flux_lalonde

I'm convincing myself to buy the DVD - I just don't have many devices left around the house that can play one. Wish I could stream it. I've been going off the youtube demo, and it's a little lacking, pedagogically. Flux

I ran ~13. Which I've since learned is higher than I needed; I left some pieces of the refractory support structure much more heavily scaled than they should have. Lower temp will have it last longer, I'm sure. Today I did the same weld at about 10, which worked, sort-of. Other variables left me with a short unwelded section, which was a total PITA to close up, and in the end was part of what led to the piece getting dropped on the scrap pile. Flux

Tried to make another pair of these dividers. I think I now understand why Peter Ross cuts the folded portion off the bar before welding - on both my attempts the leaf adjacent the bar wound up too beefy, throwing the hinge off-kilter. I also mis-guestimated the center when I folded, and had to thin one of the leaves too much to match up - compromising how much stock I had left after welding. Next time I'll measure. Plus the weld didn't go as smoothly - probably because the section was thinner than my last pair. I didn't bother finishing them; I'll try again tomorrow. In all, these are a great way to wind down for an hour after work. Is there a project logs section on this site? Oh, this looks like it. I'll start myself a thread ;-) Flux.

Nice! I like a practical knife.

When you ask all nice like that I have no choice but to post the pics of set #3. These were drawn from 3/4" stock, which totally feels like overkill. I have no idea how to take good pictures of long things. Observations I've made myself ahead of the next pair: Reins should be equal length (easy to fix, silly, really) Reins could be shorter Rivet should have been a hair shorter to not be so sloppy Jaws are a bit duck-billed. Holds my 5/8" stock just fine but I should refine them some more I should throw another twist in my watering can handle. Also found my profile to add that I'm in Kitchener, Ontario.

I'm a beginner - probably about 50-60 hours of forge time behind me. I've gotten a *lot* out of doing my own tongs, chisels, and punches. I'm on my fourth set of tongs now. The first are retired. The second just got re-worked with stuff I learned from the third. I will say that I'm much faster at drawing down than I was at the beginning - Seems I can draw a pair reins out of 3/4" bar in less than an hour now. I doubt I would have kept the work up to get there without the goal (tongs) in mind. Are they even and beautiful? Well, some faces only a mother can love. But each pair is getting more uniform, and my other work is showing the benefit as well.

Good stuff! I did a couple of welds in classes with Jim Austin (forgedaxes.com), but just did my first solo use-it-in-a-project weld today: Peter Ross style dividers. It's also the first weld in my new forge (Diamondback 2-burner model). Feeling pretty chuffed, though the dividers themselves are a little rough - I didn't expect to succeed, and when I did I just had to use the messy hinge plates. Paul