Flaming S Forge

I can see the Appalacian Mountains from here. I'm about 5 miles away from them. Local people here call them the Blue Mountain. For some reason, at a distance, they have a blue color to them.

Here are some items I got done. Some belt buckles, Curtain hooks, candle globes holders, and a candle snuffer. I have more things to do yet and time is running out. Hopefully I will have a complete hand forged chess set done in time for Xmas.

candle snuffers, bells, knives, belt buckles, small hooks with branded backers.

We have all kinds of regulations here in Pa to for steam vessels. I myself have no plans to mess with steam. Some previous posts were done in fun by other members about a steamer. If a kid passes me out going up a hill on a mass produced bicycle, no problem. If a kid would pass me out with a pedal unit he made himself from a junk pile, I would be disturbed and would have to know how he made it. Either way, I'll get to the top of the hill and the nice thing about that, I did it my way. Believe it or not, with a simple 6 speed setup, those things don't do that bad on a hill. Not a contender for the Tour de France, but but a winner when it comes to fun and comfort.

If I had a big hammer and a little imagination, the possibilities are endless.

A friend of mine who is a full-time paid firefighter in New Hampshire told me to cut flashlight batteries in half and throw them into the fire to remove creosote. He said do not throw in whole battery because it will explode. I never tried it and don't intend to try it. I would think that would give off some nasty noxious fumes. My choice, the brush down the flue.

IronRose, would you have access to an adult trike rear end assembly? All of them that I ever worked on were made that the whole assembly was bolted fast. Most of them usually had a 24" rear wheel. If you know how to spoke wheels, you can convert them to a 20" if you so desire. I have an idea that would make it much less complicated for you. An assembly with a Shimano 3 speed without coaster brake would be a gem to work with. I have an idea how to get 6 speeds using a 3 speed rear.

With all the enthusiastic replies I got for my Jalopy posting, I just had to show you guys this one. I cheated for the front end. I cut up a chopper bicycle for the front end fork assembly. The rest of it is my own custom design. It has the same 6 speed driveline as the other one. Two rear brakes with one of them actually being a parking brake and the front brake is a mountain bike V brake assembly. The seating position is a semi-recumbant. I have plans to cover the seat with leather when I get around to it. Many of my customers have expressed interest in me building them one of these. Problem is, I don't want to back my self into a corner and end up being a robotic fabricator. I enjoy creative, inventive, fabrication, but I like to keep moving ahead to new ideas and projects.

You could weld a small square piece of say 1/4" flat stock to the top of your fuller so you have a striking surface.

As long as they do what you designed them to do, they're great. Tongs are usefull and fun things to make.

Stocking stuffer trinkets are good to have on hand year long. Especially for demos. Most people are carrying much money to buy your masterpiece that day. I make necklaces from steel or copper, bolo ties, money clips, necker chief slides, pins, bracelets of copper, small knives with sheaths(under 6"" overall length), etc. Some pics are attached.

You had an idea, followed through and made something to fulfill a specific purpose. You know better than anyone else what you were planning to accomplish. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. Sorry for your loss.

That's a good one. How about this bare bones approach.Tell them to place everything presently in their possession not made in the USA on a pile in front of them. We as blacksmiths can proudly say made in the USA.

Right now I have a rim forge in use. It was made from a back rim from a Yamaha Kodiak ATV. I used the side that was 3 1/2 inches deep for my fire area. So far it is working fine. It does everything my other 4 forges have done. How long it will last is anybody's guess.

The recumbents are nice. My second pedal unit was a three wheeled chopper with the same 6 speed setup but the seating was designed as a semi-recumbent. I could pedal that one around all day. The 3rd one I made was a 2 wheel 3-speed full recumbent. It was a long nasty handling unit. It was comfortable, but I had to acquire a certain knack to be able to handle it. My fourth one never left the idea stage. My wife did not want me to make my own unicycle for fear of me seriously hurting myself. I never tried to ride one, but if I would have built one, you can be sure I would have tried my best to master it.

I basically built it from Junk I had laying around. I have been repairing bicycles for 26 years and believe me, my barn is full of goodies. The front end spindles and so forth I forged. The rear gear cluster is from an 18 speed mountain bike as well as the rear derailleur which moves the chain from gear to gear. Only one rear wheel drives. The axle moves inside of a pipe housing.
The brakes are bicycle caliper brakes. As far as a blue print, I have nothing. I started this with an idea in my head and had nothing written down. The wheels all had bad hubs in them. I knocked out the bearing cups and found some wheelbarrow type bearings that just fit into the hubs. I secured them with some JB Weld. I hope some of this info is usefull for you.

I currently have a brake drum mounted in a wheelbarrow pan to handle large stock. My other forge is a dinged and bent rear wheel from my son's Yamaha 4 wheeler. Both use anthracite coal and an electric blower. My very first forge was built using an I-beam with fire brick surrounding the fire. No fire pot, just a flat surface. Believe it or not, I could melt railroad spikes in it. Did that one day not paying attention.

I was asked in my previous post if the license plates with my deer rack were from my velocipede. You bet they are. Here are some pics of it. It was built at my shop 2 summers ago. Currently it is at our County Ag Museum. It's a fun conversation piece. Since these photos were taken white wall tires were added that made it look better and a large stick shifter with a hickory handle replaced the handlebar shifter. I get slack time at the shop and then I like to make big boy toys.

License plates from my velocipede? How did you know I have one? I built my own fuel saver pedal powered 6 speed last year. It is complete with a small deer antler front end ornament. I'll have to dig out a picture of it and post it. Ill start a new thread for it.

Here are some of the branding irons. Deer track, bear track, small horseshoe and small anvil. Another neat use for brands is on house shutters. I did several of them.

I made these deer antlers a couple of years ago. I didn't put any finish on them. Just left the natural rust do its job. Nothing says it better than hand forged antlers with shotgun shell lights. Agree?

What would you like to see, the actual branding irons or some different brands in wood? I'll try to get some pics tomorrow to post.

Here is a photo of a saw blade knife I had made for my son. He used it a few times to gut and skin his deer and told me it holds a good edge and gets the job done. The handle was made from a hickory branch. I also made him a sheath for it.

I have a 55# ASO with a 3/4" thick plate welded fast to the top complete with pritchel and hardy hole. I had a large fabrication shop customize the ASO. I specified I wanted a hard tool steel top plate. However, it came back with about the same hardness as the original top. So, since I have a decent Hay Budden, the ASO is now my chopping block. It works pretty well. Otherwise that it just sat in a corner collecting dust.