Pancho07

After a quick search I didn't see anything like a show me your.... for this but wondered if anyone would like to share some that they have made. I haven't made any yet but do have a small collection of older( probably 1890's to 1950's, mostly Mexican) that my family has accumulated to get things started if anybody else would be interested.

Scotty and Bigfoot, that's what I was thinking but thought it was an interesting design. I don't drink enough corked wine or wine period to need to try to make one unless someone asked me to make one. Just thought it was interesting and impractical enough to get second opinions on. Thanks all

I've been looking at new project ideas on google images and ran across this corkscrew and my first though is that it wouldn't work very well as it would be difficult to get screwed into the cork but on the other side might be easier to make than a traditional screw. Has anyone on here tried something similar to this? Is it worth trying myself or do I need to make one and report back?

Something else that I've been thinking about on this and it sounds better than me being too lazy to put it back in the fire is its a constant reminder to do better the first time than to call it good enough when it should have been better the first time. Still I've gotten used to it and it would probably feel weird if I fixed it now.

That's another reason I didn't do it. With the proper equipment it would be pretty easy but I'd didn't have access to it.

True but no reason to not use these just because someone didn't get any penetration. Other than the bad weld in that one spot these are a better set of tongs than I've been able to make so far

I honestly think it's les the brushing as I drew it out from 3/4 so it wasn't smooth to begin with. If I were to make another one I would take stock that was the right size already, mig it together and the twist and shape, or take a stage and smooth it out. When I did that I was in my stubborn in going to do it the way I think it should be done instead of the correct way. That wasn't that long ago but I'd like to think I've grown quite a bit since then.

Very functional, with a work hardened hand it's not too bad but when you let your calluses fade the texture on the basket is just a bit rough and the overall shape is uneven, squashed on one side and over round on the other. It was my first basket twist so if I ever do over the handle I'll just completely redo the rake and keep the old as a reference. I wouldn't change anything other than the handle shape or length, it can get a bit warm if you leave it in the forge.

Just as an update for anyone who may be interested, the only complaint I have with this after 4months use is that the basket is alittle harsh in the hand when you step away from the forge for a few weeks. Otherwise it moves coal around very well.

I got the put back together already, just ground about a 45 or so bevel around both sides and stuck it back together, I've had pretty good luck doing that on other projects. If it fails again then I will try the scarf.

A few months ago my dad picked up this set of tongs and a swap meet in Texas, one of the reins had been broken and welded back together. I dropped it once and the weld broke. I think if I see welds on tools from now on I will either pass them by or cut the weld and do it over so it's my fault if I get hurt. Luckily I wasn't holding something hot when these failed.

Sorry, I tend to lose a lot of people. Sometimes I think I speak a different English than most of the population. I was referring to your comment about the bearings in the quill. About a year ago I was looking into buying a couple 80% completed AR15 lower receivers. They can be shipped directly to your house with out an FFL transfer and are milled to 80%, give or take of the finished product. The end user has to mill out the last 10%, the cavity for the trigger mechanism and holes for the pins that keep the trigger in place and connect it to the upper receiver. This can be done with a drill press but most of the suppliers of the "80%s" tend to advise not doing this as, as you said, a drill press' chuck is not made to take lateral pressure. sorry for the confusion

That about the bearings I learned when I was considering finishing an 80% ar lower or 3, which is why I never followed through with it.

Was wandering around YouTube and came across this video. probably old hat for some of you but I hadn't thought of it and thought others might find it interesting or useful.

I don't know that my technique would be considered good but I can get what I want done done more often than not.

Hadnt thought of it that way Thomas, your right.

On a semi related subject, nearly all of the hand forged hammers are fullered between the faces and the Eye but most mass produced hammers are not, is this a style point on the part of the custom hammer and ease point on the mass produced or is there a good reason for it that the mass produced can't economically duplicate?

Steel the face meaning use high carbon for strike face and pattern welded or mild for the body? That would be very nice. Have seen quite a few pattern welded tools that I would like to do but I want to be able to make decent looking things before I make pretty things like that. I jump in head first on somethings but that's one that I'm going to pace myself on.

I don't know why but I always forget about modeling clay. Thanks Glenn. As for time and education, speaking for myself I consider the time spent worth what I learn, even if I try every wrong way before I find out the best way but that's what you guys are for, to steer me clear of the dumb ways to do things. Thanks again Glenn

A buddy of mine and I are thinking about making each of us a rounding hammer after seeing them used on YouTube. All of the tools needed will need to be made between then and now but my question is would it be a bad idea to practice on some mild steel rod? I have some axle that we will use for the end product but I think it would probably be a good idea to have a few test runs before we go to the good steel. Have access to a smallish power hammer so either way that will help. Any thoughts are appreciated, thanks in advance. Pancho

Very cool John, I think I have a new project to try

That's the plan, hopefully the coal will play nice next time I get some time

That's why I did the heads first and not the shoe, with something this delicate I want to get the hardest hit shaping down before I move to the relatively easy shaping accomplished. With something like this I figured that I may be better hammering rough, filing to shape and then doing hit chisel work for details, we shall see. I'll probably do a coupe more this size before I try smaller and will probably use my rail anvil for that.

This is a work in progress and proof of concept at the moment. I ran out of time to do mane nose ears and eyes. I would like to do horse shoe keychain as well and I figured that this would be more difficult that the actual horse shoe I think that both would sell well around here during rodeo weekend at least.

Thanks frosty The end idea is to forge a small complete horseshoe and then either sell as is or like this, I figured that the nail holes and stuff could come later. I think horse features will help quite a bit as well