nuge Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 I figured you knew that trick, Dave. It's such an easy way to give a visual clue that the piece is handmade. After all, thats what the client is paying for. I disagree with the power hammer unless you have a ton to texture. Too easy to make it look mechanized. You want a bit of irregularity when you are going for a "rough" look. Still have to have good craftsmanship though, rough doesn't mean poor. It's not something you want to do to everything but I think it would enrich this piece. I met that Clay Spencer guy one time, what a character. He was telling me stories about his whitewater canoeing adventures back in the day. That must have been a fun class. Thanks for posting your work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Turley Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 I'm located in the Southwest, but I've done some research on colonial and post colonial pieces in the East and Midwest. A great majority of fireplace hooks are made of flat stock bent "the easy way." The hooks are seldom made of round or square stock. The reason is that it lessens chance of the kettle or pot bail twirling around excessively. Sometimes on crane hooks, the common shank between the two hooks is fullered at each hook head and drawn into an elongated round cross-section. We don't need to do that nowadays, but in the early days, iron was expensive, and drawing it out gave the required length without using too much iron. For the same reason, lots of strap hinges were drawn to a taper with a finial. The smith could get a longer hinge and still save stock, the taper being part of the design. Reference: "Hooks Rings and other Things" by Frank T. Barnes. ISBN 0-8158-0440-7 http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FieryFurnace Posted January 26, 2011 Author Share Posted January 26, 2011 I'm located in the Southwest, but I've done some research on colonial and post colonial pieces in the East and Midwest. A great majority of fireplace hooks are made of flat stock bent "the easy way." The hooks are seldom made of round or square stock. The reason is that it lessens chance of the kettle or pot bail twirling around excessively. Sometimes on crane hooks, the common shank between the two hooks is fullered at each hook head and drawn into an elongated round cross-section. We don't need to do that nowadays, but in the early days, iron was expensive, and drawing it out gave the required length without using too much iron. For the same reason, lots of strap hinges were drawn to a taper with a finial. The smith could get a longer hinge and still save stock, the taper being part of the design. Reference: "Hooks Rings and other Things" by Frank T. Barnes. ISBN 0-8158-0440-7 http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools Hey that's some interesting info. I'm a history nut though my interested has chiefly been in Napoleonic military tactics with a focus on the Civil War in particular. My mind is pretty blank when it comes to the historical ins and outs of iron work! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FieryFurnace Posted January 27, 2011 Author Share Posted January 27, 2011 Well here is try number two! I took the suggestion to make a second hook of the first type. I broke the edges by hand over the horn, as reccomended. This one is also more to the client's specified dimension. The twist is not machine perfect, but is better, and since I wasn't going for machine perfect, it doesn't matter. The hole is better on this one as well. Oh and I tapered one by hand and one on the treadle. The treadle moved it faster I think! All-in-all, it took me 40 minutes. That is a 20 minute decrease from try number one! Thoughts??? I tried a test run on the second type hook. It is basically an S-hook with two J-hooks welded onto it. The first hook welded alright, but for some reason I burnt the hook in half trying to get to welding temp, when I was trying to weld the second hook on. Oops! I don't understand it because there were no sparks and I was dealing with 1/2" square bar. I would have thought there would have been sparks. I'm talking about, I pulled the hook out of the fire and it fell into two pieces. It was COOKED! Oh well! I've got some better ideas on how to make it a little easier. Try again tomorrow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 The phrase "convenience bends" comes to mind... Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason @ MacTalis Ironworks Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 As does the term "MiG Welder" LOLz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 As does the term "MiG Welder" LOLz. That's cheatin' Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuge Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 The offset divot with the little hole looks nice. Whats it for? Never made one. Heres another twist you might like when your hammer gets air. Its simply reversed a few times and then the whole thing is gently tapped on the flat dies on the power hammer. Started as 3/8 square and now its almost round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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