Ranchmanben

Hmmm. I used a plain twisted wire wheel. That must have been the problem. 

On 12/27/2018 at 12:35 AM, ThomasPowers said:

 

I actually did do it but I didn’t like how splotchy it looked where the ti wasn’t really clean. I tried it again after using the wire wheel and it looked even worse. Did the wire wheel again and called it quits. 

Here’s what they looked like blue/purple. 

On 12/23/2018 at 7:18 PM, jlpservicesinc said:

 

The ti I forged before this definitely was 6al-4v and it had the same color scale. That’s why I think it’s the same grade. 

2 hours ago, jlpservicesinc said:

Thanks..  scrap had hanging around or ordered it special?

Here’s a picture of them before I was done forging them to show the scale color. 

I was given a 4’ bar by a friend. He said it had been passed around to a few different shops but no one knew what to do with it. Other than tongs, I’m not really sure what would be a good use for it. 

That’s what I figured but wasn’t sure. I’m not positive what alloy it is but I suspect it’s 6Al-4V. 

I’m not sure what you mean. 

I cheated on that pair. Titanium scale is a weird orangish brown that looks really ugly so I used a pretty liberal dose of wire wheel. 

Thanks Jennifer. 

Farrier style 3/8” fire tongs made from titanium. Starting stock was for each side was 4” of 1.125” round stock. They weigh right at 17.5oz and hold better than any other tongs I own. 

Thanks everyone. I can’t take credit for the engraving though. My dad did that work. He’s tried to teach me but I haven’t knack, some people can hammer steel and some can carve it. 

The knife was a fun change of pace. The Damascus was very fun to make, I can see how people get sucked into making elaborate patterns.  I’m going to be playing with it more. 

Got some Christmas presents handed over yesterday. A couple of fancy hammers with bois d’arc handles and one user 2lb rounding hammer. Also a knife with raindrop damascus I forged from 1084 and 15n20. Ebony scales and copper pins peened to fill the holes tight. 

I’m a big fan of those wrench openers. Especially that darker one. Great work Mark!

The best book I can recommend is Mark Aspery’s first book, Mastering. The Fundamentals of Traditional Blacksmithing. The books are a bit on the pricey side but worth every penny. All the instructions are very clear and each step has at least one accompanying photograph.  Well worth the money. 

That’s looks good and stamps good too. What’s AA?

Thank you very much for the compliments. It’ll get used at some point but it’s going to get fondled at the house for a bit first. 

Arkie, we do make a good team but, at times, if you heard up working cows or working on a windmill you might not think so. We always end the day best friends so it works. He’ll be happy to hear of what you think. Believe it or not, He’s actually far better at tooling leather than engraving. 

Thank you. It might be too fancy to use but I enjoyed making it and like looking at it. 

A few weeks ago I posted a batch of hammer heads with one that wasn’t quite like the others. I’d teased that I had plans for it. It’s finally done. 2lbs with bois d’arc handle wedged with hickory. I had my dad do the engraving. Cold blue finish. 

Awesome work!

Ha! Let’s just say I was very careful not to disturb the scenery. 

3 hours ago, jlpservicesinc said:

Since you bring up being a Bicycle mechanic.. I am an avid down hill, cross country MTBr and frame builder and road biker..  Also make crank bearing sets and have just about every tool a bike mechanic could want.. 

I wouldn’t have guessed that of you! You probably would think I’m a rider either! Use to race downhill and dirt jump. Haven’t ridden in quite a while but I look at my trail bike all the time and think I need to dust off and go for a spin. I’ve still got my downhill bike and dirt jump rig but only because there’s no money in old bikes. 

That rams head poker is killer! Great work on both. 

I ran out of time and had to ditch the Damascus hammer for now. I ended up making it out of 4140. I had a really hard time handing this hammer over, I really really liked it. The bois d’ark handle is just so pretty and the grain is really tight. The head is just a hair over 10oz. 

Two failures in a row. The hammer billet with the twists split when punching the eye. Next was a layered billet that split when I was nearly done forging. I’ve learned that there are no shortcuts when fooling with damascus. Once I get done licking my wounds I’ll give it another go. 

Played with Damascus again today. Hopefully, this will end up being an 10oz rounding hammer with 2 flat faces for a knife maker.