jayco

Rich...that's a good idea(making a mate for the one I have) I'll tr to do that! Thanks!

Welder19 ....I don't think it was ever a 'pretty' piece of work, but rather something a smith did in a hurry (because somebody needed a set of firedogs).

You can still find old stuff in old barns around here.....kind of like iron archaology!

And yes.......Im still looking for the other one!!

James

My daughter and son-in-law had this old andiron or 'fire dog' on their front porch for many years. They'd found it in an old barn on their property. They only found the one........the other is lost I suppose.

My daughter got tired of folks using it for a boot scraper and gave it to me.

I find it an interesting piece and suspect it's very old.

As near as I can tell,it was made from a piece of 1 in. square stock.......doubled back on itself and forge welded.

The split section at the bottom which forms the legs shows 'half-holes'..........perhaps that part of the piece had been welded also at some previous time.

The weld at the top of the piece is very good, but the mortise and tenon are a little crude.

this piece was someting else before it was an andiron, but I'm not sure what it was.

I like examining old work like this......It gives a glimpse into how things were done many years ago.
James

Welcome to IFORGEIRON Tejota! This is a large site with lots of metalworking knowledge and lots of friendly folks. Enjoy!

This poll really made me think about tools and quality. Thinking is a good thing.I found myself asking other questions, like.....Why does the quality of tools and other products made in different parts of the world vary so much?

I think the responsibility for quality rests on the shoulders of the company or manufacturer. The 'better' companies make 'better' tools........largely because they WANT to make 'better' tools.

If the company is proud of it's name and proud of it's products and the employees are valued for their skills and paid accordingly.....then everyone is part of the "team". Good work and good tools are the end result.

If, on the other hand.....the company merely exists to make a profit...then you find poorly equipped factories set up somewhere around the world where it is easy to exploit workers and skirt environmental laws(if they even have any there).....(i.e. sweatshops)

And because there is no "team" of people striving to produce a good product......you get instead,....cheap,shoddy,imported goods.

And finally,the company that cares about it's workers probably cares about it's customers as well.

The company that doesn't care about it's workers probably views it's customers as someone else to exploit.

Well,time to get off my soapbox.........James

A poreis a small opening.

Pease....according to Webster's.....the plural of "pea"...old English

I bought a box of stuff at the flea market recently, and this horseshoe was in the bottom of the box. It's unusual to say the least.

I've never shoed a horse and know nothing of farrier's work.

I figured some of the farriers here could explain this thing.

Next to the shoe, is a sheet metal plate.

The gray wedge is some kind of very hard, tough plastic

The really dark(almost black) piece on top is leather.

Just curious as to why a horse needed to wear this.....


James

......

Welcome to IFI Makoz! A lot of smiths here also do a little woodworking . What is the tool in your picture that is inside the saw frame?
The small one with 2 rivets?

James

Gotta be TOUGH!

A cold in the NOSE.

'James' was already taken. James Flannery was just too long to type all the time.
My cousin Dave had always called his lawncare service "Davco".
I wanted something short and simple (like myself!) so I became "Jayco"

And no.....I am in no way affiliated with Jayco travel trailers!

James

I buy U. S. made tools when I can....and expect to pay a little more. But, I do buy foreign made tools,also.

Somehow, this poll reminds me of the 'Buy American' campaign of a few years ago.I think that movement pretty much ended when it was discovered that very few items were 100% U. S. made.

I do try to buy good tools........whether U. S. or foreign made.
Economics and world trade are vast subjects which I understand little about.

I do believe this however......that we vote with our dollars when we buy things.
If we buy good tools we encourage the manufacture of more good tools.
Same thing happens when we buy the cheap stuff.

James

I think I'll poach an egg.

KIVA An underground chamber in a Pueblo village. According to Webster's!

How do you hold your tongs? Does everyone use pretty much the same grip?......Or are there variations?

The pictures show my grip. This way of holding tongs allows me to control the pressure of the bits on a piece of stock and also to control the release of that pressure. To open and close as you would a pair of shears or scissors.

With my short,fat fingers this grip looks uncomfortable......but it's not really.

My uncle was a power company lineman and showed me this many years ago.I now use this grip automatically.....without thinking about it.

This is the only way of manipulating tongs I know of......but are there other ways?

James

Cut a NOTCH.

I've suspended use of the oxy/acetelene torch in my shop until I get new hoses. Last week I opened the valves and heard leaks.I told my son to NOT use them as well.The hoses are old and cracked. I don't consider it safe to patch around on those kind of things. Gonna get NEW HOSES!

I've heard of the 'tapping the anvil for luck' thing, but I never did it.

Once in a while, I swing and MISS! But that doesn't count.

I do have a 'coming to rest' tap,when I'm done with something,but that's not an intentional tap either.

The funny thing is,if I'm nailing a sheet of plywood or wood flooring of something, I DO tap between nails......and keep rythm.

Etienne....one of the old blacksmithing books (I don't remember which one unfortunately)describes a sort of 'retort system' to burn away excess smoke at the forge by recirculating exhaust gases and smoke back into the forge.
If I remember correctly, an intake pipe is connected to a tee in the chimney and connected to the intake side of your blower.
Even though I usually don't use a chimney in my little shed/shop,I did try this to see how it worked. All I had was a metal trash can lid (for a forge hood) and a piece of flex pipe to reroute the smoke back into my blower.
This system does get rid of a lot of smoke.
The only problem I encountered was that the hot gases got my old handcrank blower kinda hot. I was afraid I might melt the bearings out of it.
But in all fairness to the idea,mine was just a quick experiment with scrap materials. I only had a short piece of flex-pipe and the gases had little chance to cool before reentering the blower.
If done correctly,with the right materials, a retort could be quite effective.
Worth investigating,anyway.
James

A stubborn mule will BALK.

Wim.....after carefully reading your first post in this thread,I now realize that you probably meant this for South African smiths.
OOPS! Sorry about that. I didn't mean to hijack your thread!

But, it's an interesting thread.........and I had these pictures......

James

Under a spreading box elder tree ,Jayco's smithy leans........
This summer the clutter has spilled out in front of the shop. upsetting blocks, buckets of coal and charcoal, and lots of scrap iron (I mean 'stock' ) all around. I didn't realize how big the tree was getting until I took the picture!
There are lots of tools hanging on the walls......lots more you can't see. An old bench grinder sits in the back...not used much but handy when I need it.
The last pic is of the inside of the garage-shop near the blacksmith shop. There I keep more modern tools; arc welder,oxy/acetelene torch, air compressor,angle grinders and more.

The blacksmith shop is (of course) too small.....8ft. X 16ft.

the garage shop is 24ft. X36ft. Much more room for work.
James

A blacksmith can never have enough water in the slack tub........especially when two large dogs and two cats consider it their personal watering hole.!

Hello Jimbob, welcome to IForgeIron. there's a bunch of other Georgia smiths that are members here. If you've got any tricks or tips, please share them with us. If you have any questions, just ask.
check out the Live Tuesday Night Blueprints at 10:00 P.M. ,the 500+ Blueprints that are already posted,the gallery,theforums..........there's a lot of things you can do at I F I!

(They used to call me 'jimbob' too......though my middle name is NOT Robert.......go figure........It must be a southern thing!

James

I must be a dope,because I don't know what rusk is either.