Crazy Ivan

Alright, its been a while since I have been able to update this. As things go, my plans have changed AGAIN. I am currently in Baltimore MD and heading north to Vermont for July. Then probably to Portland ME, and briefly back to Boston before heading west. I seem to be going the long way to the west coast but that's part of the adventure. So I will be taking the northern route west after the northeast. As always, feel free to drop me a line if you want some labor or guidance out of me. Its been a long road so far and only seems to be getting longer as plans change and decisions in direction change on a whim. I have made new friends, countless tools, gave birth to Lucinda (my new hammer), seen new things and gotten even more tattoos. Many more of these things to come. I'm looking forward to settling down again but not quite yet. Back to it.

​Hey Dave, My apologies for not posting those pics. I just saw this now. I'll keep you in mind next time at the shop and try to get some pics up for you asap.

When I say "support the boss but not the rivet" I mean have the (already headed and set) rivet unsupported on the bottom and hit the top head of the rivet while the area around the head of the rivet is supported to prevent knocking the boss out of whack. It is upsetting the rivet head but since there is no support on the other end of the rivet you are essentially lengthening the shaft of the rivet (or shortening the head however you want to look at it). This makes the compression of the rivet on the pivot area less so that it can freely rotate. And yes, I do it cold. This is for adjusting a finished rivet if there was any confusion. Also, keep in mid that the steel will shrink as it cools which plays a factor in the final set of your rivet if you do the whole process hot. I use a straight piece of round bar to rivet my tongs together. Nuts work well as spacers to get even stick out length for the initial set. I slightly upset both sides using a bolster of the right depth COLD so that I don't have problems with the length moving, then to the fire and finish the rivet in one heat. Let it cool (or quench depending on what your tongs are made from) and adjust cold as needed. Sorry if this is not the easiest explanation. I'm not good at typing explanations. I do much better verbally lol.

If you set your rivet head too tight, put one head unsupported in a bolster plate to support the boss area, but not the rivet head and hit the rivet head from the top side. This upsets the head of the rivet without pinching it down further. One hit, then check the tightness until you get it to where you are happy. Making a riveted connection that will not rotate is easy. Square hole, square rivet.

I would say its got something to do with the forging process. A hammer is to hit something (like a nail) with the intention of driving it in or breaking something apart, not shaping it. A die has the specific purpose of shaping an object. While I still call my hammer a hammer, the faces are in function, dies. Weather they be flat, round, fullers, balls etc the profile makes the faces function as a die. I don't personally care for the terminology much but I get where its coming from. On the flip side I have never heard anybody call punches and bolster plate "top and bottom punch dies" which is exactly what they are. Just like turret presses and ironworkers use except the steel is hot instead of cold. My 2c.

Did you try asking him? I'm sure you could find his email adrress pretty easily.

I'm no expert on LGs, but yesterday I was working on a friends 50LB LG and we replaced the guide bolts with 5/8X3 1/2" grade 8 bolts to accept her guard and hold the guide in place with nylon nuts just holding the guide, then the gaurd frame, then another nylon nut to hold that in place. I ran the hammer all day today and it didn't seem to be a problem. I wasn't the one who [paid for the nuts and bolts, but probably around $10 at a local big box store. (using the term "nylon nut" meaning whatever those nuts are called with the nylon thing on the inside of the thread to prevent it from backing out inadvertantly)

It's been a while since I got around to a computer, and heres whats going on with me now. I left South Florida after a few weekends forging with Shaun Wiliams from FABA and a few others. We made some rounding hammers before I left and I'll try to get pictures of Lucinda (my new 3.5 LB rounding hammer) posted up here when I can. Now I am back in Gainesville FL for a few weeks working with Leslie again. Just like I like it, we have been making MORE TOOLS!!! LOL. Been fine tuning her 50LB Little Giant and building up her tooling inventory. We have quite a list created of all the things we want to accomplish before I head west (unlike last time where I got stuck, and turned around LOL). I got a great trade commission for a damascus drop point knife in trade for 5-6 hours of tattoo work for free. I was already carrying the billet around with me in my pack anyways and wanted to get it out of there so I figured I'm making out on quite a few levels. I will also be teaching some workshops while I'm here. So much going on its making my head spin with blacksmith joy! P.S. To the folks I told I would drop by when I made it out west, (which I thought would be in February...) I'm still going that way, I will just be a bit later then I expected. Gotta take all the opportunities that come my way ya know!

Taken from one of the sites mentioned earlier that sells these anvils: "The top face is ground and induction hardened to 58 rockwell and provide a lively surface to work on. Peddinghaus anvils are flat from front to back. Center to tip of horns drop slightly. Flat and Round horns may be lower than center face."

If you have an anvil with a hardie hole, just weld a piece of bar that fits the hole. Close enough is good enough for what you are using it for.

You can always tweak the hole alignment in the bar after all your holes are drifted. Round bar won't show twisting as drastically as square would. As long as you're close, it should be fine for what I am picturing.

3 Main types of stainless steels exist. Ferritic, Martensitic, and Austenitic. The 1st 2 are magnetic, the 3rd is non magnetic. This is possibly what he was referring to.

Hoping the best in recovering tools and repairing what can be repaired. Glad to hear nobody was hurt.

I have seen similar things to what you are talking about in old school videos on youtube. Here is one that came to mind. Even though it is an axe being forged, I think it could be worked to translate to blades as well. The part I am talking about comes in around 7:40. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr4VTCwEfko

If I was born knowing how to forge, weld, or fabricate, I would not be quite as proud of myself for knowing how to do those things. As with anything else I feel that the process of learning how to do those things and the countless hours (and injuries) makes the pride in what I do that much more legitimate. Some people struggle less on the road to developing skills then others, but everybody earns their way. I look forward to the day when I have made more LBS of steel in products I am proud of then LBS in my scrap bin. As someone on here once said (Ted T IIRC) "your scrap bin shouldn't be seen as a pile of shame, but a pile of gain" or something along those lines. For every piece I throw to the scrap pile, there is at least one mistake I learn not to make again. Every flub-up is part of the learning curve. You just need to remember to learn from it. It can be tough to be trying to teach yourself how to do things and finding someone to teach you or even attending a meet will set you weeks or even months ahead in developing your skills. Either way you go, put in time and patience and you will get to where you want to be eventually.

Type "treadle hammer" in the search bar. That should find you what you are looking for.

Nice. You may also like golfballs as handles. They can be had for free in many cases and I personally like the feel of them when using the file.

I'll try and make a point to head out there! Thanks for the tip.

So as all great adventures go, I had a quick change of plans after making it out to New Orleans and ended up traveling all the way back to Lake Worth for a couple ish more weeks. I had a friend from VA call me and told me his band is playing in Lake Worth this coming weekend. Not one to miss an opportunity to see old friends and go see some bands for free, I high tailed it around and came back. Its also a good chance for me to make a little more money before the next 3,000 or so miles west. I'll be heading out from here (again) around the end of February, early March. The chaos continues :D

I wish I was driving, then it wouldn't be that big of a deal to get there, but I will be hitch-hiking and other less conventional/time-effective transportation lol. I'll be sure to drop you a line when I get there!

Well, after a week soaking up the beautiful South Florida sunshine (a nice break after multiple blizzards in Boston), Its time for me to hit the road out west. This one's gonna be a tough tiring leg of my trip since I planned to be in Santa Barbara California by the 17th which leaves me 1 week to get there all the way from just a bit north of Miami....good thing I love a challenge :unsure: . Anyways, after Santa Barbara I will be hitting most points north like The SF bay area, Eugene OR, Portland OR, I might check out Fort Vancouver in WA, Olympia WA, Seattle WA, then with any luck up to Anchorage AK to find some work for the Spring/Summer months. If anyone would like some free labor in their shop, drop me a line. I will likely be away from any internet for the next week or so until I get out west, but I hope to meet some of you soon!

From the little that I know about corn forging, it works well enough on smaller stock. What size steel are you trying to heat? What type of forge are you using? air supply? Also, use the search bar and see the results others have already talked about. There are 128 results listed when searching for "corn".

Search "forge welding" in the search bar. You get 134 results related to those tags. If you can't find an answer in there, maybe be a bit more specific about what you are looking for. Welding is a very broad topic. Welding what, with what type of forge, what type of joint, application, etc.

....Maybe be a little more specific.

The offset is useful for the row of rivets closest to the (perpendicular) connected beam. I have used them before on restoration of a bridge. The term for the person charged with holding the pre-formed rivet head in place (with this tool) while the other head is formed is known as the "bucker-upper"....not a fun job. Also, they ended up deciding to use T.C. bolts after a while haha.