Chad J.

I like it when no one bothers me in the shop. Anyway, it was bottle opener day today. The Skelton key openers need to get a little file work.

Was a stand for a table at work, now it's sitting next to my anvil. It makes a great tool stand and is going to be a amall welding table

Almost got it. The forge weld failed but that was the first time I got the propane forge hot enough to try. Guess I'll try again tomorrow

I like the file work. Do you epoxy it on the back of the handle to fill the gaps?

Billy, a flight is usually 4 small servings of a variation on a beverage. So 4 different wines in a board is a flight of wines. Here in Cheesehead central Brandy Old Fashioneds are huge, they're doing a flight of those. I found the wrenches in an. Antique shop, a buck each.

Going in reverse order, last week I dropped some stuff off at a camp ground store that is going to cater to rich Chicago people on vacation. Decided to make some little tags for everything and make it look somewhat nice then wrote silly little notes on the back of the cards. Did some grinder work on a few blades. I've gotten better at hammering in the bevels and that's translated into better lines on the blades. Made some wrench bottle openers. Then for something different... The store I am putting stuff in is attached to a restaurant and bar. The owners asked if I could come up with a flight board for their bar. (Old Fashioneds). Since the super club is on a lake I made Drink Skis. It's been a year since I have done anything with wood other than handles.

You've been popping up on my YouTube feed as a recommended video. Good videos.

A good sledge is a great tool. I made a couple bottle openers and a miniture horse shoe.

Ahhh days where I'm not interrupted in the shop. Finished a fire poker, chisel cut the baskets and point, made a broach for the first time, made a little heart, made another fastener for the leather journals, and a poker for a smoke.

I didn't have that kind of patience myself.

When I started I used a regular belt sander flipped upside down and clamped in a vice. Took forever to get stuff done. 1 x 30 is a good start. Take your time and don't rush.

Aaaamax, not really all that large. The on is maybe 2.5 inches long. Like I said, she was happy. Made three big S hooks with basket twists. They're each about 16 inches long. Also heat treated 3 blades, forged out one of those funky Japanese carving knives from a piece of leaf spring drop off and spent some time grinding on what will be a bollocks dagger some time in the future. All while watching a huge pork shoulder cook on my smoker.

Ran into a leather worker at the artisans market that asked about closers for leather book covers. After a quick discussion about what she was looking for I said I'd see what i could come up with. Well 20 minutes in the shop and some 1/4" scraps later. She paid me for these and 2 more.

I just was working on the grind and bevels of a few knives tonight. When was my youngest 6 or 7 I tried setting up a wood shop in the garage of the house we rented. I was out working on the table saw ripping carefully through a piece of oak. It was take than the blade so I was going a hair over halfway on it and placed to flip it and do it again. I'm about halfway through when my youngest came out and screamed "DADDY!". I look up from what I was doing, the oak kicks back into my belly and my right thumb to goes into the now uncovered saw blade. I spend a few moments swearing in pain before I go get it cauterized. I took a blade width off my right thumb tip and my kids asked me if I was going to try and find it.

Thanks Lary and Das. I can't remember who did it here first, but it was a fun little project. A few things I'll do differently on the next one is watch the hire a bit more, it's slightly angled to one side and down towards the handle a bit, but that's about it and I'll just say their features for leverage.

Made the handle for the hoe fork tonight. First time I've made a handle from scratch. I noticed some minor issues with the over all fit up but I'm happy with it.

I managed to stay focused today. Got the finish on the pokers, made a new large s hook from some squared off rebar, modified a pair of tongs I found in an antiques shop a while back, started in on a pair of yongs from rail spikes, and then a neighbor brought over a little claw hammer. Asked me if I could do anything with it. I took my shot at the gardening tool.

Told myself I'm going to finish up some projects today. Three projects finished before I get distracted is my goal. So we'll see how well that works, last night I wandered aimlessly between projects. There's a little artisans market in town that I've started stocking finished items in, so far is a mixed variety to see what sells in my area. There's also a supper club up by my family cabin that has a store aimed at its camper park and they are more than happy to stock fire pit tools. BTW Jennifer, your chain making and destructive test video popped up on my YouTube Recommended Playlist. Very well done, and I thought you'd like to know.

I don't have a lot yet, low carbon on one side of the shop, high carbon in the other, leaning up against the wall. In a couple weeks I'm going to get the last of the tear out debris out of the barn and I'll set up a rack.

S hooks. S hooks are great skill builders. They teach you hammer control and use of the anvil. Repetition is a good thing. Look into the swing of the hammer as well, there are ways to do it to help prevent repetitive stress injuries. Get a good weight hammer for you. Some of us swing 2 pounds hammers, some swing 4. I'm sure many of us even have small 1 pound out less hammers. It all depends on what you can control comfortably. Maybe start with a 2 pound drilling hammer with a short handle.

I gave myself a sunburn using my welder yesterday.

Here's a couple Off the unfinished blades shelf, now all they need is a bit of BLO on the handles. 9 and 10 inches on the blade, 5160 steel, the curvy kitchen knife has maple scales, the utility knife has hickory.

Just kinda curious. My little brother and my nephew are going to be taking some blacksmithing classes at The Steel Yard in Providence, RI. Anyone know the instructors out there? When my nephew came to visit last summer I guess I lit the fire for a new smith.

Because everything in Australia tries to kill you

Maybe I'll get a rifle or 2 with that etched in.