Hefty

He probably didn't want to appear too happy in person in case you asked for more money due to the extra hours of labour! But seriously, it looks great! Well done!

Yes, this is waaaayy better.

You call mulberries weeds and you're intentionally planting blackberries?! Also, you shouldn't have to sit on guard with a bb gun for too long if you leave the first victim near the tree for the rest to see.

Literally. I haven't seen the movie, but I saw a reel on FB recently where people were discussing the nature of trends and the concept of "cool" and how there is no logic to it. The costume designer for Idiocracy chose these ugly clog-like shoes to be what everyone would wear in the movie, as a satire joke about fashion trends because he thought the shoes were hideous. Those shoes: Crocs! Those hideous foot covers have now become "cool" and Idiocracy predicted it, as a joke, by accident!

If you can do this with the bung facing down, the smoke and wood gas that come out will may actually help fuel the burn fire underneath. I made a retort-esque charcoal drum a while back from a half size drum with a chimney that ran through it, sitting slightly up off the ground over a fire, like you describe. Like one of those water heater jackets that fit over a wood stove chimney, only the water heater is full of wood to carbonise. In a Bob Ross moment (happy little accident) the chimney didn't have a perfect seal at the bottom and the smoke and wood gasses that came out helped fuel the burn and improved the draft straight up the chimney. I think I have a photo somewhere in the depths of my phone camera gallery. I'll try to dig it out. Cheers, Jono.

Sounds like you've answered your own question already! But I think your reasoning is sound. I generally think of set hammers as being similar to flatters (not in purpose necessarily, but in method of use) and flatters often have more mass above the handle for striking, so I'd say yes, more mass at the top.

Rich, to figure out what the right amount of carbonisation looks/sounds/feels like, tap your charcoal and listen to it, then try to break some by hand. Undercooked/under carbonised charcoal still has a dull "thud" sound (it is also often less shiny) and will be difficult to snap. It's basically charred wood. Correctly carbonised will feel slightly lighter, has a metallic "tink" sound and a 1" thick piece that is long enough to hold in two hands should snap fairly easily with a satisfying "clink". I break up 1" thick pieces into roughly cubed shapes very easily using a small tomahawk, for forging with. Over carbonised will very light and friable. It will be more likely to crumble when tapped or snapped in the hands and the sound becomes hollower.

Thanks Goods! That first video seems familiar. It may be where I got the idea of splitting and then upsetting. The second video is invaluable! And I haven't even finished watching it yet! I recently found this square thread I had turned when I was at university (20 something years ago!! Where has the time gone?!) which is 6 or 8mm pitch, but only about 150mm of threaded section. I could use it and weld and extension on the end, but I think I'd rather use it as a master to create a swage like he did in the video.

Will do, Neil, but I'm also hoping to discuss these techniques here if anyone knows much about them. I figure it would be one of those topics that would be useful as a resource to all members here.

Hi everyone, One of my long-term plans (unless I come across an absolute steal of a deal) is to forge my own leg vise. I have seen some of the other DIY leg vise threads on here and I'm inspired. In the short term, I'm hoping to attempt a very scaled down version with a clamp assembly in place of the leg, to use as a portable filing/small assembly vise. My question is, does anyone know, historically, how the jaw shapes were formed? To me it looks like they could have been either: 1. upset, drawn out into a "T" and bent over, at minimum with a striker, if not using a steam hammer or similar. 2. Split at the end to make a "T" (possibly still a little bit of upsetting involved) and then bent over. Anyone have any knowledge, evidence or advice as to how it was actually done? Or if either of the above methods won't work, or will work better? Any advice greatly appreciated! Cheers, Jono.

Hopefully someone like Mikey or AFB will be along shortly to confirm, but in my opinion the greenish primary, and long purple and orange tertiary flame envelop in your photo suggests that your burner is not inducing enough air even when it's outside the forge, so when you put it in, the extra backpressure is slowing that induction even more and you're getting super-rich flames. I can't see from the photo: what sort of adjustment is there for air intake, or gas orifice distance from the mixing tube? You need a larger air intake area, or a bigger distance between the gas orifice and the beginning of the mixing tube so that the speed of the gas stream has space to entrain more air. Edit: I just watched the video - Yes, very rich flames due to nowhere near enough air being induced/entrained.

Thanks, that's great info where I'm at right now. I've just started with damascus/pattern welding and etching. I've always loved the cross effect of cutting or grinding into twisted stock, but WOW, I love the look of those twisted Ws!

Sfeile, your contrast is excellent! What is your etching process?

Back just a little inside the surface of the brick would be even better for a little bit more longevity of the burner nozzle.

I'm still working on my forge welds so this afternoon I challenged myself to make some links of chain out of the lightest round stock I have. The steel is about 4mm (just under 3/16") round stock from those ridiculously undersized tent pegs that come with cheap tents and other camping accessories. I set up my old A.S.O. on the side of my JABOD for the first weld heat for each link, then I finished them on the horn of my new anvil which is actually round enough and small enough to do the job. (Excuse the mess!) I cut 4 pieces but I had one that I could tell didn't weld properly. I tested it by hammering on the side of the link and sure enough, the weld let go easily. The other 3 worked well. It was a challenge moving the last link with the other two dangling on it! I cleaned some of the scale off and lightly ground the welds to assure myself that, yes, they did take. The seams at the end of the scarfs are still quite prominent, but being such light stock I couldn't really blend them much might without forging too thin. If you look closely in this photo, you can see the seams at the ends of the scarfs, but also that the shiny, ground sections have no lines, seams or inclusions. All in all I'm super happy with the afternoon's efforts! Cheers, Jono.

I only just saw this reply!! Thanks, that's awesome info. I'll have to make a trip into the city sometime soon!

I'm no expert, but in broad terms all of the beeswax and oil coatings you have listed are doing the same thing: keeping oxygen away from the steel surface to prevent rust. The difference is mainly in how hard wearing they are. Waxes and oils, if applied to steel at a black heat, will polymerise and form a more hard-wearing protective coating than if just wiped on cold steel. Bluing (cold or hot) and patination are creating an oxide barrier (which is technically kinda like rust) that slows down the ability of the steel to continue to rust. I know less about this, so others may correct that statement. Hope that helps. Cheers, Jono.

Yeah, I have thought of making him something. He's never actually said anything himself, but his wife spoke to me once. She was really nice about it, but she just asked if I could do it a little less often because the regular "tapping", as she called it, really gets to him. So, every now and then I stop earlier than I would prefer because I have this guilty feeling while I'm forging.

Yesterday and today I cut and welded up the pieces for a 2 way guillotine tool. Fullering, flat, butchering and tenon dies: The butchering dies are very efficient! I butchered in a little too deep for the tenon dies I've made using the existing hole in the leaf spring. A second heat really rounded it up nicely. I'll just need to get a feel for how much to butcher in. The fullering dies work well, but on the first heat I didn't get each blow to line up as I rotated the bar. I got better on the second heat. All in all, a great success! I've yet to try with the tool mounted 90 degrees for lengthways fullering. I'm keen to try this on some knives I plan to forge soon. I also want to make a set of ball/collar swage dies for it too, but if I do any more grinding today, I think my neighbour might jump over the fence and strangle me! Cheers, Jono.

Looks great, David! Have you used/installed stump anvils like these before? I've never done it and I'm curious to know what sort of prep you have to do to the stump before driving it in, to avoid splitting the stump. Do you just drill an undersized hole and then drive it in to wedge the square corners in the hole? Or is it a non-issue and you just drive it straight in to the stump?

Beslagsmed, I was inspired by the same video! I just posted mine in the "What did you do in the shop today" thread but here is it again with the belt buckle that was the same billet as the blade:

After having my folder end up too tight to open by hand, I had to grind the rivet off and try again. I ended up copying the technique from the video and made some little some copper washers to put in. I also tweaked the gap between the "scales" and ground a tiny bit off the corner of the blade where it first engages the spring when opening. Second time was the charm. I've also included some pictures of my belt buckle because the blade was made from the leftovers of that billet. My son had the brilliant idea for my Insta post, the audio: ZZ Top - Sharp Dressed Man! Cheers, Jono.

Alexandr, that's certainly dedication to your craft! Shaina, be careful with the fit up of the blade and back spring. I got everything done and rivetted together last night and I can barely open the blade. I know it's not just that the rivet is too tight because if I grip the blade with something and push through the tight section, the second half of the opening is free and smooth. I'm going to have to grind off the rivet and shape the closing corner of the blade a little. Lucky, I left the rivets proud, just in case. Cheers, Jono.

Love this! I've been putting off making bending jigs like this because I didn't want to have to make lots of different sizes. I also only recently got an anvil that has a hardy hole in it. This will be my next tool/jig! I also love that video, although I'm thinking I might experiment with one that has the bail hook on the bottom split from a single top hook to hang from a trammel, or chain, or cross bar. Kind of a 2 X 1 'S' hook. Cheers! Jono.

Looking at the photos now, I see what you mean. Hopefully these will make it a little clearer. One end of the handle "assembly" is just split (I cut it with a grinder and a 1mm cutting disc), spread a tiny bit for the blade to fit between, and the edges are softened a little bit. The other end (first photo) is split, but at 90 degrees to the first split, and both halves of this are drawn out. One of the drawn sections wraps around and becomes a pocket clip. The other section folds straight over, running along back of the handle "assembly" and becomes the back lock spring (easier to see in second photo, where the spring has not quite engaged into the lock-open position). I'm not quite happy with the forging on the pocket clip and spring, but I'll definitely be making more of these so I'll sort it out over the next few iterations.