, looking forward to it. Gulfcoast Blacksmith Association Dedicated To Teaching, Demonstrating, and Preserving the Art of Blacksmithing Meeting Information The next GCBA meeting will be Sunday, January 22nd from 10:00 AM Until 3:00 PM At Buddy Leonards’ shop in Covington, La More info: Call Sid Gale 985-630-1246

I like that. 1 inch round shaft, they must be huge. How tall is it? I think I am going to do a much smaller one and add a tendril to hold a candle. Forge weld the bottom. then draw out to form a stand. Thanks for posting. I have been wanting to do the blob weld Brian does, this will be a good oppurtunity.

Brian, Julien, ( Julien came over from France and will be here for another week.) and I have been forging at the Ag Museum for all the school kids coming through for the Harvest Festival this week. We have had a good time, I have enjoyed watching Julien forge. There have been many different avenues of forging covered while we have been there. Jewelry, tools, knives, Julien made a garden tool, (hoe), it was really cool to drift and form the "house for the handle", forks, steak turners, bottle openers, vegetable choppers, giant nails, ... Here are some pics I took, sorry they are sporadic, I just grabbed the camera when I could and took pics. https://picasaweb.google.com/106506050631612810521/HarvestFestivalAtTheAgMuseum2011

1) Name Lyle Wynn 2) Location Brandon MS 3) What type blacksmithing do you do, what do you make. I like to forge as efficiently as I can, so I can make items that can be sold in the 10 to 50 dollar range. I occaisonally make knives, and enjoy striking to make tools or have someone strike for me. 4) How and when did you get started in blacksmithing My uncle called one day and asked me if I would like to have my grandfathers old blacksmithing tools. I said yes and joined the MS Forge Council in 1998. 5) What object or thing did you use as your first anvil, My Grandfathers Mousehole anvil. 6) Tell us about your first forge, hole in the ground, camp fire, brake drum, stacked bricks, The forge was a 55 gallon drum that had mortar on the concaved end with a real fire pot and clinker breaker in the center. The blower was an old creamer with a belt running to a model A ford water pump that had been altered so it had fins on it and was housed in a wooden frame. I ended up purchasing an electric blower. 7) Who assisted you or encouraged you in the craft I met Jim Piggott after joining the Forge COuncil and learned everything I could from him as well as from anyone that would share any info. ) What event changed your attitude about blacksmithing Meeting Brian Brazeal then working with him enough to realize just how efficient you can be at moving metal when you apply the elements of forging that he can explain in the most detailed views. g 12) What are some of the interesting things that have happened to you in your life as a blacksmith. I have gotten to travel to many states and meet many very interesting people. I have gotten to help with teaching classes that usually result in learning some things that I would have never learned if I had not been watching how other people work around obstacles. I got laid off from my daytime job in December of last year and have forged more in the last year than probably in the last ten years. This has resulted in an increase in learning how to forge tremendously.