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I Forge Iron

bigfootnampa

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Posts posted by bigfootnampa

  1. I have found that l like the tanto style for general purpose use.  The points seem a bit too long on these versions for my preference.  I like to use the points as slitters  for packages and to do chisel type carving cuts.  I often use a wiggle type lever cut.   Really cool knives overall though! I like your slightly rustic finishes!  

  2. Your hooks are lovely and reveal artistic talent!  As has been noted you do need a countersink and some practice with it.  I would suggest that your hall tree hooks be refined in future by working a stronger profile where the hook projects from the post.  I would also suggest that you forge the tails of the hall  tree hooks into a short hook so that you have a double hook finish.  It’s really nice work, but you will get better!  Forge ahead!

  3. On 11/29/2017 at 8:42 AM, Gergely said:

    A piece of curly maple would really do that hammer head justice. If it’s good enough for a baseball bat, should be fine for a hammer. 

    Of course curly maple would be totally unsuitable for a baseball bat!  They are making lots of bats out of maple these days... NOT CURLY!  This foolish practice has led to a lot of injuries caused by shattered bats!  Researchers have recommended that the use of maple be discontinued.  Modern players like it because it is pretty hard and has good rebound.  Durability is the least of their concerns.  Ash bats tend to break into two pieces... when they do break.  Maple bats often shatter and create flying shards that are as sharp as spears!

  4. My son works in a shop that does repairs and custom finishes on wheel rims.  They have been burning chrome platings off in their ovens!  This seems alarmingly hazardous to me!  Can anyone suggest a safer method for removing chrome plating?  I have been looking around the internet but I’ve yet to find anything that seems definite and authoritative.  I’m hoping that some of you skilled smiths can help me.

  5. On 7/18/2017 at 1:18 PM, Frosty said:

    Sharpening drill bits, lathe and similar cutters is one place where a belt grinder is NOT a good tool. No matter how tight the belt is it rides up on the leading edge of the grind in a bow wave and makes for a poor edge of the type listed above. A wheel makes for a hollow ground edge of reliable radius and more importantly a hard crisp edge.

    Frosty The Lucky.

    I use mine for sharpening drill bits.  I have the belt direction moving away from my cutting edge.  I use VERY light pressure against my 10” contact wheel.  I use a fairly stiff belt with a fine grit.  It works much better for me than my old wheel grinders!  I’m sure that Frosty is more skilled than I at this sort of sharpening but I feel no need to have one of my old grinders set up.  

  6. Okay.  Here’s a few of my nails.  These are nothing special, just general stock.  The longer ones are about 4”.  I’m not a highly experienced (or therefore, skilled) nail maker.  My nails do amaze me with their performance though!  What I am saying is that there is no payoff for me in making many thousands of nails that are as swiftly made as I can do them... I’d still be working for pennies!  When I can make nails that are able to function as permanent joinery for softwood furniture that also fit into a rustic design theme... NOW I’m being rewarded for my time!  

    Sorry, I don’t have any of my special use nails at hand... they’ve all been used in the projects that they were custom forged for.  I’ve posted some in the past but the files are buried now and I haven’t the time to dig them up.

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  7. So I am a very skilled woodworker in addition to being a decent smith.  I have concentrated my efforts on making high quality nails rather than turning out large numbers of them.  I find that the holding power of my hand forged nails will exceed that of screws in most applications!  For large nails that I will ask to penetrate 150+ year old oak logs. I will use some 4140 or other medium carbon stock... instead of mild steel.  I’ll also pre-drill for such applications.  The only modern fasteners that rival the holding power of my forged nails are power driven hot-glued ring shank nails!  They will hang on but lack the style and versatility of my own nails.  I make nails with various lengths and varying head sizes and styles.  Sometimes I want a thin short nail with a large decorative or structural head on it!  Sometimes a long heavy nail with a very minimal head on it.  Whatever my need or wish I can get a pretty good result from my forging work!  Salvaged rebar processed into square rod stock on my power hammer makes quite useful nail stock for general use.  When I want nails of good size with larger heads, I will start with large stock and taper it and even start the nail shanks on my power hammer.  If you want to do 1,000 plus nails per day you’ll never experience the extreme quality that I desire in my nails!  You will be too busy rushing onward.  

  8. Because of the mass involved many hammer smiths just quench in water with lots of agitation.  For a knife cross section that would generally be too quick of a quench, but the hammer heads take so long to cool that it works for them.  You have to quench the whole hammer head IMO.  Otherwise there is plenty of heat in the hammer body to resoften the faces.  For a softer temper at the eye it can be tempered more... but I harden the whole head to begin with.  The hot drift tempering that you are trying is intended to soften the eye of the hammer.  Try leaving the faces fully hardened, as with 1045 and given the mass that has to be cooled that might just be about right for you.  

  9. Joel has the right idea!  In my own work I strive for what I refer to as "dynamic symmetry"!  The more complex the relationships between the parts are, the longer it will hold a viewers interest!  Simple, literal symmetry is too sterile to elicit optimal interest from viewers.  An example might be rivets headed in tree shapes... or leaf shapes, but with each tree or leaf either slightly different or of a different species.  This is symmetry, but with dynamic and lively variations!  I like your work!

  10. I have found the hay rake tines to be quite brittle material.  They are nothing like modern spring steels!  A friend had been using them to make long hay hooks that he used to drag bales with.  He had broken several and complained that it was dangerous as well as inconvenient.  When I spoke with him a few days ago, he said that, on my advice, he had switched to using 3/8" rebar instead and that the hooks are now reliable and last for years!  Weldable rebar seems to be of more reliable quality.  I've used it for a variety of useful hook style items with great success!  For standard duty pins it should be excellent!  I usually forge out most of the texture but for some uses it is actually desirable... like tent pegs, for example.

  11. I have bought actual copper (bronze) bristled brushes.  It wasn't easy!  I found them online though.  They do not work nearly as easily as brass brushes!  The temp at which the color transfer occurs is cooler and much narrower with the bronze brushes!  I usually have to make several repetitions to get a good effect and even then the copper heat colors to a much darker tint than the brass!  I still like the effects though and will often spend the extra time and effort to get it!  A much easier method, that offers much more variety, is to use metallic acrylic artists paints.  These can be thinned and dry brushed or wiped on and then be buffed back to whatever opacity is desired.  The better brands will hold their colors quite durably and can be mixed with (or over tinted with) burnt umber to get antiqued effects that are startlingly realistic... undetectably so!

  12. When I have skinned critters I've found that most of the work is done with the curved parts of the blades.  Even so I prefer a pointed blade as it will reach in to work tricky detailed areas.  Something like the Schrade "sharp finger" knives is what I prefer.  Extreme sharpness is most useful and the sheer amount of work (often) presents a challenge to keeping such an edge working optimally.  It is no bad thing to have more than one knife at hand!  I've sometimes used up the best of three good edges working one carcass!  So having more than one style in the field is quite a reasonable way to go.

  13. Of course you could just slit punch it through the cheeks, drift it out and call it good!  By the time you get the new slit and drift done the old handle hole will be pretty well closed up.  For this type tool the handle is just for positioning... that is you never swing it... just hold it in place and drive it with another hammer.  So the handle is normally NOT wedged tightly.  Thus the slightly wanky cheeks should present no problems.

  14. 5 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

    The drill press trick is an old armour making one where people might be sewing several layers of sole leather together.

    I can see that.  I mostly use buckskins and light to mid weight leathers.  Even upholstery leather can be the devil to push a needle through... pre-punching is essential.  This awl slices right in though.  Each corner cuts like a knife blade.

    i used to have some trouble keeping the stitches neatly spaced... now my brain is wired... I can often hit an invisible hole from the backside, just by knowing where it ought to be.  I mostly lace things together, but for zippers, I need glue and stitching.  Also some fine details like the leaf grommet are a bit small for lace attachments.

  15. This tool is really SHARP!  It takes little effort to push it through the leather by hand.  If I can get a backer behind it I'll use a small plastic cutting board with sticky foam sheets built up to the right thickness to get just the right penetration.  If I can only get fingers back there I am careful to feel for the point and align it to pass between my fingers.  Best technique is to wiggle and twist it while pushing gently.  Where I can get the backer in position I can just shove it through.  The square corners cut as it penetrates.  It is way easier to push through than a round awl!  I can punch many more holes by hand than I could with a drill press because of far greater speed in alignment.  Even punching through three layers of leather plus a zipper tape is no problem at all.  So it really makes a tiny + shaped hole.  The holes reclose so quickly that I sometimes have to repunch them to find them on the back side.

  16. Strictly speaking this project does not involve forging... though it could.  I think it might be useful for smiths who also make scabbards or other leather projects though.  I made this sewing awl to punch sewing holes for my needles on leather pieces where the throats of my punch pliers is not deep enough to reach.  It was about a 15 minute job repurposing an old straight blade screwdriver with my belt grinder and another 20 minutes or so to make the little scabbard for it.  I used a ceramic belt and was careful not to overheat the point... so that I could preserve the original temper of the tool.  

    The four sided grind makes a sort of self healing hole that recloses pretty nicely around the thread.  You might need to adjust the taper for different leather weights.  Longer taper for thicker leather, of course.  This works well for most of my work.

    You can see where I have used it in the detail of the attachment reinforcing grommet.

    Manual screw driving is rarely used now, in comparison with the old days.  So, many nice screwdrivers are available at bargain prices in antique malls and flea markets.  I rarely pay over  $1.50 for one and get quite a few at around $.50!  They also make nice small chisels, which I use to make slits for my lacing.  

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    BTW I have found this tool to be superior to any that I've seen offered by the leatherwork suppliers that I am familiar with!  It is already a favorite!  

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