teenylittlemetalguy

No, what I read led me to believe it is about as much fun on a lathe as under a hammer. Have you turned any?

Jed, I tried to forge some of that shafting I got from you. Whoa Nelly, that is the worst stuff I ever tried to move by a long shot. Using a 6lb hammer I barely put a flat on it. It just sits on the shelf sneering at me... Maybe someday I will figure a way to coax it into a tool.

LOL! Wish I could see their faces!

I happen to just have a handy hole on the bench top that I stick the head into. not planned but worked for me. yours is nice and portable.

I would be proud if I had made it.

Heck they almost don't even repair them like that anymore, let alone build 'em.

Sounds like a great find, i am always on the look out going down the road. I thought of trying something like that as well, but decided I really needed my hardy open when punching eyes out. I think it would be a great and easy idea for smaller items though.

I wanted it to be slack unless I stood on the pedal. Basically I got tired of chasing hot metal around the top of my anvil. The typical hold down I have slips sometimes. now when I stand on it I can lock down anything. was very handy for when punching a hammer eye alone the other day. the spring gives me automatic release when I take my foot off the pedal. Just a pedal would have worked, but the spring gives more range of motion without fussing so much before hand with the chain length.

May he rest in peace. Still shocking. When looking for advice he either had very likely tried it already. I think we all hope to have half of his knowledge when our time comes.

When you get wrinkles this helps- heat the top and sides of the wrinkle but keep the bottom of the adjacent wrinkles cold (or chill them back down), that locks them in place while you beat the hot metal down into itself (upset). It really makes taking wrinkles out much easier.

And now we know where the "Danger" in Danger Dillon comes from... My kinda guy. I would like to see that. How about molten aluminum into a lake? I heard that makes a big boom.

Sounds like a fun class, one thing I would point out is that "mild" mystery steel that we get today sometimes can harden. If you are beating on it a lot I would make sure it didn't harden.

Eggnog, If you have gas leaking around the tip ,then the fit is a little loose. I drill deeper than I need and tap only 3 or 4 full threads, that way the tip gets bound on the sides and not from the rear. that will keep it from leaking. Make sure you cut a flare into the insulation, that can have an effect on the huffing. so can a down tube that is too short.

I like the seahorse best. But it looks like everyone had fun.

Looks like a blast!

I wonder if she wrote it herself or if she needed a teleprompter..? Seriously though it sounds like a very interesting book, I will have to read it. Thanks for the review.

Yeah we had a similar temp here as well, but aleast the roads are clear. Look forward to seeing the pic. You planning a trip down this year at all?

By that measue I think my favorite is Selden. He is the guy that helped me make my first couple forge welds and that small 4 or 5 oz Square faced cross pein hammer was what we used. it is my A # 1, go too hammer for welding.

That sounds good I will ask him about it. I have a box of big handles, but I keep finding need of the small ones more often. I did hack at a birch log with it a while and it seemed to hold up well to it. I will send my brother out with instructions to test it out. I am sure he will happily oblige. by next meeting I should have one I can keep for myself.

I realize it's not an original concept. but I was happy with the function of my new chain hold down. I have two different hooks on the back side so the chain can hold straight across the anvil (and near the hardy hole) or diagonal across the main face allowing holding down either lengthwise or across the anvil face. I used 3/8" rod, upset so a washer couldn't slide past the top. holding the spring in place. I had been looking for uncoated chain for it, but came across some cheap stainless steel chain this weekend. :D

I thought the same thing when I was done forging it Grant. The angle of the picture doesn't show the top line very well though, it has a small upwards flare, not perfectly flat on the top. Sure glad I took another try at it after the setback. Once i get the better handle i think my brother will like it for a stocking stuffer. Bryan while I was sick this summer I read everything I could get ahold of on the topic. What I found was my biggest setback was not keeping everything clean enough. once I kept an eye on that it works much better. Thanks again guys.

This is my very first axe type object ever. I decided to try a welded bit while I was at it since railroad spike wouldn't make a good enough edge. For the bit I had a small scrap of cable damascus I made last year. My first try at the weld was ridiculous, with the glowing bit shooting out and bouncing around under my scrap pile. The next night I cleaned it all up, organized my plans and took another try. I am so stoked that it worked. Obviously I need to work on form a bit, but it seems functional and took a nice edge. I put a temporary handle on while I find some hickory handles. ( my local big box stores don't carry handles? what the heck kind of hardware stores don't carry a xxxxxxx handle?) I wanted to thank both KYBOY and Basher for thier post on axes, it helped a lot to see what you guys do and make.

John, thank you so much for the lovely step by step. I really appreciate your effort and sharing. i was wondering about the veining but didn't want to pester,that sure answered it.

Thanks those help a lot, I will have to give that a try. they look so much better than other ones I have seen. Again, beautiful work, thanks for sharing.

those are very pretty bells, obviously not knocked out quickly. Any tips on construction you could share?