SFC Snuffy

Alexandr, that's truly beautiful. My hat is off to you, sir. Mudman, sorry... no pics. Feeling a bit inadequate today.

I had a productive few hours today: Made a couple of nice-looking nails. Easy stuff for most of you, but it's been several weeks since I made one; I was pleasantly surprised. Flattened the ends of some rings made of 3/16" stock for what will eventually become penannular brooches Curled a pigtail on the edge of an 8" pipe cap for a yarn bowl to appease the crochety old lady Made a prototype for some fireplace tools out of 3/8" square HR. Need to make a jig to get more consistent results, but I'm happy with the twisted handle. We'll rivet on a shovel scoop and use this one in the forge.

High manganese alloys work-harden, right? Will your overwraps of wire be contributing enough mass for the overall manganese content to get that high?

Well... he certainly straightened the spring quickly. But with no gloves, no apron, short sleeves, and only a couple of vice-grips holding his stock, he's one small slip away from a serious injury. In the (US) Army, we say "If it's stupid but it works, it isn't stupid." That's well and good right up until it doesn't work (or doing so gets you hurt). JHCC, I've been thinking about straightening some springs. When the time comes, I'll certainly give your jig a go.

Man, I never found anything like that when *I* lived in Chicago. I am appreciatively jealous!

I finally finished this one, intended for a friend of mine who's an operating engineer. The head was either a 16mm or 3/4" Grade 5 bolt - I don't remember which. I tried to make a handle out of rebar, but couldn't get it to peen properly, so I cut it off and made one out of 1/2" mild steel. Surface finish is black oxide. There are some things I'm not thrilled with, but I'm pretty happy overall.

Welcome! What sort of surface do you have in your shop area, or the area where you'll be forging? If it's dirt or anything other than perfectly flat, a tripod is always a good mount as all three legs always contact the floor. If you rig up a stump or solid mount for it, putting three "feet" underneath will serve the same purpose.

I bet that would give a very interesting texture. It also makes me want to see the matching swage. 58er, that wreath is stunning. Fantastic work!

*Sigh* Maybe someday I'll have an anvil collection. Or, y'know, an anvil.

Excellent! My thanks to you both.

Does anyone have any experience using Briwax for finishing forged items? I've found a few threads on here and around the web about using it, but I just can't get any penetration; the finish just won't stick. I wonder if I'm not getting it hot enough. Any thoughts? I'm applying it with the workpiece around 350 degrees F. The Briwax bubbles and melts, but even if I apply it heavy and allow it to cool & dry, it buffs right off.

I annealed a 3 lb. engineer's hammer, painted the head blaze orange, and put it on a handle that had the word "ANNEALED" burned into it. I use it for punches, top tools, and my guillotine tool. Not really necessary, but I like to think I'll get less mushrooming on the tools by hitting it with a softer hammer. So even if your hardening provides inconclusive results, there are still plenty of things to be made from the stock you have. It might be better if you look at what tools you DO have, what tools you would LIKE to have, and provide specific inquiries after you try hardening a sample.

What are the arms made out of on your swing-arm guillotine?

JHCC, let's table that for later. (Mill puns are difficult.)

What's lower than "rank beginner?" Untrained amateur? Clueless bumbler? That would be me.

A witch friend of mine asked me for a bunch of rusty hand-forged nails, the rustier the better. I didn't ask "what for."

I notice they all have a through-hole. Do you just bolt them to your workbench or other fixture? Nicely done on the pieces. My leaves never have a nice transition into the stem, whereas yours is very smooth.

I continued work on a bearded-axe bottle opener for a friend. Still a little clean-up to do on the axe head, though the die grinder at work helped significantly. The axe head was smashed out of a 3/4" Grade 5 bolt. I also bashed some rebar into shape for a handle and rough-forged a tenon. I'll do some cleanup on this, too, before final assembly. I think I'd like to give it a bit of "wood grain" texture. I also completed work on a steel feather. I've seen some really nice ones on here (I think) and wanted to try one just to see if I could. This is the first "art piece" I've done, by which I mean it doesn't have another use or purpose, though I suppose it'd make a good paperweight. It's made of collapsed angle iron, as I like the quill that's left by the angle. Finish is boiled linseed oil/black oxide. Should I give it a clearcoat too? Any preferences on matte vs. satin/semigloss vs. gloss? I'm reasonably happy with how it turned out, but I hope to do a better job on the next one. Kevin, thanks for the tip. I might just buy one and try it. Aus, that sounds like a dream job. If I ever make it to your continent, I'll try my best to come see the Village.

Similar to the zig-zag, try a crosshatched pattern with repeating lines (equidistant spacing will help the overall appearance) going both directions. For variety space the lines going one way close together, and the lines going the other way farther apart. A little variation creates a strikingly different look. Varying the depth can also provide some interesting and unique looks.

Kevin, I've looked at the cross blanks a couple of times. How did you like it? How did you feel like it worked, compared to your thoughts going in? Yours is very nice! I'd just like to get some feedback from someone that I know has purchased and used an item before I pull the trigger on the same item.

Very cool! We use Wilson testing machines for brass where I work; I would never have even thought to look for a similar machine for private use.

You have a Rockwell C-scale tester?

There are some commercial products, notably Deep Creep by Seafoam and Kroil that are design to penetrate rusted hinges and loosen things up. A few others include Liquid Wrench, PB Blaster, good ol' WD40, and if you've the time, money, and space a soak like Evapo-Rust will do the job. Most of these are available at auto parts and/or home improvement stores. I really like Deep Creep, but I've not done a head-to-head comparison to see if it's better or worse than the others. It's always worked for what I've needed it to do.

Wow, Lou, that's a really fantastic opportunity. Thanks for sharing the good news and the cool photo. I'd love to see some more pictures of the collection. Do they have a website?

Hmph. D'you know, it never even occurred to me that I could make my own? I'm definitely interested in seeing how this comes out.