BillyBones

1" x 1/8" flat bar i cut 18" long. The hooks are 3/8" round. IDF&C, nice dragon.

Plug welds, that makes sense. I would be on my 4th trying to set rivets before i thought of that. Made the bracket to hold my fire set to the wall today. Bit chilly but the torpedo got the shop up to about 65*.

JHCC, how will you do the joinery on the scrolls? Thanks y'all. I just do not have the patience for fit and finish work. That and the weather took a turn, woke up to snow on the ground yesterday and the temp was in the high 30's - low 40's. So i was kind of rushing it to come in and have a beverage in the warm house. As far as the edge retention i do not know yet. All i have done is ran a file to get a basic edge on it, today i was going to put it to the stone, maybe, it is cold and snowing again. I have no idea what metals were in the billet when i found it. I do know i added a piece of a big clock spring and a small piece of 15N20. Guess that time of year to get propane for the torpedo heater is upon us. Was out in short sleeves friday, breaking out the long handles today.

Finished that knife i made the other day. Pattern did not come out quite like i hoped but hey it was basically a piece of scrap when started. The handle is blood wood with brass pins. Nice coat of teak oil and you can see why i do not make knives.

Cant braze wood? What? Give me a day or 2... Seriously though, did not think i was trying to braze wood did you? It was on my fire set that i burned the shovel handle off of. The handle burnt between the rivet holes so it was kind of thin and narrow at that spot. Trickier than i thought it would be. I have brazed a million times with oxy-acetylene. Watch it come to temp then let the braze flow. After looking back i am wondering if i grabbed a brass rod and not a brazing rod (i use fluxless rods). i know some rods are brass but dont they have a lower melting point than just store bought brass rounds? I used the angle iron to get that middle seem for added strength. The iron though is thick enough that it provably doesnt really need it though.

Got a garden trowel made for my aunt today. Will make a rake to go with it. The trowel is a piece of angle iron flattened out. Put the handle on my fire place shovel and was loose. Never did a forge braze before so i figured i would try. Burned the handle off, of well, no pic of failure.

My mom has big bowl that is filled with grapes. The bowl is made of jade, the grapes are rose quartz, white quartz and amethyst. The leave of the grapes i cannot remember what they are but a dark green stone. She also has a Mah Jongg set that the tiles are ivory and the scoring discs are all semi precious stones held on little brass posts. My grandparents bought them, along with some other really cool stuff, when they were in the Philippines in the early 60's.

I had thought of using a pipe but the only one i could find was galvanized and i did not want to chance wrapping hot iron around it and burning off the zinc. I did not think it would be so much of a PITA to make a circle with out welding the ends. Wind can also be a pain. My sign blew down this past spring.

I like the bracket. Very nice, like to make something like that for my sign. I did not like the fire set i was making so i lopped off the handles drew them out and added baskets. Need t weld the rings. Pain in the behind trying to make them round with out welding.

How much steel? Would it be cheaper to maybe sub it out?

Roux in the oven? That is a first for me. Frosty, ya got me thinking soup beans and corn bread this weekend now. Pretty sure i got me a good ham bone froze.

Like JHCC said the motor oil contains nasties but if you use the oven to temper it stinks bad. Those nasties aint nothing like the wrath of the wife when you do that. It may seem a no brainer but needs mentioned, make sure than the container you use for your quenchant is metal or some other non flammable material. Keep the lid close along with a good fire extinguisher when you quench. Common sense yes but safety cannot be stressed enough.

I am so glad you did not say that she used canned biscuits for dumplins. For some reason that has become a popular short cut around here. 2 C. flour, 1 C. water, pinch of salt, i roll them out and use a pizza cutter to make them. Add them to the broth that has been on the stove most of the day at a good boil. Make a nice roux and add to thicken into gravy. I think i have not let my roux cook long enough the last couple times i made them was my problem.

Found a billet i had welded up some time ago, like better than a year, that i had forgotten about. No clue as to what i used in it so i forged down a piece of coil spring and added to it a piece of 15N20 i have. Never used 15N20 so i just did it to try. Wrapped them around the billet and welded it all up. Then twisted it, flattened that out, cut it in half, welded those up, forged it out, folded it, forged into basic knife shape, drilled some raindrops on it, forged it out, then heat treated and basic grind. Next is handle and finish grind, oh forgot etching. Stuck the tip in some vinegar just to get an idea of the patern but you can see it without the dip. Started a fireplace set and made a ladle also. Lovin that new swage.

I like about an equal proportion pecans to glop, but will err on the side of pecan. I have not had good chicken and dumplins in a while. Past couple times i made them i got more of a broth than a gravy.

Frosty, i have had that pecan brittle before myself, heck i think i may have made one in the past actually. Pecan pie is hands down beyond a doubt my favorite. I learned to make them back when i was a teenager. Cant wait for the holidays, i get to make Mandarin orange ginger muffins and, if i can find any, persimmon bread also.

Oh i forgot to mention that, it is on a Davenport 5 spindle screw machine that it is running on. Basically a 5 spindle lathe.

Not in my shop but at work today i set up a new job. This is a rivet, or at least that is what the customer calls it. They are used in locks from what i gather. My largest tolerance is a whopping +/- .0006". Oh running on a machine that was designed around 1900, this one was built in i think the early 60's. I did not know my phone could take a pic of something that small.

Das, wasnt that munchkin just born like a month ago? Love seeing the kiddos dressed up. Always one of my favorite times to get my daughter all dressed up. Word of advice do not dress them up as a playing card. My daughter has always loved Alice in Wonderland and one year wanted to go as the ace of hearts. 2 big pieces of card board, 1 for front and 1 for back, that had straps on the shoulders. She could not get her arms in front of her. Hated it. Glad everyone had a good time and fun with the kids. Happy Thanksgiving now.

Happy Halloween.

Lary, I usually put the acid in a container when i use it, it may eat through those boards and stuff. Seriously though how did you do the finish? Electroplating or just clean the metal and do a hot rub like with a brass brush? I ask becuase i tried electroplating a few weeks ago and failed.

I cannot say what all companies make them from but where we get ours depends on application as to the material they are made. But where we get them they are generally* made of either 1050, 400 series or 300 series stainless. Again though as Thomas says this can change from company to company, when the washer was made, and like i said application. They also come in bronze, brass and aluminum but you are wanting to forge them so that is neither here nor there. * we can special order other washers in different materials but unless absolutely critical dont becuase of price difference.

Look up "Black Metal Studio" on the youtube. Will Bastis (? spelling) presents it. He only has about 10 or so videos but the 1st set is him making a set of tongs. 8 hours of tong making total, cut into 8 or 9 videos. He does not edit the videos at all. If he makes a mistake you see it, no editing for time. Which i like becuase a lot of videos give me a false impression of how long something actually takes to do. The lessons are arranged like the 1st set is 1.1, then 1.2, 1.3 etc. The second would be 2.1, 2.2 etc. I believe it is lesson 1.5.5 that he explains how he radiused the edges of his anvil. He gives some really in depth info on the why's and how's of smithing. I do not know much about him but from what i have gathered is a retired blacksmith teacher who has worked with some of the worlds greats. I have learned more from watching him make a single set of tongs than just about all the other youtubers out there. In my opinion it is maybe the closest you can get to one on one instruction. Always try and master a new technique, that is how we grow. However keep in mind that using the edge of the anvil is only 1 method of drawing out metal. So if you are like me and just end up no good at it there is always another way. As a final thought about radiusing the anvil, just becuase you see one person do it one way does not mean that is the correct way or the wrong way. That is how that person likes to use their tool. You will have to find your own way but again that is part of growing as a smith. Edit: I should have said a handful or a few videos, becuase obviously the first set is almost 10 alone.

Got a machine set up to start making these little guys here. I am thinking i could find a use for a handful of the "bad" ones that get scrapped. The saw depth is still a little deep but after adjusting that off to the races.

JHCC, did you let her use that new swage for that spoon? Your pumpkin looks like it is floating in that pic. Rainy day yesterday so i did not get to heat treat my big ol' knife. So instead i rigged up a better smoke stack for the day and fired up the forge. Christmas is getting closer so i did a little work on that. Got this here BBQ fork done. 1/2" x 1/8" flat stock i had left over from my deck railing. I had waxed it then noticed a few little snags on it so i took a file to it and now needs waxed again. Edit: Forgot to add i found a use for that rod dog (in the background of the pic) i found buried in the barn. It holds round pipe quite well for forming hot metal around.