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I Forge Iron

LDW

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Everything posted by LDW

  1. Heres the pics from Day 3 https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/AlecSDay3 Alec did great, took another video today, It amazes me to see Alec swing that 12 pound hammer. When I left he was still forging with Brian. Hes like the energizer Bunny.
  2. Heres the pics for Alec day 2. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/AlecDay2 I took pics of him striking for Brian as they made a punch for making the eye in a hammer. This includes all the steps, the billet is prepared then the hole punched then the striking end dressed up and the punch end was taken to round. If you leave the punch end similar to the striking end, it represents what the blank is for any of the smaller fullers, or the hot cut or round punches. Alec was great, I enjoy watching him strike. I have included a video at the end, that shows Alec striking with the 12 pound hammer I consider heavy. This young man can be considered an inspiration to us all. He has been looking at the photos we have been posting for months. He said when he walked into the shop it was as if he was in the photos. After he struck for the punch I struck for him and he made another punch. The pics of the tools are what he has made so far, either he struck or directed to make the tools pictured.
  3. Alec and his mom made it here Friday night. Alec went to the MFC meeting Saturday, and impressed everyone with his striking. I am sorry to say I did not get pictures of his first time striking because I had to do a few thing immediately after the meeting. I did get to take pics today though https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/AlecSTheBeginning Alec was great, He is young but strikes as hard as anyone. He knows how to get his hammer up, and is one of the fastest learners I have ever seen. He told me he has looked at all the pictures, and I saw the proof that he could look through the pictures and make rings from copper that are beautiful. This is going to be great, this is one set of pictures you will not want to miss. He already started directing while Brian or I was his striker. He has a great sense of humor, but stays focussed.
  4. Here are some pics. This set is from Tuesday and Wenesday. This was pure forging. Some people ended up making a few things but the main point was half hammer face blows. Brian got everyone to try it and the main response I heard was that people are not used to only hitting one time on each side. Everyone did great and we had a good time. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/BalconesForgeForgingClass# This next set is the pics of the tool making on Thursday and Friday, then the pics of the Conference on Saturday and Sunday. John has a beautiful place, and a nice shop. Being able to work on a dirt or small gravel floor was great, while being inside the shop. The auction was great. These people know how to have a good time. Heres the rest of the pics. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/HammerClassAndDemo#
  5. Just got home and have not even unloaded the truck and decided to check in. You guys were great. We had a wonderful time and I took a lot of pictures. I think I will break them up into sections when I post them. Brian has told me so much about everyone at Balcones Forge and I see why. Ya'll have something special going on there and I look forward to coming back again. It would be worth the drive to spend time with you all. Thanks Foaming Mug for starting this post, I will get the pictures on soon. Thanks, Jerry I will, It was a pleasure meeting you and Foaming Mug
  6. Well, Aaron forged with us for his last day today, he did a great job and is going away with a bunch of tools to prove it. This afternoon he wanted to make another hot cut so I struck for him and he made one himself. He forge welded some cable today and made a screwdriver, thats to the left in the picture, below that is his punches. He made fullers, (round, and ball) punches (round and square) slot punches (thick and thin) he made a big haul. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/AaronsLastDay#
  7. Hey evfreek that was not grease, that was pine tar. After Aaron had made the collar, he then closed the collar on the end of the driver because that was the only piece of 3/4 we had. This made the handle end of the driver hot. He picked it up by the handle then dropped it real fast. It burned his fingers pretty good. Brian always has pine tar so Aaron put it on, and about an hour later I asked him how his hand was and he had no pain. The next day he had forgotten about getting burned, but when I saw his fingers that got burned they looked slick, no fingerprints.
  8. We started out the day making pick up tongs. This was the first time for me to make these also, Brian always says they are simple to make, (simple does not mean easy) I may have to do some more adjusting on mine but I think they will work. I will get pictures of all Aarons tools tomorrow. Brian made a drift and Aaron did to. This is some heavy forging but Aaron stepped right up and attacked it. I got my touch mark in from Grant, it looks great, thanks Grant. Had to make something to give to the wife with the first touch mark on it. Heres the pics. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/Aarons6thDay#
  9. Aaron started the day out finishing up a fire rake he started last night after we got home. Then he asked Brian about the forge welded bundle. Brian prepared a sea anemone while Aaron kept it simple with 4 pieces of 3/8 inch square with 4 one heat tapers on the ends. At first Aarons bundle got a little out of square but he was able to correct it and made a successful forge welded bundle, then drew it out and put a hook on the end. Aaron asked Brian to make a fish like one he had seen before that Brian had made. I was glad to see that, I had never seen it. Brian is going to bring a curved chisel to form the mouth with tomorrow. That hammer Aaron made has extremely large cheeks. He did a great job making that. Hes a lot of fun to work with, and has a good sense of humor. Heres the pics from today. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/Aarons5thDay#
  10. Had a great day today. made tools and Brian heat treated Aarons hammer, and he got to use it. He made a bangle without any problems, and made mushrooms. Tomorrow, will be a tool making day again. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/Aarons4thDay#
  11. Here is day 2, Aaron made punches with Brian, then made hardy tools after I got a stand made for his anvil. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/AaronsSecondDay# On the third day Aaron and I made a handled hot cut and a rounding hammer. He did great, he wanted to direct it so Brian even took a few pictures and I got in a photo for a change. Brian grinded Aarons hammer and now its ready to be hardened and tempered. The hammer started with 2" round steel. These last two days have been very productive. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/AaronsThirdDay#
  12. Brian did a two day hammer class in Louisiana, it went great. everyone made tools the first day and this got everyone more accustomed to striking. Those people in Louisiana know how to eat. We got to enjoy some fine food as always. If any of yu can get away to Louisiana some time its worth the trip just for the food. Artmania is coming up next month and we have made plans to attend that as well. Heres the pics https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/Lama# Here is some info on Artmania http://lametalsmiths.org/BoothRegistration3.pdf
  13. Aaron got hear yesterday and Brian had him strike to make a hot cut. He did great, today he struck for a hammer and has been doing the two sided taper as well as tongs, and even was practicing the horse head. Heres the pics. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/AaronsClassWithBrianDay1#
  14. I uploaded a few more pics including all the tools and items that Perry is taking home with him. I was very impressed with Perry, he did not give up on anything, he kept working to try and learn all the steps of each element Brian was showing him. I think he will go home and practice till he can do it efficiently. Got to play some this afternoon. Made some fun stuff. A feather and a horse shoe heart. The pics are on the same album just added to the end. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/PerryAtBrians# Ted T, that was a nice post you made, we really appreciate what you said. You are an inspiration. When you go to one of the links for the pictures I have uploaded, you can click on Lyles Gallery or Lyles Photos or something like that and see all the different albums. Whether you want to see a ring, hardy tools, or anything in between there are over 10,000 pictures there. Brian is glad to share his info, and it is there to see if you care to see it. Here is another link to it and there are currently 135 different albums. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn
  15. Perry's first day was yesterday, he will be here through tomorrow. He got his hammer made yesterday, then started practicing the two sided taper. He got it down good. Today he and Brian made some hardy tools and punches, then Brian suggested we all make a hardy tool for Perry's anvil. We had a lot of fun and so far Perry has 5 different hardy tools for his anvil. I will get some more pics tomorrow. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/PerryAtBrians#
  16. Ruben will be heading out today, he got a lot done yesterday as in theses pics you will see. We will get some pics of the tools and hammers he has made while he was here this morning. The time went by fast. I think this is the best of pics yet. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/RubensLastDay#
  17. We had a great day and I took a bunch of pics.Ruben made some hors heads, he forged some flowers, then after Brian made a ring Ruben made one. They started on some pick-up tongs and Ruben was forging some long tapers. He was doing half hammer faced blows over the edge of the anvil and turning 90 degrees at a time then pulling the lump on top of the anvil and hitting again. Brian forged a ball. I got pics of everything listed above. I made a couple knives, then Steve made one. We had a great day of forging. I think we all learned a few things today. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/Day5WithRuben#
  18. I did not get many pics today, but I did get a few. Brian made a drift, and finished up some tools. Ruben practiced dividing the metal up, drawing out a long taper as a drift is done, and made a bunch of hearts. Its fun to watch someone progress, it is amazing how much someone can improve in a day if they just put out the effort. Ruben was able to get a bar in one heat when dividing the metal up, and by his 8 or 9th heart they were looking great. He got started on a flower tonight and the pad was a great looking hexagon. He will be able to finish that up first thing in the morning. Thanks for straightening that out for me Clinton I was wondering where that L went. Heres the pics, https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/RubenAtTheAgMuseum#
  19. Heres some pics of Brian and Ruben making a punch https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/FridayWithRuben#
  20. Here are the pics from the end of day 2. I was gone most of the day but when I got there it was time for supper (Karen cooked some salmon, rice, salad, and bread) It was a fine meal, but for some reason they do not realize salmon has an L in it. Brian and Ruben divided up a piece of 1" square bar and put a large flower on the end. Ruben was getting his hammer up much higher than when he first started striking. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/RubensSecondDay#
  21. CSA can certify to UL standards, if you want one particular model of a light certified they can do a UL certification on that one model. I think the last time we had it done where I used to work, it cost about 5,000 dollars. Here is a link to their site. http://www.csa-international.org/csa_certifies/ In most cases that I can think of, the certified lights mainly pertained to lights being attached to a house. If they are going outside on top of some collums they may not need to be certified. There are multiple certifications, wet location, damp location, and dry location. There is also a list of all the certified companies by CSA on that web site. Good Luck
  22. I added some more pics on this link. Picture number 79 is the shocking blow to release the drift. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/ReubensClassWithBrian#5576985883339415826
  23. Here are the pics from tonight. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/ReubensClassWithBrian# Brian and I made a hot cut so Ruben could see how to strike, then he jumped right in and made one for himself. He had never struck for anyone before but did a great job. He was getting his hammer up high and coming down true. The next few days are going to be a lot of fun, he seems to be a good listener and has done his homework.
  24. We had a great meeting today. Brian showed how to make a Punch and a chisel at first, then talked about some of the elements of forging. He made a horseshoe heart since Valentines day is around the corner, and then a young man had brought a billet of 1045 and was wanting to make a hammer. Brian had made some tools for the shop last year so we had the necessary tools to accomplish the hammer. It was a very educational day for everyone and we had three or four fires going after the Iron in the hat for several hours. Bill helped a young man that came, it was his first time forging and he had a lot of fun. Here are the pics. https://picasaweb.google.com/LDWynn/February2011MFCMeeting#
  25. I can't stand it amymore I just have to put my 2 cents in. After working with Brian for the last year one thing I have definitely learned is drawing out tapers as efficiently as I can. What I have learned is kind of a combination of the two elements you guys have described. I wish you all would try this one time, Brian has shown this to people and I have seen them ignore him and go back to beating on the flat surface of the anvil with the flat die of the hammer. If you put the metal over the far edge, the way you were both talking about, and hit with a half hammer face blow, meaning to strike the center of the hammer face at the edge of the anvil, this will create a lump, (using the round face will be more aggressive than using the flat face but both are very efficient) if you turn the steel 90 degrees and bring it closer to you and strike it again you will create another lump, now if you keep turning it again and again in the same direction 90 degrees and bring it towards you it will continue creating lumps and reducing in size with each rotation. When you need to reduce the size more than what you can achieve in one hit you have no choice but to hit it more than once. This point will change with different individuals depending on how heavy their hammer is and how high they lift it. Brian has showed me how to make drifts, we use this technique and do a little at a time making sure after you have reduced the size with each heat you finish up by planishing at the lower heat and move on to reducing more with each heat. I have watched Brian draw a taper that was 10 to 12 inches long all the way down to 1/4" starting with 1 1/4 inch round in three heats. It takes me more heats but to be some of the heaviest hand forging I have ever done I made my second taper for a drift in about thirty minutes with a 3 and 1/2 pound hammer, starting with 1 1/8 inch 1045. Fiery furnace I think you did great making that taper in one heat. You are way ahead of a lot of people. As you said this is a discussion and I am trying to put into words what I have experienced. Maybe we can get Brian to do one of his one heat videos on this. This is getting down to the nitty gritty of things, that just goes to prove the more you learn, the more you can learn. again as Brian says, use the right dies and it will practically make itself. This is a wonderful thread, thanks FieryFurnace.
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