Jobtiel1

Had a friend over to strike today, and we made a handled hammer eye punch. no pictures unfortunately. we had to punch a hole with the old punch twice, as the first try burnt up badly because I was talking and not paying attention. 

The next step is forging an axe eye drift from some truck leaf spring I have lying somewhere, and after that I want to make a top fuller from some mild too. And then I'm trying out forging a small hatchet from some 27mm hex 4140!

concerning the axe eye drift, do you need to account for bending when forging the teardrop shape similar to knives? or is that not much of a problem?

~Jobtiel

I have a 4 1/2 inch angle grinder, and now barely use it anymore, I started to do most of my work by hand. As anvil said, rather spend 2 minutes in the forge to make my files as fast as the angle grinder. I did have two close calls in the year that I've been using it, one exploding grinder disk, but I took safety precautions and nothing came of it. the second one got a bit closer, and I got a cup wire wheel stuck in my clothing. luckily the angle grinder stopped spinning and I could quickly unplug it before it ripped my clothes. And why did this happen? I used the tool for the first time, while starting to get tired, and the kicked back into me because I didn't take the time to secure the piece well enough. second time using it and I took everything outside to have enough working space, and I haven't had any problems since.

Hi all,

When I walked to my local boy scouts group to guide this afternoon, I walked past an old wrought iron ship anchor at the old harbor, like I always do. But today I thought you might want to see this too.

This used to be a booming merchant town throughout the middle ages, and then transitioned into a more fishing oriented town, so it might be an anchor for either of them (I think).

some closeups of the forge welds for the two tails, and one to show the grain of the iron.

If you have more info feel to share it, or discuss some interesting things. 

I thought it was quite interesting to have a piece like this nearby and never realize the significance in material and overall use before getting into smithing.

~Jobtiel

Had a little time again today, and forged a second viking style belt buckle, after buying some smaller stock yesterday.

comparison shot of the two:

The second one has a more functional design, but it isn't quite there yet in terms of symmetry and the like. But at least I get comments from family members that I'm improving, took me about a three quarters of year but I guess it's getting visible.

They look great! I'm also planning on forging hinges for a new shed, currently looking at what approach fits my skills and the shed the best. 

~Jobtiel

Bluerooster, that's an interesting approach, I am also in the process of making a thumb latch, next time I'm in the shop I'll take a picture of how I'm doing it.

Chad J, did you forge weld in the pintle pins? Or did you pressure fit them or something else?

~Jobtiel

Haven't seen a fireplace like that yet in the Netherlands, the style of the tiles is very Dutch indeed. "Delfts Blauw" it's called.

JHCC, What do you need the circles for on a welding cart? to hold gas bottles?

Bluerooster, how do you plan to attach the "thumber" to the front latch, have you left a thicker piece behind the finial, or do you attach it in some other way?

Today I tried forging a viking style belt buckle, as well as another fire striker in a different style, unfortunately I burned the fire striker, so that one had to be scrapped. The new belt on my forge works a treat, it's much nicer now that I have a proper belt.

Next up is another belt buckle, as this one is way too big too actually use.

~Jobtiel

Hi Frosty, I guess it is, the tools don't always come back home, especially drifts get lost sometimes.

Hi Irondragon, thanks for your reply, this is exactly the kind of idea I was looking for. It's a great idea! Thanks!

Hi, I've been using the forge for a while now, and there is one big problem I have at the moment.

The band that connects the blower with the cast iron wheel of the foot pedal. I replaced it after the one I got with the forge broke. I use a piece of ratchet strap, but that one is on the end of it's life now too.

What do you suggest I use as the new band to connect the blower too the pedal, I found some leather band online but that is quite expensive, are there any budget alternatives that I don't know about?

Thanks for your help and replies.

~Jobtiel

Thomas, I don't think that'll be necessary (luckily), the wooden shoes are quite easy to get off the stump. Would be hilarious to have some friends try doing that when they come over to be my minions.

JHCC Thanks! It's not even my idea, I picked up the wooden shoes idea from other Dutch blacksmiths, so it might be our national gimmick in terms of blacksmithing.

This is my anvil stand in my small shop, on the left side I have a wooden shoe full of punches and drifts, and to the left I have a wooden shoe with currently my handheld hot cut and hammer eye drift, but those are going to get different places as soon as I have the stock again to make a second rack. Also a hook for the block brush.

On the back I have a ring rack, as well as a small mild steel cutting plate so I don't damage my anvil.

~Jobtiel

Your work looks amazing Alexandr!

I'm looking forward to see how those hooks turn out Thomas!

I bet the shop will look amazing using those logs Dennis.

Had a busy week so no shop time until today. Spend the time fixing my forge, as the blower was acting up lately. Opened the blower up and gave it a good clean, and put it back with some tweaking to make sure it was all in the correct place. Oiled the thing up, and now I can comfortably run the forge again. I am thinking of getting a hand-cranked blower or modify the existing one to be hand cranked, foot-pedaling is not the most fun thing to do.

This handle doesn't have a really interesting story behind it. It's an abbreviation of my real name, Job Tieleman, and the one behind is because "jobtiel" was already taken the first time I wanted to use it. It has been serving me well for 10 years now!

I was 21 (22 now), when I started, and I too wish I started when I was younger!

Cannon gave a very good idea, i have my first leaf as a keychain, and whenever I see it I think about how I thought I was never going to get better in the beginning. Now with not even a year of blacksmithing I can already make most of the things that I want to make.

always remember you don't need expensive tools! everything except my first tongs and my hammer and Anvil I have made myself, I'm up to 10 pairs of tongs and 2 wooden shoes ( Klompen ) full of handheld punches chisels and drifts. The most important thing is starting, not waiting for the right tools. getting the tools you need will come later, when you actually know when, why, and how to use them.

Hi Thomas, 

That's quite the difference in height, I don't really think about living below sea level anymore, maybe that's the same for you up there as well.

I have seen some Dutch posters already, Deimos standing out as a frequent poster that also happens to live nearby. In the Dutch sense of nearby anyway, Naarden for example is quite far from me, halfway across the country! The fact that it's only a max 2 hour drive is washed away when you say it like that.

It is indeed nice to not be tied by a business, and so far I haven't had any commissions from friends or family, apart from some fire strikers, but since we're moving in a few weeks I'm busy enough with my own projects.

Good question on the type of finish I use, for now I have only used BLO for indoor pieces, said fire strikers and some leatherworking tools. But for outdoor use I don't know if that's going to be good enough. And to be fair, I haven't tried. The scientist in me calls for a good scientific test, so I will make a post soon after I tried different finishes I have available at the moment and update. For now that's probably going to be BLO, beeswax, and a mixture of the two. Rust is indeed a big issue if left unchecked here, rusted car undercarriages and the like.

The Vise I am restoring from the other thread stood in the shed with semi direct access to open air for about three months and only had BLO applied to it cold, and it hasn't got any visible rust, so I guess routinely applying that should be fine. But we'll see soon enough.

~Jobtiel

Hi All, 

Thought it might be time to write a small introduction about myself. The name's Job, I'm currently 22 years old, and still in school doing a master's degree in analytical chemistry. I live in the province of Zeeland, on a peninsula largely reclaimed from the sea, and currently live 3 meters below sea level.

I started blacksmithing last summer, mainly because I wanted do get back at creating things. When I was a kid, I used to do carpentry with my dad all the time, building treehouses and the like. Due to studying and getting older, I quit doing that. Now I got back into it with blacksmithing and I've been loving it ever since!

In terms of blacksmithing, for now I like to make iron hardware and my own tools, and plan on making axes and other tools for woodworking (chisels, plane blades, gouges etc.).

My current projects consist of making all the hardware for a new shed for the new house, thumb latch, hinges, door handles, tool hooks. 

I try to use minimal power tools, and like taking longer do work by hand, as for me it's a hobby and not a business, so I can take as long as I want to on projects.

I hope you got to know me better.

If anyone is ever in the area, or already lives nearby, hit me up! I'd love to meet up and do some work with other smiths.

~ Jobtiel

Irondragon, the key hole is not in completely the right place, and the bolt would wiggle without the washer. But now critically looking at the bolt I'm forging a new one, should be better now that I know what to look out for when forging bolts.

I'll update after I have some forging time again.

I helped a friend get into woodworking, just by telling him he doesn't need to have expensive tools to do what he wants to do, his interest was there, the final push to actually start was still needed.

When I was younger I would like people to tell me that being smart is not an excuse to slack off, that hard work and smart work are needed to grow. Would've saved me a few years studying to reach where I am now. Getting into blacksmithing and wood/leather craft actually helped me teach this, that sometimes the way to do something is plain hard work.

The first tongs I made were scrapped, I have them somewhere, but they are not usable, the second pair is still use once in a while, the only fit 16 mm round but they are very good at picking that up.

Yesterday I finished the hot cut that I started working on with a friend. I used an old ice hockey stick as handle wood. It works great so far! However, I might have forged the hot cut too thick, and might forge it thinner if need arises.

Furthermore, I finished restoring my great-great-grandfather's post vise today, the details of which I posted in the thread in Vises.

~ Jobtiel

It's been some time, but I finally found the time (and need) to finally repair the vise completely.

I used Glenn's suggestion to remove the part of the old bolt that got stuck in the pivot hole:

with the old bolt completely gone, I didn't have the right size new bolt, but I did have the right size stock, and as JLP suggested, I tried forging a bolt. I do not have thread cutting tools, and thus tried the approach Thomas mention he saw used on old vises, and punched a slit and forged a key to wedge the bolt tight. I do need to re-forge the key so that it fits better and doesn't come loose easily.

And finally, I reinforced the wooden stand so that the vise is now actually usable so I think the restoration is now finally done! I do still need to find some letter punches ;).

P.S. for now I won't straighten the handle, if I feel it gets in the way I might, but I kind of like that I'm going to use the vise in roughly the same state it was last used.

I've found that for any smaller size (up to roughly 25 mm) mild steel stock, shipyards, if that's the correct english word, at least the place where that build and repair ships, throws a lot of good usable stock away.

My brother works in one, and I got all of my mild steel from him, completely free.

If you're lucky they might let you take brass, bronze, or high alloy cutoffs too.

Quiet day today, at least for the forge. After attending lectures till 3, I fixed an issue with my forge blower, as the leather band was too tight and warped the blower's axle, it's all fixed now with no damage to the blower. A package arrived today with new leather, so I can start crafting some things with that as well.