Will Brouwers

I had a friend machine a part for me, so now the mechanism works. My next question has to do with the leverage for the mechanism. On the old one, a rectangular bar fits in and acts as a handle. For the machined part, we haven’t got to the step where we copy the original, and I was wondering what would be stronger, to copy the original, or to make it so that a pipe can slide over the end and then use the pipe as the handle? On the original, it feels like the sidewalls are a bit thin, on my idea with a pipe, I wonder if bending or breaking the connection at the pipe would be an issue? Finally, one of the shears doesn’t have a blade. There are new blades for sale online for $60, but I figured I am a blacksmith and can attempt to make my own. I have heard people recommend D2, but I have limited heat treating experience and don’t have any D2 that I know of. I do have leaf spring that I think might work, I just wonder if it would be tough enough?

I’ll probably just end up sanding the whole thing down till it is fairly wood color. Having a red handle is cool, but is not worth the work of re-staining it, and it doesn’t match the rest of my handles.

John, I was thinking about taking the finish off and making the handle a little more rectangular, but the red is so cool, and I figured I should put some hours on it before modifying it. Thomas, I had you in mind when I bought this, as I know you have all sorts of different hammers for all sorts of different people! I also remember you talking about students complaining about their hammer and how it is the reason they can’t forge something, but then you use the same hammer and show them that a craftsman doesn’t blame their tools. And wasn’t it you who said that once you were demoing and were hammering something very small with the peen end of a hammer and someone in the audience was amazed? I found myself doing that the other week and thought of reading that here on the forum.

Got this 40oz (2.5lb) ball peen at a tool surplus store. I tried it out yesterday on some 3/4 square, and maybe it was just because I was excited to use it, or because I haven’t forged in a while, or because the steel was really hot, but it was moving the steel quickly! It felt really good! The only problem is that my primary 2.2 lb. cross peen might start collecting some dust…

That is a good point John. I have used the functional shear on the left quite a bit. I can fit up to 1/4 inch round and bar stock. It's no Edwards #5 or #20, but quicker, quieter and cleaner than an angle grinder. For now I am planning on keeping the functional one, the question is with the rest of the stuff. How would you suggest passing it on? I thought about going to a blacksmith's meetup to see what interest there might be...

I recently got this fully assembled shear, along with a halfway assembled shear and a base of some sort, that I am almost 100% sure does not go with the shears a while back. With all this I also got a small post vise needing some repair. It was all $60. I find myself needing a second opinion on what to do with the halfway assembled shear and the base. I know that I will be moving in a year and a half after seminary is done, and want to know if these are things worth keeping, fixing or scrapping? I would need a couple pieces for the shear to be functional, however one of those pieces is fairly complex. The base looks familiar, but I can’t tell what it would be from, and if it would be useful for something? Thanks for your wisdom!

That's great! I really like that idea! Does it normally stay that clean??

I just posted on the “show me your workbench thread,” and figured it was a good time to show the basement shop I have created in the seminary townhouse my wife and I live in. It is all temporary, as we have lived here a year and a half, and have another year and a half to go. The first picture is where most of my storage is, along with all my blacksmithing tools that get hauled up the stairs outside each time I forge. The anvil and propane forge stay outside, but everything else, including the 5.5 inch vise gets hauled up. The other side of the shop is where the new to me drill press lives, along with all my steel and wood storage.

I would love to see this thread resurrected and be able to see y’all’s benches or work stations. I figure, like me, it will also give you an excuse to clean off your bench! Mine is made from all scrap wood, and was recently made much, much more sturdy by a friend who threw some plywood under the 2x4s and who also added some braces. Underneath is all my non-ferrous scrap storage.

Sheesh! That's a good deal! Tell Nancy to keep up the good work!

Your comment made me laugh out loud Frosty! That picture and this handled hot cut from a blacksmith's store look very similar to my untrained eye Glenn

Good thinking!! If it ain't broke, don't TRY to fix it...

Interesting!! What do you think about reprofiling it? I don’t have enough experience with a handled hot cut.

Got this at the antique store today. $4.75 out the door. I’m wondering if I should try to reshape the front to make it more of a hot cut, a thinner profile? I am for sure going to trim the end!!

Was pretty productive tonight! Finished up a sledge hammer handle and made a sheath for an axe I got YEARS ago. Now to wait a little longer for the leather store to have a sale…

Mink oil, but it seems to need replenishing quite often. I also have little to no experience with oiling or protecting my boots...trying to break old, bad habits.

I showed this to my wife and she said "I just like all the yarn!" The brackets look phenomenal John!

Thank you for the warnings on zinc plating. I am very much aware of that because of this forum and all the warnings given! Thank you! Also, thank you for the justification to keep more stuff lol!

Interesting tools! A while ago this chain followed me home. The top section is 7/16 diameter, the middle is 1/4 and the bottom is 5/16. I know that I will have to move in a year, and was wondering if you think it is worth holding on to? Especially the small section. I can see the other sections being useful, stick it in the forge, put a finish on it and you have decorative chain. Thoughts?

Thanks for the ideas guys! I had thought about wood before, but the tire idea was consuming my focus!

I just saw a video on Instagram of a Historical Medieval Battle participant practicing his moves, using his sword and shield, on a stack of tires. It looked really cool and like a lot of fun. It got me thinking, is there a way to get good at swinging a sledge when you are by yourself? I thought about looping a tire over my anvil and hitting that, to be more accurate and gain more stamina. Or would it just be better to go volunteer with a smith who needs a striker? Thoughts?

Man! I wish I had those kind of neighbors, the only fun things I have gotten from them are retrieved from the dumpsters... Which brings up a question, one that I asked in an official thread, but here there is real application. If I received 20 lbs. of hardware, I wouldn't know what to do with it. Scrap it, keep it, scrap half, sort it all out? So, to put you on the spot John, what are you going to do with it? (Sorry to put you on the spot, just a curious "treasure collector" asking out of curiosity.)

12 links in an hour. Very happy with my work, and even better, my wife is very impressed!! Now, what to use it for…maybe the beginning of a never ending chain?

Cool! Thank you!

John, how do you make tongs from bed rails? Can you show us a picture of the final product?