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I Forge Iron

Charles McDonald

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Everything posted by Charles McDonald

  1. Charles McDonald

    First anvil

    ^^^ You know what Im talking about ha ha ha!
  2. Thank you very much! It's been a while since I've made these and I think Its time to make some more...
  3. Charles McDonald

    First anvil

    Thank you very much, and yes I do take photos for fun on the side. I keep the shed locked up, but of course windows can be broken. I am thinking about making something decorative to bolt up behind the windows just as a precautionary thing. People are nuts in my area... That shed isn’t easy to access and if I caught a guy carrying my anvil off and over the fence, I don’t think I’d want to mess with him. My 44 mag is fearless though... haha!
  4. Charles McDonald

    First anvil

    Thanks! The floor is pea gravel and the 8’x10’ shed was built by me. It’s a little snug, but it’s what I could afford at the time. The comment about the good lighting is most likely in regards to the photography not the actual lighting in the shop. It's actually nice lighting in there with the doors shut, but it looks incredibly bright since I bumped up the exposure on my camera. I can see the colour of my metal just fine.
  5. Thank you for the tip! I will have to try using some 3/8 as a fuller instead of using the anvil edge like I did initially. The anvil I used has very sharp corners on it as opposed to my larger anvil and it really hadn’t dawned on me this might be an issue until now. I haven’t had the chance yet to try and conquer this issue yet since I’ve been making a workbench and an area to set up my post vise, but this weekend its tong making time :D
  6. What a great complement! Thank you very much!
  7. Thank you for your advice! I think I’ll have to conquer making twist tongs purely because I’m hel-bent on figuring that issue out, but I’m on a tong making mission in general and once I get past this ill try various other methods for sure :)
  8. Thank you for your reply! On these Ill take your advice and simply try and file out the small cracks, but this isnt my last set of tongs and I want to get past this issue, so your words have given me some good things to consider. I found a site this evening where a guy gives instructions on how to make twist jaw tongs and I noticed he only made a 45 degree turn and returned to the fire for a second 45. Maybe I am making my turns too cold... I found a good topic on here about POZ tongs thanks for mentioning that as well. I'll have to make some of those soon.
  9. Hello there! Today I made my first set of tongs which I forged out of one foot of 1/4" x 1" mild steel flat bar. I decided to do twist jaw tongs and I had an issue with some small cracks that formed just below the jaws on the twist. I am wondering what caused this since initially they weren’t there to my knowing until I was making final adjustments. Perhaps my eyes failed me. Anyway, do any of you know what the reason is behind this? Any information would be very much appreciated and thank you in advance. Jakob
  10. Charles McDonald

    First anvil

    Thank you very much! I took the photo as well so you can imagine the smile on my face! This documents what may be the one and only time this area will ever be so clean...
  11. Thank you all very much for the kind words! Prokopto: I no longer have this so I cant measure it, but I recall it being around 1 1/2" with a pin at 2 3/8" long. I used 1/4 inch round to make the whole thing.
  12. Ive never tried with heavier copper, but Ive fused 16-14 gauge copper wire together in sections making braided finger rings. I simply used an acetylene torch and no flux. I had to do it in more than one go at fusing temperature... I say fusing simply because thats the term more often used in working non ferrous metals. Using a torch for what you're doing would be a pain i'd say, but i think you should be able to do it quite easilyin your forge. Ive also done this with brass, bronze, sterling and fine silver and other than silver the copper was the easiest of the bunch.
  13. This is a Thor's hammer necklace ( Mjolnir ) I made a while back based on a hammer amulet found in Uppland, Sweden. The hammer and ring are steel, but the oath ring section is riveted with brass and the necklace fittings I made with sterling silver and oxidized them to match the hammer.
  14. This is a little penannular brooch I made quite a while back. Brooches of this style were common amongst the Celtic and Germanic tribes.
  15. Charles McDonald

    First anvil

    My first anvil! Its a 209lbs Wilkinson
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