Rashelle

It's not scrap metal, It's pronounced scrap MEADOWS, the place where metal goes to retire, till it finds a new life. Since starting to learn this wondrous skill set I have found a new word to use instead of some cuss words. "Oh scrap meadows" is the phrase I try to use now, and when I think about it it amuses me which sort of undoes the temptation to be cussing anyways, heehee.

You can get stronger magnetic strips at hardware stores. I use one in the kitchen along with the obligatory utensil rack I just had to make myself, heehee. The hardware one ( I just checked) held a 3 lbs crosspein face on and a approx 4 lbs sledge side on. Sorry I didn't have any bigger hammers near my kitchen to try, I'm making dinner. So you can use the cheaper harbor freight one for little stuff and if you don't mind stuff becoming magnetic you can hold bigger stuff with a hardware store strip. Note they are more spendy there.

Cool. I really like the flatter. I am very glad I went to them when I did and took the tools for tools class. The knowledge gained from one on one is tremendous as you work at the pace you need to work at. You have a good set of tools and should be proud of what you've done. Rashelle

You can do hex even tapers with hammer and anvil. It's (for me at least) just not as natural as square. For myself making myself forge a hex taper I have to think through it. establish the hex then keep it. So either turn in thirds or keep turning and turn in 6ths. Rather then turning in quarters. Besides it's a viable starting point if 3/4 hex is his starting material he doesn't have to keep it hex. Finding a shadowy spot in the forge helps to use to judge the initial color and feeling for it work hardening as it cools. Sacrifice a piece and find your high and low working temps. It's fun to work with.

Watch your heat. If you get it into an orange, take it out of the fire and let it cool back to a red. It might be ok then. Dorothy Steigler did a bronze forging workshop near here a couple of months ago. She came up with the term burn it to learn it. The bronze we used was a silicon bronze and had a narrow working range. It heats back up fast though so don't get distracted while heating it, otherwise you're liable to burn it. I forget the alloy other then a silicon bronze 655 maybe? There is also naval bronze is suppose to forge good also. Other people will suggest working cold. Heat, anneal, work till it work hardens, reheat and repeat. So there are a couple options. Good luck and keep us posted.

Along the lines of Darryl Nelson's Dvd's I got his bear head video. I plan on getting his other videos also. Then when I first watched it I took over two hours taking notes on the first 20 minutes of the DVD. Not sure how much notes I took overall. But the level of detail is wonderful. Being a member of the NWBA I have the priveledge of seeing him in person almost monthly. He does a great job demonstrating so people can learn from him. I emphatically agree with Gerald about his stuff. I also agree with the others in the iron menagerie book is useful and Brian Brazeal has some good horsehead videos out there.

ROFL. I was thinking tweezers and then of course the belt buckle thread tweezers and striker all in one. I was not thinking jewelry specifically nose clamps. Wonder how long before a new fad starts? I like it Nick. The posts you post and their subject matter seem to always be of interest to me. Thank you for posting them. Another thing to add to my list of things to do. Along with another book to get. Rashelle

You could also in addition to what bigfoot said. Cut to rough over size, seal ends, build a box, stack inside box with a small light bulb inside and a small fan. The light bulb heats and the fan provides airlflow. You are in effect kiln drying on a small scale at home. Just don't overdry too much and allow to regain a stable moisture level according to local humidity conditions. It won't take too long. You can find plans and further information along those lines by looking up drying boxes for bow staves.

I was thinking set hammer also. I did notice that the handle is tilted towards the face and was wondering if it wasn't a form of body work hammer/set hammer.

Oh cool. I'm envious of your students. I someday would like to take a similar class. I wish you well with the classes and look forward to pictures at the end. Rashelle

Hi Korbyn, Before the replies get going. You might consider putting your location down. So that those nearby can speak up. I'm thinking Alaska, others might think ohhhhhhhh Australia, or somewhere else. Welcome to IFI. Pretty soon there will most likely be a reply stating welcome and please put your location, etc. Lets see Alaska and willing to drive to a valley? Rashelle

Mephitus and other who wear glasses. There are "over glasses" available at industrial safety supply locations. They will fir over the glasses and provide side shield protection. I normally (can't think of the particular brand's) use a glasses strap and remove the earpiece, replacing with a glasses strap. That then holds the over glasses on comfortably and snugly, when doing things necessitating the use of safety glasses.

Hmmmmmmm seahorse head bottle openers in the future? Maybe use the scrolled end as a scrolled tail.

Instead of removing only the blade portion from the angle iron parent stock. Leave enough stock for a socket behind the blade. Cut in from the sides in a V shape from each side. That will separate the blade stock from the socket stock. Do not cut all the way through leave enough material to hold blade to socket. Forge you blade out. Forge the socket material into a socket, and roll up into socket. Watch the thickness of material and your heat. So that when forming blade and/or socket you are not burning the other one. The V's cut in from the side will divide the blade from socket material. One section will be blade the other will form a socket. Hope that makes sense. I really really really need to learn how to draw pictures on the computer.

Looks sort of like most of the blower (minus the belts and what isn't showing in the pics) is there Frosty. Simple handle and gears then a fan box below.

I really like these. Spurs my imagination to "eventually, grrrrrrrrrrrr" make some garden trowels in leaf configurations, rather then feather. Not that I have time to do much other then think about it. Here is a thought for you. If you are afraid to try forge welding try cutting two sideways V's in as shoulders at the base of the handle and make the handles socketed. As it was angle iron to begin with. You've already got the socket material.

You are welcome. By doing some by hand you'll learn to recognize the low end of the working colors faster. To me at least there is a moment where if you go past it the material stops moving. When it stops you know you wanted to stop before then, heehee. That should train you in the low end of the working colors for that particular alloy.

Try working some of it in small sections with hand hammer. You'll see it is not just a short working time but a short working temperature. I've done some cupping tools lately using some stainless, as well as a couple other tools. Each one worked different. When doing the cupping tools the SS worked real nice and smooth, then there is a sudden point where it is still (my eye color perception) orange and it stops moving. Practice watching for that temp by hand, then you will know it when you do it under the power hammer. Hope that made sense and helped.

The NWBA has a hammer in at the mentoring center in Longview WA. Date/Time Date(s) - 06/28/2014 9:00 am - 5:00 pm First half will be a demo. The second half of the day will be open forge. There will be others you can meet and get in person (most likely even some contradictory) advice. There are tools available at the open forge to use. You can then see what works for you. As a beginner I really liked J- hooks and drive hooks as they comprise several processes. Drawing out, scroll the tip, bend the hook, shoulder a nail plate or do a 90 degree bend for a drive hook instead, punching a hole, and different twists. So you can draw out square, turn to round or round to square, practice different scrolls and twists all on one project. Once you are able to do a decent taper, make some punches and then chisels, along with a center punch. Etc. With the punches you made make a bolster plate, lol. It's all up to you. That was me. You should work on what interests you. Learn the process first and the projects will follow. If you are project motivated then choose projects that teach you processes. Once you have the processes down or are working that way then you can do that process in whatever project as it is all elements (processes) strung together to make projects.

Garage door springs have already been mentioned a few times. I use them quite a bit. Potassium nitrate can be used in the creation of flash paper. Which will flash and burn you if you don't have a safe section to hold onto. So if you are going to play with adding chemicals into the mix be very careful and store in safe fireproof containers, etc. Monks cloth is a good type of thick untreated cotton cloth that some people prefer to use for their charcloth. I'd like to try some of Thomas's raw cotton. I now prefer using some old bleached cotton rope I had picked up at a farm supply and had extra floating around. You can get good thick fibery sections of char cloth that way. Break off what you want before striking though, As the ember will rapidly travel up the rope.

Cool Nicole. Do you also have pictures of your tooling once done? I know a chisel is a chisel and a punch is a punch. Well sort of. It's always nice to see others tooling too though. Your heat treat oven looks a treat to use.

Thank you Jim. I enjoy the opportunities to get "artsy" with functionality. I've been looking at some medieval war hammers since Aaron mentioned them. Like a puppy chasing it's tail I go round and round in circles trying to avoid the war hammer game. It can be inspiring when finding a decent site giving good pictures. Heehee good thing I don't have ADHD or anything similar. I'd be running around in here going ohhhhhh wow a neat idea ,,,,,,, oh neat idea, turn around and there's another one and I no longer remember what the first one was. OHHHHH look a butterfly ........... I enjoy your hammer decorations Aaron and they give me more ideas for myself to try. Keep up the good work inspiring others.

A couple of observations on the fire striking, based on my own experience. I almost always start my forge fire with a fire steel and some form of sharp rock. (I do the 1845 re-enactment stuff.) Periodically I'll do something silly like use a bow drill. I'll also demo fire starting. If you hold the steel more loosely with your fingers rather then sticking your hand through and having a death grip you are less likely to slice your fingers on the sharp rock. In striking you are shaving off pieces of the steel, so you want to find a sharp edge of whatever stone you are using. If needed knap a sharp edge into it. The sharper the edge the better it'll shave off sparks. I just re-read Frosty's post shave a shave a curl off with the sharp edge of the stone, He phrases things so much better then I.

Thank you Frank I will. Doing this is something I very much enjoy. Even swinging a sledge hammer all day I feel good, and will continue to "keep on keeping on".

I agree with Vaughn. I really like the roping technique. I've been spending time lately looking for ideas on hammer decorating. Now I need to go find some pics of decorative war hammers I guess, heehee.