Dewnmoutain

Well i ended up saying "xxxxxx it" and pulled out the file. Tongs work fine. Was trying to figure out why though my lines didnt line up to make it easier to for the tongs to actuate. Thomaspowers brought up an excellent question about the edge of my anvil...and yeah, the edge is a mess. When i got the anvil it had big chunks and gouges on the edge, so i had repaired it with welding. I had repaired it to a point where at the time i was happy to have a somewhat better edge to the anvil. It wasnt perfect. And i think that has translated to my work. When i set a shoulder, its not a nice looking "crisp" shoulder, its more of a rounded shoulder. I think this is a source of my issue. Setting the shoulder isnt clean, so it leaves this uneveness to the material. And so i have to use the file to remove more material to get that crisp edge for the shoulder. TP also stated making a hardie tool to set the shoulder on, and yeah i have one of those, but it didnt come out right on a test piece i did. Thinking back on it, i think my issue with that tool was it bounced alot, so i couldnt get a good consistent connection between edge and material. So, three things ive learned 1) look into redressing my anvil 2) its ok to file 3) athe term whitesmith.

attempting to make some tongs...and im stumped. I watched black bear forge's video on making square tongs to get an idea as to how to make tongs. Looked easy enough, a notch in a few locations and some hammering, viola. And i did that....but now i hit a snag. Ive made a few sets of the business ends of tongs as practice, and keep running into the same issue. They line up well, but when i go through the motion of closing the jaws togwther, they snag on the metal left over. Looking at the picture, hopefully, you can see where the metal curves and interferes with the action. Sure, i could take a file and file away this metal and get them to close, but watching black bears vid, along with others, they dont. They just hammer it and it lines up. Now i get it, they have years of experience and this shows in the vids. For me though, im trying to figure out where/how the hammer blows are supposed to go to get that final shape where it lines up and closes properly. Id rather hammer it than spend time filing it that last bit. Hopefully this makes sense...

Made some punches today... The right 3 i made today, the left i made last year and had a horrible bend in it. Decided to fix it

Life gets in the way so im not always in the shop all the time, but i average 6 hours a day, 5 days a week in the shop. I cannot help but look at what other smiths have made, especially ones who have less years hammering than me are making some nice looking pieces while i look at what ive made and it's like "what the heck is that? that's crap". i guess it's those "basics" you referenced anvil that i feel like im having a problem with.

(not sure how to ask this question, so please apologize for the ramble. i feel it helps convey what im attempting to ask) I decided that i needed punches, as the punches i bought at the local hardware store have a tendency to bend and upset when using them to punch hot iron. So i need punches with more girth and strength. I started pounding the steel, with the goal of making a 3/8ths punch, and then i had a question "is there a certain minimum size id need to make for punching through certain thicknesses of material?" for example, If im working 1/4" flat bar, and want to punch a 3/8ths hole, ok, that can be accomplished. But what if im working a 2"x2" block of steel, would punching a 3/8ths hole be ill-advised? or would drilling a hole be better? and if i were to make a punch to punch through 2" block, would 3/8ths be too small? what would be the minimum recommended size for punching a hole through that large of material" so the question is "is there a rule of thumb for making punches to go through certain thicknesses of material?" Is there a minimum size for thickness?

Well, she's my mom... So yeah she likes it.

A couple months ago, my mom asked me to make her a shepard's hook for hanging some plants a bird feeder from. Never had a chance to get to it until two weeks ago while i volunteered at a ag-heritage site in my neck of the woods. Thought it'd be a good project to do to show off to the other smiths that i work with in the shop. I came up with a design, was able to draw it out at full scale for the hooks and curves, and then able to make the hook. I had made plans to rivet the pieces of steel together, but then I received a message from my mom asking me to "hurry up. im having company over and want to hang my plants and bird feeder". I knew with the riveting it wouldve added extra time to the project, so i changed course, used the shop welder, and slapped the pieces together in what you see in the picture below. Not my best welding, but it's welded and not going anywhere. I had planned on grinding and sanding down the welds to make them smooth, but i ran out of time at the shop and my mom was swinging by that night to pick it up. I just went ahead and spray painted it black and gave it to her. But while i was working on the project, something was bothering me, and i couldnt figure out what it was. I made the hooks. I did the curves how i designed them. The measurements were mostly there (i screwed up on the legs of the upper hooks, had to cut them down slightly to line up even). Yet i still felt like i was missing something, that somehow this piece wasnt living up to my true potential. Welding aside, i feel like i did ok....if i was a 3 month rookie. I'm going on 5 years of being a blacksmith, and yet i still feel like what i make looks like something a 1st year makes. that's my frustration. Ive been doing this for 5 years, and feel like im still at the 6 month mark of understanding. Using the picture below for example, i look at it, and see that i made some curves, some scrolls, some hooks, i did a slight twist to one of the stems, but I cannot help but feel that this project, like many others, is missing something. And it's that something that is also bothering me. Like i know that this hook could be so much more, could look so much better, could represent what a 5 year smith could create, but i dont know what. And then that leads me to thinking about where I am in my skill level and abilities. I know i can do things. I can make stuff. But i feel lately that a lot the stuff I make is lacking. Lacking something. and i dont know how to ask, or what to say, to fully convey what im trying to accomplish. There are a couple of blacksmiths that i call friends that are willing to help, and they provide advice, but sometimes it's not enough. I do what they suggest, but it feels like it's left more questions than answers. I know i have gaps in my knowledge and skillset: Forge welding consistently, making tools, mortise & tenon, accurately planning material needs for projects, forge welding, but i know there are other things missing. I guess at the end i just needed to vent somewhere.

Whew! lots of info from Frosty. It's good stuff, but i'll have to apply it to my true workshop that'll be built 5 years from now. just for further info, my shop is just a free standing converted carport with metal siding extended to the ground. Open dirt for a floor. It would rain out, and since i screwed up with laying the metal sheets down, it would leak into my shop. I fixed this issue, but still have some leaking in other areas, like my pipe for exhausting the coal smoke. I went with a huge 12inch diameter pipe, which works well, but i didnt put a cap on it to prevent rain from coming down the pipe. Plus, the hole i cut for the pipe is about 6 inches too big, so i took a piece of scrap sheet metal and put it up there to cover the original hole. Well, that leaks pretty bad as well since the base roof is ridged and doesnt line up properly with the scrap metal piece put into place. So it's a hot mess up there, and it's another thing i am planning on fixing for my shop. honestly, id love to do Frosty's suggestion. Xxxx it'd be easy because i could just put my structure on a sled and move it out of the way and build the area up. But, my budget is between $100 and $150. i can get dirt for free from my county land fill, pile that up around the edge of the building, to encourage the water to flow away from it. i can also dig a trench and do that "french drain" system Frosty talked about. Now that im sitting here thinking about this, and figuring this out, it would probably help if i filled in the gaps between the walls i made for the ends of the car ports to enclose the structure.

clay is pretty deep around here. vaguely remember hearing somewhere that its around 6-12 feet, but doing some research from available online sources, im thinking that the clayey layer is sooooooo much deeper. My though was initially, compacting the shop floor to an even layer, fill with pebbles, compact, cover with sand or dirt, compact again, and leave it be. But now, talking to a friend, and reading Thomas' post, i think i could get away with installing a border tile around the inside of the shed, and have it lead out to my ditch that's about 30 feet away. Of course, i still have to re-level the floor, but that can be held off until im sure that my water issues have "drained" away.

It rained this past weekend here in wisconsin. and, no surprise, my shop flooded. I took a couple pictures a day after it rained, so some of the water had drained, but as you can see, theres some water issues in my shop. With the slow rate at which the water drains from my area due to high clay content in the dirt, it takes upwards of several days for the shop to be dry enough for me to utilize without tearing my up floor. Sure, i can use it a couple days later, but i'll be tearing out chunks of dirt clinging to my boots as i move about. Frustrating. I know, i just need to suck it up and redo the floor in my shop. I just need to figure out what to put down thatll keep the floor dry, or at the very least increase the ease of water drainage so im not waiting days for a floor to dry. I tried adding the photos directly here, but it keeps saying that there is an issue with the upload. I just went ahead and put a link in to the imgur site. Link removed Your image was 42 inches x 56 inches in size and 35 megs. I reduced the size to less than 100kB.

fair point. mid-size, to me, is items that range from 2feet through 8feet in length. Large would be 8feet to 15 feet, and "i cant fit in my shop...yet" is beyond 15 feet.

US Army 25Charlie, radio guy who was made into an IT guy. 2005-2009, 18th Airborne Corps HHQ deployed to iraq Feb 2008 to Apr 2009

Please allow us to interview YOU. The following questions are sample questions, and are simply a place to start the interview. 1) Name Adam J 2) Location North of Two Rivers wi 3) What type blacksmithing do you do, what do you make. At the moment, just some small to midsize items. Lot's of hooks, stands, curtain rods, home improvement/decoration/utility items 4) How and when did you get started in blacksmithing: I picked up blacksmithing in 2016. I started it because of Forged in Fire. My wife kept asking me questions about how/what the smiths were making and why, and i got to the point where i didnt know. So i said "fuck it, ill build a forge and see what happens" and off i went. I picked up the pace when i became disabled and couldnt work anymore. 5) What object or thing did you use as your first anvil. I found a 4 foot long piece of railroad track that i used as my first anvil. i ended up forgetting to pick it up after i moved, and when i went back to grab it, the new owners had thrown it away. i cried...a lot. i still cry about it. 6) Tell us about your first forge, hole in the ground, camp fire, brake drum, stacked bricks. 1st forge was a brake drum forge. That lasted all of 2 weeks until i snagged my neighbors grill he was throwing away. I replaced the bottom with 3/8s inch steel plate, ran a hair dryer for a blower, and steel pipe with holes cut into it for a modified teuyere. It worked well enough to last 6 months until i bought a fire pot. Once i had the fire pot, i made my own forge, got a proper hand crank blower, and used that outside for about a year after. With that setup, i had no overhead structure, so i was out in the sun, and even forged a couple times in the middle of a blizzard cuz it was awesome! 7) Who assisted you or encouraged you in the craft. My wife did. Otherwise, i was on my own 8) What event changed your attitude about blacksmithing. Watching the TV show forged in fire, if it wasnt for that show, id still be sitting here thinking about doing it. 9) What tool has changed or made your life easier in the shop. The 100foot extension cord. Allowed me to have a light in my shop and i could close the door to my shop. before this i had to keep the door open and all sorts of crap flew in, wind, rain, since it was my only light source. once i ran the cord for light, i could close up the door and was able to properly see what i was working on. 10) What advice would you give those starting out in blacksmithing. $50 and you can make your own coffee can forge. cheap way to figure out if you want to actually get into blacksmithing. If you dont like it, you only spent $50, if you do like it, well then, you can build upon that basic setup and slowly grow. Also, if you do like it, find someone to teach you, either by class or, if youre lucky, by apprenticeship. 11) What advice would you give those already involved in blacksmithing. Keep on helping those that ask for it. I, for one, appreciate the help when i can find it! 12) What are some of the interesting things that have happened to you in your life as a blacksmith. i actually was on the show Forged in Fire. I know, they were desperate. aside from that, ive made some knives for family members, made utilitarian items for around the house, and have managed to burn my beard while lighting a cigarette using hot steel. I dont recommend that last bit. very surprising. Please add any thing we may have missed or should have asked. I would ask "what's your trouble spot?" or "where do you need help?" i personally, am struggling, especially with the virus going on. It's limited my ability to ask my local blacksmith, a guy who is a hobbyist who takes his time to help me. Im trying to go from the "amateur" status of what my projects look like to "semi-professional", along with increasing my knowledge on the hows/whys/what'its of the craft. Overall, im just trying to become better at blacksmithing, to achieve a state that i know i am capable of getting to (although, to be honest, my mental deficiancy due to combat PTSD and memory loss issues makes this very very difficult in achieving)