Francis Trez Cole

Just my 2 cents to me it like a piece of pipe that has been necked down over a mandrel the the mandrel removed and cut in the middle giving you 2 sections with each forging. Looking at your sample I do not see a place for the plugs to be removed once the tool has done its cutting. I would weld the tube to the head stock then heat treat. you would have to make a tool to line up the tubes for welding. soldering will not be strong enough to hold up with prolong use.

I would agree with Thomas looks like its mounted up side down

my first was a bbq grill did not have to remake the legs

when I took a class from Peter I found him to be very helpful with every thing. He dose not hot file he says there is no historical record that you would want to hot file. the way he explained it makes a lot of scene files were very expensive and hot filing wares out files. If you use a file for hot filing then it should be marked and used for only that. From what I saw in his shop the benches were very clean and the files dry and very sharp. He kept them in boxes that they were shipped in. As far as the flat cross peen I asked the same question He explained it that a round peen works more like a chisel He talks about it in the wood wright episode where he is making bench dogs.

the only reason I can thing of is the metal needs to be protected with a finish to help prevent rust. But Peter also said that a filed piece will not rust as fast as an un filed piece.

here is an artical about turpentine production in my area but have not run across and of the hacks yet Turpentine From Pine Woods Author: Ann Shank, former Sarasota County Historian Source: Sarasota County Historical Resources Photo Credit: Sarasota County Historical Resources Little remains of an industry that once spread throughout much of the pine woods of Sarasota County. The harvesting of gum from trees for the purpose of distilling it into turpentine had moved into Florida as the forests of Georgia became exhausted. In the first two decades of the last century, R.S. Hall and George McCloud, in separate operations, leased thousands of acres of pine forest from Alligator Creek south of Venice to Cow Pen Slough east of Bee Ridge. The labor force in the turpentine camps was almost exclusively African American, and many of the workers followed the industry into this region from Georgia and north Florida. Supervising the camp and enforcing the law of the camp was the “woodsrider.” Under him workers specialized; some cut “cat faces,” V-shaped grooves, into the side of a tree. From these cuts oozed gum, into a clay pot or “box” cut into the base of the tree. Other workers transferred the accumulated gum into barrels, which others then transported by wagon to a still. The “stiller” brought to a boil approximately 10 barrels of gum in a large copper kettle over a wood fire. Distillation resulted in turpentine (about 20 percent) and its by-product, rosin (about 80 percent). A turpentine company in Jacksonville purchased any turpentine or rosin which was not sold locally. Many camp operators built “quarters” for their workers. In Laurel, the worker’s houses were north of Laurel Road and east of the railroad. A commissary stocked basic food and household supplies and often carried families on credit between pay periods. The Mt. Zion Baptist Church also housed elementary school classes during the week and served as a meeting place for the Masons. A community cemetery was on high ground near the still. Workers in the cooper’s shop, who made barrels for the shipment of turpentine products from the camp, also made burial caskets. They made the caskets from wood for barrels and lined them with cotton batting, which the stiller used to strain the rosin. In the 1930s, B.T. Longino Sr. established a turpentine camp on 12,000 acres at Sidell and, with Luke Grubbs, another camp at Bee Ridge. Longino hired Albert Jones to organize and run the camps as woodsrider. Jones recruited workers from other turpentine operations around the state. The Sidell camp was on the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad about a mile south of State Road 72 (then called Sugar Ball Road). In addition to 30 houses for workers and the still, there was a cooper’s shed, commissary, school and church. The Sarasota County Board of Public Instruction sent a teacher out to the school and Jones or his brother preached in the church. The Bee Ridge camp was just south of Clark Road and east of the Seaboard Air Line Railway. Near the still were two – to four room houses for the workers, a cooper’s shed and commissary. Slightly west on Clark Road was the Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, which doubled as a school. Bee Ridge workers could find weekend recreation at Charlie Pinkney’s nearby “jook.” All the turpentine camps in Sarasota County were closed by the early 1950s. Demand for the products had severely diminished and many of the pine woods no longer existed. After being turpentined, trees typically became by-products of local sawmill operations. For more details on the turpentine industry, read the historical markers at the Laurel and Bee Ridge camp sites.

your welcome it has come in handy for me

forged lots of S-7 FE and that is what I make most of my tools for the power hammer out of. it holds up real good. I like the point of being able to water harden.

Sure it forges real nice the key is to work in the proper temperature ranges I worked on my my first h-13 punch about 3 weeks ago my supplier had a scrap piece. Got it cheep so I have been using it, hardening is easy bring it up to temp and just let it air cool. I am ordering some w-2 to make some drifts because it is water hardened. With all the modern steels it is well worth spending the extra money to make a great tool

I hope I did not say it wrong the part the you made round for holding with tongs leave round just the end for punching through steel square. If you have a power hammer you can make a sets of kiss blocks so you can put the blank under the hammer and they will be all be the same size

once it is all cleaned up you will have a great set up

Wb you have the blanks just forge them square.

first nice looking punches you are on the right track. I would make a square punch and a slitter punch(round taper the flattened on 2 sides with the other edges rounded www.blacksmithsdepot.com/tong-slit-chisels.html . Go to blacksmith supply companies and see what they are selling there are many more choices. make the blanks then you can make more as you need different ones your collection will grow

My self I use what ever I have 4140, mild steel, wrought iron, spring steel and even re bar. I have heard that lug wrenches are good to use as well just have not have the time to make pair with one yet. I never heat my tongs either I always take them off the piece I am heating. The good thing with mild steel is it is cheep I was reading and had a talk with Grant years ago He used 1045 when he was making tongs.

Here is the method I use for setting the reins on the tongs I make. This way they are all the same and use the same tong clip. First I get the tongs to the shape I need then I have welded 3 pieces of 1" tube steel together next I slide them on the end of the reins. once the jaws are heated I place the piece of stock I want to set the tongs to handle and hammer the jaws around the stock. This give me a nice distance for when I am holding stock. ware a glove while hammering it is easy to pinch your hand when you hit the jaws to shape.

perceived value It is all about education when I go to meet with a client I bring some small pieces of joints (riveted, wedged and collard . Then 2 pieces of thin aluminum welded together. This is what I use and this is what the other shops uses. Then it is listing to them if they want the cast finials on the top of there fence that is the look they want. even though you can do a real cool picket that is not the point. Had a client that wanted a rack to put plants on twice the size she could get at the store. My price was fair but more than she wanted to spend. Down here people will spend 40 thousand on a kitchen and they do not cook. but then turn a round and buy fence in a box from home depot. Then all the do is complain when the stuff falls apart.

Frank that is a great way to loosen up and get in the grove for a days worth of work.

nice to have the time and a lathe they look great

Ok here is the definition of a cold shut. cold shut A fold in rolled or forged metal closed (shut) by the process but not welded. A cold shut is the same as a crack except it has been caused by bad forging or rolling practice. Commonly mispronounced "cold shunt". I have seen students over heat pieces and cause stress cracks. then when you try to make a piece round you should make it 8 sided and then 16 sides that is about round. The goal is not to get the edge to roll over. I have forged the head of a rail road spike into a ball for the end of scrolling tongs it just takes a little practice. But as you are using the head of the spike as the hammer head where would you get cold shuts? As Ivan stated the making of the eye is more critical. making a slit drift to fit the size handle you want. Look up on youtube about making tomahawk from spikes that will help you with this project.Looks like a fun project. after you make a few you will be ready to make some hammers

you are on your way. The important part of tong making is 2 fold. first proportions are important Glenn posted charts of the measurement for tongs (that will help). The second is making good clean transitions from the jaws to the boss to the reins. Your second pair shows improvement from the first make 10 more and you will have it. using one size stock works but you will get better looking tongs if you draw down your reins. Keep at it

Heck you live in NC when I lived in Chapel Hill only had a primitive forge. The first time I forged was one of those days that the rain freezes on the tree a roof will help. You can pick up one of those car ports pretty cheep it will work for a year or 2

Ok here is my vice tool it is mounted on my vice stand it is an adjustable table that can be set to support the end of a piece of stock that is being up set I designed it after I watched Danial Miller struggle with an adjustable base during a demo. Because my vice stand is portable I have it with me when I do demo's

Here is my striking anvil with tools in storage for the days project. Then I just finished this tool it is for making the collar for the Abana grill project

Well it is really looking good http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/volunteers-forge-iron-tree-as-tribute-to-black-saturday-firefighters-mettle-20131123-2y2rg.html

talk about blacksmithing. Take over the conversation. Get them to buy an item I am making.