Blacksmith Jim

You just twist it one way, then untwist it part way. Some sets of instructions say to hit it while untwisting, other people say not to. I found that hitting it can cause it to deform, however it seems to open up more. Some of the ones I have done since this I did not hit, but they did not open up as wide. One thing I found odd, was that the nicest looking one I've done, is with square rod. The ones I've done with round didn't open up as well. I'm currently working on doing a few fire pokers with the basket twist as the handle. However I haven't worked on that project for a while. I've only had a gasser available for a bit, and I like welding in a coal forge better then a gasser.

Cool Derek. Just keep checking. Persistence is key. The suggestion by Rich to find a farrier supply store is really good and worth your time too. Look under Farrier Supply in the yellow pages and see if you can find one near by..

Estate sales, flea markets, the newspaper, craigslist, etc.. Put out an ad in the paper saying you are a beginner blacksmith looking for an anvil.

Wow, I bet it bounced on the old stand! The stump looks good.

Sounds like a good idea Nate!

Oh, thanks for that tip Doug. I was getting it stuck last night, and I just left it in place and whacked it good...

Hard to say without seeing pictures..

Mike, thats what one of my good friends was saying to. He recommended putting a whole slot in, but I wasn't really set up to do that. I did make a basic monkey tool last night. I made two actually, and left one for my friends shop. I used a square piece of mild steel, maybe 3/4 - 7/8th inch thick. Then went with a 1/4" hole. I chamfered it, though I haven't ground it so it is slightly rounded yet. Funny thing though, when I went to use it I found that my ability to swage down to the rough tenon shape still wasn't that good with the tools I had on hand. So next week it will probably be time to build a swage specifically to make those tenons quickly. Anyway, thanks for all the advice.

Glad to hear you had some neighborly neighbors there. Not as many of those around these days. Having recently moved to a rural town, I've found our neighbors to be great. We haven't had any problem with theft that I am aware of, but last Saturday I was woken up to the sound of my wife screaming bloody murder. I quickly threw on my robe and ran out to find two pit bulls in the back yard playing tug o war with a stray cat. I chased them off, but they roamed the neighborhood for another 30 minutes. My neighbor ended up with a kitten missing. The neighbor, a county sheriff and myself eventually were able to track down who the owner was, and apparently they aren't keeping the dogs there anymore. My wife was very upset, we have a baby and a cat. We didn't want to see dogs tearing into either one! It left me wishing I had a .22 to put the cat out of its misery (or the dogs, if they would have been attacking a human..). I hate to see an animal suffer like that. While I fully support gun rights, I am rather reluctant to bring a gun into the house with 4 kids. Although moving out into a more rural area sure has made me think about starting to deer hunt again...

yea they do. Looks like a peter wright to me.

Why you make some tongs of course! ;) Some tongs and a nice handled, wide hot cut.. Then go to town!

Make a really thin hot cut and try hot cutting it! I'f you've got some Ti laying around, how could you not try forging some tongs out of it!?

I plan to go with square stock because I don't have access to a lathe. I figured square would be a lot easier to clamp onto a press table... Jimbob, thanks, I hadn't thought about crap getting in the hole while its in the tool box, dropped in the shop, coal bin, etc.. That makes a lot more sense now. I'll be sure to drill the extra hole and chamfer. mm, I try to always keep the struck end of my tools dressed. Thanks for the reminder though.

M-bro, I thought about just welding a 1/4" piece of plate on the end of a piece of pipe, I felt like it wouldn't work as well without more mass. Also I wasn't sure if the pipe would deform poorly instead of the nice mushroom I get on the end of a normal tool. How has it held up for you? Have you used a solid monkey too to compare it to? Seems easier to hit a normal mushroomed end instead of getting one side of a pipe and not the other too..

By trash, do you mean scale?

I was thinking about a slight radius on the end too the other day. Glad to hear some confirmation on that! Thanks.

Whats the best way of acquiring a Monkey Tool? I'm planing on taking some 1" square cold roll I have (just mild steel I think) and drilling down it to make one. Just wondering if there is anything I am overlooking. What are you guys using? or making? I know there is a blueprint that talks about it, but it is in the 300 set.

Make the important part of the piece first.... So the jaws if you are making tongs.. That way if you burn them off after the jaw, you can just weld on reins, and if you burn off the jaw, better start over.. But mainly I think you just gotta pay attention. I burn off pieces when I get to talking with people and forget about when my piece went into the fire.

I get stock mainly from steel scrap yards. But I also watch the free section of craigslist. Also, you can usually find rail road spikes near ... rail roads... Some times other useful pieces as well..

Haha, they JYH wins I think!

It could be you!

You can use a 4.5 inch angle grinder with cutting disc to cut them. A lot cheaper then a big chop saw.

Valentin, I recommend a vacation! Also, the comment about finding another person to start taking on the business running is a sound one. Is there an employee you have that you trust and can count on? Maybe they are ready for a promotion and more responsibility?

Don't blame ya, I'd sure snag that up!

inazuma, new Ti is SPENDY. That's my understanding anyway.. But.... If you are resourceful, you might be able to find some cheaper. What I heard was that Ti has to be sold with its papers certifying it's make up. If a steel yard looses the paperwork associated with the Ti, then they can't really sell it as new.