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I Forge Iron

Rashelle

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Everything posted by Rashelle

  1. It is fun. Caleb is a good student as well as being a good assistant and person. Now if only we'd of gotten pics of him working on his axe rather then me demoing. I'm really thinking it's time to re-dye my hair now.
  2. When I got my Grizzly the packaging was also trashed with parts sticking out of holes also. Been using it most of a year with no problems though I'll be upgrading to a Bader soon.
  3. Alan covered what I forgot to add in. That is the slug being chilled to shear rather then hot which pulls the metal in from the sides. On bigger pieces such as my hammers I keep the punch tip chilled repeatedly as needed. (Note my punches and such are usually 4140 or similar) I did some S-7 ones once upon a time and made divots in my hammer faces, grrrrrrrrrr.
  4. I just looked for copper aircraft springs, came up with beryllium copper (If my memory serves beryllium is bad for you to forge), phosphor bronze (which msds says is harmful if inhaled), and copper. So I'd try plain copper first then other alloys that I know to be forge friendly such as naval bronze. Work harden them after making. Or more efficient just punch them out of sheet and work harden. But we (me) are over answering you asked how to harden them without bending. You can put them on a hard surface and hit with wooden mallet over and over. Note if you have a little bit of bend back and forth it'll harden faster. That is how I do rings and bracelets. Put on mandrel and mindlessly repeat hitting, usually while watching a video.
  5. Most of the time if I end up with a rag while punching it is because I was a bit off on my aim when back punching. That is just my experience.
  6. I forged copper all day in a coal fire, then at the end of the day, no effort into cleaning the fire other then the normal, I proceded to forge weld. Experiment was undertaken again this time with copper dropped into the fire and left there. Forge welding was again successful. Saw Brian Brazeal also forge copper in a coke fire then do normal forge welds. Other then pretty colors copper had no adverse effect.
  7. Just a thought. I like that there is a fire extinguisher nearby. Though it might be a good idea to have it off to the side where it is readily available rather then underneath the potential fire source.
  8. Paragraph justification window..... I have problems turning the silly computery thing on. Lets see I can say it's not a mac after that all computery things are pure speculation on my part. (Ok I actually understood that Frosty, thank you.) GRRRRRRRRR woke up at 02:00 dreaming of a rebar axe. 03:00 still was awake and had a bowl of kimchi with garlic bread ......... still thinking about axes... 04:40 now thinking of a railroad spike axe with rebar blade. I need sleep. I really do prefer using known steels .ggggggggggrrrrrrrr, sleep.
  9. Oh great a rebar axe, now I'm thinking. I was given a chunk of higher end rebar that was somewhere in the vicinity of 1080 by a bladesmith some time ago. I used his rolling mill and power hammer (it was 1"+) to get it down to a knife size. (Ok a rather large knife size.) I never did finish it. Now I am tempted to dig it out and see, maybe an axe is in the future. Most likely too thin right now but may have to see how it forge welds or doesn't as the case may be for a strap axe. I bet JPH's far outclasses mine though, lol. I have no clue why this is numbering my paragraphs. If you look above you will see there are little boxes shaded in. Some left shift, another for bold, and etc..., I removed the numbers for you.
  10. Yup that is one of my hammers. I made that one teaching an adult to forge hammers. I direct for one hammer while they strike then they direct me while I strike. Heehee in fact one of my after school kids in a couple 1.5 hour segments made himself a double pein texturing hammer for leaf work out of 4140 no striker involved just him. Smaller hammer but nice for leafs, both peins having different radius's. He just has to fit and install the handle after today
  11. I'm with you Thomas, I really enjoyed the time I forged pure silver. I took Jim Austins Viking age silver armband class. I forged two armbands each four troy oz. The first one I did like everyone else and did cold. Jim came by and said he'd not seen anyone forge it hot before so I said I would. It squashes good. And that's a technical term. (During demo's and stuff after I mention the word squash or squish or similar I say "and that's a technical term", always gets a chuckle.)
  12. I'd go for the live action reality show version, heehee. I enjoyed reading this, got me thinking.
  13. Silver would be nice, same as bronze. I'll be doing a copper jewelry class sooner or later. Still making tools and Summer is coming. The words for Trackers aren't Winter is coming it's Summer is coming. When we are inundated with gremlins .......... I mean todays youth, heehee.
  14. Thank you Das. I actually enjoy my job. Other then the drive each way . grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr peoples gGGGGRRRRRRRRRR. I'd have loved to of been able to learn all theses things as a child. Blacksmithing, bladesmithing, bow making, fire starting, etc. Thomas I had one of the blacksmiths I'd occasionally demonstrate for show me a Penannular Brooch and it promptly became a student project when I started teaching this. Will do closed and passed over versions for belt buckles also. Though I like the "iron age/viking belt buckle" the most. Any idea that floats by that can be done in relatively short periods of time are good ideas. Any ideas that anyone has I'm always welcome for more. Somewhere along the lines I'll have Caleb take a picture of the project wall and we'll post it in here. Though I may want to take some of the extra repeated sample projects off the wall so it doesn't be so crowded.
  15. Thank you Frosty. It is fun and I get to upgrade the shop as I go. Littleblacksmith a "couple" asked about swords, I made the mistake of admitting having started a gladius (has a little more file work on one sides bevels before hardening to go) and started a foil. That kept one particular child talking for quite awhile, lol. Those anvils were made by Berkley Tack out of 4140. We have a bit of a selection of anvils. Notown I periodically go out with other groups and am trying to get a "knights" camp going. Heehee they don't know it but they'll have a daily leader, will do ambush patrols on the other knights, and possibly a bopper attack on the pirates. A little bit off from my blacksmithing but it is good to have a change of pace periodically. Most of the time I go out I try to learn more outdoor skills such as increased knowledge of wild edibles, but I really like the idea of having kids making bopper arms and armor. Nate yes I believe that was his dad. Trackers has a good set of rules there. As they acknowledge that there WILL be cuts, scrapes, burns, bruises, etc. We are a outdoor survival school minor injuries will happen. Just cause a lot of the stuff is kids oriented doesn't change that fact. I have a couple extra rules for the blacksmith shop. 1. Wear safety glasses. 2. It's hot don't touch it. 3. Don't pee on the toilet seats.
  16. What I'm hoping is that somewhere in the next several years I'll start seeing previous students popping up at events. As is I'm starting to see a little bit of that now. One person I mentored took second place in a hammer forging competition, another has been hired as my Summer assistant and is already helping out, a youth I taught has now been going to NWBA events and took a workshop with Mark Aspery. So I am on the right track, just have to keep on keeping on and in time I'll be able to look back and think I helped get these people started. The thought is a good feeling.
  17. Ok whew there are three. It was fun seldom. For most of it since it was a camp fair and time wise I was busy all day I limited it to two heats per participant. I'd hold and hit it where they were to hit it following my hits. Which included the reporter, heehee he mostly made a leaf but then back to the kids. Caleb was also there and was just as busy.
  18. No filming this time. There were pictures but I can't figure out how to get any into here.
  19. Well I am mentioned in the news again for blacksmithing. It's an article by a reporter who went to works camp fair yesterday. As though roles had switched on the first day of summer camp, the parents seemed more anxious than the kids at the annual Trackers Earth Camp Fair Saturday. For parents, the open house was a chance to meet their kids' potential summer camp counselors, get a feeling for which camp might fit best and whether their child would fit in with a name like Kale or Atticus (they would). But for the kids, it was a direct look into how awesome their summer could be. Activities were laid out like an adventure buffet line, with enough irresistible choices to fill more than one plate. Archery, normally on obvious highlight at any traditional summer camp, was easily rivaled by fire starting practice, spy missions, ninja training and an introduction to blacksmithing. Blacksmithing? What kind of camp is this? The kind that abides by three simple rules: "No one dies. No wounds that don't heal in four days. Follow the Code of Common Sense." And blacksmithing may be one of the best examples of what Trackers Earth is really all about. When camp blacksmith Rashelle Hams teaches kids to hammer glowing red steel into wall hooks and decorative leafs, she's teaching more of a soft skill than a hard one. Most kids aren't going to go home after camp, fire up their own forge and practice what Hams showed them that day. But they are going to come away with the notion that they can make something with their hands, that not everything has to be bought from a store. There are plenty of lessons like this to be learned at Trackers Earth and its year-round camps, whether in the form of fishing, wilderness survival or homesteading. Some are more practical than others, but all are meant to build a kid's independence and connection to nature. As it happens, Trackers Earth hosts some adult camps as well, so it oughtn't be entirely surprising that an adult might learn a thing or two at the camp fair. Here are some field notes we're pocketing for a time when they might come in handy. For a blacksmith, "cold" is about 1,000 degrees. Some thieving sailors are misidentified as pirates. During the golden age of piracy, governments would contract with seafaring pillagers to intercept and steal from other nations' trade ships. These legally sanctioned pirates were called privateers. You can eat dandelions, and they make decent fritters or doughnuts when fried in batter. Inuit people in Greenland have used seal bladders as buoys attached to their harpoons to keep their kills from sinking. When starting a fire without matches or a flint and steel, the bow drill technique is often best suited to Oregon's damp climate. It allows for use of a stick with more surface area, which translates to more friction and an easier time creating the ember you need to start a fire. Unessential knowledge? Perhaps so. But isn't summer camp supposed to be fun? --Dillon Pilorget
  20. Fire, One of the NWBA board members supplies coal. He has several places in the Pac NW where coal is kept for pickup. Not sure how close you are to one of his supply dumps. PS May is the NWBA spring conference, I'm more then reasonably sure there will be a limited supply of coal there. If you contact him he can have some sitting there waiting for you. PM me for details if you so desire or look him up and welcome to IFI.
  21. There is one like Frank describes pictured in one of the wood boat tool making books. Can't think of it off hand at the moment.
  22. First refer to all of the above. Second it has to be legal to carry, which makes it a tool rather then a combat knife. If for some reason I (who does carry and use a knife daily) find myself in a knife fight, as mentioned above something has went majorly wrong. I used to knife fight spar, I still think if I'm using a knife there is something majorly wrong. I am prior military Law Enforcement with 11 years total of working for the criminal justice system. If I am in a physical confrontation and weapons are involved on my part there is a good chance it is a weapon of opportunity, rather then one of the knives on my person. Now because I am carrying a knife, here is the kicker ............ I have to know how to retain the knife even without my using it as in a confrontation weapons may be pulled and used against the carrier of such. Which really does require training. Now if I (and I can not speak for others) was to have to use a knife in a fight, it'd be my nice comfortable one that I use all day long with a handle made by me to fit me.
  23. I agree BFN. I use knives daily, but am more aware of the blade now then when I was younger. My work makes sure I don't burn out so today instead of blacksmithing I'm heading out into the woods. Where we'll forage for lunch and cook what we find. I'm reasonably sure we'll have the kids cutting and preparing the foods as well as doing the cooking.
  24. Hello and welcome Kaylee. There are several women blacksmiths in the NWBA in your general area. The NWBA website isn't very active but we keep events posted there. I need to get up early so got to go. April has Berkley Tack at the mentoring center May is the conference June might be Alair Wells (closer to you then me) doing finishes and powder coatings demo. Got to go though nighty night. Rashelle
  25. Heehee you are welcome Caleb.
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