jake pogrebinsky

As in:"Go,and Sin no more!"?Thank you,thank you!I promise,it won't happen again(for a while )! In order to be Saved,you have to repent. In order to repent,you have to Sin. So,in order to be Saved,you have to Sin! :P

Aw,you guys are entirely too nice-remember,my Eastern European nature thrives on abuse and denigration!All these positive reviews are destructive to my creative process!But,thanks,anyway Yesterday,i've escaped from the righteousness,the Holiness,of my Plastic Deformation devotional life,straight into the Whoredom of Reduction!Man,that felt great!!! My buddy Phil has a beautiful shop that he lets me into sometimes,when i've been good,and i went to commune with his 2" x 72" belt grinder,this time. Me and the grinder went through the entire Kama Sutra set of positions,were at it for many hours on end,it's been so long...While Phil brought us mugs of his excellent home-brewed Ale.It was vile debauchery,and i barely made it home afterwards. Now i have a basketful of ground objects,the fruit of all that Sin,and it's time to see just how many will survive the quench.Back into that cruel(but purefying)forge-fire,alas!For they look so cute all nice&ground...Brief indeed,so fleeting,everything is...

Sorry,Owen,the only thing i know is that i know nothing...These types here: Are known in the Old Country as Finnish,or Scandinavian type axes.They have a complex socket,often closed off... A couple of years ago Alan and Co.were discussing the German goose-wing broadaxe,and Alan came up with an "exploded view" of parts layout;it's a complex box all welded together,into which the blade-base gets welded in,then the blade itself,then the edge... If you meant a somewhat more straight-forward kind,like these: There're a few more here:http://www.miljolare.no/data/ut/album/?al_id=2085 Some have weld-seams fairly obvious,if one looks very close.Now these SEEM a little easier,but i've been wrong in my attempts at reverse-engineering before.VERY wrong! Best of luck in any case,you can do it,if anyone can! :)

Sounds wonderful,Tom,very glad for you. Here's a thought,just an idle one:An anvil that nice doesn't,necessarily,require a stump(often,an anvil of less than sufficien weight is strapped to a stump as a part of an effort-absorbing logic). If you've some angle handy(-er than a chainsaw),an angle stand would serve as well.The mass of this anvil will not require restricting it too much. I work on an anvil half that weight,and only have it restricted from lateral "walking" by a couple of nails,it suffices even for all the horn-work. Again,congratulations on such a neat set-up,and Good Forging to Thee! :)

Fantastic spot,Tom,that arched passage through the hedge is just COOL!Looks very private,secluded,and peaceful,like a great place to meditate on forging! Beautiful set-up,that anvil's a treasure,though not sure if it's new,or someone just has different working methods over there as far as the edge-radius.I'd try not to hit it close to those edges,at least not with a sledge. The firepot is great!Also,kind of surprising-i thought that the bottom-blast was forbidden over there! All in all,Beautiful,man,congratulations!!! :)

Here you go,Clay,that's how i've ended up doing it: Works ok,and was the best way that i could think of,to match the overall "iron age" look that developed.I've straightened some of the undulations,just to see if i could,but left it still fairly wiggly. Sturdy design,i can jump up and down on it in my boots...

Owen,i feel bad,as under no circumstances would i ever discourage anyone from tangling with axes(my absolute passion among all forged objects),...EXCEPT for that one,specific,method,the GB style. Given the nature of Steven's question,i judge him to be somewhat new to the biz,and so felt like a fair warning was in order. Most of us here,with much experience under our belts,still stick to those homely eye shapes that are wide and squat.Those Swedish slitting methods are a bear,man...In that "...lodge construction,et c..." GB video,you'll notice that Lars and that beautiful viking maiden do Not show the slitting sequence(it's already slit,and they re-open it after welding the bit in).There's a reason for it,it's gruelling... But i'm still sorry to've possibly said anything to discourage anyone,didn't mean it that away This was my chore for today-to cut upart,and to re-blade this bowl-carver's adze(that i've exploded in the water quench some time back).Here're the parts,ready to be rivetted together for staying put while being welded.On the right is the crack-filled blade that i've hacked off prior.(The adze is a pavement-breaker bit,the new blade is a section of a broken cheap Chinese axe). A few heats later,it's a tool again.But note how conservatively square the eye section is.It's not the most elegant distribution of mass,GB does have the right idea,but,darn it,that's where i'm at...

Hey,that does seems like a neat book.Thanks,John,for your comprehensive review of it. Brian,thank you for the link.Yes,it must be the GB publication,as one of the co-authors is Lars Enders,he's a tall,sandy-haired gentleman in a few of their videos.

Monty,thanks,that sounds very interesting,...But!Please,give a little more data when recommending a particular book(or it's very hard to find,and may cause all sorts of confusion ) If you'd ever seen,or especially made,one of these slitters,i'd,for one,Love to see even just a crude sketch of the physics expected of it. Sorry to sound somewhat curt,but we are having a technical discussion here,so it'd help to be as precise as possible The guys in the Axeshmieden video are Havard Bergland and Ovind Clausen.They're some of the hottest axe-smiths in Sweden.(I believe that the king has recently held a ceremony publicly honoring Havard for his achievements in everything that Havard has done for crafts and their preservation,excuse my hillbilly-style re-telling of this incident,just heard some gossip to that effect). Anyhoo,H.Berglund has recently published a book on Forging,i believe,in general.It's out in Sweden,and is being translated into English,to be published soon.I'm ill-informed about it,could already be out.Would really appreciate any news of it,if anyone has heard. BTW,the axe that these two are forging in that 3-part video is a very specific tool,used for the "Norwegian"(so called sometimes)style notching of houselogs.A sheep's-head,as it's known inthe US.Actually,that's exactly what that logbuilder in end of the GB video is carving there. The collective name for those style tools is Bilo,in Swedish,there're a 3-4 different ones made.

Thanks,Clay,and yep,the WI is my salvation-all my "rusticity" would quickly be known for what it really is,against the geometry/symmetry of rolled stock! There's this timeless sort of a design often seen on like objects,it's like a set of "ram's horns",with the split flatteded.It finishes a section that has been fullered wider,allowing a place for the back of your palm to rest,to bear the weight.Meanwhile,the "horns" serve as a mushroom,to keep the load from slipping forward out of one's hand. Such are the loads that i intuit a similar tools creates,and such is my proposed idea of a proper way to address these loads.I'll post a photo when it's done,and tell you if it worked,too.

Chris Ray's untimely death,and the circumstances surrounding it,are an Unspeakable tragedy.I ran in here yesterday,to quickly scan through the messages,and went back to the forge to grieve for him,for the way it went,for the rest of us, It is possible,i Want to think,to be a good craftsman,a good human being,And a functioning member of society,but that mystery is hidden from me(and very possibly always will remain hidden). My own way to insure that i've a choice,that i do what work deserves doing,Randy,was accomplished by throwing my family to the wolves,by breaking many a social and human contract. I'm stating this for the record,as you've come into this discussion somewhat later,and now i'll again confine my comments to forgework.But if someone has Any ideas of how to do decent ironwork and not starve to death in the process i'd love to hear that... Learning by getting jobs that are challenging sounds marvelous,would be lovely to hear about it,too,thanks,Beth,for always asking the pertinent questions on here(also,there's again this sort of a period where i'm too wiped out by forging to comment on all the wonderfull things that come up,i'm sorry about glossing over much that really deserves mulling over...). Rough day at the forge yesterday,lengh-wise,close to 12 hours.I try to avoid that,as the wave of dysfunction rolls into the next few days after,undone chores,un-maintained tools,all sorts of payback. But i just couldn't stop myself-the project fascinated me a long time now. It's a type of trivet construction that is familiar to me through D.Plummer's book,but i believe stems from the English countryside.And,possibly unjustifiably,i want to think that it goes all the way to the dawn of ironworking,to Roman times and even beyond,to working bloomery iron. The joinery just makes me feel that,where it was easier to make a weld than have a steel tool like a punch,say,to make a riveted joint . I wondered if that effect would kick in,where the project is kind of Happening,almost of itself,parts falling into place,and it Did!I believe this to be the effect of following in the footsteps of countless generations of smiths refining the essence of the given construction.Then,when i look at a picture,i'm looking at all these techniques that have worked in with each other,and the whole distilled... Originally,i wanted to get away from flying on instruments into the regular,measured,controlled forging.It Almost worked!It would have,but for my choice of material:Making my own stock,impatiently,of course,the irregularity creeps in,the mensuration becomes more approximate,tending to intuitive.That changes the look to "rustic"(if you're lucky,to "incompetent" more often). The hurry contributes to the final impression coming from the piece,but it's a stick of two ends:Becides the sloppiness and carelessness that it (usually)spells out,it Can harken back to the "real" conditions under which the object of use,made for the household of a poor commoner,was produced.(I'm not going to go on and on,we all here know about having hammer-marks or not,and all these prticulars,i'm just doing a quick sketch,knowing that YOU know ). Anyhoo,it's one COOL design!Especially in the latter stages,when it begins to come together,it,again,seems to Want to do that! Much adjustment is possible,and easy to execute,at every juncture.The welds are all easy,mostly faggoted(of course,the main one,where it all comes together,was the one to go weird on me...But,i Do have enough steel around for punching for rivets ). Sizing the stock took a Huge amount of time,and fuel.I can see how the same would be a breeze with rolled stock of proper sizes. I completely ran out of fuel,and didn't even get to finish the handle end,so 40-50 lbs of charcoal all together. But again,with rolled stock,some welds substituted by rivets,and Proper attention to mensuration,and it'd take only a few hours(and look less "rustic" ).

Great,Randy,i agree that people should absolutely be aware of Christopher's work,it's tremendously important:The man was so FLUENT at the language of steel.It mattered not at all what tools he used to achieve it,the technique simply disappears for him,in achieving the shape that he was going for.And that was just one facet of his brilliancy as a metalworker,in so many other ways his work is stupendously germaine for anyone ever hoping to develop a relationship with steel.He's had It,the quintessence,the Love for iron,and it was requited... And i'm but a poor student,an adept,at best,and will probably always remain an amature.Thanks for your kind words,i do try,in my own,feeble fashion,to do justice to Fe. In a Sufi tradition,here's a fable:I've travelled to parts of the state last winter that i've not visited in years.In one small town where i've lived before i've visited an old friend,Peter. Peter's an old commercial fisherman,and a Falstaff-like character in many ways.Interesting thing about him is his amasing,perennial,completely undeserved Luck.He just has it,that's all.On a number of occasions he even usedit in critical times to make money gambling,it's that solid,his luck is,very real. In a more-or-less joking/bantering sort of way i've asked him why is it he thinks that he deserved such a gift,this incredible luck of his.Peter answered also jokingly,but his answer rang like an awsome,Universal truth in my brain,"It's because i Love dogs,and fat chicks",he said. Now i'm getting too old for the latter,and have consecrated the remainder of my life to being a blacksmith-monk,anyway,so i'll change all that slightly,to: "dogs, and fat little chunks of Iron",and hope for the best... :)

Thanks,guys!There's one heck of a bunch of axe-making info here,on this one page!I feel for Steven,it's some intimidating skill/tool level(to me it is for sure).But that's how it is,Steven,with the type of an axe that you've asked about. However,these several other methods were also covered,so that now you can make a quite an informed choice. In regards to the specifics in the videos,sorry,i can't watch them myself-the band-width here is insufficient...(Well,if i let them load,and not use the computer for a couple of days,AND,nothing happens(connection outage,et c....). But yes:Drilling is commonly done to guide the slitting action,even by some commercial producers(Marble Axes has a model or two that are entirely eye-ed by drilling,3 holes in series). Fullering-wise,Jeremy,yep,there's much fun and games to be indulged in,in maintaining/differentiating the mass of the bit...All in all,axe forging is pretty intense!!! Great forging everyone,and thanks again!

Heigh-ho,it actually let me put up a few shots! The thing,done but for the final tweakment,and the finish of some sort: This neat pair of dividers that i've stolen from my teacher Phil,an example to me of a controlled project: And now my messy rivetted tenons....Fie,it was the tail-end of a grueling day,and a thousand other excuses.Still,Fie!For shame,they weren't half bad before rivetting,neither male or female of them. Some other failures,interspersed with small victories,as usual. But all in all,i likes it. As infended, it's a heavy xxxx of a candlestick,meant to sit next to a fireplace,possibly on some low stool.To come out when the need for candles manifests,to be toe-stubbing heavy,so as to be safe,and not be easily jarred dumping the burning candles. The candlecups themselves are a heavy,fat-walled WI affair,capable of a correspondingly fat candle to be stuffed into one. Fat,at least theoretically,should equal long,as well.The top of the stand is about knee-high. So,seated,a reasonable long candle should get the light over the top of a book page,held by a person seated lower than otherwise,rocker,maybe. Reading is exhorbitant,maybe knitting,or just sitting up with a candle and a fire. Such candles would,probably,dribble all over the place.Great!I like the stalagmitic wax formations on my wrought junk!I desire them,and build accordingly. And if one's floor can't handle a bit of wax,then one's not living right!Get you some good plank flooring,and support your local carpenter,smith and candlemaker!

That's it,the carpet-beater is out of the shop.Ans thanks be to Creator,i was beginning to get very tired of it,indeed.There was a number of times that it risked having to continue it's existence at the bottom of the River(ice's not running yet,unseasonably warm).But i'm short on bling that i need to illustrate the Sermon,it's a visual prop for the missionary work. So it makes the grade,but barely. The photos may or may not upload,but it don't really signify.The important stuff that i grade my performance on can be concieved verbally. The idea was to make a piece of work that would express my admiration for the design by which was executed the ceiling of the cloisters,at the Glouchester Cathedral(that Beth so kindly (photographed?)and posted,earlier in this thread). The design itself is in stone,so it was not a matter of following it,but to echo it rather,in my (empty) braincase(it echoes well there,see). I've failed to reach a particularly glorious objective,but it was a good ride,as often! Part way into the start of this John has very generously posted many shots of some gothic-(revival?)-type elements of grill-work.John is also most knowledgeble in much of the surrounding the gothic work theory and technology.All that made this inquiry a superlative kind of an experience,a consensus among some interesting people.With much most Pertinent information being put forth. If only was i more studious,and organised the project with a degree of foresight,it could've been a supreme exercise on Controlled Forging.As it was,i've fallen off the control seat very early on,and just rolled with it the rest of the way. The hodge-podge of styling in this one piece is somewhat laughable.As are the very abrupt changes from one type/style joinery or detail or line,to another. Design-wise i lost control,but also the in the technical way.Many planned actions had to be aborted in mid-stride,and redesigned. It was a juggling act going increasingly funkier.Like crossing a creek on a log,and beginning to lose it.And telling oneself:"There's no way that you can fall down in there.That is simply unacceptable.Cannot be done,it WILL not happen" It's possible thus to impose one's will on reality,but awfully taxing.It'd be better to be prudently deliberate in one's forging journey. John B preaches that,Control(expressed,for one,in forging out the forging marks). Mensuration,Forethought,Planning,are all other facets of that Control. One of the ways in which i've embarassed myself recently was leaving overmuch material outside a mortice.As it cooled off before i could deal with it the entire joinery sequence went out of control.The disproportion of parts was rough on the entire process. As an example of how it Should be done,(method recommended by John above),i have a set of dividers.They were made some time in the 1800's,or maybe even later.But they're made WELL.No marls whatever from forging,and joinery beautiful in it's Rightness. I'll sneak a photo in as i can,this thing works better some times than others,the photo upload.

Dave,the two test pieces at the top look lovely.Really,very cool looking stuff,and even better is that very fact that you're studying thise joints. Extremely gratifying to watch your progress,how you deal with all the incoming advice,how It changes things,all of it-admirable! Keep on keeping on,old hoss,you're practically there!!!

Beautiful tools.The oxide everywhere but the working surface says,loudly:"By these hammer strokes,I,the user of these tools,have achieved the necessary shape and balance." It's a short,precise thought,purposeful and elegant in it's brevity. Neat beginning of a radius in that ball peen,raising-tool-like,with lengh,there comes the radiusosity. Very lucky,to catch the mentor on one on one situation,and really dig cooperating with a fellow smith/creature... Fantastic,Owen,very glad for the both of youse,must've been good times,respect.

Thank you,Phil,yes.And also,more to the point of the specifics of that style of slitting,here's this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4cJ0Vf72eI&feature=related Also thereabout,there's another GB video of more "hand"-worked process,"axe-forging and lodge construction",check it out. All in all,these represent this particular style of axe,and it's manufacture.In my opinion,it's one of the classiest,and the more challenging types to actually do. But,again,go forth,and may the Deity and all else be with you!

Thank you guys for all these thoughts(Beth,you're one of the guys,right?). Randy,i can only hope that you've not seen any disrespect to Chris Ray in ANYTHING that may've passed here-we all(i think that i can speak for so many of us here)admire him,and his work immensely.That "dragon"(actually,it's probably meant to be a Basilisk,woman's breasts being one of it's traditional attributes)did make me think of one of the sculptures in the "Mansect"series,thus the allusion. Jeremy,thanks,and yes,i believe that old saw of Yellin's have flashed on by here:"...Any mark worth making,is worth making Boldly...". And i agree with you and Sam,the chisel marks do add SO much!And there're such a part of everything that we do,they really deserve to be leaving an impression of their own.So many times i've noticed just how Rich some tool-mark looked-a hardy cut,or,especially,the tines cut apart by hot-cut:It actually adds to them 2 more (unearned)facets. We all know how cool the punching can look when done under a giant hammer,pulling the material toward the punch,creating this undulating distortion.That surface of distortion in and of itself has an absolutely priceless texture(and,speaking of that,again a certain point rears up:The Process itself gives us the Aesthetic.THAT is,or seems to me,the richest lode of iron forms/textures-that which arises in the process of forging...(Getting carried away,as usual...)). Dick,you're MOST welcome,and this is exactly what it's ALL about,sharing.And as a part of that,helping folks to demistify the apperance of complex-looking forgework.We all practice here by breaking it down into the minutiae of hammer strokes and punch imprints(thus the bunches of photos of assorted stages of the process).

Woodyarmourer,you're entirely correct,of course one MUST challenge oneself,always! But this is a case of someone picking on a particular technique,that is not exactly for a beginner,to put it mildly. That specific type of an axe has been built a certain way,for a long time(GB in now what,over 100 years old company?),using some technology in the process too. The way you've thought of your industrial experience is sensible,there's a couple of machines used in GB,too(i'd love to see some photos of the process that you mention). Don,J.Austin is a genius!But this here axe is different,and has a logic of constructing it all it's own.Also,Jim's technology requires quite a considerable bit of skill as well(maybe more! ) There're a couple of videos showing THAT very axe built(one by GB themselves),and the work looks grueling! But,OF COURSE,the VERY best of luck with any and all undertaking,didn't mean to discourage at all :)

The very first idea,that would also make a most reasonable suggestion,is just BUY that one in the link You say that you've made a drift...For THAT particular axe?Then you should also know it's other dimentions.How tall and wide is it at the poll?(The poll in these axes is the part most resembling the original stock.I'd guess it to be 2 1/2" tall,by 3/4" or less). OK,quick math:those dimentions,times,say,3,and times 0.2835lbs(1"cube w.)1.6lbs...Ok,how's about x 4?2.13lbs...That sounds about right. The trouble that i'm pointing you at is that the Scandinavians have this nasty little habit of slitting a very tall,very skinny chunk of steel,and doing it very evenly!It's NOT an easy thing to do... Shell out $129,it's peanuts,for a good axe :)

OK,so,all my attempts to support the Carpetbeater upon a footing made up of multifoils has failed,crashingly(i won't tell how many versions i've gone through that ALL broke!).It was time to radically change the plan(it's a great thing that i've never had a plan to begin with,or i'd regret having broken THAT,too ). So i've made a ring,for the base.And what a skimpy,tinny,measly and pathetic ring it was!Totally unsubstantial.So i've set out to change that by the APPLIQUE of more iron.(Hey,there're worse ways of cheating at the forge ). I've experimented with assorted blobs of iron till i've come up with a greatly original design-having 4(four!)indents from a punch!!!I thought that it was brilliant of me,and proceeded to make a great many of those: See,i ended up needing a GREAT many more than i though i'd need,originally,and here's why,as it turned out:I wanted the FAT,as i felt very deficcient in fatness of it all particularly. And the fatter something like that is,the further it travels,when it pings out from under a misdirected blow!WHERE it travells to,i couldn't say,there's many a strange nook and cranny in my forge.In any case,what they say around these parts when something pings off into some strange dimention is:"The Little People need ...(fat little iron elements,in this case) too!". Fine,then,so i made a bunch more!(what do i care,i've already a couple of months into this lovely carpet utensil ) Anyway,before long,i was up against a whole bunch of rivetting.No problem,rivetting is something that i can,actually,do.Here's all the parts that the Little People did not need,ready for rivets: Here're the parts to be rivetted,as well as the rivet blank.You'll note that the head,at this stage,is a section of a cone.It is because my orifices are a sec.of a cone.And THAT,is because my punch is...et c.(And all because i'm too lazy to drift the holes... ). Anyway,works like a charm,and all got rivetted up. In the process two Ingenious tools were invented and manufactured(All to better rob the poor Little People ).This handy device to keep the fat iron blob on the anvil-face,where it belongs: And also,this handy attachement for heating even the tiniest rivets in my untidy charcoal forge(the Little People CAN"T,possibly,need more rivets.I've NO idea what they'd do with the ones they already have,must be pounds of rivets!): And finally,this canny Russian that i know ended up with this curious book,(by means fair or foul,i know nowt): And now,i know what my next project is going to be!!!It is this: It's the mammaries,of course,that draw me!I had no idea that the dragons were thus endowed!Is it only the female ones,is that it?!But i surely never seen one like it!(Christopher Ray,so THAT's where you got it all from?)Anyway,i just need to finish up with the carpet beater,it pales so in comparacence with that rich,German forging...

Good going you guys,congratulations on yet another successfull training session! Thanks for all the photos,great to see the shop,and the people that one talks with,in (almost)real life! I'll examine the pictures minutely,see if i may not be missing something that i need to learn to work like you do there. A good friend in the Old Country told me that while apprenticing in a machine shop at the Tula gun works he used to get his ears boxed,for screeching with his file,and the like. I'm also the kind of a student that needs similar teaching methods applied to him periodically.Now that i see John in the photos i'm glad to see that he's of a right size and shape to be,probably,quite good at boxing one's ears.I need to see what it would take to somehow finagle a trip to England,for continuing my blacksmithing education...

Well,then! Such excellent news,Beth,very happy for you,indeed!Sounds like a very CONSTRUCTIVE time that you all had,it must feel VERY gratifying to participate in something like that. Thanks for the photos of the tools,they're WAY cool! And thanks to all of you for passing on the knowledge,for keeping it all alive,by teaching,and learning,and being interested in all that-that is so ever important!!! :)

Monty,i'm sorry,but the question as stated is somewhat odd: TECHNICALLY,there's any number of ways of forging a ring;mainly,punching and drifting a solid,or welding a strap into a loop. CHEMICALLY,an iron ring may react with the human body in an undesirable manner.I believe that most iron/steel objects that are meant to contact with the skin are lined with non-ferrous metals(the lining can be effected mechanically,or by means of galvanics-electrodeposited). Sorry,it's all very general information,but so was the question... Best of luck