J W Bennett

I figured out the corn silk (now it looks like an ear of corn on a bad hair day) and finished the clean up and shot it with 2 coats of clear coat. Customer was very happy when he picked it up this evening. Steve, I think I need to brace my floor joists:<)

Had a gentleman that wanted a full size stalk of corn. This year it's hard to find one to copy in these parts. Anyway here it is. I still have to come up with some real fine copper for the corn silk on the ear but other than that and a little more clean up it is finished. Leaves are 14 Ga. Steel, Ear is 2" black pipe and 14 Ga. steel, Tassel is braided/twisted copper wire and the base is a disc blade.

Looking forward to it, even if I can only make it for one night:o)

Pug the candle cup is swaged down to 1/4" round, Punched a 1/4" hole in the shoe and countersunk it on the back side. Then riveted the cup to the shoe.

One used horseshoe, One small piece of scrap copper pipe and a little me time at the forge. Saw something similar to this in the IBA conference gallery forged by Kevin Welsh. Thought I'd give it a try. Fun little evening project to take your mind away for awhile:o) John

Beautiful work, well executed!

Thanks to everyone and especially Ted for your insight. I continue to learn everyday and discovered the power of listening years ago. I suspect that I am not near as far along in my education as I think I am, short comings will be evident as I go. Once again thanks Ted, John

Thanks everyone for the encouragement and the tip on the top ramen:o) I spent the day making a laminated base out of 2x10's ripped down the center for the beaudry to get it at a more comfortable working height and then I built a jig to align/level a balcony railing. I hate wood you can't weld it back together when you cut it to short;o/ I hope to be at Stans late Saturday. I am scheduled to demonstrate at the IBA meeting Aug 18th so I will be leaving from there and heading to Stans. John

Starting 7/30/12 I will be a full time artist blacksmith. Not an easy decision to leave a good paying job with benefits but I'm not getting any younger either. I invested everythimg I've made smithing back into my smithing. My shop is well equipped and I have a steady client base. I will have to adjust my lifestyle considerably but I need to lose weight and I actually like Campbells soup with white rice thrown in to thicken it up. Wish me well, John

I finished the stairwell railing this evening. I am going to take a break for a few days. The customer has not approved the design for the balcony railing yet (I haven't finished the drawings for it yet). They really like it all so far.

Hi everyone, Sorry I hadn't got back yet. Thanks for your kind words and feed back. As far as how long it takes to forge a shed It all depends on the size and the shape of the original antler. If I recall there is probably 40 hours in that but I can't say for sure because I forged the step by step pieces and took the pictures for the demo handout while I forged this one. John

Thanks to everyone who replied so quickly. Dkunkler, I enjoyed the conference as well. I look forward to demonstrating next year. John Bennett Artist Blacksmith

Hi Everyone, I need some help. I have lost my orignal file somewhere in cyberspace. If someone would be kind enough to send me a copy of the file I sent out I would appreciate it. John And yes I feel stupid!

I was approached last December about overhauling an existing spiral staircase. The people wanted to use the existing center pole and treadplates. Everything else had to go. I started forging the handrail, pickets, branches and leaves back in January for a febuaury install. As will happen the project got delayed so everything sat in the corner of the shop waiting for the customer to call me saying they were ready. Finally got the call two weeks ago and started on it last Wednesday. I still have to add more leaves, clean up alot of welds and then give the whole thing a good brushing and finish. I wanted to share what I had so far. It is a three part job. The main staircase, the top stairwell railing and the balcony railing. I hope to have the staircase completed tomorrow. I'd like to get the stairwell done before I leave for the IBA conference Friday but I think it will be more like nect week end. I haven't started the balcony railing yet. The stair rail is 1 1/4 solid mild steel bar. The pickets are 3/4 bar and the branches are 1/2" bar. Leaves are 14 gauge. Each leaf was cut by hand with a plasma cutter. The staircase is extremely narrow due to space limitations. It has been a solo project with no helper. I will post as I finish each part of the project. The pictures show the original staircase and then the project to date. John

Jymm, Actually I took off yesterday afternoon and went up 51 to try and find your place. I got to the Ambridge bridge and it was closed for constuction. I turned back around and went to the 65 bridge, traffic was backed up so I went back to the hotel. I am going to the open forging at Fort Allen this evening. If class gets out in time on Friday I may try to venture into Pittsburgh. Thanks for the info. John

No Blacksmithing so far...this bar bill is gonna bankrupt me :D

I am in Pittsburg PA. from now until 4/21/12. I plan on attending the PAABA meeting at Rices Landing on Saturday the 21st. Does anyone know of anything to do Blacksmithing related after 4pm during the week. I am staying out by the airport and have never been here before. Any suggestions would be appreciated. John Bennett

Today's progress. The flywheel is reinstalled. I took the rollers to a machine shop today and got a reasonable quote. The clutch was a whole different story. The only place I could find that would even look at it was very firm on time and material. He would not sell me the material to do it myself. I have a feeling he's gonna treat me like a freshman cheerleader right after the big game....OUCH!

HWoolridge, All the castings numbers on each part say U-100- Part #. The pictures that I have of 50lb hammers the castings say U-50-Part #. I never did get to weigh the ram though (my digital bathroom scales just kept showing error). I do know that it's a pretty good tussel to wrestle it around to clean it and inspect it then get it back into place so I'm pretty confident it's a 100. Will, As soon as I get the lower end back together I will get the measurements for you. This is truly a learning experience, John

The hammer is completely stripped. The top bushing are in real good shape. The clutch would probably last awhile but I'll get it relined while I have it apart. Other than that and the ram roller that I need to replace due to a flat spot everything looks good. I shot the main frame with 2 coats of paint.Then I cleaned and re-oiled the gibs and reinstalled the ram. I marked the keys position before I removed it so I could put it back in the same place when I reassembled it. I'll paint the base after it's all back together. John

Well the ram and linkage is apart and ready to be cleaned. Motor and mount are removed. All the paint is off the main body. Now to get the clutch removed. One of the rollers has a flat spot but other than that so far everything looks pretty good. John

Well we finally got the hammer off the trailer and in the shop. I did some temporary wiring and ran it a little. It's going to need some adjustment and a lot of clean up.Any advice would be appreciated.

Willey, thanks for the info. I picked up the hammer and got it home. Haven't got it off the trailer yet that will have to wait till tomorrow. I snapped some pics, Not exactly sure what it weighs but it's a chunk. John

I did see that info, Just not sure of how to tell if I have a 2,3...Since the first # of the serial # is a 2 does that designate it as a 2?

I purchased a Beaudry power hammer today and pick it up tomorrow. It appears to be in great shape and was running in a working shop up until last week. The serial # on the machine is 2817, I googled but did not find any serial # listing. I believe it is either a 25 or a 50 pound hammer but did not know where to look for the weight on the hammer. Any help would be appreciated. I will post pictures of it when I pick it up, John