Randy

It was American Chopper. The challenge between Senior, Junior and Jesse. 'Bout all it showed of Jesse "hammering" was him burning up stainless in the gas forge. Poor.

Beth, great to see some of your work! Very good! Interesting combination of items. Leaves are well done and great taper on the stems. Usually when doing natural items I go out of the way not to get shapes or sizes uniform, but this works. Looking forward to seeing more.

Colleen, edge treatment is something that I focus on. I don't like a piece just cut out and nothing done on the edges. Like thining or rounding or texturing. The edges of your leaves speak realism and the torch cut on the flower is very interesting. Adds another dimension to it. No problem with your welds at all. Now if there was splatter every where and not cleaned up... Good job! I wrote recently that one of the best places for flower patterns is the local craft supply store, such as Michaels or A.C. Moore. Don't know what you have across the pond. I buy the best looking silk flowers, even used plastic on occasion. Pluck it off the stem, flatten it and trace the pattern. Works great.

Currently the book is available through Schiffer Books http://www.schifferbooks.com/newschiffer//book_template.php?isbn=9780764338762 Once it gets distributed Amazon and others will have it, too.

Just finished up a dragonfly and several sea shells. Need to get some photos this weekend. Keep the Sparks A'Flying!

Hello out there. Any one home? How's Jake and Bryan doing up in AK? Beth and the other UK ladies and smiths, do you know Bex Simon in London? Wow! She's done some great stuff and seems very successful at it. www.bexsimon.com I must be out of the loop as I never heard of her until today. The latest edition of the book Ironwork Today 3 just came out and I was surprised at the number of women smiths this time and good to see so many new names, at least to me, that are doing wonderful work. I was also surprised they used 4 pages for 4 of my pieces. Be interesting to see if anything comes of that. Well, hope you all are doing well. Talk with you later...

Brian Brazeal mentioned something about what he learned from Freddy Habberman. I remembered that I recently saw these two videos about him. Who needs English? Great films! It was wonderful to see him hammering again. What life and passion he had for forging!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLlMkXgYQno&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=SP25C127735F235240

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6GE8V-uxsE&feature=g-all

I've never seen a bellows set up like this one! The dancing blacksmith!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouLqBebKV6E&feature=related

You also have to be careful that the coke doesn't burn out if unattended. You need to put a piece of wood in the center and get it burning before leaving it for 10 minutes or more. Some of what I've used was too large and I had to use a hammer to break it up. Hard stuff! I still like good coal better.

Check with these guys in PA. http://www.artisansoftheanvil.com/

When I saw this video I at first couldn't figure out what the rectangular hole was in the floor. I also liked the double box bellows. I guess these guys are beller boxes?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNWL6HCk3Zk&feature=channel_video_title

Actually you can go back to the earliest times for forging bellows. Either the sheepskin bag or the skin over clay or wooden bowls were the first step after the blow pipe for adding air to a forge fire. The amazing thing is you can still find them in use in Asia and Africa today. Good thing they are still using them as it would be hard for this type to have lasted. Yea, I know these aren't fireside bellows, but still interesting.

What you're using is fine .A lighter hammer can give you more control. I use a 2-1/2 almost all of the time and drop to a 1-1/2 pound to reach tighter places and/or for lighter work. What you're using works doesn't it?

Does the hole go all the way down the piece? They used to have hollow tubes to blow down to help in starting the fire.

A lot is a lot. Take the raw metal and put it on the grinder and note the carbon sparks. Take the same piece and heat to welding. Now back to the grinder. I think you'll be surprised at the amount of carbon and how deep it is.

Jake, good to hear from you and of your progress. I don't envy the weather you have to deal with, though. It's not my thing. Looking forward to seeing what comes from your new smithy and union.

Beth, it doesn't take any math, good thing for me, just some tracing to get a tracing of your stone wall edge. As Jake was saying just have a board and a fixed compass and trace the stone outline. Or just have a small board with a hole to put the pencil in and do the same thing. Works really well. Good luck on the new job!

I've worked up to 2" round solid. Here's the cabinet base that has the 2" legs so you can see how much pushing it did.

I don't understand why you wnat to spend money and hassle with products when heating it works. Most of the quenches aren't any better than using cold water and swishing the tool around when you cool it. That's what the chemicals do, stop air bubbles from forming. Doing a figure 8 with the tool washes the bubble off and cools the tool quicker.

Thanks, Beth! Yes, they were really pleased. The gentleman said that I did what he wanted it to be but didn't know how to explain it, him not being an artist. The wife said that she thought I'd have to paint the design on and had no clue I'd be able to forge the diamonds into it and be a real three dimensional work. She appologized for wanting it painted instead of the original polished metal look, but I said that for the location that was what was required and that was fine. Always good to have happy clients!

You're right, Ric. Big Blu hammers have it as a dvd not a book. There's a sample clip on anvilfire.

In regards to your original question about deer hooves, the old way was to take hooves, bone and or leather and pack into a small tin can. Place the piece that you want to carbonize into the center of it and then heat the whole thing to red heat for 8 hours. Then dump the whole works into water to harden the metal. That's why they cam up with casite or caseinite and why I just bring it up to welding temperature. If you doubt this proceedure, put the piece on the grinder and look at the carbon sparks. Do the treatment and then look again at the carbon sparks. Quite the difference!

Just slowly bringing your metal, even wrought iron, up to a low welding head in a coal forge will impregnate the surface with a lot of carbon.

Thanks! Grant, if you're referring to the black gate it was an old one that was sand blasted and then painted semi-gloss black. The texture in the black was from a light surface rust.

Okay, finally finished the painting the pineapples and the installation onto the gate. I ended up painting with a maragold color and then a light spray over it with copper. One of those instances where it was time to stop and not do anything else to it. The leaves were painted green and then painted black and wiped off. Delivered it today and the clients were thrilled.

I know it's hard for those who never met Deloy to visualize him and his work so I put together some photos for you. A pleasant rememberance for me, too.

Here's a description of the photos:

The first one is me sitting at the anvil with Deloy standing. I knew him for about 15 minutes at the time.

This is the swiveling anvil seat that he created.

Some of Deloys fance forged works. Note the rams heads on the rams head horns! Next is a real small rams head. This is on a welding rod with the coating still on it!

A stack of his railings. Some done as samples for jobs.

Deloys twisting machine. This was the big one he built.

Some of the twisted bars he designed and made. Look in the back for the bigger ones.

One of his little traps. Next is the trap building station that he built and took to redevous. He made me one of the last ones, number 616. These are about 6-1/2" across when open including the springs. The last shot is of his complaint department with the buzzer on the trap trigger and the little bucket to catch the finger.

What a talent! What a guy! He is missed.

Harold, Don't know if that will be enough strength to hold up. So why not just use a solid piece? Some times I use mild steel and harden it. It is moderate carbon so gets moderately hard. Other times I use 4140 tool steel.

Harold, I haven't done shovel blanks that way but have done sea shells that are as big as a fireplace shovel and it works out great. I have a bottom recessed die and a top die that fits into that. The hammer in the picture is just for scale. The press does the work, but no reason a hammer wouldn't work once the piece is centered.

Never had any problem with s/s in a coal forge. It's tough stuff so hit it harder.