Strine

I fashioned a wooden fire pot....let me finish!! which I had cast in cast iron. The cost was surprisingly affordable even for me. That was in about 1995 and it's still going strong. When you do it this way you have the opportunity to stick on your initials or a logo or something. This really impresses the beginners and they think you're some sort of God-like smith. Gee... a personalised fire pot! What a pity the accolade doesn't fit the reality.

I absolutely, categorically and without qualm totally and utterly disagree Jr. I'd rather divide and multiply by ten any day. I can't see the problem myself.

You seem, from your post, to treat metrics with utter contempt which is sad. The ruination of a whole country...gee, wouldn't have thought metrics were that bad. Still, nothing wrong with letting another state have the reins for a while! World War Three over measurement systems...a surveyor's dream. But I take it mostly as tongue in cheek as I know you know the value of such a simple system dealing with just tenths of this or tens of that. Your list is impressive and labels you a guru on old measurements however it is far from complete. What about bee's d---s (appendages), fraggs, skins of teeth, hair breadths, widths of idicator, paces, tinnies (refer to Dale) and touches to name a few.

And to counter your argument doesn't it seem odd that a great nation built with an antiquated measuring system opted very early for an infinitely simpler monetory system than pounds, shillings, pence, florins, zacs, deeners, bobs and guineas.

I believe that learning to do them by hand is probably the most cost effective way to learn. Once there, the decision for more equipment becomes one of economics rather than a crutch for poor skills.

Reeds-60
Reed shoes -60
Reed clamps -60
Reed clamp screws -120 (purchased ready made)
Reed plates -2

Valve boards -2
Valve pads -60 consisting 4 distincts bits to be made = 240
Valve levers + air levers -62
Valve springs -62
Valve lever posts -62

Buttons -32 consisting 3 distinct bits = 96
Button sleeves +32

Bellows boards -96
bellows hinges (internal) -48
Bellows hinges (external) -42 x 2 =84
Gussets -63
Bellows papers -96

So far thats 1355 approx and there's still the ends, the straps, and all the ancilliary hardware such as screws and thread inserts etc oh and of course a nice box to carry it in!

2000!!! Maybe that might be too many but it's certainly a concervative estimate on how many parts there SEEMS to be:rolleyes:

Blueprints on scrolls and bending forks.
It takes practice and more practice to make items identical.

Gee biting your tongue hurts!

Twice now I've been threatened with all manner of nasty reprisals for not posting in "several weeks". No I haven't, I've just been twice reminded I'm not actively engaged in this site at the moment.

So why aren't I posting? Well, you see, I've been carrying two monkeys on my back, the first for quite some time and the second for about twelve months.

For close to three years I've been working on some way to make circles out of 4" x 3/8" x 5' of hardwood and then cover the circle with a suitably prepared animal skin. My shed looks more like a pipe factory with all the failures hanging in the rafters. Each attempt has it's own story to tell as to what went wrong. Some even border on being acceptable but seeing as how the finished article is for me, it has to be perfect. Nevertheless I think I'm getting close.

The other is the manufacture of a musical instrument (see avatar) which I embarked upon last year. It comprises well over 2000 parts made of either wood, steel, brass, leather, linen or bone. Some of the parts allow less than a few thou tolerance, while other parts allow the luxury of...gee...1/4 of a mm. Anybody got a good method of skiving leather to about 0.004 or 0.005 of an inch?

Lately all my computer time has been involved in research or design of either of the above two monkeys at least in an attempt to get rid of one. There is only enough time left to simply pop into IFI and have a quick gander. Unless the poster is in grave danger lest I personally set him right or a post is strikingly interesting, I can't afford the time.

In any case I think I'm upto about 418 posts which should tide me over for a while yet.

Wow,

Y'know, when I find an interesting shed I want to look at everything, and I don't just mean the contents. The structure is often fascinating as well. The marvels of modern science eh? I felt like I was standing inside the sheds.

OK I'm ready for the whole series of IFI smithys photographed this way! Tell me how to do it with my box brownie and I'll start the ball rolling.
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"Hello Strine it appears that you have not posted on our forums in several weeks, why not take a few moments to ask a question, help provide a solution or just engage in a conversation with another member in any one of our forums?"

I didn't realise there was a time limit..."several weeks". Gee I've got library books borrowed in the sixties and the libraries aren't bugging me yet. What's the problem folks?

Roger, you just need to check the little area in the top right corner of any of my posts. It says Melbourne! which is near enough in a global sense. I'm about 30km east, toward the hills. Or check my pin on the map. That's even closer to the mark, but not near enough for the shrapnel to reach if you dropped one on that spot:)

rthibeau,

Your derivation forgets to substract the first number you thought. Otherwise it looks very impressive. Maths rules OK

G'day Roger,

In the beginning it was a trickle then it became a flood.

Outback where?

G'day Mrs Irn,
I dips me lid. That's the gentlemanly thing to do when one meets a lady I'm told. Oh, the translation...I doff my hat to you...or I tug the forlock on the odd ocassion I'm hatless.
Welcome

I love sheds. Other peoples' especially. The more personal the better. Prefab tin models don't really turn me on as it's very hard to add that personal touch. Great to hear you're knocking up timber ones. Funnily enough my job also involves building sheds. These however can be up to 200m long and 100m wide and are mostly steel and concrete...boring.

Check out

Cattleman Huts in the High Country

or

Hut Reviews - Wallace's Hut

I wonder if the fencing-wire toaster I made thirty years ago is still there?

These sheds have character, Actually they're cattlemaens huts for living in but They'd make terrific sheds. You already have the plans!! They're in your head. It's a matter of make do with what you have at hand.

When I stand at the door of the shed my lathe turns clockwise. When I stand at the window up the other end it turns anticlockwise. Sheesh!

When I stand to work at it it turns toward me.

What's the problem? Until the horn falls off and an ill fitting hardy tool splits off the heal its an anvil as good as any I've seen. When the Peter Wright arrives maybe then it will turn into a cast iron lump. How many of us have scored any sort of anvil by just looking in the dumpster.

Scatch all the above... I take it all back, I was just being nice. It is just a cast iron lump...useless really, It's any wonder you found it in the dumpster. I recommend in the strongest terms to return it smartly to said dumpster.

By the way, where exactly is this dumpster and when will you be returning the lump?

Interesting discussion. Reminds me of driving through the bush one day where I happened upon a fine log about ten feet long which had obviously "fallen off the back of a truck" It looked like it would split into some nice fence rails. "Bewdy" says I. Just one problem. Only tool to hand in my survey vehicle was an axe. The sledge was at home happily awaiting its repair after my assistant "modified" it somewhat. And wedges were not something I carried in the ute(pron: yewt = pickup? (then!). I did have a bag of redgum (Australian hardwood ... common as muck) survey pegs which looked a lot like wedges to me under the circumstances. Needs must when the devil drives eh?

Moral of the story; don't worry about $50 steel wedges - get a bag of survey pegs...they work like a charm. Mmm ... they probly cost about $60

On those steel wedges in the pickky. I have always understood this shape of wedge ie tapered at the top, should be hit with a steel sledge. The wedges that are more a classical (read mathematical) wedge shape ie they start with a cutting edge and just get wider should be hit with a wooden maul.

And finally a tip passed on from my farver. Always leave one wedge in the wedge bag to use as an absolute last resort. You'll work out why one day

As for pole axes, single bit, double bit etc. For your (non-Aussies) edification the top picture is an ordinary ol' axe ... (note the 'e') and the bottom one is something you see at the flicks (movies). :D

The best ones have been to do with just forging iron (The site is Iforgeiron afterall). All the others, the ones that deal with working metal in a general sense I just skip over. They are of only passing interest to me. Sorry Folks.

Hey Glenn, I bet you'ld love to have the edit feature back!

What on earth is happening to the weather. Here we are, middle of December; temperatures in the forties on some days and in the thirties on average; Stage 3 water restrictions about to come into force after seven years of drought... you can only drink beer now, water is banned; a bushfire that's burnt for the last two weeks has blackened 3 million acres and raised a score of houses, and we get SNOW, yes snow on Christmas day. What next.

Fan-bloody-tastic. A great effort for a first time. The lines got me first, you have an eye for what looks good. One thing I would watch is the nick near the hinge. this effectively reduces the dimension and therefor weakens the metal at that point.

Ditto exactly what BT said re the hole. As for the rivet have a go at this.

Select maybe 6" of rivet material say 3/8" diam. Slightly taper one end to make a drift. After punching your hole -sligtly undersize- use the drift to make the hole just the right size.

Now make the "rivet" out of the drift. (It wont look like a rivet until its in place in the tongs). You will need enough of the drift, starting at the tapered end, equal to twice the diam of the drift plus the thickness of both the tong eyes. Don't over estimate and don't make it too short. Cut the drift almost through at this length. Don't forget to allow a bit extra for the taper.

Set up the tongs on the anvil, Dad's help will be great here, as if you were inserting a "proper" rivet. Now put something under the tongs to lift the eye off the anvil by the diam of the rivet.

Get ready to rock and roll. The next step will make both ends of the rivet in one heat. But be warned you only have one chance at this. If you stuff it up you'll need to cut the rivet out and start again. Make sure everybody knows their job

Heat the rivet to a good yellow. Remove it from the fire, stick it in the hole and twist off the bit you don't want. Think fast...5 seconds have already elapsed and your running out of time. Gently tap the rivet till it hits the anvil. Give it a couple of reasonable whacks to peen over the the top end a little. That's another couple of seconds. Turn it over, be quick now We mean business here. Rivet over the other side, back to the first side, turn it over again. That should do it. Ten seconds all up, phew, we made it.

The tongs are now jambed tight. Stick the hole lot it the fire. With a good heat...no need for yellow now. you'll be able to unjamb them easily enough, While you still have heat make your adjustments for a perfect fit to the job.

But all that aside. Congrats on your first pair of tongs. I wish a lot more so called blacksmiths would have a go at them

Get your fire going, bung in a bit of metal, wait till its hot, take it out of the fire and belt the living daylights out of it. There's your pair of "pliers"... as heavy duty as you like.

How...check out a few of the Blueprints here for excellent instruction.

What on earth are you going to do with an apple peeler? That's what it is isn't it?

Love to all at Wezzy, have a great Chrissy. At least it doesn't look like being a stinker tomorrow.

Kneelength...wish it was longer, no chest piece, split down the middle for holding tongs, split cowhide, heavy duty.

Advantage... don't know, it's the only one I've ever worn. Maybe it's advantage is that it lasts a long time:)

Ya see, getting long in the tooth has its advantages. With age comes nouse (pron: now-s) or wisdom. You learn that if you think you won't come up to scratch (cut the mustard) you pronbably won't. And so it is with the Marlebone Cricket Club. Ian...Shame Shame Shame. I know there's nothing to gain in flogging a dead horse but you should at least have shown some support for the boys in the harlequin caps (why don't they wear them any more?). Word is the bookies (bookmakers) were getting most of their custom from Aussies hoping to make a game of it instead of a whitewash (walkover).

Ian, I won't be burying you, just glad we can all enjoy a good stoush no matter who comes out in front. It's just that it's our turn to be on top. Come to think of it we've been on top quite a bit over the last few years or is that decades.

Well done Smudger, a great effort but here's a thought. I have a drawknife where the tangs are bent up before being bent around to point to the operator. As well, it has a fairly decent radius to the blade. It is a brilliant combination, especially if you're working flat stuff held in a vice because your hands are raised a little above the plane of the blade. I have to say it is much more versatile than the other flat knife I have

To explain again, at Smithy's third step, bend the tang 90 degrees at the point where it is resting on the horn of the anvil, in a direction away from the hardy or pritchel hole.

Just a suggestion, but do try it, you might like.

Many is the time I've stood infront of a particular configuration of porcelain contemplating life in general. Invariably my vague thoughts turn to the suitability of the piece of stainless steel I'm looking at as a forge grate. Nice domed shape, plenty of 1/4" holes, about 3" in diameter at the base, easy pickings for a thief, a bit wet but that's alright. Nup...maybe next time.

These things are probably available at good plumbing supplies where they wouldn't be surrounded by a heap of yellow lollies at various stages of decomposition.