Daniel Lea (AKA 99pppo)

What is the meaning of "hammermandel" I think that's jaw you said it. On the shoulders of the jaws. You said "now we draw the shoulders to what is called a ham-muh-maun-del"

Hey!

I said "and now we draw out the corner to what is called a "Habermann bend". A Habermann bend is actually a very old and commonly used technique to make drawn out 90° corners. But Professor Alfred Habermann (a German-Czech master blacksmith) used it a lot and also proclaimed this technque a lot so it got that name over the time.

Cheers

- Daniel

A good friend of mine is currently studdying in Hereford and it appears welding on reins is mainly taught there to incorporante fire welding into tong making so the students can practice fire welding without just waisting stock material but actually making something usefull out of it. Before I learned your method I made at least two tongs with welded on reins and they service me very well until present day, but I much prefer a structurally well built up and springy pair of tongs using mainly the technique you taught me. I assume that on other blacksmithing schools and in the associations they also teach welding on reins for the same reason and never get taught how to draw them out or the benefits that come with drawn out reins. And they just keep teaching it to others and that´s why it spread so much. Partly also because the never really learn how to effectively move metal and could never imagine to forge a pair of tongs by hand from 7/8" 4140 as we have done already...

Daniel,
Thank you for a great set of instructions. I have never tried to make one of these ram's heads but would like to give it a go. I feel reasonably confident about most steps except that welding procedure. What flux are you using and how is it applied? You only have 1mm of space there. Does the flux flow into that space? And then reheated to near sparking before hammering together?
A very nice finished piece. Well done.

Hey! I am using borax in the video. I suggest you go ahead and put some wire around the horns and the material under the horns so you keep them from oxidizing while you weld the face. It is a principle of sacrificial oxidation of which I got aware a good bit after I had made this video. You need to leave a small gap between the pieces so the borax can wash out the dirt and scale. You can just sit the heated up piece into the borax. The carpillar forces will suck up the borax where it is needed. Then get it hot until the flame turns golden and you see a few sparks. Take it out of the fire and maybe give it a tap on the edge of your forge to nick off possible fuel residue. Then make sure you hammer straight and prevent the two faces from sliding. Repeat the process until you are sattisfied with the result.

Cheers

- Daniel

=) It is really nice to see you and Blake being able to reproduce what you have learned through the summer. Partly that was my teaching and that makes me a bit proud ^__^U. But also Blake did a great job remembering the fuller forging and YOU remembering all that and being able to reproduce and go even further! If you want some constructive critique tell me and I shall advise you, especially on the tongs!

Yours

- Daniel

Many thanks to you all guys! I appreciate both your compliments and constructive critique!

Hey Fellows!

Here you can watch the tutorial that I made on how to forge Brian´s pick up / hammer making tongs. The video is part of a series of videos Alec and I are going to make to support Brian´s "Tools to make Tools" curriculum the International YoungSmiths team will be going through during the event at Tannehill Forge School of Blacksmithing Summer 2013.

Very well made! Great job, Daniel

Thanks Ed!

punch.jpgGreetings again Daniel,

 

By filling a grove with sholder on the shaft your tongs will fit in the grove and will not slip up or down..  You may have to reshape your tongs a little but I think it would be worth it..   I have had a few misses with my touchmark and use a different system..  

 

Jim

I do have an extreme lot of spring tention on these tongs. The touchmark doesn´t really go anywhere!

Greetings Daniel,

 

Very nice design..  I'm sure you are proud of you work .  100 years from now your work will still carry you name....  I might suggest if your tongs are dedicated to  your touchmark  you could put a small flat on the shaft  so that it does not slip down the shaft.. 

 

Great stuff Keep forging

 

Jim

First of all thank you Jim! And yes I am pretty proud on these tongs. But what do you mean with "I might suggest if your tongs are dedicated to  your touchmark  you could put a small flat on the shaft  so that it does not slip down the shaft.. " Could you please explain that?

Hey Fellows!

I just recently got my own touchmark and now I forged a pair of tongs specially to hold it. I forged it out by hand from 5/8" coil spring. It can hold 1/2" to 5/8" steel in a 90% angle. It has a built in tong clip and the reins are 1 foot and 1 3/4" inches long.

Yours

- Daniel

how do you get it so round?

You want to isolate a sqare piece of steel first. If you want it round flatten it a little bit, then make it round and flatten it further. If you want an egg shaped spoon you need to taper that piece. Here is a little sketch of how I started it:

Good luck and have fun trying it!

Yours

- Daniel

Nice work.  You have shamed me into replacing my fluz spoon with something nicer.

Ken

^__^ Thanks! Do so, do so! :D

That looks great! Nice work dude.

Thank you! =)

Hey fellows,

I just wanted to share a little project of mine. Today I forged a spoon to apply borax or sand on workpieces prior to forgewelding. Handforged out of 5/8" round mild steel.

Yours

- Daniel

Hi Daniel, Only thing that I noticed that i would change is to work the metal hotter, much easier!

 

Oh, and whats with the sissy sledge? ;)

 

Josh

Yes I was actually suprized quite a lot how dark it was in the video. I´ll try to heat it up hotter next time. I´ll also have to get a heaver sledge, yes.

Thank you for posting the video Daniel. I always learn from watching others at the forge. My only comment would be to use a large center punch and mark the location to be punched before heating the billet. But then that's me and how I do such things. Yours came out very well so my opinion is just that, an opinion.

 

Aren't Brian's sliter punches a joy to use?

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Yes they are a joy to use, that´s why I use them too  ;)

Hey Guys,

on friday I forged a Brian Brazeal hammer eye punch top tool.The first one I ever forged under just my own supervision. With Henrick Stark as my striker. Stock material was L6 thermodurable tool steel (56NiCrMoV7) in 1" round.

I hope you enjoy the video =)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=nCETra-GCMU

Btw not all steps are shown entirely!

Yours

- Daniel

thanks Darren,i forgot to  mention,i got this idea from one of 99ppo's videos.Also,does anybody have advice on how to get the curl on top to fit thhe candle easily?

I have to say Rhett that I just filmed the video. Alec forged the candle holder and made up the design. Nice work what you did there! Good job!

Greetings Daniel,

 

You are indeed a skilled young man. I wish I could have you come to my shops and share ideas..  You are allways welcome...  Keep up the great work.

 

Jim

 

At 5:27 you brush the flux off the face of the anvil, palm down using your finger prints. May I suggest that you use the back side of your hand or as Bruce Wilcock of the Shetland Isle UK does use the corner of your apron.

 

Palm down if you run a splinter or metal shard into your hand you are done hammering for the day as it hurts to even hold the hammer. Palm up you can still grip the hammer and finish a days work. The apron is best as no hands are put into harms way.

 

And oh yes, I like the shirt (grin) Thanks for wearing it for the video.

Thanks for this both Daniel and Alec.

Love watching the both of you in your skilled endeavours, very inspiring for other young guys like myself.

 

Daniel, great work with the video. The editing was magnificently do, it a pleasure to watch, with great skills shown in both arts (blacksmithing, and film) 

 

cheers again Joe

Nice job Daniel and Alec! We're gearing up for this years International Young Smiths and looking forward to you, Alec, and Josh coming!

Nice job, videos and projects!

Fun videos, guys!  Keep up the good work. 
Look forward to watching/meeting Alex in 2 weeks in Longview, WA. 

I cant wait! this is gonna be good guys!

Thanks for all the video Daniel, you're a man of many talents. I'm also glad you let us know your real name.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks you all guys for those kind comments. I appreciate all your props!

Hey Fellows!

Those of you who frequently read my posts, respectively watch my videos, might already know that I try to work with as many blacksmiths as possible. Especially those in my youngster age. And also that I always have my camera at hand to capture the best moments for me and those that are interested in it as well.

So was it that I visited Alec in England over the Easter holly days. I´ve already worked with him two times before and he is not only a colleague, but also became a good friend of mine.

We had four days to work, but unfortunately I´ve been sick in the beginning, so we weren´t be as productive as we could have been. Nevertheless we made a bunch of very cool tools both for me and Alec and also some nice artistic items. Furthermore it was a good preparation for he demo at the NWBA in a few months.

This is all we´ve produced (On the huge sledge I´ve only made a new handle):

This is what I´ve taken home with me:

Our last project: A Brazeal style fullering hammer (not a rounding hammer) from 40mm square 1045 steel:

One day I was so sick that I could not forge. So I decided to film Alec whilst forging and we made a real little image film for his work. I put all my expertise and efford in the filming and the edit and I really hope it paid for it! (For who is interested: Camera: Canon EOS 650D (Rebel T1i), Lens: EF 24-70mm f/2,8 L II USM)

But see yourselves:

Last year Alec was on tour with the YoungSmiths, which is an international group of - who guessed it - youngs blacksmiths that was founded by Brian Brazeal. They traveled around the USA and gave public demos. I am always impressed, what skills this young lad, who only reaches up to my chest and is with 15 still three years younger than me, already has. This year I am supposed to also take a course at Brian´s and join the YoungSmiths as well! So my visit at Alec´s place also was meant as a preparation for summer.

We also filmed a tutorial about how to forge cranes: 

There are some more video that are not edited yet. If I decide to upload them I´ll post them here later.

I hope you enjoyed my little diary! I am looking forward to a lot of very cool experiences and good crafsmanship with Alec, Brian and the YoungSmiths in summer.

This was it from me so far!

Yours

- Daniel

Hmm this looks like  a nice hammer indeed. I can not really identify it but it says Jøbing and the letter ø only exists in Norwegian and Danish, not in Swedish so it rather will be a Norwegian or Danish fabricate.

One of my favourite blacksmithing videos is where my pal Alec is a little bit over-motivated with the sledge and hits himself right in his bloody British crown jewels  ^_^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uQnQbDX698

Btw he uploaded the video by himself...

Yours

- Daniel

The hammer will be placed in Brian Brazeal's collection of tools made by young blacksmiths he has taught . He asked me to will it to him and I IMMEDIATLY offered to trade it for one made by him! Sir Alec agreed, as did Brian . I did not want anyone waiting for my demise for any reason! So it moves on!

Ok nice, at Brian´s it is in good hands  :)!!!

Daniel I got the hammer you and Sir Alec forged for me, It is great ! Better than I had hoped for. Brian sure can teach, and young blacksmiths like you and Alec  ARE the future of our craft. It will be a bright future. This hammer is a treasured addition to my tool kit . A valuable addition seeing the prices asked for them. Mine is NOT for sale , nor will it ever be. Thanks for all the care and craftsmanship you two put into it.

Danny there is a value in your hammer that no currency in the world
could pay. It is made by friends with friends for friends. It is a unique
piece. It´s shape is influenced by the character and the emotion of the
blacksmith and his striker in each moment of the forging process. It is more
than just a tool it is expression of all the countless influences it had until
it arrived at your place. It was an honor for me to make this hammer for you
together with Alec. I hope it will service you well and that you pass it on to
somebody that knows about the true value of that piece of craftsmanship!

Hey fellows!

Last weekend I visited Joe to pick up a new military style portable forge I bought from him. We took this occasion to also work together for one day. Matt charged us to forge a rounding hammer for him and that fit very well because Joe wanted me to show him how to forge one anyway. I myself was taught by Alec how to forge them and he learned it from Brian... so it was basically forged with the techniques Brian Brazeal teaches at the moment.

The hammer was forged out of 40mm car axle steel, the billet was 8cm long. After grinding it weighs 790g (1,75lbs) and is now ready for heat treatment. After that and a final polish it will be shipped to the US where Matt will hopefully have a lot of fun with it  :). 

Right side with my initials (Daniel Lea):

Left side with Joe´s initials (TechnicusJoe):

Bottom side with shoe shining:

top side

Unfortunatly there is no video of the entire process :(, although there might be some shreds of video coming up soon ;).

Yours

- Daniel