Shainarue

Welcome to the forum! I also devoured quite a few books as I was diving into this craft. I borrowed from the library first (sometimes had to use Interlibrary Loan) to see if I liked the format and if so, then I would order the book for purchase. Then I joined my local blacksmith association and found out they have their own little lending library! So I highly recommend checking for a local association and see what all they offer. FWIW, every time someone on the forum talks about hammer handles, I remember that I need to address some of my newer hammer handles to better fit my hand. Does the hammer work without doing so? Yes, which is why I keep putting it off. Would my hand muscles appreciate a better shape and not tire as quickly? Quite likely. I will confirm that (with wood handles anyway) removing the poly finish they come with completely eliminated the blisters I was getting from longer forging sessions! So if you notice you are getting blisters when using the fiberglass handle after longer forging sessions, then just know that switching to a wooden handle will 100% help that.

Aw, my heart goes out to your family & McFadden! We are unable to take him since we have a similar dog that on top of the startle response is quite resource guardy and we don't have the desire to work on/manage two dogs, lol. But I shared this info with someone else who's 'plugged in' with dog rescues all over - hopefully they'll find someone and get back with me.

I have this video saved in my Blacksmithing playlist for when I get going on leaves again because I also frequently had them breaking at the stem - the logic is sound.

That is stunning!

Funny you should mention that. I was using it today to tighten bolts on the post vice, it slipped and smacked me in the face HARD. Wrong tool for the job, totally my fault, but dang! Why do my life lessons have to hurt so danged much?!

I 100% recommend the blueprint of Easy Tongs that IFCW shared above. Those were the first tongs I made and they really are that easy. I made mine for small stuff - 1/4" or smaller - and I still use them when working on that stuff. I never even dressed the ends of the handles. Every time I use them, I think - "Yikes, that's kinda sharp. I really need to dress the ends of these." and then finish my project and forget all about it, lol

We had an uncharacteristically warm day (around 60°F and sunny!) so I got some welding work done. I might look up how to appropriately weld a bowl shape to a plate. That was messy. I ended up removing the bowl, laying 4 lines of weld to form a square, then setting the bowl inside that square and welding the lines to the bowl. Got me a little extra room for the tip but still really ugly. The post vice stand had a BEAUTIFUL first layer of weld. The 3 layers above that weren't as pretty though. I'll need to screw new holes for the mounting plate on the post vice stand because my derp brain positioned the post backwards and didn't notice till it was fully welded on! Oh, and I'll have to cut a hole for the leg or add something to the top plate to raise it.

I emailed and asked when to expect a materials list. They replied that the instructors do intend to send a materials list but they did not specify when.

That's beautiful, Duckwalk

Looks good!

Did she love it? I'm curious to know more about the bent tubing using sand. Was it still heated (after filling and capping) to do the bend or was it bent cold?

When I would write the pronunciation for "wh", I'd use "fv". Made sense to my language brain, lol

Hoping you heal quickly, Frosty!

Sounds like you have a good idea of what to do without needing to read the text of the link - but just in case you're curious about what it says, both Microsoft Edge & Google Chrome browsers have the option of translating a website. I know there are other browsers out there to choose from, and maybe they also have translating capabilities, but I don't have experience with them. In Edge & Chrome, just right-click anywhere on the page and choose "Translate to [your native language].

Nice job on the tongs Arkans! I will second Twisted's recommendation for the blanks from Ken's Custom Iron. Nothing beats the satisfaction of making your own but when you need a pair for something and you don't want to take another weekend making tongs instead of doing the project, then the blanks are a great cheap shortcut! Still require minimal forging and setting the rivet but that would take a short amount of time compared to making them from scratch. Or if you don't need cheap and still want the shortcut - there are plenty of people out there on etsy and in blacksmithing groups that will sell them - usually in the $30-40 range. I have one pair made from flat bar - using the blueprint on this site for EZ Tongs - and those were indeed VERY easy and successful. My second pair was made from the Ken's Custom Iron blank and again, successful. But so far I haven't been able to get a successful pair of tongs with a boss hinge like yours. Of course, I overcomplicated things and went for the "Ultimate Tongs" as posted by Brian Brazeal on this forum instead of something easier like Brian's basic tongs - but eh - that's what I do, lol I currently have 2 pair of Ultimate Tongs with busted rivet holes because the boss was too thin/narrow. I'm gonna try a basic pair of scrolling tongs next.

These are great! My favorite is the spiky thing eating its tail. They're all amazing though <3

Wooeee! Dang Jennifer you've been both busy and very unlucky! And I thought *I* was accident prone! The center is coming along though. I totally get the mentality of needing to push through - the end is in sight - just want to get it done - yadda yadda. I totally get it because it's my same mentality and it's also when I tend to have more accidents. When i'm already injured, I'm 2x more likely to get injured again. Now ... I can't speak to injuries from teeth brushing or hair plucking, lol - those *should* be fairly safe activities in the normal realm of living! I think it's time to light some sage and go smoke out your house and anywhere else you spend time, lol - smudge out all that bad voodoo that's hangin' about!

How would I achieve the following: Usually I bring the object up to 400-500 degrees and wipe it with Johnson's Paste Wax. This gives it that nice overall black finish and protects it from rusting. I'd like to hit just a few areas with some brass highlights. Would it work if I just hit those areas with a propane torch and then brushed with the brass brush? Or would the underlaying wax finish prevent the brass from sticking and I should wire-wheel the finish from those areas first? I waited till the last minute to consider/ask this question but even if I don't have an answer in time, it would be good to know for future projects. Nevermind - Just found the answer in another thread!

The platform Glenn suggested worked great for me in class (granted mine was closer to 10cm too high, lol). But if you're like my friend and have already been using the platform for some time and are just growing tired of the space taken by the platform (he's in a 8x8 shed), I would try a flap disc for slower work or a wood-carving or wood-shaping disc for faster work just to get it down close to what you want - then a wood planer to get the remainder down and get it level. Build a U-shaped frame of some sort that is the correct height and slip it over the stump every once in awhile so you don't end up cutting it too short. Personally, I would make my frame about 1cm more than the height I wanted and then remove the rest by hand. Going by a quick internet search, most wood planers remove about 3mm wood per pass.