JHCC

All the snakes in my part of the world are both nonpoisonous and non-venomous. People do occasionally see a northern watersnake swimming in our local lakes and ponds, mistake it for a water moccasin, and freak out. (On a side note, the Lake Eire watersnake (nerodia sipedon insularum) which was on the threatened species list in now making a comeback on account of the accidental introduction of the Eurasian round goby (neogobius melanostomus) via ballast water dumped from cargo ships. The goby now makes up about 90% of the snake's diet, and the snake's population is well-established and growing.)

Hi, Steven. I see that you're new here, so if you haven't yet, please READ THIS FIRST!!

The only change I’d make would be to draw it out a bit longer.

“You’re going to make a lot of mistakes. Learning nothing from those mistakes is the mistake.” — Daniel Negreanu, six-time World Series of Poker Champion

I usually spend most of my forge time making tools, so today I thought I’d make a little something decorative and practical: a back scratcher.

A few drops of vinegar or lemon juice in your water bottle will make your drink much more refreshing.

The college where I work is tearing down some old housing, and the wrecking crew gave me a railing, 5’ of 1/2” round, 3’ of 3/4” x 2-1/2”, and a big hunk o’ black iron pipe. They’ve still got three buildings to go, so it looks like there’s more where that came from. In other news, I realized that one of the fittings on another piece of plumbing I rescued last year appears to be a 1” x 3/4” tee. Hmm....

Have you read the Forges 101 thread? So many questions answered there....

Forge looks basically good. Your pay-attention-try-it-out-modify-as-needed attitude is even better.

"Toaster Oven and the Volatiles" would be a good name for a band.

In other words, (1) score it where you want it to break, (2) flip it over and support it somewhere other than where you want it to break, and (3) hit it on the back side of where you want it to break, thus:

Sledgehammer looks like a good option. Score with a cold chisel first, to get the break started where you want it to come apart. Do you have a portable bandsaw? That would work well, too.

The best way to search on IFI is to ignore the native Search function. Use the web search engine of your choice (I use Google) and include "site:iforgeiron.com" as one of your search terms. I see that you're fairly new here. Welcome to IFI! If you haven't yet, please READ THIS FIRST!!!

I'm guessing some kind of hand vise for a specific, repetitive task. Part in, thunk with hammer to secure, perform operation, thunk to release, repeat. The brighter of the two hex head bolts looks to me like a replacement.

My neighbor two doors down has some old elk antlers lying out on a rubbish pile. They're pretty weathered, so I'm sure he wouldn't mind you taking them.

Welcome to IFI! If you haven’t yet, please READ THIS FIRST!!!

Glad you’re okay, TP. Things can be replaced; people can’t.

A lot of commercial barbecue places do the same when grilling large quantities of chicken. I remember seeing one outfit that had a long series of firepits made from 55 gal. drums split lengthwise, and they'd just keep flipping the grates down the length. By the time a grate reached the end, its meat was done.

Welcome to IFI! If you haven't yet, please READ THIS FIRST!!!

Might have to give that a try!

Pretty light: 18.5 oz. No real plans for its use yet, other than wanting to see what it’s like to use a doghead. I had the chunk of jackhammer bit (left over from making a hot-cut hardy and the long rounding hammer) and thought I’d give it a try. (Hammer making = fun!) Part of the problem with making the tongs (and this is for you youngsters to learn from my mistakes) was that I’d used up a lot of my forge time on the hammer and was rushing to finish these in the time left. I really should have left them for another session, when I could have been more thoughtful and methodical. I guess it’s a sign of progress that although I’m not happy with them, they’re still functional and nothing got burned in the fire.

That’s some incendiary writing, right there.

Finished the split-rein tongs I’d started last week. Not entirely happy with them, as I changed my mind about their purpose halfway through fitting the jaws*, and they came out very uneven. Well, hopefully they’ll work, even if they don’t look pretty. Also made a doghead hammer from a piece of jackhammer bit. It looks like it’s canted a bit to the side of the long axis, but I am hoping that I can tweak that through grinding the face and fitting the handle. * From basic flat-jaw to chainmaker’s.

Pictures?

Good find.