Rashelle

lightning awls possibly.

Welcome Ian. I'll second Billyo's comment about joining the NWBA. There are roughly monthly hammer in's in Longview. So a great place to learn.

It's been on my to get list for awhile. Oops already been answered. Looks like I'll be ordering it soon then, heehee.

I enjoy doing candle holders also. A couple of the easiest styles to do are the colonial style candle holders with the bottom rolled up like a laid on it's side lollipop. And the "Swedish candle holder" Like a tulip with a stem that comes around as it's base. I like doing both of those with a leaf as the handle. You can do different finials as practice for the handle sections. It's all up to you of course. Even doing different twists using square stock on any of the projects can make it an "Oh cool" moment. (If it isn't already, heehee.)

I'm with Frosty as regards to hooks. They are excellent to learn many different skills. Drawing out, scrolling, square to round, round to square, bending, twisting, hut cutting, shouldering, punching a hole for a nail or a drive hook with an integral nail (make a 90 corner can help doing 90's), You can do different finials, on the ends, leafs, spades, hearts, the different scroll finials, etc. Lot of different ways to do hooks including welding on more hooks. Try three with a snub end scroll, then three with a penny scroll, lot of options. If done in series you can learn a lot of different skills and end up with hooks to give to everyone.

When I am short of things that will fit in my time available I tend to make more tools. My favorite books are the Mark Aspery ones. They progress you through quite a lot.

Put the drift in and put it in the vise use a bar bent in half with parallel sides to go over the blade as a twisting wrench and twist the blade back to straight. Or put the blade in the vice, use the drift as the twisting wrench.

What about leaving it as stock till you know what you need? If you make a fuller then realize you needed a cupping tool, but no longer have the stock.......... That or think about what you will be doing and the tools needed for that. If the next project would benefit from bending forks or a swage, make what you will use not necessarily what the rest of us have on our next projects list.

I used some red cheese wax on, I forgot what. It made a barely perceptible red tint to the dark steel. I was doing it hot and thus had the burnt wax look with a red tint. Hope that explains what I ended up with.

Most of the time I use a flint and steel. Some of the time a bow drill. Transfer the spark or coal into tinder, blow the tinder to life. Pile on pine cones or kindling, get that going then add coal, or if lucky coke from the last fire.

Cool. The only one I knew of coming up is the one I mentioned and that don't have dates yet and is a bit more then a days drive. Heehee.

Like Glenn said how far are you willing to travel. James Austin should be having some Viking style axe classes in the spring in Oakland California. There are periodic ones all over. For closer to home you might look for your local blacksmith association. They probly have a list of classes, schools, instructors, or something similar.

An adze is a good idea. That may be what they posted the other day with the claws rolled back. The ball pein hammers have enough backing from the pein to have a struck surface. Rather then a thin struck surface, such as removing the claws so ball pein's can make serviceable tools. Like I said the adze is a good idea for a claw hammer though.

The cheeks are rather thin walled and after snipping the claws there wouldn't be much material there either. So the cheeks and poll if struck would most likely deform rather soon. Someone rolled the claws making a decorative item on here not too long ago. The hammer part would still be useful to make tooling from such as a straight pein. Personally I'd rather just make a new hammer then repurpose a claw hammer.

I made a stain out of finely powered rust once. Used it on hand crafted wood arrows. They came out a light pretty color.

I really enjoy those videos. Did you watch the video in preparation for the lock making at the hammer in tomorrow?

Cool hammer making is fun and it's really nice to be able to say not only did I make this or that but I made the hammer that made it. I take it you made the tongs also? Something you might consider on the next ones is to not make the eye hole round. That way it won't be tempted to twist and will stay indexed with the handle. Will you be going to the NWBA hammer in coming up?

Thank you Frank. That just lit a lightbulb inside my head. I really like the idea of tempering a hammer face that way and will do a few to see how well it works for me. I might even try a variation where I put a heated drift in the hammer eye, then the snug ring around the face, and see how that also works.

It's never tomorrow it is always now. Now is when I stand where I stand. I agree Jim "Today" matters. I can relate to the Kiowa way of thinking. Or at least my interpretation of it. Ohhhh grrrrrrrr I can't remember who. But in a book by an author I like the question was asked: "If not now then when?" I remember that line years later and try to remind myself that. I'm afraid of Glen's gear analogy. I keep thinking I like all my appendages and them gears'd hurt!

I can see people making flux sticks now, Sounds like an interesting idea to try.

You drove the drift into the handle hole after hardening it? That would be the cause of the crack right there. If you are using a drift to temper just place it into the hole and let the heat radiate, don't drive it in.

Even the polished and coated stuff wears off quick. Since making them I now wear 1-2 copper rings daily and 1-2 silver. They change periodically as I've made different variations. If I do not repolish close to daily they visibly oxidise. Though using hand sanitizer seems to keep them shiny and no green fingers. The alcohol seems to clean up the oxidation pretty well.

You can run a separate spike through the bottom and monkey tool that also. So that the tennon piece becomes a bottom plate too. I'm too tired to try to explain at the moment though. There are variations. Brian Brazeal teaches how to do it the way my brain isn't explaining very well at the moment. You're welcome and I think I'm out. Blah typing while tired is hard to do..

To fit the candle cup and have a spike. Forge a sharp point on the end of the bar where you want the spike. Use a monkey tool to set down the candle cup onto the spike. (Pre drilled or punched hole please.) then use a undersized hardened monkey tool made out of a tool steel to cut down on the edges of the spike as it widens. Thus making slivers fold back onto the cup. Note do not drive the cup far down onto the full width of the parent stock. Leave it sitting on the taper otherwise it'll go down to far or go crooked. You can ask me how I know .......... Heehee. Hope that made sense.

I got distracted in my don't use nail polish or clear coat soapbox. Back to the subject: I have used bees wax and candle and parrafin on steel pendants that are worn all day at a time. Burnt on. Haven't had an issue. I have made a couple bracelets out of steel and bronze. The bronze hasn't been worn much, so no comment on coating. The steel was wax coated, but not worn much but no complaint. Copper bracelets I used both Renn wax, and car wax, and some jewelry polish I bought. The best so far are the renn wax and the car polish. They like wax finishes will need to periodically be re-applied. On copper it's pretty much daily as the skin oils react with the copper. I imagine the bronze and brass I've done will be the same. (Note steel, copper, and bronze I've forged and worked cold brass only have worked cold, and silver not forged but have had to anneal and fuse it.) (Next note: I am not a jeweler so there will be people with a more experienced input then me, this is just what I've found and researched as I've made some on my own and have had myself requested to make a bunch of jewelry for the costume department and have done so.) Not a lot of experience there but hopefully my input will be helpful.