Phil Dwyer

Thomas, I guess we think alike, but opposite. I want to keep secret the mis-deeds I've done as an "adult." Otherwise I'd share about the time when I was 19 and traveling from Oregon back to NH for Christmas. Stopped in NYC to drop off a friend in Brooklyn. It was a cold winter. When I went to leave the next morning my little old VW bug's oil was thicker than snot and the engine could not turn over. Well I think how can I warm this up? So I siphon a little gas out of it into a tuna can and crawl under the bug light it up and start heating up the oil pan. Of course there's so much crusted old oil crud all over the place it starts to get real smoky. I guess I was quite a sight legs sticking out of the VW billowing smoke all over the place. Numerous New Yorkers were heard to say many various phrases of alarm and expletives. One old guy was a real treat. Boy he let me have it like no body's business. He was poetry in motion New Yorker style. Anyway, I got the bug started and the heck out of there. It was so cold that winter I ran into the same problem in NH, but this time I didn't dare the gasoline approach. We pushed that bug all over Nashua to jump start it. Took many block of over and over efforts. My brother and I were late getting back to our folks to celebrate Christmas. I got a little "heated up" myself and slammed my door. It was so cold the glass shattered. Had to drive back to Merrimack without a window in below zero weather. Guess I got mine come-up-ins. How to you know I wanted you to bring stuff to Hawaii when you come? I just came back from NH with two blowers, a 70 lb anvil, a few hammers and tongs. You bet you better bring some steel and machinery. How about a power hammer?!

Sounds like that cartridge brass is about as good as it gets. Would you have to pop out the primers of each one before melting them down?

BLACKSMITHS SHOP INTERIOR PHOTO 1880s - eBay (item 360028772497 end time Mar-07-08 17:11:22 PST)

How did you apply your mark? Are you satisfied with it? Any thoughts about it?

Keykepper, Is that tank galvanized? If so, do you have to be careful of zinc oxide fumes, not only during cutting and welding, but during forge fire usage as well? Phil

You bet he's a natural. So we get to the smithy and I hand him a length of 3/8" round rod. What's the first thing he says? "Dad where are some safety glasses?" I kid you not. After he gets them then he says, "Okay dad, I make it square first, then eight sides then round right?" Wow, where did that come from? Well, one of his favorite videos is Randy McDanial's on blacksmithing. He remembered it from that and from hearing me say it too. So away he starts wailing. He sees right away when the metal has cooled too much. He puts it back in the fire just right (not shoved down in deep). He takes it out and checks it from time to time so as not to burn it. He turns it back and forth 90 degrees while hammering. He works the tip with a little encouragement to hit down near the end. He knows to watch it more closely in the fire when its thinned out so much. He asks for help making the curly-queue at the end of the hook. I hold the bar from one side of the anvil, he hits it from the other side. He hits the little tip just hanging over the edge ever so delicately as I feed it toward him. Again he asks me to hold the rod while he shapes it on the horn. He has me hold the hot cut and rod while he strikes the hot cut. He does several heats and squaring taper hammer sessions, but after dropping the hook a couple of times, tells me his hand is tired trying to hold it in the tongs, would I mind. So he's the striker and I'm the tong and fire man. He gets the nail point just beautifully tapered and bent pretty square, but asks me to square it a little neater. So there you have it. I'm not sure which one of us had the most fun.

Ha, ha, ha Thomas. You're welcome to come visit anytime. The island just might be big enough for the two of us (for a brief period of time). Boy blacksmiths can be hard core for sure! Talk about getting heated up over your work. What a picture it makes: smoldering and flaming blacksmiths. Wow!

Beeeeutiful! That pattern is a knock out! Absolutely stunning!

Dan you got an imagination to come up with this thread. Who would have thought there'd be so many heated tales to tell? That mouse one was a knee slapper for sure. The house that gets even and locks out its wayward pyro was pretty funny too. I guess the month long fire takes the cake for magnitude. I haven't thought of my early days with fires for many a year. Guess I had hoped to forget them. My first brush was as a preschooler playing with matches. Set a leaf pile on fire. Boy did it get big in a hurry. Way beyond my ability to cope with it. Some construction guys next door spotted the thing and ran over, grabbed the hose form our house and managed to put it out. My folks were, to say the least, out raged at my sneaky misbehavior. I got a spanking every hour for the rest of the day. (They took consequences seriously in my neck of the woods!) Fast forward a few years. I've decided to make a torch. Brought a few cattails home. Brought them up into our tree-house along with a can of gasoline. Yep, dipped one of those fluffy down cattails in and lit the sucker. Once again, out of control. Threw the thing down on the tree-house floor and tried to stomp it out. Bad idea. That gas soaked cattail down spread all over the place. We managed to get it out and the folks never did find out. By now you'd think I learned not to fool with fire. Wrong. Fast forward a bit again. This time I have a great idea. I'm going to make a super-ball. You know those little hard rubber nearly spring-loaded bouncy balls? Not sure what I was thinking, but I pulled the rubber caps off the ends of my folks' croquet mallets and proceeded to try to melt them down. Not sure what I expected or planned to do, but never got that far. The rubber caught fire and once again was not very stomp-out-able. Now you figure I'm cured for sure. Wrong again. Fast forward to my pre-teen years. Now I'm mixing chemicals to make my own combustibles. Stuff that makes sugar burn like no tomorrow, concoctions that ignite with water, or upon impact. Really neat stuff. I have one main goal (I won't talk about that home made zip pistol right here): to launch a tin can as high in the air as possible. Oh this time I'm smart, I'm going to be able to ignite it remotely. So I take apart a flash-cube and get a small flash bulb out of it that I figure I can make go off by hooking up a battery to it. In an effort to test it I put it in a small glass jar (one of my empty chemical jars) along with one of my "gunpowers." I insulate one of the leads to the flashbulb with tape, hang both leads out of the jar and screw the lid on. I set the jar on the workbench (I'm in our basement) and put a battery to it. Did anyone say bomb? You bet. My mom comes running downstairs to find me on the floor, back against the wall on the other side of the room saying, "it worked." Unbelievably, I'm alright, but that may have contributed to some of my present day hearing problems. I wish it ended there, but I'll trouble you with one more event of absolute unconscious tomfoolery. Boy scout camping trip, camp fire, dinner time, canned something-or-other, place can in fire (whoops didn't open it). Did someone say boom? You bet. All over the bloody place. Set half the tents on fire. Got a free ride home and thrown out of the scouts (got invited back to be senior patrol leader later on). Again, no one got hurt. These are just some of my exploits of growing up, which it is down right amazing I did. Talk about guardian angels! Guess I'll have to cut my boy some slack when he ventures out with his own versions of shenanigans.

What an amazing thread. You guys are awesome! Thanks for taking the time to post all your photos. Some day maybe, if I'm lucky, and the card fall just right under the perfect arrangement of stars, when my ship comes in, if it's my lot in life, it just might be possible that I get to have one of these monsters to work with. Of course, I'll need a shop with adequate floor space and power first. Knowing my luck, by then the oil will have run out and we'll be generating our electricity with chipmunks which will leave me digging out the treadle hammer (I've yet to build) anyway. Thanks again, I just never tire of reading (and seeing) such amazing stuff! Phil

Hi Michael, I can't help you in the least, but I bet there are folks here who will have some ideas. I look forward to following your thread. Thanks for the questions. Your project sounds great. Hope you post some photos of it. Where is Parma? All the best, Phil

Dan, You can start with a fire poker for sure. Flatten the end a little bit and put a 90 degree bend a couple of inches up, throw a few twists in the shank and put a loop on the other end (to hang it from a hook you made that is mounted on the wall). That's a good start, both as beginning items to smith and as items to put in your shack. Heck, you might even like making hooks and put a few more around the joint. Have fun, Phil

One typical way is to rig up an ingot mold with two separate L shaped pieces that you can adjust in or out to be narrower or wider. They get clamped together so you can un-clamp them afterwards and pop out the ingot. They, in turn can be clamped on a base piece. But with aluminum I should think you could just pour into a sand cast. Are you going to do some of the styrofoam casting that was so popular a while back?

One typical way is to rig up an ingot mold with two separate L shaped pieces that you can adjust in or out to be narrower or wider. They get clamped together so you can un-clamp them afterwards and pop out the ingot. They, in turn can be clamped on a base piece. But with aluminum I should think you could just pour into a sand cast. Are you going to do some of the styrofoam casting that was so popular a while back?

You know what they say about assumptions. Actually I was just trying to be picturesque following Apprenticeman's glorious image of water power. I'm struggling to find metal too. We really do look forward to seeing and hearing of your progress. Keep us posted.

Well he can wield a hammer, but he can't draw yet. I've been admonished for not getting some photos of him at work. Guess I better strap the bloody camera on my hip next to the leatherman and phone. This could get awkward. I might start taking pictures of my ear.

Thanks Jose. That was quite clear. What's the deal with the 3 layer max with the 1105?

Ya, that's right, I vote for that. Then you could hook up a ratcheting sledgehammer to it and beat the tar out of all those old leaf springs from the many abandoned vehicles lying about!

Hi Firegirl, Dig that name! It's been many many years since I worked with that stuff and I can't remember who I got what from. But, if you haven't checked already, I believe Rio Grande Jewelry Supply is in Albuquerque. Maybe they have it? What are you working on? Sounds intriguing! Phil

If you decide to repair it, get a hold of some copper of similar gage (maybe flashing?) and practice your technique(s) first. You'll want to get your fluxing down, as well as torch temp and wielding, along with feeding in the solder/brazing. It'd be good if you could use propane instead of acetylene. You'll also will want to give some thought to your pickling bath and finish needs. I wouldn't use tin solder unless you really have no concern about minimizing the notice-ability of the repair. We'd sure like to see a photo or two.

Hey Hillbillysmith, What did you end up doing with your silver? I'd be pleased to further discuss some of the possibilities, but thought I'd see if you were still pondering before I started pontificating. (I was a silversmith for about 15 years.) Would love to hear of your progress. Phil

How much does one of those rods weigh? If you could get it cut into 1 foot lengths I'd buy a flat rate box full. Got any copper or aluminum?

I used to do this quite a bit with sterling silver on the jewelry scale. In that case I did pour directly into water. The shapes were stupendous. Sold quite a few, but then I'd add jump rings and hang them from chains for necklaces or put pins on them for broaches, etc. A lot of the time I'd set cabochons of semi-precious gems on them. Do be careful of the height thing. There's a reason Quasimoto used molten metal to get even with his tormentors: it burns flesh right off of bones! Chyancarrek: That's some mighty impressive casting you're doing!

Sounds like fun. Here are a few more ideas to go along with all the others. Definitely something for the wood stove, at least a poker/rake for sure. Anything to do with candles and/or oil lamps. Bottle opener. Railroad spike knives, tomahawk...whatever from spikes. A slingshot would be cool. You're going to have to build an out house, I suspect. Make sure there's a lantern hanger to go with that wild TP holder you'll have to smith! Well you better keep us posted and let us know what you put together. We'll be watching this thread to see your progress!!!

Great job. The nickel rivets are quite effective. Thanks for posting the photo!