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I Forge Iron

swedgemon

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Everything posted by swedgemon

  1. Making all 6 "pods" into tealight candle holders might be a bit busy...maybe making 2 into holders would keep it simple and balanced. On a slightly different angle, I thought making a similar piece for a hanging flower holder would look good, what with all the tangled tendrils wandering around maybe a spider plant or an air fern. Maybe after I get some more oak planks cut out of the oak trunks cluttering my shop parking area... We need one or several of you talented metal manglers to make something like described and post it so it will inspire me/others...
  2. We could use a pic or two of your forge, when you get to it !!
  3. Looks good !! What steel did you use and what handle material ??
  4. Centerpiece with large votive candle in place...I'll have to grow some pumpkins next summer to get the leaf shape - I kinda like the "pod and tendril" effect pictured...
  5. DW asked that I make something that would hold a Hobby Lobby pumpkin or large votive candle for the Thanksgiving table. I used 1/8 X 1" steel strap, 6 pieces for the "stems/leaves" (about 10" long) and 4 shorter pieces for the "roots", most of the work was done on a 40kg Striker power hammer. The pieces were welded together flat then a rosebud torch provided the heat to do the final forming. Needless to say, there were several trial pieces made before I got the proportions right...tedious work, but great "WOW" factor.
  6. Slag, Right now I only have one piece of oak plank left, and it's fairly narrow...don't know when I'll have more. You would likely do well to check local Craigslist suppliers - they show up most days in the Des Moines area, offering slabs in oak, cherry, hickory, etc. Custom wood-cutters also either have slabs or will cut some to order...you will meet some interesting people !! Most of the leaves are already off the trees here, but I'll see if I can get a photo or two of some leaves - squirrels (rats with good PR) have been busy with the acorns.
  7. Slag, I don't know the exact oak species, but it was some variety of white oak. The tree had been standing dead for a year or two when I cut it...there is a good stand of older oak trees on a slight ridge where the wind can hit it. My neighbor lets me cut any standing dead trees, providing I clean up the slash and cut the stump level with the ground...don't like cutting the stumps off flush - one of the last trees I cut was 42" diameter where I cut it and 7' across at ground level. I use an older 26" bar and a worn chain for that process. After I cut planks from the trunk (Alaska mill), the slab wood goes into the wood stove.
  8. A quick followup on my recent experience drying wood in the solar wood kiln pictured and described above... I cut several pieces of hickory into 1 1/8" planks that ran 1 1/8" X about 14" X 8', stacked them in the solar kiln with 3/4" stickers and several concrete blocks on top. The start moisture was 19%...after 10 days the moisture was 7%. Most of the days were "clear" with inside temps running 140 to maybe 150. Altho I have a dehumidifier, it was not used - the top and bottom vents were open about 4" and I had an oscillating fan blowing air around. Now my DW is expecting me to assemble some food-drying racks to use in there before next growing season...
  9. We did all the basic climbing, rappelling (sp??), rescue with a Stokes basket, getting hit on the head and shoulders with the rock falling off the cliff, glacier walking roped together, crevass (sp??) rescue...a good time was had by all, except the kid we had in the Stokes basket. A few of us were even dumb enough to walk up into the mouth of the Eklutna River in the ice cave...we were about 50' into it when we thought it to be a bad idea so we turned around and got out, just as about 150 tons of ice fell out of the ceiling where we had been...I had been saved for another day or two... While I was there the major who lived in the quarters next to me worked in the tactical center at Elmendorf - he came home one evening and told me that a Soviet Mig had done a touch-and-go on the main runway...it took the USAF 45 minutes to get two Delta Darts in the air to give belated chase. Army biathelon was a hoot - cross-country skiing, combined with shooting, using an M-14 - I was tuff then...
  10. Glad you like it, Frosty !! If you turn the pots 90 degrees, not many would fit up there...many years ago (1968) I learned to freeze professionally while I was stationed at Ft Richardson. I had Mountain and Glacier training (80-year old Hans Wagner was our primary instructor - the guy was tough as nails) at Eklutna Glacier and various aspects of being an Arctic trooper with a week of -40F (and lower) outside of Ft Wainwright, playing soldier in the snow in early 1969. Got to be pretty good on cross-country skiis but leave it to the Army to provide irony - a month later I was getting off the airliner in Ben Hoa, RSVN, at 100F in the shade so the other guys could shoot at me.
  11. In our home there is a nice large "window" that looks into the living room from the kitchen...DW has a goodly collection of stainless and daily user Griswold and Wagner cast iron, so a Pot Rack in the Window was a natural. The rod is 1/2" round, 54" long, textured on the power hammer and reverse twisted on a 4" repeat (hard to see). The leaves started out as 5/8" round rod, worked down to what you see supporting the rod. The hooks were 1/2" (or maybe 5/8" ?) round, formed into a ball, flattened and punched, then drawn out to form the hook...some of the later hooks were 1/4" round, tapered at each end and bent to the needed shape and length. Several mounts and dismounts were required to get the hooks in the right order and length(s) to get the pots and cast iron to properly nest. The finish is wire brush and a few coats of clear satin acrylic. As you might guess, I am one well-fed and happy metal mangler.
  12. Blacksmithing - Fire, Violence and Pain...usually in that order...swedge
  13. Vaughn, I found one of my knot jigs...this one is a piece of 1/4" plate, 14" square with two 1/2" pegs, 1 1/4" apart, on centers, welded in the middle and a few pieces of angle welded on the bottom so it can be clamped in a vise. All you are doing is putting a dog-leg in the middle of the 1/4" round verticals. Notice on the vertical that has a leaf on the end that the bottom half has any bow shape you may want in your final piece. The bottom rings have 7, 8 or 9 1/4" holes punched in and back-drilled a bit to facilitate welding the ends of the verticals to the base. As you assemble the verticals you may find that you need to "tweak" the angles a bit to get a proper fit. Once you get the verticals linked together around the piece you will be holding the final vertical, wondering how it will get into place...invert that last piece and "weave" it into place by rotating it in 180 degrees, achieving the final assembly. The next challenge is to hold everything in proper alignment while you backweld around the bottoms of the verticals...I have used a metal funnel sticking up thru the bottom several times - your results, and methods, may vary. Good luck !!
  14. About 20 years ago when I lived in Kentucky I was cutting down several dead trees behind my shop for firewood. I had dropped this standing dead tree and was cutting it up with the chainsaw when suddenly I realized "this is walnut, you idiot"!! Since no one was near enough to hear and confirm my mental state, I rolled the sections to my shop, ripped them into planks and assembled the top of the table, as shown. It's 25 X 37 X 17 and the top is 1 3/4" thick. There's Early American Minwax stain and a few coats of polurethane on the wood. The legs are textured 3/4" round, upset on the bottoms and bent to shape with a rosebud and no small amount of foul language. The wraps are 22" of 1/4 round, tapered at each end and given a few random twists and turns. Metal finish is wire brushed with a few coats of clear satin acrylic. Note: this table is one heavy sucker !! The candle stand just happened to be in the closer photo of the legs...it was 3/4 X 2 X 5 to start, pounded out on a Striker 40 kg...I always make things in "2's", so when I mess one up, I still have at least one - the mate to this one met a sad end when the leaf snapped off the stem when I was stretching it out.
  15. Arkie, Forming the "vines" isn't too hard if you keep the leaves a bit smaller than the opening in the top of the knot...you could always double them over, form the vines, then open up the leaves...see the next photo. Vaughn, I'll try to dig up my knot jig and send you some photos and dimensions - it's pretty simple. Assembling the knot for the first time is a bit tricky - you have to know the secret to get the last vertical in place. BH, I'll ginn up a separate post for the coffee table...
  16. I have attached the pic of a basic Claydon Knot votive candle holder, along with pics of 2 table lamps that used Claydon Knots as the starting points. The bases are all 1/2" square formed into a circle with 1/4" holes punched (treadle hammer). The verticals are 1/4" round, formed on a Claydon Knot jig/bender...the verticals on the lamps were made pretty long with a leaf forged on the ends. The lower part of the verticals can be left straight or curved, as desired. After the knots were assembled on the lamps the bottom of each vertical was back-welded at the bottom of the base ring. With the base clamped to the top of my bench a whole lot of rosebud work followed, winding the stems back down through the knot, then winding the leaves in a random pattern (fire, pain and violence !!). The scale was polished out with a small wire wheel on an air die grinder (lots of tiny little wire bits sticking in clothes and skin). A short section of lamp thread is welded in for the lamp base to screw onto and a coat of satin acrylic enamel finishes things. I doubt one can make and sell these profitably with the time/fuel gas needed (I use oxygen/propane for rosebud work), but they do have great "WOW" factor.
  17. JHCC, it is nice of you to claim I was "wise" to not have a rigid frame under the bench top...I just put it together so it would "look right". Allowing for some thread drift on the topic, I have attached some photos of some 8' lengths of oak and hickory waiting for me to get around to milling out some planks. The ends of the logs are coated with sealer/primer to slow down the end checking and cracking...I've recently been told that aluminum roof paint is cheaper and works better. The other photos are of a recent project; a solar-powered wood kiln, 18' long X 6.5' wide X 11.5' high. A local custom wood cutter had it and wasn't using it any more, so it followed me home. I've rebuilt it but have no history with it yet. It needs some solar-powered circ fans and a dehumidifier in it yet...as it sets, inside temps on a sunny day go to 140-145. The previous owned said a 1" plank gets dried in 10-14 days and a 2" plank in a little over a month...we'll see.
  18. I think it was cut in early summer, but the tree was "standing dead". The nice fellow who owns the farm lets me cut the dead trees for firewood and planks, but any tree with a few leaves on it stays until it finally croaks. I have a tractor with a set of forks on it, but an oak trunk that is 42" in diameter where I cut it (7' diameter at ground level) by 10' long is too much to lift, so I have to mill it where it falls...the planks are still plenty heavy !!
  19. Chris, 2 1/4 X 2" lag bolts at each corner. These are pics of the bottom of one of my end tables...hey, DW saw a few of my tables going out of the shop and quietly expressed a desire to have a few in our living room...if DW is happy, Swedge is happy !! Somehow the pics did not load...I'll try again...
  20. Two-inch oak slab, 5/8" textured round legs, upset at bottom, 1/2" textured and tapered arches, 1/4" leg wraps. Legs were formed on a purpose-built jig and arches were formed free-hand on the anvil. Steel parts were wire brushed and coated with clear enamel, oak finished with red oak Minwax stain and 2 coats of polyurethane. Oak came from my neighbor's farm and was air-dried for two years. Piece can be used as a bench, long end table, coffee table or firewood.
  21. Red insulation...that way I don't know if I'm bleeding until I quit for the day. I have found that blacksmithing can be a contact sport, involving fire, violence and pain... Now, how do I enter my location ??
  22. Hello to all !! I've been part-time forging since 1975, mostly self-taught, usually making decorative items that please the ladies (candle holders, pot racks, end tables, coffee tables and a few knives from 52100 alloy ball bearings). I run a Striker 40kg hammer, an early treadle hammer, an NC LP forge and sometimes a Buffalo coal forge.. My anvil came from the Fisher Norris factory in Trenton, NJ, bought new in 1975-6. My various tables use 2" oak or walnut planks that I mill from tree trunks with an Alaska mill on a chainsaw. I was an oil-industry engineer - I'm retired now, but need to go back to work to get some rest...too many projects !! Attached photo was during cold weather where I lived in Kentucky...my shop in Iowa is a bit warmer, even in winter. Best regards to all, Swedge
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