Frosty

Oh darn my secret is out!! I like slab handles. I use 5/4" x 6" lumber from a specialty cabinet hardwood yard near here. My handles are tapered from the head to the end with a small knob. I round the edge facing the pein and just break the corners on the face edge. I usually don't need to look to know which way my hammer's facing unless I'm distracted by say Demo patter and questions. It's good theater to spin my hammer in my hand to change sides audiences love the show and it wow's them. Demo is theater and good theater instructs. Frosty The Lucky.

There you go. There's a world of difference between looking at a picture and holding the thing in your hand. Forged iron is much more than a visual item, it's very tactile it has weight, hardness, texture and it's own temperature. I forge things to be felt. The closer a person examines my work the more rewards for the effort I try to impart. NO burrs!! Frosty The Lucky.

Smoggy you sound like my Father when I griped about not having a mill in his shop. I've never thought about cutting gears but can visualize two basic approaches. My lathe is only a 13 swing so I couldn't make blanks for large gears but that'd only mean I had to make more. Fun Fun FUN! Frosty The Lucky.

It really is. I've seen a couple videos from Grans Bruks about making axes and something else I can't recall. A PDF is a grand addition to my reference files. Thanks for the link to Charles Rail anvil post Glenn! See? You are a handy guy to have around. Frosty The Lucky.

No, they don't Ian. Spanky: How many times did I tell you you were WAY undercharging for your beautiful crucifix pendents? I didn't say it in all caps or bolded so I was quiet about it. Maybe I wasn't actually "harping." I don't think I've touched a harp since getting yelled at as a kid for strumming the strings of one. I can run a Lute though but I don't think Deb would approve of me saying I Luted you about anything. Frosty The Lucky.

Several problems occur and it's easy to take them personally. In general when dealing with what I consider a "hard" craft: metal work, stone work, carpentry, etc. etc. If you don't want to know my opinion don't ask. Don't get sensitive when told that won't work or worse there's a better method. If you knew you wouldn't have asked. If you knew and asked just go stir something up you're a TROLL, go to a corner and shut your mouth. Another issue is the new guys. Everybody wants to help, it's human nature with a few exceptions we call Trolls. Unfortunately this desire to help all too often causes folk who don't have the experience to know what they're talking about piping up and offering advice. All too often completely wrong or missing the mark completely. That is a major problem doing research on the modern internet. Having someone with an issue start lecturing folk about how they SHOULD answer questions is just exposing themselves as a "ShouldHead." Ask about a piece of equipment you have already researched and decided on THEN complaining about differing opinions is borderline Troll behavior. Any honest questions are generally welcome. If we point you to archived answers don't get mad, get to reading. Well thought out questions are a treasure, it makes us think about the why of our method so we can explain it. These are pure gold. If you're offended by my replies, please, PLEASE set me to "Ignore" in your filters, I'm tired of whiny explanations about why MY answer isn't worded in a way not to hurt your feelings. I'll be more than happy to not bother you if you'll just not read what I write. Or just tell me and I won't reply to any of your questions. I promise. Frosty The Lucky.

Okay, that makes sense. Folk have something in their mind's eye and it's almost never what the finished product actually looks like. Photographing steel isn't something you can just grab a camera and snap a good picture. I'm pretty sure some of the guys are getting tired of reading photography tips from me but here they are again. You need diffuse light or highlights will dominate the pictures. Outdoors on a cloudy day are perfect, we evolved to see in natural sunlight direct or diffuse. People don't need practice to accurately see colors under natural sunlight. To get a natural looking photo under artificial light used to (Wet photography) require filters, jells, a well practiced eye and tinkering in the dark room to get them looking right. A flash is often your worst enemy shooting polished steel, tape a single sheet of tissue over the flash to diffuse the light. It'll soften the highlights significantly, not pro level but WAY better than a bare strobe reflecting directly back into the lens. A diffusion box is a good alternative if you have room and lights, especially if you're going to be photographing jewelry. Frosty The Lucky.

Re read his text G.G. The pertinent dimensions are listed first thing. All but the ceramic blanket thickness. Frosty The Lucky.

That's a great article Charles! Thanks for the link. Frosty The Lucky.

Oh yeah it gets cold enough to freeze a saturated brine solution, <28*f. a "warm" winter day. I just drain the bucket till next year. If I must have a water bucket I bring out a few gl. warm in a jug and dump it at the end of the session. I've melted snow and ice chunks but it's a PITA and avoid it if possible. It gets cold enough to harden steel cooling from critical in still air. For giggles one time I laid a 1/2" x 2" x 12" piece of HOT strap stock on a 2" thick piece of aluminum plate at a couple degrees below zero f. You shouldn't heard them scream and squeal. I've kept it in the idea file for hardening steel just in case of . . . something. Frosty The Lucky.

If you want counter sunk holes for screws counter punch before punching through it's much easier and gives a cleaner result. Nice hooks. Once you get the process down you'll start playing with different finials on the wall side, twists and textures. J hooks are excellent test beds for experimenting with finials, twists, etc. Frosty The Lucky.

If you buy from a propane supplier they'll have 0-30psi high pressure, high flow regulators on the shelf. Here in Wasilla Alaska where shipping REALLY raises the price of everything they sell for $26. and change. Yeah, put a helper on your forge. All my forges except the big coal forge have helpers to support long stock in the forge. I welded square tubing to the frame under the forge chamber as a receiver for the helper. The helper itself is a pair of smaller sq. tubes that insert in the receivers with uprights and a cross bar at the forge floor level. I can slide it in till the bar contacts the outside edge of the forge floor or extend it to hold long stock. If I'm working stock longer than about 30" I have to use one of the stands. I call the things a "Blacksmith's helper" but that's what I call them I'm sure they have aliases. Frosty The Lucky.

I make hammer handles from hickory lumber I get from a local specialty lumber supplier. the same one Mark, the Metalmangler buys his handle stock from so the owner knows better than I what the best handle wood is. It's 5/4" x 4"-6" rough cut. I band saw the blank and fine tune the pol end in the belt grinder. It's fast, easy and I really prepare a slab handle. I taper my handles from the head wider to the far end and leave a small bulge. I've discovered from use the tapered handle completely eliminated the occasional thrown handle a straight handle and tired or too relaxed grip can cause. The slab handles are not only easier to grip they are much easier to index by feel than oval handles. This makes it much easier to know exactly at what angle I'm striking the stock so all operations where hammer marks are a factor are faster and easier. Frosty The Lucky.

Finding blacksmithing tools, especially anvils is tough in Alaska though some guys get lucky. We forgot to talk about anvils when you were out today. Next time your out I'll show you my basic "improved" RR rail anvil. However I REALLY like Charles Stevens improved vertical rail anvil. The man squeezes more tools out of a rail than I've seen before. He did some grinding on one to show us what a little creative imagination can do. It's a real head slapper of a concept and I've been advising the basic idea for years, just never tried it. Rail is a good get started tool. I'll need a little help dragging a piece of rail out of the alders if you want to go that route, I have the gear to do the rest. Frosty The Lucky

Someone posted a pic and how to about making a tool specifically for tweaking baskets, scrolls, helices, etc. true. It was a really slick tool a "why didn't I think of THAT head slapper" as soon as you see it used. I still use pliers and screw drivers to true up such because I didn't print out the how to and make the tool. Frosty The Lucky

It's a fire management issue it's just too easy to put too much air to a fire. A nice dome of breeze is a super efficient oven there's no need to have flame showing at all. When we can get good coal and I'm the one running the fire I coke up a bucket at the beginning of the day and just use the breeze. I go through a lot less coal than the guys using green coal fire management and I'm not breathing any smoke. Sure coking up a bucket tends to leave yellow clouds wafting around my forge for a few minutes but it's over and done with quick. I really like breeze it's my favorite solid fuel. Frosty The Lucky

The forbidden subject name actually has some interesting connotations going, almost a 2x on tondray. We get half barrels for fairly reasonable at garden and most larger building supplies. Can't let them freeze though and winter is REALLY dry so it can be a PITA to get them swollen up and stop leaking in the spring. I just use a big old garage sale pot but I've been keeping my open for a long galvy trough or wash tub. It's much easier to cool the handle end of a piece if I can just angle the hot end out of the water and cool the rest. Beats having to use a dipper or hold the hot end with tongs and use a tall slack tub. Of course that's just me. Garlic, Mmmmmmmmmmm. If I'm not putting garlic and onions in it I'm making desert. Big doses of vitamin B helps make you less tasty to the bugs but mega dosing vitamins isn't terribly healthy so I just keep a good maintenance level of garlic in my blood stream. Tor you guys who live where it doesn't freeze hard you just need a slack tub large enough to keep a few trout in it. Trout LIKE mosquitoes, in fact I believe that's the only reason God let the little blood suckers live. Frosty The Lucky

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the IFI gang live within visiting distance. Sure you told us where you are but we're not going to remember after we check the next post. IIRC there are around 45,000 folk subscribed to Iforge around the world right now. I don't think tossing us a little metric is going to throw anybody. Frankly interpreting folk who are being filtered through a couple translation programs before the post gets to my monitor can be darned entertaining. Heck there are folk in India who speak better English than some folk who use it as a first language. I have this almost automatic aversion to PC tag lines so I tend to say I like the Eclectic nature of the folk I meet here. It's a fun place, like a never ending cocktail party, BBQ. Frosty The Lucky

Looking good. What size is the gas jet? You should be able to run it with the 1/4 turn ball valve all the way open and do your heat adjustments with the regulator. Partially open valves aren't good things running propane. I can't explain it well but propane can cause erosion of the valve seats. Needle valves are the exception but they're designed to operate with a restricted opening and propane. If you're getting that clean a burn running 2 psig. I'll bet you could run a larger gas jet and put more fuel and air in the forge in a clean burning ratio. However, I'm a "don't fix it if it ain't broke" guy and if it's working as well as it looks and you don't need more I'd call it golden. Frosty The Lucky

You mean like this? I just grabbed a handful out of the trash barrel behind the high school ice rink after asking permission. I had to meet the coach at a local coffee shop to show him the Francesca Wasilla. It'd be a bit much to take to even an Alaskan high school you know. Made the drift from a RR rail clip it only needed a little forging to match the hockey stick. A little light and whippy for hammer handles but they're fine for top tools. Good idea, my compliments. Frosty The Lucky

Welcome aboard Cyph, glad to have you. A real anvil is anything hard and heavy you forge on. My flat out favorite field expedient anvil was an axle out of some heavy piece of equipment I drug out of the Resurrection River in the 80's. I buried it flange p in the sand bar at the right height and it served brilliantly for the 2 weeks we were on that project. I still kick myself in the butt for leaving it there when we pulled out. Still, it was a steel shaft around 4"-5" dia with a thick bolt flange. It was one SWEET anvil. Keep your eyes open for tools and equipment but don't let the search keep you from lighting a fire and developing the hand skills that make the craftsman. Tools are just refined dirt, they can't do anything but rust. It's the mind and thumbs that do it. Frosty The Lucky

In what way was she not right? the customer isn't always right but coming right after her thinking $85. wasn't enough you really have me thinking. I think it's a fair price. You're still developing the product AND your skills so you're going to spend more time than you should making things. Normal, we've all been there. When I still had the eye hand to be good at the anvil I could knock out coat hooks that sold like hotcakes at $19.95 ea. in about 7 minutes while maintaining demo patter, answering questions, etc. At .$10.00 they built up on my table. If I were to make leaf coat hooks for sale right now I'd be doing well to make one in 20 minutes without distractions but $19.95 is about all they'll bring. Our profitability increases with our skills, a 20 minute wall hook is okay as a request and would be in the break even range where they used to make a day at the demo a black ink affair. Your crosses will get better, you'll get faster and make fewer mistakes to clean up and they'll become a nice profit item. There are a lot of ways you could really dress them up making them an even more valuable a commodity. Frosty The Lucky

Xavier: A gauge isn't going to do a whole lot of good learning to tune or adjust your burner. With practice it isn't hard to tune and adjust temp by ear. What a gauge REALLY helps with is repeatability in the forge unless you like having to tune by ear every time you want to change temperature. For instance I wish to use my forge at a moderate forging temp on thin stock, say 1,900f. I'm going to be sinking some dippers from 14 ga. over a round through hole on the swage block or a ring I turned from 3/4" rd stock. I can do it by ear and eye. (literally) Fire the forge up, guess at what to set the regulator, wait till it stops getting hotter and eyeball the color then turn it up a little at a time, let the forge come to the new temp, adjust and repeat till I have what I need. If I guess wrong and the forge gets too hot it takes a LOT longer to cool down, shut it off let it cool well below target temp turn the reg down and repeat. OR Set the reg to 9psi. after checking my notes. Believe me when I say I can do it by ear, been tuning burners and adjust ungauged forges for probably 40 years. I'm just too impatient to spend a couple hours getting the temp right when I can set it, light it and do a little prep or cleanup for the 10-15 mins till the forge hits my temp. Forget what psi other guys say their burners run at, there are too many variables for it to mean much of anything in your forge and it's easy to get all hung up trying to get welding temp with 7psi. or what-flippin-ever. You'll have to "tune" your burner and forge temps by eye and ear and it's a good skill to develop. However, there is no good reason to do it every time you light your forge. Even using a gauge you'll need to tweak it per session for: barometric pressure, humidity, temp, wind direction, amount of steel in the forge at any one time, etc. All these things effect forge temp / fuel consumption but it's so much easier to have a known number to get you in the ball park. Frosty The Lucky

Make friends with a shop teacher or someone who owns a lathe. Believe it or not folk like that are pretty easy to meet if you hang out with the counter culture at the local coffee shop. The guys know everybody in town for at least a generation back, who does what, who to or not to trust, Who has what where, All the good stories some generations old. All the good stuff the tourist information folk are clueless about. Please feel free to stop by, we can move my lathe out of the connex, set it up in the space we clear in the shop and you can go to town. Frosty The Lucky

Thanks Doug, construction details are good, I like the detail shots. The pics of the overall pieces is a dip into the mind of the maker, a glimpse of what they see and to be cherished. The details of how they form and compose elements into wholes and how they join them are looks at their tools and how they use them. It's all high value stuff. Thanks. Frosty The Lucky