ausfire

Thanks Das. Incidentally, that's not me coughing in the background … I think the forge smoke might have been getting at one of the visitors. Interesting that you could hear.the birds … what does 'on par' mean?

There were some very nice smells coming from the forge too! I usually get my charcoal from the bush, but the last lot of charcoal I found came from a barbecue fire and the cooks must have tossed the left over onion rings on the coals. Steak and onion smells drifted across from the forge all morning. It was making the camera man hungry.  

Made a couple of dragonflies. The wings and abdomen are stainless steel knives. The leaves are forged and the rest is scrap. Tried to get a bit of heat colour running in the wings (pic 2)with mixed success. Any clues how to get those vivid blues, purples, oranges? I just waved an oxy torch over and hoped for the best, but there must be a more controlled approach. Anyway, here is the result:

Thanks Frosty and Jennifer. Pleased you enjoyed the video.

6 hours ago, CrazyGoatLady said:

If you were here in Texas selling your longhorn items, ýou might not be able to keep up with the demand! 

I can't match demand with supply here!!

No worries, Mr SLAG. Thanks for looking. Arkie, you will enjoy making one, I'm sure. Let us know.

And CGL, yes we do have longhorns in Australia. Some quite close to us, but these are a few hundred km down the road. I model mine on the one on the right in the second pic that scrolls up.

https://texaslonghorn.com.au/

Thank you for the comments KO and CGL. Yes, perhaps we'll have ago at a cobra video, maybe with some commentary this time. This one was a learning experience.

(It was remiss of me earlier not to acknowledge my work colleague, Morris (Brasso) who was the man behind the Go Pro. Well done!)

I hope this works. This is a video for Chris, who wanted to know how I make those longhorn bull billy lifters. Now, remember that neither the camera man or the blacksmith are experts, but for a first go at creating a video demo, it's passable. It's a bit long but just scroll ahead.

671, That toothed wheel thingo would make a great little scrap owl for your daughter.

I agree with Slag; what a great hold-down! Simple and effective. And a wonderful moustache too, Mr Stash.

Just a quick lick with a brass brush while hot. (Not too hot - nowhere near red). Make sure you have a real brass brush - not brass coated steel!

Found a better way of making these longhorn business card holders. Much easier to do two at once and forge a bull on each end of a piece of 19mm x 10mm mild. That shape makes for equal sized square horns when split. It also eliminates the use of tongs and very little steel is wasted. A local fabrication shop saved me a bunch of off cuts which make great bases for these. Better than folding flat plate. I think I might texture the bases on the next ones to take out the 'machined' look. Anyway, here are today's holders:

Thanks Glenn II for the idea of forging the bottle openers on the diagonal. I have always done them on the flat of the square, but I do like the clean lines of the diagonal. I did these today … sometimes it's good just to keep things simple.

I see Chris is looking for a ball pein hammer.

Maybe this guy has one to spare....

15 hours ago, Chris The Curious said:

  I especially like the woodgrain concept.  Is that done with a textured hammer head?

Yes. Easy to make. Find an old hammer and make random strokes across the face with a fine cutting wheel or similar. Helps if it's domed a bit.

Billy, your crosses look good and your aunt will love them.

Here are a couple of ideas you may like to try sometime:

Could well be a salvaged part. Works well though, if you remember to turn it the right way. Go the usual way and you're likely to have hot steel drop on your foot!

19 hours ago, Dax Hewitt said:

I thought that would be the case but they look so well finished I can't get my head round how you would get round them on the anvil being so close to the head 

You split the metal and bend them out first. Then fold the head back and shape the nose, add the mouth, nostrils, eyes while the horns are still short and square. The head is then placed nose down over the side of the anvil and the horn is drawn out towards the anvil centre. They are kept square until desired length is achieved and then rounded off gently.

I do a lot of coiled cobra paper weights, but this one has his mouth open to open bottles. 200mm of 12mm square bar. The worst part was drawing out the tail. (Not an original idea - saw something very similar on You-tube).

Thanks Dax!

Weld the horns on ??? Perish the thought! Split and bent outwards. Easy.

I don't usually put twists in rebar pokers, but this one wasn't too bad. The rebar had a strong rib line. Flattening out the pattern in between makes the rib stand out on the twist. Just adds a bit of decoration to a long poker or lifter.

Guy turned up at my forge today with a nice old leg vice he wanted to sell. I don't really need another leg vice, but I did buy it because I have never seen one with a left hand action. It seems in good shape: all complete including spring and mount, not too loose in the thread, jaws not damaged, clean and oiled. So what is the advantage of a left hand thread?? I probably won't be using this vice, but if I did, I think anti-clockwise tightening would take some getting used to.

Been a bit busy and just caught up with some of this thread. Great work, all of you … and Jennifer, those ribbons are well deserved!

Forged a couple of hat hooks today. Long 12mm bar, ram one end, longhorn on the other, cut and hook. Saves using tongs all the time. Heads look over the brim of the hat.

Cool dog, that Spud. Love him!

On 9/20/2019 at 10:22 AM, JHCC said:

Like Glenn II, I don’t think those are made from two spikes, but one split through the head.

Correct.  They are all single spikes. All mild steel too, except for the dog spike top right which is wrought iron. A real pain to work but I do like the texture you get.

I managed to get 800mm out of a 5/8" rail spike by hand, but it was hard work and I don't really know why I did it. The back scratcher in this photo is about 500mm long.  Not as elegant as Glenn's. but it works!