Johnny Woolsey

Wagonmaster, always consider the cost and availability of consumables in the purchase also. The initial cost is a one time deal, but consumables are forever. IMHO you will never regret the purchase of a Hypertherm machine. ( The 1250 I use is an AWSOME machine!) Johnny

I have been forging pretty regularly for more than a year and although I feel I have always had good coordination in other tasks I have never been satisfied with my hammer control. Thanks to all the opinion and experience on this forum and especially Mr. Hofi and Mr. Brazeal. The discussions about gripping the handle with basically the thumb and index finger finally sank in in the last week. I practiced the grip and very quickly realized I was GUIDING the hammer instead of SWINGING and my hammer control is very much improved. ( And if it reduces stress as it obvious does its a win/win deal.) Thanks again to all whom meet and freely share their knowledge here at Iforge Iron. I consider all of you my Teachers. Humble Apprentice:) Johnny

Beautiful work!

Very well done, Nelson. I hope the wife is now well. The emotion you describe is the dividing line between Fine Art and Craft in my opinion. If you can continue to express emotion so effectively through your work you enforce the connection between the Artist/Art and the viewer. I believe this connection is the most important reason people purchase Art. Again, very nice work! Johnny

Thanks for the kind words. All the great work I see here at IFORGEIRON really helps me strive to raise the bar. You'all are pretty good company too! It finishes at 91 inches. I don't have a closeup but will post when I do. Johnny

Just finished this pc. I used 48" of 1x2 for the body and 5 pcs. of 1x1x14" for the leaf elements. It is all mortise and tenoned to the fabricated base. Johnny

Very nice! ...I must practice, practice, practice,... Johnny

Very nice. The rose is outstanding and I really like the floating effect of the detailed arrows. Johnny

Neat video! I am curious as to the final drifting for the nail size. In the video this was done from the back side. I did my first header from the top and if I don't leave enough material it would squeeze though. Seems like drifting from the rear would solve this problem? Johnny

On my first spring helve I stayed pretty close to the design from Jerry Allen.Seemed to need more mechanical stroke to achieve an effecient hit. When I built my second hammer I beefed up the bottom of my spring stack to get the hammer up with less "flex". I was able to increase the speed and shorten the mechanical stroke. In my opinion this was an advantage because my hammer seemed to flex more than I was comfortable with. Warren, I appreciate your engineering challenge exercises and agree that the "Homemade" spring helve can be improved on.

Thanks for your help guys. Where I'm at in Southern Utah there hasn't been ANY used forging equipment available since I got the bug good. Looks like we can get the best return on Ebay. Johnny

I've been asked to help the widow(2003) of a local bladesmith to help value some tools she is ready to let go, as she feels He would want the tools to be used. I need some help establishing value as I am interested in buying some of these tools myself. 1) Champion blower #400 . Complete in excellent shape ( looks to have original legs) dated july 30 1901 2)30# or 40# post vise in excellent shape. Original or authentic mounting hardware, only missing the spring. 3)#0 size post drill that is free (turns with handle) and appears to be complete. Looks to be in good to excellent shape. I am not rich but I am honest and I knew this sweet lady's husband and I want to be fair. Any help would be appreciated. Johnny

Great photos Stretch! Do you know the make of this hammer? Or age, history,...? Johnny

Don, the longer springs were pretty flat to start with and pretty heavy.(old chevy Blazer front.) The shorter ones I straightened cold on my Fly Press. I marked out 1" increments and used 1/8" "blocks " on both sides of a 1" fuller that I bumped in the middle. Could do the same thing with a shop press too. My Dad said he used RR track at a side or switch rail and a sledge to straighten springs. By the way, just because their are no guards on my hammer doesn't mean they aren't necessary.Ptree has a similiar design in the gallery that is properly guarded if you need some ideas. Good luck Johnny

This is very beatiful and well done. I'm curious if you could share technique? I really admire the work of (the late?)Chris Ray and he used some very creative tooling. This peice reminds me of some of his work. Again, very nice and thanks. Johnny

Nice stand! I need to show this picture to my wife; I need just a couple more hammers.:)

See KA Power hammer?