SFC Snuffy

I was always told that becoming a heat casualty (or sustaining a cold-weather injury) makes you more susceptible to more of the same.

Take a look at Mark Aspery's video on forging a pass-through handle corkscrew from a single piece. If well-done, could be a great gift and cool way to open the champagne.

Tylecote's Solid phase Welding of Metals may well be available from your local library. A quick Google search shows that there's a listing on WorldCat, so your local branch may be able to get it through interlibrary loan.

Don't be afraid to file, sand, or grind your opener (or any other project) before applying a finish. The rough texture around your opener on the right could have been smoothed out to present a nicer look without detracting from its hand-hammered appearance. Punches will serve as a drift to open up your hole until you can get a purpose-made drift, just be sure to cool them after drifting. If you have an anvil with a horn, the point of the horn/bick can be used to round out the loop. I will usually flatten the top of the loop by hitting down on the bottom of the opener. In your case, you'd need to finish the loop before doing the leaf. Here's one I recently did. I'm trying to decide if I want to put a wooden handle on it. Please excuse the lousy picture!

Finished a pair of slot jaw tongs, a pair of scrolling tongs, and a small hook. Tongs are from pre-cut, commercially available blanks (hangs head in shame).

Having spent a great deal of time in the US Army and Army National Guard, monitoring both my health and that of my Soldiers through a variety of exertions and enterprises, a few points to consider, in no particular order: Prime indicator of your state of hydration is the color of your urine. A "light straw color" is considered optimal. Darker means not enough water. Lighter means too much. Drinking too much water (hyponatremia) can kill you. Your electrolytes become too diluted and your brain and body lose the ability to communicate. Treatment requires hospitalization, but the symptoms can be difficult to differentiate from heat exhaustion. A balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables is the best way to supply and replenish electrolytes. Sports drinks are almost universally bad for you and caffeine is both a diuretic/natriuretic and raises your blood pressure, undesirable side effects in high heat environments. Environments with very low or very high humidity will affect both how much you sweat and how much you feel like you are sweating. See point one above. There is no "right answer" for how often you should urinate, as there are too many variables unique to each individual. However, see point one above. Removing clothing (short- vs. long-sleeves, shorts vs. trouser, bare head vs. hat, sandals vs. boots, etc.) makes you more comfortable but often increases the rate of evaporation of sweat from your skin and thus your rate of dehydration. You'll feel better, but lose water faster. Sodium tablets can be used in emergency situations, but it's better to eat foods like canned olives, pickles, and tuna which have nutritional value. TL; DR = Pay attention to your pee.

Spent some time in the rain upsetting donated automotive steel (it came with the appellation "tie rod," but no make or model) into a more usable form; it will eventually become an small axe or tomahawk. We managed to collapse the total length by about half, and the striking anvil worked great, though it's starting to sink into the mud a bit.

I was fairly sure it was an archery target.

So you leave the center square enough for the shifting spanner to get a good grip. Very nice! I've seen a similar large jig on here where they welded the crescent wrenches to some sort of adjustable collar, which was then fit over a length of black iron pipe or square bar (I don't recall which). With the pipe clamped in a vise, the two supports could be moved back and forth to allow as large or as small an area to be twisted as desired. Rather ingenious, really.

Those are really nice! May I ask what you use as a turning wrench for small stock like this?

Thanks guys, really. I can objectively say "it isn't terrible" while being subjectively disappointed that it didn't come out the way that I wanted it to, it took me longer and more heats than it should have, etc. etc. Nevertheless, I appreciate the kind words Das & Frosty.

I've been reading a lot lately (seen a few videos as well) about how making leaves is a great learning tool for beginner blacksmiths, so I tried my first today. Predictably, it's not very good but I'll learn and keep trying. I made a bottle opener to make myself feel better and try out my new guillotine tool. The wax finish on the opener looks better IRL (the leaf looks just as bad ).

Looks great! I've never had the opportunity to use a Hofi-style hammer; you'll have to let us know how you like it.

I've been too chicken to try it. Did you quench the screw?

Not to mention that bronze is heavier, per cubic volume, than most steels. Not usually an issue for decorative work, but definitely of importance for weapons and armor.

Nice joinery! How heavy do you think it is altogether?

Hey, that's really nice!

JHCC, that's an impressively-sized swage! What sort of interior dimension do you have, and how big do you want/need your starting stock to be? Nick, I made a couple of similar choppers for family members and had many of the same issues with cold shuts. The one that I started for myself I snapped the handle/"tang" right off of it. I'll probably make it into an ulu, but for now it's languishing in project limbo.

I've also understood it to represent male and female genitalia, though to be fair that could certainly be a misunderstanding of the symbolism. As far as 'looks simple enough,' I wish you the best of luck! ausfire - Looking good!

You're about four hours away from me. If you ever need a striker on a big project, send me a message and I'll see if I can't get away for a day trip. Are you a member of the Free State Blacksmith Club?

Ooh, I've always thought Urals were really cool. I understand that owning one will make you a good motorcycle mechanic. The benches, by the way, are fantastic.

Er, you know what an ankh represents, right? Seems an odd thing to gift to a family member. Exo: That's fantastic. F. and the G.M. would approve.

Nice! Those dice cube twists look pretty convincing. Are you in the Salina area?

Amen.

From last week: My second attempt at a hair retainer/barrette/thing, using 3/16" round stock. I've never forged anything that small before, it was interesting.