archiphile

Used to go to Cow Town as a kid. Pretty cool to see that it is still in business. Nice twists on the steaks too.

Nice work Alec. It has a nice flow to it.

Those look great. I would just make a second pair w/ grooves and such.

Awesome!

At 19F below zero even brine will freeze unless it has a really really high salt content. Over time the salt will settle to the lower levels of the tank and the top level will freeze.

Mark<><

I just love physics. That was some right fine thinkin'.

Winter is anywhere from 2 weeks to two months away, the snowy cold stuff. I would like to continue my heat and beat over the winter weather using a charcoal or propane forge, outside. I'm curious about the potential for damage to my anvil and post vise, they will be very cold temperature-wise. I realize back in the olden days when something needed to be done, it was "to Hades with the weather". I can line up the propane forge to heat the anvil somewhat.
Any experiences from those of you in Northern Climes that forge outdoors ? A trip to Mexico is not in the cards!

I found some wedges and round bar

I sure hope the anvil will see some heavy service. But those welds are just being used to sandwich the plates together. It seemed to me that in that position with that kind of use, the welds wouldn't actually get that much load.

Sorry that I missed this Brian and Lyle. Wish I could have made it out to see you guys. Looks like a great time was had by all.

I've done some Google searches on this topic and I get hideous synthetic baseball caps, weird gamer caps and other stuff, but nothing like the short-billed or no-bill cotton or wool caps worn by blacksmiths in the last 150 years. Anyoen have a source?

These are the best boots known to man.

http://www.chippewaboots.com/boots/logger/73060

Nice work you two. Looks really nice.

You will want to own that book. I got a copy given to me by my mother this year for my birthday. Stayed up all night reading it.

That whets the appetite for sure Stuart. I cannot wait to see the next one. I had planned on making bending forks by welding a piece of 3/8" round bar to a 2"x2" angle iron. One piece of round bar to one piece of angle and then having an adjustable set of forks. This would all be chucked up in my post vise of course.

Thanks for sharing this with us Glenn.

Making your own tongs...not the easiest thing to do well. But if were you I would suggest picking up a used pair first. If you decide you want to make them, think about the size and shape of your most commonly used stock Is it round, square, or flat. You can make tongs without tongs you just need a long enough piece of stock to hold onto. For making tongs I would start with 3/4" or 5/8" round or square stock. There are many tutorials and videos on the web to help you in making them. I would suggest this one by our own Brian Brazeal http://picasaweb.google.com/brianbrazealblacksmith/TongBlankInClay# He also has one where he is using metal but this one will give you a good idea of what is involved.

As far as other things to make that is up to you. Are you doing this for fun or market. Anyhow that is a start of a conversation. Take care.

Cogratulations. Two-hundred fifty pounds is a lot to move often. Makes me glad for my 186 pounder.

Hey Gang:

I'm home again and I managed to escape with only one hospital meal under my belt. Deb and I were in the midst of having Libby, our Great Pyreneese Mountain dog down yesterday afternoon. Libby was the dog who got Deb's attention in the house when I got felled by the tree. Not long afterwards we had to take her into the vet because she was limping, only to discover she had bone cancer. Unfortunately there isn't much you can do for a giant breed dog with bone cancer but try keeping the pain under control.

Deb and I'd decided this wednesday was time to let her go, cross the bridge in other words. We Had doctor Beck our vet out to take care of Libby. We loaded her into the back of the Saturn SUV and I was sitting with her. I got to thank her for my life again, told her she was a good dog and that I loved her while the sleepy shot took effect. I remember the Vet starting the fatal injection but that's all. My next conscious thought was waking up in the hospital.

As it turns out TBI survivors can have seizures if they come down with a systemic infection as opposed to a red swollen cut. It turns out I'm fighting a urinary tract infection and the docs think that's what caused the seizure.

I'm home and doing okay. I'm tired and sore, seems I'm a fighter and once again it took three fire fighters to get me strapped to a gurney and loaded in the ambulance. Part of the tired is probably the anti-seizure meds I'm taking now. Just what I need another perscription!

I'm sorry if I worried any of you, I PROMISE to do my best NOT to worry you anymore! Okay?

Frosty the Lucky

Nice work. I just finished some hinges as well, though mine are not nearly as nice as yours. I would love to see how you did the eyes.

Here are some pictures I took the other day to illustrate two-sided tapers. I am not a knife maker, but I thought a knife would be a good example of displacing metal with two-sided tapers. When forging, it is usually best to start with material that is farthest from the shape that you want to end up with. A knife is basically tapers just like most forge work. These pictures show how to divide up the material with half-hammer faced blows near and far perpendicular to each other, and 180 degrees when you change from near to far side of your anvil. Then the two-side taper parallel to each other to draw the tang and the blade in both axises. Setting yourself up on the diamond or diagonal reduces quite a bit of surface area.

Your lucky, they charge 2 to 5 dollars apiece in western NY

Well Axles are a good steel to make blacksmithing tools from but are not "tool steel" if'n you know what I mean...

In this video, Jim Poor gives us and idea about how he makes tongs. This is a trailer for his dvd so lots is left out. What I really want to know is, in the portions starting at about 2:54 in the video, he is using a striker to shape the tongs over the bick in a very specific way. I want to know how one might accomplish the same thing w/o a striker. Video to follow:

Wow, nice work man.