Mike Ameling Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 (edited) The thread about splitting out and forging a fork with more than two tines got me to thinking about those very early Colonial era twisted wire forks. I've made a number over the years, but only 2-tined ones. So I played around a bit. The small 4-tine fork with the "braided" handle was made from common "baling" or utility tie wire. It works well, but the tines bend too easily. The BIG fork was made from #9 farm fence brace wire. It is a good size for a cooking fork - like over a campfire. The others were made using barbwire. It is a little larger, and has more ... tensile strength. The 2-tine forks turn out well and are pretty easy to make. Cut your wire, bend in half, clamp the ends in your vice about as far apart as you want them to end up and as long as the tines you wish, slip an iron rod through the loop end, then pull and twist until it is as tight as you want it to be. You can line up that "loop" in the same line as the tines or perpendicular to them - personal choice. Then take it out of the vice and ... tweak ... the tines out to the side and back to your satisfaction. And bend/curve the tines and handle for comfort. Then use a file to make the points on the ends. You could point the wire first, but sometimes the tines end up uneven lengths after twisting, so one needs to be clipped. One concern is if your wire has a galvanized coating. But that can be soaked off in a few hours using common household vinegar. Soak it until you don't see any more bubbles forming on the metal, then wire brush any residue off. And then wash like normal kitchen tableware. Although, dry immediately, or rust will start forming. Original wire forks have been found at many F&I/Rev/Civil War camp sites. The soldiers just ... improvised a fork from some scrap wire. Simple but functional. Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands p.s. I've got some stainless wire floating about somewhere. I'll have to see how that would work. Edited June 8, 2009 by Mike Ameling bad spellin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBrann Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Mike, household vinegar can take of zinc galvanization? really? any special disposal? No way that it could be that simple. I believe you, but never would have thought of that on my own. By the way, love the simplicity of twisted wire fork! great and simple and effective! Thanks Cliff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 It sure will Cliff. No special disposal necessary, zinc isn't particularly toxic unless you breath enough of it. Nice forks Mike. I've braided steel and it's a PITA, nice job on the braided fork. I like the large two tine and the three tine models the best. You are definitely developing a whole "I gotta try that" chapter in my project book. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Ameling Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 Mike, household vinegar can take of zinc galvanization? really? any special disposal? No way that it could be that simple. I believe you, but never would have thought of that on my own. By the way, love the simplicity of twisted wire fork! great and simple and effective! Thanks Cliff Thanks. The forks are such a simple thing. Although they ain't too great for eating peas! But that's what your knife is for! Yes, simple household vinegar will dissolve off a galvanize coating on metal. And that zinc is only dangerous if you breathe it - or drink it. Plus that vinegar will also dissolve off RUST on iron. If you have an old wrench or tool that is rusted solid, just soak it in vinegar. That vinegar will eat off the rust - letting it drop to the bottom of your container. It will also eat the rust out of the bottoms of the pits on the iron. Wire brushing will clean the surface, but vinegar will clean out the pits as well. There are some formulas out there for using a small electrical current for de-rusting parts. Lots of museums use it. But the vinegar soak works just as well, and without that electrical current and special containers. Of course, wash things well afterwards. And dry thoroughly. And oil as needed to slow down future rusting. Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands p.s. Frosty - that's one of the continuing problems with this message board. All the "ideas" that build up that I want to try sometime. :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Thompson Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 I made a load of these a few weeks ago for some re-enactors. I knocked the flux off some damp 3.2mm welding rods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Neat. Now I need to go find the other fork-making thread. Vinegar does indeed do a nice job of scale/rust removal. Pretty far OT here, but you can also save the rusty vinegar to create a gray/black stain on woods that are high in tannins, such as oak. (If your wood isn't high in tannins, soak it in strong tea for a while. Or make a tea from walnut husks, or hemlock bark, or...well, lots of possibilities.) It works really well with a little experimentation, and operates on the same principle as old-fashioned iron gall ink. I've heard that the acid may damage the wood in the long term (just as iron gall ink corrodes the underlying paper over a very long period), but I think we're talking hundreds of years.Staining and Ebonizing - | ISWOnline /OT rambling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands p.s. Frosty - that's one of the continuing problems with this message board. All the "ideas" that build up that I want to try sometime. Yeah, and YOU are a major contributor to that list! I'm thinking a quick trip to the welding supply for some 304 Tig wire to make shiny versions. Oooh SHINY! Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt87 Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Neat. Now I need to go find the other fork-making thread. Vinegar does indeed do a nice job of scale/rust removal. Pretty far OT here, but you can also save the rusty vinegar to create a gray/black stain on woods that are high in tannins, such as oak. /OT rambling 'Rusty vinegar' apparently has a similar effect on veg-tanned leather. I plan to try this soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Yep. The leather is tanned using, er....tannins! Same stuff that's in tea, walnut husks, hemlock bark, etc. The reaction is the same in both cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBrann Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 matt87 and Matt Bower, tannin is old school tanning, now they use chromium and other heavy metal . salts to do the same thing. But vegatable tanned leather still available (had a dummy spell, don't mind me). About oak and iron and tannin, was planing some oak on my workbench, some of the shavings got wet and apparently mixed with iron/steel filings, and turned purple after a couple hours. I have some purpleheart, but havent worked with it in a while, so was mystified for a while about purple shavings. Found it to be cool, may try to do it purposely next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 I know, but I'm an old school sorta guy. (And veg tanning is how tooling leather is done.) The only thing preventing me from trying some bark tanning in my back yard is the smell. Er, well, more precisely my wife's and neighbors' reactions to the smell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt87 Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 (And veg tanning is how tooling leather is done.) Yup, and wet-moulding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 About 20 years ago I was reading "The Sword in Anglo-Saxon England" I noticed that tannins were mentioned as a posible method to make pattern welding visible on a blade---they referenced peat bogs as another possible source. Not having a bog or oak tree to sacrifice I boiled up some cheap black tea sludge and boiled a spearpoint in it. It came out looking "furry" and I thought this was a waste---then when I washed it under running water the "fur" slipped off leaving the blade showing the patterns in a sort of purple black. Iron tannates are also supposed to have a little rust preventive aspects too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Thanks for that, Thomas. Very interesting. I'll have to try etching with some of my walnut husk liquor! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnr Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Now I have to try that Thomas. I'm doing a composite spear head right now. Finnr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Ameling Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 (edited) Here's a scan of a stainless steel twisted wire fork I tinkered up yesterday. I had forgotten about a roll of stainless steel wire that I had - for the electric fence. I can't remember the gauge, but it fits a 5/64th hole in a drill bit gauge. And I've had that roll of wire about for a while I guess. I had to wire brush off some white oxidation to clean it up a bit. At first I thought the wire was bending too easily. But it seems to hold its shape pretty well in use. And can be tweaked back to shape fairly easily. For some forks, I've used some old Telephone wire. It is a whole lot tougher for it's small size. But it also has a coating on it - that I soaked off with vinegar. That common baling/tie wire just tends to be too small and flexible in use. And the wire used in Barbwire varies by manufacturer, but is a good thickness and "toughness" to use. But most is now galvanized. No real problem if you are just eating off of it, but it also soaks off easily with vinegar. Then the only real problem is rust --- and friends "borrowing" them! Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands p.s. Still hard to eat peas with this. And I ain't learned how to eat them with my knife yet like them Brits! But that's what spoons are for. Edited June 10, 2009 by Mike Ameling razzle-frazzle cut/paste Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 I eat my peas with honey; I've done it all my life! It makes them sure taste funny; but keeps them on my knife! white corrosion on stainless? Sure it's not electoplated galvanized? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy seale Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 old open wire telephone is what is called copper clad. it is steel wire with outer copper coating to carry the electric signal. of coarse this is from about 30 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Electric fence wire with white corrosion on it is almost undoubtedly galvanized. Mixing the peas with mashed potatoes makes them stay on the knife quite nicely. A largish straw works really well too, especially if your little sister is being a pest. . . Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 No dessert for Frosty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Ameling Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 And you always wondered how the term PEA-SHOOTER came about! And that little sister deserved it! So did my two younger brothers! (mostly because Ma caught them starting the food fight and ratted me out!) This wire doesn't have much of an oxidation layer on it. More of a ... dulling ... of the finish on it. It's supposed to be stainless, and the cut end shows it is true throughout - no outside coating. So I'm pretty sure it's just a little dulling/oxidation of the surface. Stainless does stain and rust, it just takes longer. It also work-hardened a little in the twisting and bending. Yes, that old telephone wire does have that copper coating. And it's tough stuff! It lasts a long time holding a muffler up under a pickup truck - even through our winter salt/snow seasons. That copper coating does not affect its use in eating - unless you are hyper-sensitive to copper. Mikey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ten Hammers Posted June 12, 2009 Share Posted June 12, 2009 I use #9 brace wire (non plated) for twisted forks and lotta other stuff. I also use 12 ga non plated wire. 3/16 hotrolled rod makes good forks too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.