Shainarue

Frosty I was thinking the same thing. That run from glass work room to metal work room with a big blob of molten glass leading the way - it's a recipe for serious injury.

I get it. Yes, I do call it art - but if it no longer satisfies your creative need then it's time to move on. Totally understand! But .... and I'm just throwing this out there ... maybe you could continue with face sculptures by finding a way to make them more intricate or complicated?

Das & Billy, those are great. I LOVE those bobbleheads! I am a huge fan of creepy/odd dolls, especially clowns - and the bobblehead aspect manages to raise it a notch!

I will certainly miss seeing your face sculptures! Why is this the last one?

I love it. You can definitely envision that the picture was caught mid-step by the character. You did well at conveying motion.

I actually have a list of stuff for a similar purpose. I was asked to help demo at a Heritage Days event this coming October and they focus on period accuracy as close as possible. So I looked up what sort of stuff I should practice on for the 1700-1900s. (side note: 1900s make me chuckle since technically *I* was born and raised in the 1900s - but I know they mean the first couple decades.) I realize the Renaissance era is a few hundred years earlier but I think most of these would still apply. Anyway, here's my list: tongs from 1/4" bar (have audience vote: should you make each side the same or mirror image?) screwdrivers spoon S-hooks nails branding iron (this isn't so much a demo as a pull to see your booth. Check ahead of time to see if there's a way to incorporate a brand into the event and "stamp" something they get from another booth. Since this is a highschool, maybe it could be their mascot or school letters.) Toys (I know these are highschool kids but even adults enjoy old timey toys, lol) nail puzzle ring puzzle mouse

Please don't stop tormenting the forum with your stuff! I happen to love your sculptures. It's funny you named it Blubber Head from the appearance of a whale, because I saw Blubber Head - then saw the sculpture - and thought 'derpy' and figured that's what you meant, lol

Have you tried cotton gloves (or socks)? That's what I've always used. As for cracks, a few times a year my hands also get bad cracks and breakouts. Not just one hand though. That's a bit strange, lol. Anyway, I use No-Crack during the day and sometimes I'll use our dog's Mushers Secret at night and put socks on my hands to keep it from rubbing off onto the blankets. John, I am loving the repoussé pieces you've been sharing. Jennifer, it's crazy how you can put out the quality of work you can while working through the pain of an injury. You've been at this awhile, so I trust you know your own body well enough to know when you need to rest an injury versus work through it. I had a day off work last week so I was able to play with hot metal for a long while. It felt great. I started out with leaves, made an over-the-door hook, and curved some railing picket scrap to use on my friend's bird feeder hanger. Oh, and I tried to start on a "something that spins" sculpture for a Facebook blacksmithing challenge group I'm in. Except I hadn't planned on doing that and I was totally winging it. I just happened to see a scrap of tubing and another scrap of rod that looked like it would fit inside the tube, and thought, "hey, that might work for the spinner project!" I proceeded to get the rod stuck inside the tube. Then I drew out some of the 3/8 bar I had left from the hook and used that with some grease to push the rod free. Then I forged that rod just slightly smaller, added some flowers (also from the scrap bucket) and twisted the rod into a loop to hold them in place. It does indeed spin but not because the rod is spinning inside the tube. It's because the hole in the petals is quite a bit larger than the rod they are on. I don't love it. I'm debating continuing to tinker with it or just toss it back to the scrap bucket. I went to the (Kansas) Free State Blacksmith Club meeting without a trade item. Trade item was the 1/2" sq x 6" challenge. I first tried a sculpture which I had planned out and had notes written. Got all the pieces forged but when I went to assemble, it just didn't come out as I had expected. So I kept futzing with it until I got this: I would have been embarrassed to give that to someone. Funny, looking at it now, if I had *intended* for it to look like that, I wouldn't have been embarrassed. Oh well. So the next night I tried again but this time I decided to do the Russian Rose. Welp, it was about 30 degrees that night and as I was hammering to get the very first roll started, the vibrations went right on down to that quickly cooled thin metal with cuts and just tore it right off. I didn't come away from the meeting empty handed though! The guy that was hosting runs a metal shop and had a bunch of scrap he was going to haul the following week so he said to take whatever we wanted. I gathered up a bucket full. Mostly stuff to make the forge stand, anvil stand, and a table for the vise stand. Also some angle iron to try out the feathers and a few pieces of small bar stock. Not pictured: I've also been cutting and welding and whatnot, getting a new gas forge stand made with a frame that can hold the firebricks over the openings. Also getting a frame made for the rail anvil. It fell 3 times during that long forging day. It needs to be held horizontally bit also be able to be secured when I flip it on end. I'll post a pic when it's complete and too late to take on any advice for improvements, lol

Frosty, it never occurred to me to use broken firebrick in the gas forge to shield places I didn't want to get as hot. Thanks for that tip!

Glad to hear my intuition was correct. I just saw enough other setups (in person) with that configuration that I stated wondering. I'll still store it underneath, but in use I'll continue as I currently do - moving the tank as far as the hose allows off to the side. I've seen another person's setup had a pole that held the hose up and away - I guess to keep tension off the connection from the hose hanging down? My hose isn't that long - just the one that came with the kit - so I don't think excess weight is an issue in my case yet. I grew up being taught a good amount of respect toward fire safety as my mother's childhood home burned down and she lost all keepsakes. She only has a few photos of her as a kid and those were given to her later from other relatives. She also has a few photos of her parents. I lost quite a bit of keepsakes in my 20s when my apartment flooded. I haven't really been much for tangible memories since then. I felt the loss of those items and grieved, but then realized it didn't take away the memories. Now I have things like songs or constellations or flowers that remind me of people. Anyway, straying off topic. I'll definitely keep the propane away from the forge except when storing it.

I haven't burned them off but one time my wife accidentally waxed half my eyebrow off

I did make a back scratcher for the trade item at this last weekend's BAM meeting. This actually started out as something for the 1/2" bar challenge but I started it out in the sloped workshop and was so befuddled with standing sideways that I messed up the dimensions of where my stops/starts were. So I decided to draw it out and make the backscratcher. The shaft is supposed to look 'organic'. I think it ended up just looking like I had really crappy technique at turning square to round, lol - but honestly, I TRIED to make it look that way I was happy with how the leaf turned out and also happy with the heat painting. But I've mostly been trying to unpack/organize/set up the shop from it all having been packed & moved and randomly dispersed. Every time I needed something (screw driver, level, goggles, whatever) I would spend 10 minutes or more just looking for it and that is very frustrating. I gathered up all the angle grinders and hung them inside the studs closest to the door, so they're available for easy access. I later added more hooks to hold the various extra discs for sanding/grinding/cutting. I gathered up all the PPE and hung it from the backside of the pegboard on the tool bench. Easily visible from the door so I'm more likely to remember to use it (You might be able to see on the wall of angle grinders that I have the cut resistant gloves and goggles hanging WITH the cutoff grinder) As I unpacked boxes, I started piles of hand tools and once the toolbench was full, I hung those up on the pegboard. I've had this pegboard toolbench for over 5 years and NEVER had anything hung up on it, LOL! This is a perfect opportunity for new beginnings. Here's to seeing if I am able to maintain this level of pretty organization The table is still a mess but it's mostly fasteners and random loose bits of stuff. I will truly be in the weeds when I start going through that stuff so for now, it can wait. I hefted the drill press up onto the workbench (I'm gonna have to get a box to stand on while using that) and got the portaband stand ready for assembly. The belt sander will probably be moved to the big workbench and that foldup workbench it's currently on will probably get folded and available for use when needed. If you squint, you can see the plastic tubs up on the corner shelves. Those are all themed boxes of tools/supplies. Like grouting, sheetrock, painting, electrical, plumbing. The big empty metal stand is going to get cut in half, slid together and welded (effectively making it half the width) and that will be the stand for the gas forge. I'm also going to weld some steel plate to the bottom of the legs and add locking swivel casters so it's easier to move in/out of the basement for forging sessions. I'm also tossing around ideas for mounting the propane tank in the underside - even if it's just for storage and not during use. I feel like maybe the propane tank shouldn't be so close to the actual forge but then I also see plenty of other setups where the tank is on a shelf under the forge so I'd love to hear other's input on that.

I had a haircut once where I swear I looked just like Jim Carrey in the movie Dumb and Dumber. It was awful. I was working at the bar at the time and one of the drag queens took pity on me and fixed it - and then became my hair cutter person from then on until they moved away. I have a ton of cowlicks and a few scars that cause the hair to go a bit wonky if it gets too short. They were amazing at working with all those wonky spots. I've never had a hair cutter person before or since that was as good at that as they were.

Billy, I really like that leafy J hook!

I mounted the hooks to a plank of lumber last night at which point I noticed the two flat scrolled hooks are crooked! I tweaked and double checked tweaked more and double checked again before I painted them. I don't know how these managed to get past me. Embrace the imperfection I also decided last night to try and forge in the temporary shelter. I was hoping I'd get used to the slope. I didn't. If anything, it felt worse the longer I was out there. So I won't be forging the again until I've leveled the ground. Here's a pic from inside the shelter looking out. For reference, I tilted the camera until the light poles in the background were vertical. It looks like I took a crooked picture but it really is that sloped.

I definitely see the beak. I also see the front end of a speed boat or jet ski or the like.

Been there many times, gewoon. I admire the more experienced smiths here that walk away and rethink things. I'm with you, crying in the corner (or more likely, throwing a quiet temper tantrum), lol I might think on it as I'm tossing and turning later, but not intentionally. I actually made the same math mistake doing my hooks last night. Forgot to add in diameter of stock for the calculation of how much material I'd need for the hook. So the hooks are 3/4" instead of 1". No biggie.

Coming from someone who knows nothing about what viking ships historically looked like - I think this looks really cool. It's beautiful in daylight and gorgeous in candlelight.

That latch is coming along nicely Billy. That style of door latch has been on my project list since I saw a demo at a meeting last February. I've done a few little things this week. I finished the flowers for Glenn's memorial bouquet and they're packed up ready to mail on Monday. Ashley asked for a few coat hooks so I made those tonight and then did a bit more work on the bird feeder hanger for my friend.

Irondragon, that was my very first setup. It's gone through many iterations since. Always situating the anvil and vise within 2 steps of the forge so I can just pivot to whatever I need. That hammock will be sorely missed. It was indeed the perfect reminder to kick back and relax when I started making mistakes or just wanted a break.

Ha, well I always feel a bit odd-(wo)man-out when it comes to these origin stories as I had absolutely zero knowledge/exposure/experience in anything metal related nor mechanical in nature. Until 2022, my experience with "power tools" was a drill and a circular saw. I've always enjoyed working with my hands but awful at measuring/cutting to size, accuracy, following complex directions, etc. I still don't know a LOT but I'm learning as the opportunity deems necessary. (Remembering what I've learned, on the other hand .... ) Another (maybe) interesting tidbit: I'd never heard of the show FIF until after I was fully immersed into the craft. And I've still only seen a few snippets that people share on social media. That's the most common response I hear from people new to blacksmithing like me - but in my case, this was a purely accidental discovery. Anyway - how I came into the craft of blacksmithing: In July 2021 my coworker/friend stumbled across a class at a local makerspace that was to create a "Viking's Fork" (basically a long firepit skewer with a curlicue handle and twisted shaft) and asked if I'd go with her. I enjoyed it so much that when they offered a rose making class in May 2022, I jumped into that as well. I wasn't as fulfilled with the rose making though, as it was mostly just watching the plasma cutting machine cut out the blanks and then tweaking the blanks into shape with a propane torch. Then in June 2022 they offered another class for "Fancy Twists" that I took. Made a "mumblety peg" which is basically just a 12" x 1/2" square bar with a blunt taper on one end and whatever fancy twist you wanted on the other end. We learned the cube twist & stairstep twist using a pneumatic cutoff tool and bandsaw. So other than learning cutting grooves into the bar can result in some fun looking twists, I again didn't learn much in the way of new skills. Anyway - those classes were expensive so I started looking into what it would take to get a basic setup started on my back patio on the super cheap, since I wasn't sure yet if I'd stick with it. I figured I'd find some YouTube videos and learn on my own. Enter IFI. This forum is where I learned about JABOD forges and so much more. The classes I'd taken had us working on railroad rails so I already knew that was an option for the anvil. I found a friend who knew a guy that worked on the railroad and he gifted her a piece of "scrap" rail which she gifted to me. I received some advice from members here. I found a video from JLP Services to practice consistent spreading and I checked out a few beginner project books from the library and made a few things. Jennifer & Glenn both helped me with my hammer swing & stance via video messages. I also attended my first BAM meeting, where I made my first leaf and found out about a local-ish instructor with an intensive 3-day beginners blacksmithing course. I think that beginner's course is when I truly fell in love with the craft. Learning the basic techniques and how various striking angles affect things - and seeing around the instructor's shop what was possible with time and practice was quite inspiring. About a month after that course, I knew 100% I was sticking with this and got into contact with Billy (TwistedWillow) to get a post vise and a bigger anvil, as well as a bunch of scrap to make jigs, forge into things, or whatever else I might use it for, lol. Billy was my first blacksmithing friend and I'm grateful to this forum for bringing us together. Picture of my first backyard patio setup, which I used for about 2 months before upgrading to a rivet forge found by my MIL in her late father-in-law's barn and Billy sold me an anvil & post vise. Funny, I'm currently back to using the railroad rail & bench vise on the driveway at the new place until I get something situated for the bigger stuff.

I finished assembling the flower for Glenn's memorial tonight. I need to dig out the Dremel to get it cleaned up, hit it with a clear coat, and then I'll ship it off to Steve. Chad, you should definitely send in that calla lily.

That's a nice twist gewoon. The ensuing convo thread on bending has been insightful as well. I FINALLY got out to do a little hammering on hot metal last night! I wanna say it's been maybe 2 months?! Crazy. Anyway, the repair of the gas forge refractory had been drying in our living area for a week so I figured it was good to go. I got that all set up just outside the basement doors. Then hauled the railroad rail up from the temporary shelter lower down on the property. Then hauled up a spare anvil stand to set it on as well as a mounted bench vise. I do have an extra post vice which was intended for a portable setup. But I didn't want to take the evening finding a way to mount it & get it set up. For the little I was doing, the bench vise was going to be fine. No pictures of the progress - what little there was anway, lol. Because once I got everything hauled up and set into place, I only had about 30 minutes to actually DO anything, lol. I upset one end of small round bar to act as the receptacle of the flower for Glenn's memorial. Then I reduced the remaining length of bar to make the stem longer and not so bulky. I kept the base of the stem a titch larger because it looked more natural that way - even though it will likely be hidden inside a bouquet, lol. I also started splitting a piece of flat bar to make a hanger for my friend's bird food stuffs (suet cage & bell shaped bird seed cake). She just wanted something simple that would mount to the fence post above her bird camera, then extend out so that the hanging things would be in view of the camera but hopefully deter the thieving squirrels. I'm going to recommend she vaseline the arm because those squirrels can totally climb fences and bird feeder poles, lol Anyway, about 3 heats into the splitting process I asked myself why on earth I was doing this by hand instead of using a cutoff disc. LOL. I continued on by hand because I decided I just wanted to. It's been too long and I desperately needed this outlet. As evidenced by the rag in my split, I also desperately need some hot cut practice, LOL

I never thought about it but yes, It is quite surprising we don't have a topic for Historical Ironwork! Thanks for the article share.

Exactly gewoon. As much as I love the warmer days, I don't look forward to the drive to work when it refreezes.