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I Forge Iron

JustAnotherViking

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Everything posted by JustAnotherViking

  1. Depends how many nails, screws and other sharp objects are scattered on the road, and the weather conditions dictating my mode of transport for general commuting. Averages about once a year given my current riding habits, although could be twice in the next 12 - 14 months given some of my planned trips. Will go through a set of tyres on a single trip in 2021... also about £600 in petrol for at current prices. Shall have a rather sore backside after that for sure!
  2. I think my mother pays around £100 for a trim and shoe for her horses.. I'd be paying around £260 a "reshoe myself. Could be vastly different prices on the other side of the pond... I'm basing my comparison on her two horses vs my metal one.
  3. Can't speak for boat costs, but I'd say it can be on par with horses. Fuel and feed could be comparable. Accessories safety gear and after market parts could be similar to tack. Probably spent more on parts for the bike than I did for the bike itself... not to mention previous ones I've owned
  4. Honda VTX1800 Haven't taken it out since the summer. I had a bit of an incident with the front brake hoses splitting at the connection block, and starting to seep fluid when I was on the Isle of Man. I have since replaced the damaged hoses, but haven't gotten around to replacing the fluid and bleeding it yet... been a bit too lazy this year. Previous years i've used a bike for commuting to/from work, even in the snow... this one is a bit too heavy for that. Might have to get a small rat bike for winter riding. Dropped this one when I hit a 2" deposit of mud on a blind corner. Was like hitting ice and was painful on the wallet to repair, never mind my own injuries. You can just about see the last of the scars on the back pannier... still needs re-painted. Everything else was replaced. Talk about an expensive hobby!
  5. Even worse than the trip hammer block, they used to have children climbing around the wheels to pour water on the belts to keep them moist during use... all that water power and they couldn't figure out a simple drip/spray mechanism. I suppose children were cheaper than engineers
  6. Today I had a rare opportunity today to visit Patterson's Space Mill (Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland), and actually get to use their water driven hammers and workshop. Normally it is open for public viewing with spade making demonstrations and tours, however today, a small group of us were allowed to work on some pattern welded billets It is the last working, water-driven spade mill in daily use in the british isles. It was a strange and wonderful thing to see the water being turned on, and these huge wheels and belts springing to life... no such thing as a safety guard when this place was constructed! The river/sluice gate above the mill: Some of the belts viewed from behind/to the rearside Small water driven hammer (we were mostly using this one today as it had flat dies for setting the welds) The main trip hammer used for spade making You can see a block of wood holding it open... this is the only control other than adjusting the water flow to increase the speed... someone needs to stand to the side and quickly set the block back in place between blows when finished working it. Here's a very short clip of it running and being 'turned off' It was my first time using a power hammer today, and an increadible experience to be able to do so in such a setting! Quite dark inside, so unfortunately the pictures aren't great
  7. After taking a few months break from forging, I've started back, working on a double first. First billet of pattern welded steel, and first knive. After heat treat, i've a couple of small delaminations visible on the blade, but they don't look too deep, so fingers crossed they'll grind out... nothing fancy, just a big twist and going for a bold, high contrast pattern.... i'll post a few pics once i've got the final grinding finished, and get it etched (viking style seax). I had a little offcut from that steel, so decided to make a Mjölnir necklace out of it.
  8. Have you considered printing directly in metal as a viable mass-production method? There are plenty of commercial companies where you can upload your 3d model to their website, and they will give you a quote based on size, complexity, infill, etc of the model. From a quick search, I have found companies who can print in Aluminium, Stainless, Steel, Titanium, Brass, Bronze. If cost effective vs printing in wax, casting (and accounting for trial and error, failure rate), it might be the way forward?
  9. Any further progress on this yet? Assuming it's successful, what sort of price point are you aiming for?
  10. Nearing completion Need to make a few more bits to attach the top, then aggressively wire wheel it, and apply a finish.
  11. If they are otherwise suitable for the intended stock and personal use, why not just grind it out, and fill it back in with weld rather than making another pair?
  12. Don't feel the need to apologise. People these days are far too quick to back away from an opinion just because it might touch on a sensitive topic. We should instead focus our efforts on the ability to have a civil, respectful and meaningful conversation about difficult topics rather than ignoring them.
  13. I would have to counter this slightly with my experience of studying programming vs friends whom studied medicine. While everyone in my classes was breezing through and enjoying ourselves, they were all permanently stuck lugging around huge medical volumes and rarely not reading, memorising and regurgitating all of it word perfect. A very different skill set in my eyes, and not one just anyone can pick up. They didn't just jump into a nice hourly rate after graduation either. It was continued learning, and while I could clock out at the end of the day, they were all doing double shifts, then home for more reading, couple of hours sleep and start again. I get it wrong, the company loses profit. They get it wrong, someone loses a family member. I'd gladly let them take home a higher hourly rate for that level of responsibility. On the other foot, of justifying a higher rate than others, I'm sure you've shared my experience of software development, keeping server hardware and software up and running, customer support, project management, and assisting with sales tenders and meetings. Basically able to perform any business function. Take any of those other areas, and I'm sure there are people employed for that. A project manager could also do customer support and sales, but I doubt they could program or support the servers. Despite my own abilities in software etc etc, there's not a chance I could study medicine or law. So in my eyes, it comes down to specialised skill sets that can be scarce, and as we know when buying anvils recently, scarcity and demand drives up the price.
  14. The Lawyer's hourly rate represents the thousands of hours invested in their education, and continual study of their subject matter, not too mention financial investment in degrees. It also takes into account overhead for the firm. Premises, furniture, additional staff, so on and so on. So yes, completely fair.
  15. Slowly getting there with the most recent project. Almost all the pieces roughed out, then need to clean them up, get everything more closely matched, and assemble. Unfortunately ran out of gas, so shall have to continue another day.
  16. If I said i'll finish a project I mean it! You don't need to remind me every six months.
  17. If they are listing it on eBay for $275, that leaves them with a new profit of $63.92 taking into account the listing fees, and payment fees. Not a huge profit for them, and it's free marketing for you if people are searching for the item and buying direct instead. I'd say it's a win win... you're (I assume), making your a profit from the initial sale... the 'customers' buying and reselling would be unlikely to purchase one otherwise, so your overall sales volume increases, and potential customers also increase (both from other people trying to copy the buy and resell idea, and those genuinely interest for themselves).
  18. Does the number and positioning of the circles and lines have a specific meaning? Personally I think the new one has a bit too much going on, and as above, might not translate well when shrunk down.... if the design works as a touch mark, and scales up, it would be a lot more consistent and recognisable than having two or more variations?
  19. This is an interesting example (whilst his business proposal would be fraudulent), what if you were to take the commercially produced item, throw it into the forge, modify it somehow, and then finish with oil/wax, and then sell it? If we are making a hook from scratch, we don't lift a 3" square bar and draw it out; we start with stock as close to the finished dimensions as possible. Where does the ethics committee fall when it comes to modifying and selling something in this regard? With a hook, you might say no, it's unethical (depending on how it's marketed), but how about buying rose blanks, or some other mass produced laser cut shape which increases the profit margin rather than the time spent cutting them yourself? Similar, yes/no?
  20. I would assume the rest of the material is 'recycled'? (eyes, legs, tail)... in which case, I don't see an issue. It's not like you're deliberately trying to mislead people, advertising it as a vintage, gluten free, responsibly sourced, fair trade, antique, artisanal, free range product with certificate of provenance... it's a bit of 'scrap art'.... and given your description of the wrenches, they sound like scrap despite being 'new'. No doubt, they are manufactured from steel that has been recycled many times over. Since they don't sound fit for purpose, you are in the true sense of the word, recycling them.
  21. Your 'anvil' needs to be harder than the metal you are trying to shape. Try a big flat rock instead of a wooden stump, or better yet, a sledge hammer head. Have a read at this for further ideas:
  22. Either that is a tiny anvil, or those shears are massive! What weight are they?! I started a new project over the weekend, a little more ambitious than my usual attempts of beating metal into submission. So far i've got 2.5 out of 14 pieces roughed out... the plan is to finish all the pieces, get the relevant ones reasonably matched/shaped, and finally clean it all up with final forging, filing, etc, and assemble. Should have had 3 or 4 pieces roughed out by now, but one leg ended up in the river.... something something, don't get distracted and chat when steel is in the fire. Starting stock was 1" square bar, and right about now I really wish I had a power hammer.... this will be a good exercise in patience, taking my time, and working on consistency. Considering I usually work with significantly thinner stock, this has been good hammer therapy following a particularly bad week.
  23. Cost dependent, a small plaque with a laser engraved photo of the bridge and a few dates would look nice set into the timber
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