coldironkilz

VaughnT, I don't know the answer to your query. I assumed based on one of the video's (see post #11)that the water would freeze. I don't think the solution we speak of is acidic therefore it would freeze. But let me stop there as we are way beyond my pay grade.

This one is my favorite so far...yet still see room for improvement.

Thomas I just added you as a friend...that's my .02 cents worth.

RogueRugger, I have been wetting the vice with PB blaster on each occasion I am in the forge. I haven't taken any further steps as yet. We are still in winter and water in the shop freezes overnight if left. Still no change in the jaws (they will not open). I will keep working on it. Would you share your pictures and experiences on this thread as I continue to monitor.

I like it a great deal, it is beautiful and functional.

Those are great suggestions Glenn. I have a few regrets about my shop, that I will have to live with.

I read some time ago in an old book that creosote and coal oil mixed made a natural stove black. I have never uses it but I want to give it a try sometime.

Good for you Crazy Ivan, lead on.

It is finally warming up here. I went out in +20F trimmed seven then came home filled the feed truck with a 700lb bale of grass hay and 200lb's of alfalfa then went inside for the evening.

So...Admanfrd, do you know what this tool is and what it was used for? BTW, I lived in Sandy Utah from 1975 until 1986. I knew the place well, but that was before the Olympics, preparing for that so completely changed the Salt Lake valley that, when I last visited I found myself to be "lost" !!!, without a guide. That's progress. I am so fortunate to have lived in the Salt Lake valley before it was ruined (imho).

tosideradiko, by my reckoning that is about $13.60 per gal. Ouch!

Did anyone else recently see their propane bill go up. I filled a small tank today (the tank I carry in my work truck). The new price today $6.57 per gallon.

Interesting, Frank, I think your metal sculptor is insightful. I always considered everything on or near the tailgate of my truck to be; hard, heavy, hot, and sharp. All should be viewed as negative when considering ones own or another's safety. Might be an interesting experiment to view a hot piece of iron coming out of the forge as something warm, supple, willing, and interested in a new beginning. Could have a positive affect on ones work. Now that's worth thinking about.

Some principles I learned here on IFI from member, beammeupscotty. " Function, execution, aesthetics, and surface. These are all things you should be thinking about as you design and make a piece of iron work". As I have been thinking about these principles, I did a little research and discovered that Marcus Vitruvius Pollio the Roman architect, engineer and author first asserted in his book De architectura that a structure must exhibit the three qualities of firmitas, utilitas, venustas – that is, it must be solid, useful, beautiful. Just thought I would share.

beammeupscotty, On this opener, I cut the handle butt off with a hot cut then cleaned and made safe the sharp edges with a file. It does appeal to me as does the handle end in your pic above. With regard to the fullering of the two opposite flats on my version, that also appeals to me. The stacked reverse twist has in its outcome a quality of rippleing water and the fuller on opposite flats accentuates that quality in my mind. It does add an additional step not to mention four more heats if you count both flats. It is the way I want to make it for now. Perhaps after I've executed this twist many more times, I may change my mind. I am going to try the 180x90 twist you mentioned. I have been considering the design of three versions of bottle opener, developing those to a level of satisfaction. Your critiques have taught me to view my forging with a more critical eye. regards, Smiley

Well after the last post from beammeupscotty, I knew I needed to make some tools. As I wanted to continue to fuller on opposite flats, I worked on that tool first. I decided I would modify a small ball peen hammer I had laying around. Then I needed to modify a small monkey wrench I had, to be used as a twisting wrench. It was locked up with rust so after I got it functional I made an additional handle for it. Next, the new tools need to be tested.

Sure! I'll give that a try. A problem I did encounter on the one practice piece I ran was, enough residual heat remained in the previous twist that succeeding twists were untwisting previous twists, which is why I kept moving the piece down into the vise jaws. Also I will build a twisting wrench like the one you use. I used an adjustable wrench, not good unless the angles are modified.

Ya gotta love iforgeiron don't cha. Begging your patience for just one more moment, I don't actually know how to do the stacked reverse twist. What do I mean by that, well, I had never done one before. I wasn't sure how to execute the twist. What I did was lock the piece in the vice made an isolated heat of about one inch with the torch then twisted about 190 degrees. Moved the piece down into the vice about an inch took another isolated heat and twisted in the opposite direction about 190 degrees and so on until I reach the point where I intended to stop. Now that may have worked but, that seemed like the hard way or the wrong way. I would like to learn how to do that twist the right way.

neg, yes you are right the mount is upside down. Thanks for those links caotropheus. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone.

beammeupscotty, I find your criticism of my work to be most rewarding and challenging, thank you very much. After ruminating on your comments for a while, I employed myself in one of the most enjoyable days in the forge that I have had in a while. Mixing metals is a new interest of mine. I have dedicated some hours to that interest and have concluded that the addition of other metals would work best as a highlight or they become the center point serving only as a distraction or outright indignant. I have noticed for some time now that the surface of my work was looking, as you put it "tortured". I shall put the wire brush to more frequent use from this day forward. I might also mention not as an excuse but as an instructional thought that the face of my anvil has multitudes of micro pits as do the business ends of the "old" hammers I am currently using. I used your bottle opener design as a test piece when I returned to the forge. I added one element, that being, the fullering of two opposing flats. I found the test to be quite exhilarating, as I mentioned earlier. I discovered several things about the finished piece; 1. my fuller needs some tweaking, 2. my twisting iron marred the work, needs more radius at the pressure point 3. my anvil face and hammer face still impressing my metal, this is a problem. I offer for your judgment and that of the greater community of iforgeiron these two images (front and back view) of my latest bottle opener. regards, Smiley

Hi Chinobi. Well it is very nearly that purple but the lighting in my shop leaves something to be desired. I do however "blue" most of my small things in the forge before clear coating them. I like it.

I was thinking that the hoof pick and hook should be offered as a pair.