Steve Sells

After about an hour working on this one last clamp, I changed projects (took a break and went to see my farrier neighbor). The idea of squeezing the clamp out of the vehicle and holding it open with a piece of wire occurred to me upon returning to the Chevy. I am likely not the only person to think of this; but working alone, it was almost a revelation to me. I had the hose on and the clamp positioned easily in a few minutes. Cutting the wire finished up the job.

Holding hacksaw blades together when making damascus when making damascus, or Mokume-Gane.

Holding round bar together (weld the bottom two together first) I'm sure there's other uses folks can come up with!

The fullering tool I used.

A short piece of 1/2 pipe sch 40.

The fullering tool fits into the hardie hole of the anvil.

Starting the set down (hitting on two sides hit rotate 90 deg hit making it square before I make the hole round).

Making the hole back round.

Hole is round ready for the stem (which I make from 1/4 round).

Setting it down around the stem.

Stem locked into the pipe.

Now I set down the the top part (what ever it is called).

The top is made.

Cut off the excess.

Draw out the stem.

Drawn out stem.

Curling the stem over the horn.

Finished stem.

Now I start the forming end of the pepper.

Now it is starting to look like a HOT pepper.

Another view.

Pinching off the end.

Clean up with wire wheel (cup wire wheel on a low rpm sander polisher NOT a high rpm angle grinder )

Finished chili pepper.

When finally the point is reached that one is allowed to have a separate shop to work in, a building is erected to house all the toys...er, that is, the necessary tools and equipment.

This is only the beginning of an ongoing dilemma. The shop building is never large enough to easily house everything that is dragged home, that is to say to adequately store the necessary tools, equipment, and materials needed. It is not long before piles of stuff begin to grow.

The shop interior can become cluttered looking to the untrained spousal eye.

As a self preservation matter, some means of organizing has to be implemented to move important items out of the way when not being actively utilized.

Small tools are commonly left wherever they were set down last which often is not where one looks for them later. Electric tools also have dangling cords that become unruly. A beginning only, but hanging tools in easily accessible locations, such as under the edge of the bench, is a habit to encourage.

Other handy locations are right over head in a lot of instances. Up out of the way, but still within easy reach.

Empty air is a fine storage location when properly utilized. Make hooks of the size to fit whatever item is being hung up and of the length necessary to be above head level (walls are for banging heads against, not tools) yet still within easy reach. The hooks are placed over the rafters, joists, trusses, whatever is there.

A length of pipe can be laid across the rafters to provide a place for hooks if there is need to have a hook in a certain place.

Hooks can be used to store hooks as well. Things are starting to look up.

I just happened to have a few butchers steels hanging around and suddenly the light bulb turned on.

They were cast steel, hardened and able to sharpen stainless. If you removed the handles and tangs they would make nice extra long punches. That Easy. Rework the ends and they could become any shape you could imagine. And can pick more up cheap at the local flea market.

One of the hardest things to do is to make a long cut on a lathe and not have it tapered. A lot of people don't realize you have to zero your tail stock in some fashion. This can be a real pain, as you take a small cut, mic the ends of the cut and attempt to compensate by adjusting the tail stock, another small cut to check the alignment, it gets time consuming and frustrating.

This is a device used to attach a chain to a log, I have heard it called a log hook, J hook, and log dog. To use the tool, just hammer the point into the side of the log, hook onto the chain and pull.

This is one of the early projects I made. At that time 3/8" x 1" bar stock looked like it would be heavy enough for the task. The stock was cut at an angle and welded to another piece of stock. Chain was welded to the end of the piece. Notice that there is only one hook. This is so you can drive the dogs into the side of the log and then adjust the loop of the chain as needed.

These dogs have done a lot of work and yes the top one is bent a little from the stress of pulling.

This set of dogs was found at the flea market and I grabbed them for the hooks.

Then I realized that the chain was not real smooth, and was not real oval shaped. Then there was that thick piece that looked like 3 pieces welded together.

From the side you can see the overlap and forge weld.

And this shows it even a bit better.

This piece of equipment was used to connect two logs together during the pull. A second team of horses was then attached to the center hook to assist in the pull. This open hook allowed the horses to pull but if the logs ran faster than the horses, would disconnect and not run over the team, or drag them down the hill.

It was interesting to find the chain was hand made and forge welded as well at the center link forge welded. I just picked it up from the table at the flea market, paid the man and walked away with a blacksmithing treasure.

2# blacksmithing hammer for size.

Oil can for size.

3 photos to give you some relationship of size. Hands differ in size so I included a 2# blacksmithing hammer and an oil container.

Edges after grinding.

After flatting the center section (about 10 inches long ) bend the center in a loop. Weld the spring to on one end of the tenon tool.

The finished tool.

Tenon made with new tool.

So, I've got the forge built now. Some may recognize the design - the famous 55 Forge of BP0133 fame (see this blueprint for all the particulars). With my budget restraints, this is my best option at this time. Join me as the first fire is lit in it.

Close up of the firepot and grate. Just an old single disk brake rotor. The lug bolt holes were filled in with weld, but just dropping a bolt into the holes will work. An old bolt was welded in to serve as a grate.

Here's a shot of the forge's support structure. You can also see the air tube and ash drop--scavenged 2 inch pipe welded into a tee. That's right all you eagle-eyed viewers--the legs are a potty chair frame which is easily adjustable for height. I'll bet my Grandma's smiling down at me right now. She never did like that thing.

Watch the edges where the pan was cut out using a jig saw. They are VERY sharp, and need to be made safe using whatever method works best for you. I'll take care of that later, for now, lets get back to this fire. Let's start the fire up. Here we balled up some old newsprint and lit it. You can use sticks from the yard or torn cardboard or what ever works for you.

Lets add some air from my air source. Scavenged squirrel cage blower from an old wood heater and scavenged piece of flexible stainless 2 inch hose. Total cost for these pieces?..... NADA, ZIP, ZILCH...My brother is a junk-man!!

Add a little fuel (in this case, coal fines) on top of the burning paper. This whole forging session was done using just coal fines.

Let's give it some more air, just to get it going good.

A little more fuel and more air and you get a little more smoke, but only at start up!

A couple minutes later. Note the decrease in smoke and the bed of coals in the firepot. I think that's what we are aiming for.

After a couple minutes more, were almost ready to forge with it. I cut the air blast down a bit. Other than lighting the paper and adjusting the air, there was nothing done to the fire to this point. No poking, no fixing, nothing, I just stood there and watched.

The fire is now ready to be used for forging. We went from dead cold to forge welding heat in just a few minutes time.

Another view of the forge, ready to go. Note how little smoke there is at this point. Also, note how the whole setup can be broken down for storage or transport.

There has been some talk of late about anvil stands. Here's mine, with my 70 pound anvil in place. Work's fine for me!

This was made using the previous viewed fire and anvil. Not bad for a beginner! Besides making something for the wife can never hurt.

Here's a shot of my whole setup. Everything can be moved inside to the shed at left when I'm finished with a forging session. It's low tech and portable, gets the job done, and didn't cost much at all. In fact, a few dollars (for coal) will put YOU in the driver's seat. All it takes is a little investment of your time and some creative scrounging.

I used regular coal (lumps the size of a ping pong ball) the next day, and it lit right up using the same process as above.

It is easy to say "JUST DO IT!" but it would be better to say "JUST GET STARTED!"

Too many tools that you can never find when you need them?

This happens to be the adjustment on the front of a plow. Attach to the wall and insert screw drivers.

Your standard wood splitting wedge that was used last season.

The top is mushroomed some from use.

This side shows a bit of a curl to the metal.

And this side shows cracks that could become shrapnel if it were to chip off.

Another wedge that needs attention.

The edge is musshroomed a little, This would be a good time to bring this back up to usable condition.

It is just a matter of grinding off the edges and putting a radius between the side and face so there are no sharp edges. These are good to go for another season.

This anvil is 70 pounds. A small anvil has a lot of advantages. Small in size so it fits small work perfectly. Easy to move or carry.

And when you go to the hardware store and find a hold down clamp for the drill press, it fits perfectly into the prichel hole of that "small" anvil".

It can be modified to fit any anvil. Just replaced the shank on the hold down clamp so it would fit the pritchel hole.

The local mechanic needed to replace this gear on a timing shaft. In getting the old gear off he tore up the flange with his 3 prong puller and pry bar.

The old gear had some damage and was close to $100 to replace. He located a junk motor for less than half that but the gear was stuck on the shaft. And he had already destroyed one gear trying to remove it.

The damage was the cause for replacing the gear, no by the mechanic. The replacement gear had to come off to be used. So he called a blacksmith.

First you find a piece of steel from your resource pile. The welding rod is just to indicate size. I figured 1/4 inch plate would hold up to the task.

Check to see that it will work and mark the center.

Using your handy hole punch, punch a hole where the shaft would be located. While your at it, cut away any excess material.

Mark the location for the 5 bolt holes.

Drill 5 slightly oversized holes.

Mark the location for the BIG nut to properly fit over the end of the shaft on the engine.

Assemble the whole thing. The bolts are screwed into the gear to assure proper alignment.

This is where you use the "other" half of the plate to help align the "C" clamp.

Put the BIG bolt into the BIG nut and see if everything fits as it should.

The mechanic put the gear puller on the gear, tightened down the 10mm bolts, put a 15/16" wrench on the BIG bolt and with a flick of the wrist removed the gear.

The idea was to use all 5 small bolts to secure the great to the plate. The Big bolt was then used to press against the end of the shaft and pull the plate, 5 small bolts, and the gear upward all being properly aligned to the center line of the shaft.

I am a blacksmith, I can make the tools to do the job. It just takes a little thought on how to keep things straight and to use a simple inclined plain (screw) to do the work. You can exert a tremendous amount of pressure with a set up like this so even though it is simple, use caution and wear safety glasses.

Start with some scrap 1/2 inch pipe and cut it into 1 inch long sections

The bar is bent down for 2 inch and then back for 1-1/2 inch not counting bend. Repeat for the other end.

The end was rounded and then curved to give it some character other than a quick cut with a saw. It looks like a blacksmith did the work. It doesn't take but a few hammer blows and set your work apart from anything anyone else would make.

A 1/4 inch diameter hole is either drilled or punched into the "foot" so a screw or nail can be used to attach this to a wall etc.

Weld a piece of the pipe into the corner. Yes, that white stuff got my attention also. ZINC !! This pipe was old galvanized. The rest was scrapped and new sections were cut from another pipe that was not galvanized.

The next piece of pipe is welded on to the holder at 2" on centers.

You can now hand your screwdrivers up and instantly see not only the handle you want but also the end you want to use. It sure cleans up the tool drawer.

You no longer have to worry about getting the right tool, you just reach for it.

A second holder was made for a friend that is a mechanic. Two days later he called and ask if I could make him another holder but this time use 1/2 inch and 3/4 pipe. Sure, no problem, I can do that. After all I am a blacksmith.

That mechanic is a smart fellow. He is using the 2nd holder to hang the long extensions from his socket sets, 3/8 drive extensions fit into the 1/2 inch pipe and 1/2 inch drive extensions fit into the 3/4 inch pipe.

Detail of the ring.