metalmangeler

Looks like you get up before breakfast., or at least you post before I have breakfast. :) I need to start to do some of the mokume. Another hole in my resume. It is a good thing to add to the tong pile.

Eric I have been told that paper will brown at about 400. Try preheating a bar in your kichen oven and see if this close. Hopefully someone will see this more knowledgable than me. 

Thanks guys

The fruit is nice and firm, I did not cut any open to see what was inside.

I mounted these rocks on an iron wood tree. They are now a true rock garden as you can see a rock tree in the fruit bearing stage rather than just a collection of rocks. :rolleyes:

  These were made somewhat after the design I learned from Brian Brazeal. I made some changes. So if they look off blame me. This balances and the bar the cranes are on can be spun, Without it falling off. This is a closer look at one of the birds. and another view. My wife tells me I need to work on makeing a better presentation with my pictures, I am begining to realize how right she is.

The anvil went away so I will not be bringing that one, I was told of another one last winter I will see if it is still around and what he wants for it.

If that is what the customer wanted fabulous. Some cusomers want their products all marked up with poor hammer blows etc. Also Congrats on the first job. I expect you will get more.

I have had a number of people tell me that they would rather make their product than tongs, or dies, but I have never been in the shop of one of these people who really had a good selection of these tools. Seems like often the tool is not availlable to buy that is exactly right for the job. It is also in my world at least a lot quicker to make a pair of tongs that I need now rather than wait a week if they do not need to back order them. It is true that if you really have a niche you get to where you can forge that item more effiecently than a one off pair of tongs etc.

Hello looks good with one sugestion since you asked for it. Last picture the scrolls on the left look squished on the end to make them fit in the box. If  you were just to tighten them or expanded the c scrolls or both I think they could have fit, and flowed better. Of course it might be the camra that makes it look that way and not the job. Over all looks good hopefully all customers are happy. Mark

I still have some of those tongs I was selling, and that Peter Wright. The tongs are a good price the anvil is a little high. I will bring them to the art on fire event.

Darren your stuff is really getting nice! I PM ed you a while back with the intent to get back to you, I have been too busy to really do much with knives I still intend to send a couple pictures. when time allows.

I think most could have made tongs any way faster than all the typing in this post. :)

This was the evant at the store in Anc. a bring your wares and public meet the artist deal. Unfortunately I will not be able to do it in July as we will be at the forest fair.

Maybe they were just forged and not ground?

I talked to Pat last night and the first Friday event we were going to be doing has been postponed to next month.

Hi Blackcat if your scale is building up in the cable as you weld your blade which is what the original post looks like is part of the problem. I am thinking you might be useing a gas forge, these are normally set up to burn lean as people dieing from co poisoning is not such a good thing. If you have lots of really good ventilation you might run a little rich that might help, or if you were to weld in a coal or charcoal forge with the unwelded part out of the fire that might help as well.

I agree it was a very good clinic, I am still digesting some of what I learned, not so much the forging as some of the things that were shared, concerning the shows Gordon had done, and how that relates to the items he showed us. As noted the forging was great, I don't mean to detract from that.

I think youi would be better off buying new quallity files than cheap ones.

Hi Sam as ussual your tools look great, now if you put a wedge on your bottom hammer die you can take one of the triangle cross sections you are making and a hot 4140 and make a triangle taper swedge. Might be just the thing for finishing a triangular pointy item. No doubt you have already thought this through and likely have the tool finished.

looks like a very nice job on the tongs.

Oil is a safer quench. I am thinking that the bow is sideways to the blade, you may have moved the blade sideways as you quenched thus cooling one side faster than the other also it sounds like you have the blade pretty thin before the quench leaving it a bit thicker will help to keep things straight. I have this same problem as I want my blades thin (I am not making pry bars), I also tend to forge to close to finished size then when I have ground off the scale I am to thin.

Centaur has a 300# and a 400# anvil listed. I would look at the Fontanini.

I like them I'll send my adress asap. :)

It seems like Pat has ended up paying for way to many lunches at our events.I would like to propose that we bring selent auction items to the clinic so that the procedes might repay Pat and buy our lunch this time. I will have something there whether I am able to make it there myself or not.