Dillon Sculpture Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Sorry for the bad photo, it is in the very early stage of becoming, but thanks for your interest and feed back. The torso is only half of the planed figure, overall it will be 7'. As far as being abstract mmmm.... not sure, it's defiantly not realistic, but I would call it more of a sketch in iron.Jake I'm not sure there is a point to any of it, but I found craft to be a big part of what drives my work as well the freedom to speak without the hinderance of the work having to do something or have purpose. A resemblance to a visual memory is good enough for me as long as it can be a shared experience, either because it is iron or you connect with the image then I've done well.As for the bone white powder coating, this is is the feel of the sculptures, what they evoke as objects and the color only magnifies this. I find forged iron is my medium, I enjoy the immediate feed back opposed to casting for instance, lot of process, not for me. Drawing, painting and clay are of interest to me but I'm saving that for my golden years when I can't slap the ..... out iron anymore.I like your hinge Jake, I feel like I've been biting my tail as well lately, you should try some bronze man! Congrats on selling your work Beth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K. Bryan Morgan Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Jake and I have been chatting it up in private chat for the last few days and I've an issue that may be best discussed here. I'm, crazy or not, making a trade style axe/hatchet, out of some wrought iron and a bit of leaf spring. My main issue right now is, how big and what shape should I make the drift? Its going to be smallish. Not huge. I'll post a pic when I can. This is a first for me. I've done very little forge welding and I've also done no work on anything with a sharp edge other than a little slitting chisel I've made. So, this may be out of my skill set. But, Imma do it anyways. So, my main question on this little boondoggle is, shape and size of drift? Also, something that, to me, goes along with this. How do I challenge myself to stretch my skills, which, to me, are minimal at best. I pretty much use this site and books to teach the craft to me. Not that there isn't a huge amount of knowledge in both. To the contrary. I find the collective knowlege here increadible. I just find it difficult sometimes to motivate myself sometimes I guess is the point. Between my bad right knee and my lack of skills, I sometimes find myself in a rut. I can make a very respectible drive hook, J-hook, or S-hook. I've made a trammel that will certainly function. Not as pretty as Jakes but it would hold a pot of beans over the fire and not fall apart in the process. I've made some fire place tools that are crude at best, but function. I have learned, thanks to a class last year, to make a pair of tongs that work. And, I did. But, thats not all I want to be able to do. These are certainly small easy things that can be made by any competent smith. How do I grow in this craft when I have to study alone, practice alone and learn through internet and writen media? I find myself asking these sorts of things to myself when I can't seem to accomplish much in the shop. A part of me wants to just go for it. Another part of me is wanting to learn from others. All of me is alittle more than frustrated that I'm not further along than I am. Sorry for my rambling, sometimes I get lost inside my head. After my other post on this thread I feel alittle chagrined, I guess I had something to say after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doc Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Hi all , I've been lingering in the back ground of this thread since it started and thought maybe it was time for me to drop something in for your thoughts. After Beth's remarks about the three dimentionality of forged iron I felt you all might like to look at a friends of mines work. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Joseph-Anderson-Sculpture/137687176255116 I'm not trying to persuade anyone's thoughts on how they relate to iron but feel that my friend Joe has truly grasped something that many of us haven't or can not. Enjoy. Doc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake pogrebinsky Posted August 2, 2011 Author Share Posted August 2, 2011 Doc,thanks,Joe's stuff is neat,and very well executed and balanced.What gave you an idea of anything "new" there?Also,seems like things like that would be more likely to be executed in other metals(and Joe's patina even kind of hints at it),so,what makes it so "iron"?(Hope that i don't come across as facetious,i'm earnestly asking how you've come to form your opinion,and would very much like to know,so most respectfully...). Bryan,the drift is all-important,in my opinion,as the haft pretty much determines the purpose of the tool,the grip on it,and thus it's use.The blade actually FOLLOWES the shape of the haft. What would be your purpose for the tool,other than practicing tool making? Also,don't use chrome based alloys for blading,they're HEINOUS to weld(chrome oxides aren't dissolved by flux).Now i really kick myself,as i've some 1095 here,and could've thrown it in with your other stuff...Anyway,plain C something would be best,like a file fragment which is W-1 if you get lucky,or the like. Beth,thanks yet again for these cool photos.I like your painting,and again,everything about it says "nice person"!I'm not at all surprised that it sold,as it practically makes you feel better looking at it...If i'd had that sort of a talent,and earnestness to use it, i'd do it for sure,in any media whatever! Actually,i'm not doing this discussion justice,lately,too wiped out mentally after the forge.I feel bad about it,but it'll soon go away,as my time for forging is drawing to a close till October(it's a dreadfull thought,as i've nothing done,of substance). So i hope to at least catch up here,and one thing that i'll do is quit being weirdly coy about the "useful" aspect. Danger is absolutely right when he says "hindered by ...",and it is so,but as well as a limitation,the purpose(like the axe,say),is also a direction,a way to capitalise on the intuitive store of vast,generational knowledge,to tap into the millenial interaction of a man and the tool by means of the nerve-endings in his hands...All of which is visible and/or percieved in the Form of an object,even by the uninitiated onlooker. The fantastic stuff in photos that Beth posted,the old gothic stuff,what is it rooted in,it's forms?In part,it is the hand/eye/material coordination of a craftsman,a wood-carver,a mason,a smith,of course.All that went INTO the design,became a factor in 1.Why it was shaped that way.2.Why others(even,again,laypersons)are attracted to it. Those are not just designs.Those are a record of a man becoming better with tools,more familiar with materials,and even the physics in general(holy s..t,the engineering of those vaulted ceilings alone!!!).It's a genetic code of craft! Now i KNOW that i'm wasted mentally,had an almost 12 hour forge day,change of PH bits,all sorts of misadventures...I better fall into the bunk,apologies for nonsense,and for what i missed addressing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 danger - i like how you call the torso a sketch in iron - it certainly has the energy of a sketch, and i relate to it more now that you said that oddly. you obviously are very at home with iron as the medium, and have skills far beyond mine. as for the bone white coating - im intrigued, thats the very words im using to describe a patina i would like to use on a cast sculpture, i wonder will yours be a matt or gloss finish? im quite into white at the moment! also that flinty kind of layered white with a greyish black coming through. anyway - prob of no interest to you lot!! doc - i wuld hate you or anyone to think i have no time for forged iron sculpture - i endlessly have time to look and see, but im not sure i can truely fall in love with it ( a requirement for me - in life generally!) becasue although it is well crafted and he has obviously high levels of skill/finesse, my honest response to it is i want to take it all aparts and re arrange it my way! does this mean i have a gigantic ego? i like there to be some pattern or recognisable order, i dunno. maybe its just me and a controling streak? it just leaves me cold emotionally. but the beauty of all this is that we are all so complexly built and we vary so hugely and its a blessed relief that everyone does not think in the same tedious way. i embrace and celebrate the differences in us all. and i certainly have utmost respect for the guy making those sculptures- he has a lovely body of finished work and has foiund his groove - something i wonder if i will ever do. jake - your working to hard, i will not bother you with specific comments today but i will add some photos for your delectation (you did say lots of images - please tell me to stop when its overwhelming and an irritating overload! these are just styles that make me want to pop, but then i get all bogged down trying to make the tools and get it all cocked up and the ends are too soft and then i feel like a girl who knows nothing and i feel and just for the joy of the detail.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dillon Sculpture Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 "It's a genetic code of craft!" Ah, ha! I knew if I pushed hard enough you would lead me to water or gold! I'm slowly grasping where you get your inspiration, thanks Jake good stuff. Beth, kinda a eggshell for the white, check out www.wargin.com he has some of the best patinas I have ever seen not to mention the awesome work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake pogrebinsky Posted August 2, 2011 Author Share Posted August 2, 2011 Beth,your comments are FAR from bother,they're where it's At,please don't keep them from us! And for the pictures,as well,i bow very low,and again;not only are they incredible historic elements,but also are what attracted your,the fellow-craftsman's eye,your choice of elements,making them even more significant. Danger,yes,it's true,i'm following my nose back into the dark and intense past of the northern european crafts in search of the Code!(Not that it can't be found by going any other direction,it's simply writ upon our brain).But here's very roughly what i'm thinking: Early woodworking(splitting along the grain for strengh and finishing with fine,sharp cuts for weather-proofing)was the beginning in the study of materials,wood and iron(and Carbon ). Then,with the Christianising of Scandinavia,the Stavkirk,and further development of the theme-the end-strengh of spruce+phasal changes of Fe+C.Then the Gothic cathedrals(same deal,+the stone comes in there,being used in quite the same way). The nominal logic stays the same:God has created us,thus it behooves us to do justice by such a marvellous deal-the Creation,our skill and fluency within it,the magic interaction of our nervous system and the surrounding material.Thus,God was the ultimate motivation for the craftsman,as in "Look,ma,i drew a flower for you!" (Same conclusions can be come by going in any direction from a given radii(our brain )for"Everyone praises God in his own tongue,and there's no language that God does not understand(even postmodernism ). Anyhoo,the important elements are the practice,of course,and keeping one's mind open!(It's cool how many elements of the Muslim geometric stuff there's in Gothic,must be the Crusades ).But the practice is the key. Thus,our hand on the hammer,the axe,the cook-ware,touching the molecules of the Creation,pretty much should tell us what's a pleasing form. Now,that's what i've been thinking,however,translating it into iron is a different story.I'm trying to keep designing that gothic-like element/candle-holder potentially by just weilding a hammer,with very disappointing results so far.I'll post some shots of a developing small detail. It didn't feel right,so i swithched tack and went to re-make that one poker that i liked where it was going,and have given the original away.Got screwed on that,too,by barking up on too big a stock:I wanted contrast,and a tricky,counter-intuitive balance;a massive-appearing IRON object that'd feel light in the hand(sword-like ).The resulting xxxx handles like a bar-bell ...WAY too much iron(1 1/4" round that i bumped-up to 1 3/4" ball,i'm a xxxxxxxx maniac...). But,all the screw-ups,they all happen in the forge,with the hammer in hand,and i just feel that it's right and proper....(Other than my time's slipping away in the(however Godly )pursiuts,and come showtime,i'll have nothing but theory to present the public.I'm SURE that they'll understand,though,and support me most generously,as is their wont ) . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 jake - that top picture i posted - its so lovely - looks like its soft been made literally from clay - i love the look of that work.... ah, barbell versus sword - what a shame - it dont look like a barbell though!.. that whole god bit you just put - thats the Artists Way book i keep on about - thats it in a nutshell really, or thats her starting point and i have to say it rings true. creativity - harder to deny than allow, or so she says. id never thought of the look ma i drew a flower for you - i never saw it like that but thats right .. and all these beautiful magical skills we all need to have, practice is the key, practice in the correct sense not as in repetition (tho that is good and useful) but as in Doing SOMETHING, ANYTHING, going through your practice as an artist or creative person whatever your name is. i try and drum this into my kids when they wait for divine inspiration - you got to just get stuck in and do something with your hands, it can literally be anything i reckon - it all feeds back eventually to your ultimate groove. i am stuck away from my workshop for 6 weeks now guys - you have to indulge my chat becasue otherwise i may go mad. i have made some small wax figures today in the way of do something, anything... i may even post them just to externalize further! going back to dangers point of there is really no point to any of it - i agree on one level, but i do think its important to get out the internal imagery, each o fus, and to surround ourselves and each other with enhancing items? its got to be better than staring into space or killing each other hasnt it?? :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 so here are todays wax 'sketches' made in my kitchen whilst attending mine and others children... i know it aint iron but its my iron till september ... one was not today actually, and a hopefully the right size shot of fox in the wax, and drawing of fox .. and customary one for luck - Pieter Hugo is the guys name - photographer - he has a whole series called the hyena men which i reckon are awesome and totally engaging... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old N Rusty Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 Those should be cast in metal, every one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 hey rusty they are just me having a think really but if i sell the first bronze i can then make another ... hoepfully i will get a day or two in the worrkshop over the summer hols and post some Metal Workings!!! am in conversation with my husband about a day or two off from the kids. now i got a camera and i know how to post there is no stopping me!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake pogrebinsky Posted August 3, 2011 Author Share Posted August 3, 2011 Neat,Beth.Sometimes,such an enforced vacation from the shop can be very constructive,in many ways.At the very least,can give one the time and the space to actually plan something out,for a change... You don't have your own casting capability,Beth,like a small vacuum se-up,or anything?How much of this kind of stuff can you get away with at home?Carving wood,say?Or,maybe some cold-forging? I've an opposite problem here-i'm chained to my shop,spend so much time in it that don't have the necessary distance from work to orient meself. There was a massive social convergence here last night,everyone in the whole village seemed to've decided to visit me on the same day.It was all that i could do to wash the tea cups fast enough,and not to miss out on any gossip. Sounds,by consensus,that i've another two weeks to spend forging,before the really good fish hit(though this sort of rationalising and planning is usually frowned upon by the River,and is punished often by one thing or another).In any case,i should mop up the more scattered projects,and not start any more long-term ones till october. Might've gambled and lost here,on turning my top drawing die into a flat one(had a friend hard-face the missing profile corners).Have no experience with flat dies,and have to re-learn to use my PH. May have to do more bull-work by hand,as a result,not an ideal situation,as i'm hopelessly right-handed,very one-sidedly so.Between the forging,splitting all the wood for charcoal,and all the rest,may loose that arm soon(dreaming of someone twisting your arm is a sign of overuse,so is the arm going numb at times,not a constructive way to go with any tooling). Still at a design stage with the gothic creature,have to keep on forging separate elements and seeing how they'll do,or not do.The overall idea was to be the homage to the lines of that inimitable ceiling in the Gloustershire Cathedral that Beth posted,but will end up a hodge-podge of diverse parts,my lack of specific skills being very limiting,in forging as well as the final finish,that'll have to be consistent,of course. The plasticity of material and the physics affecting any 3-D object in general all present limits,(thankfully),but it's that lack of prowess with one's hammer that is always so frustrating,the one non-constructive limiting factor.The "style",the plasticity of iron,even the physics are helpfull in their finite limitations,wether ineptitude-is not. All the references to God are great,but quite abstract to me,coming from that background that i've come from.The specific terms matter not at all,however,for we all speak of the same thing.Instead of a stern(but loving) Deity of the Gothic masters the myth that most appeals to me is that of "The Velveteen Rabbit".That,to me,is the ultimate goal and challenge of a craftsman,who,like the Boy in the story,can make something "Real".That is the magic,divine aspect in craftsmanship in a nutshell(one of many,but a good one). Tried out something that i haven't done before,yesterday,make the transverse cuts on a cube-twist variant using a hardy and a hot-cut,holding the work by a method known to some as a "prehensile bellybutton".Awkward at first,but it worked,and i like the less-regular effect of hot-cutting vs the hack-saw,with it's tell-tale sq.recess at the root of each cut. I'm ever more impressed with the weldability of latest batch of WI.Upset a fresh faggot-weld yesterday,and made that cube-twist out of it,a lot for a diffusion weld to put up with.I really like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beth Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 i want to see a photo of you performing the belly button move jake!... thats ace what youve made - its looking really good.. it has the 'sweet' look that appeals to me. i liked what you said about the velveteen rabbit - i have not read that story for ages! must try to find it... what is the background that you say means god makes no sense to you (or are abstract is what you actually said!) i was brought up in a very religious house, very loving but pretty fundamental, and god is also abstract to me - that particular god anyway. there are loads of gods that are not abstract though, and they are the ones to focus on eh? re the casting - no i have nothing at home, but i can melt lead or wax and stuff obviously... i have not ever done much carving i seem to lack the patience, but i can draw and make stuff out of what i have lying about here. i can make stuff out of silver here too - i used to when the children were tiny.. i understand your workshop dilemma which is indeed opposite to mine - i have many friends who have the problem your way round - and i know that they too cannot ever get any distance and clarity. becasue they are the main earners usually they find that if there is work they must do it, and they never find any down time. i reckon i could really use that situation though becasue my jobs are so fragmented, home stuff kids stuff work stuff stuff for me, its all in pieces, and i need to constantly change and chop about with which head is on. so if i could nip in and out for an hour here an hour there, and be near the cooking and there when the kids call etc, i could flow more easily from task to task. anyway - m,aybe one day - it is my dream to have my workshop where i live... why did you change your dies then? do you do take any countering kind of action for your overused right arm? i dont know like what... i will certainly have a think. at the very least you could massage the arm bit and take it through a full rage of movements when youve finished work. i know it sounds very boring though... you really have got to watch that stuff though... (YaaaaAAWN...!!!!) maybe do some stretching shapes where both arms are in symmetry... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 3, 2011 Share Posted August 3, 2011 My best diffusion weld torture was to take a billet that I welded and folded a couple of times and forge it into a disk by hammering it on it's long axis---going from 4" sq stock to a 1/4" disk the hard way seemed to indicate that the welds were passable in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake pogrebinsky Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 Wow,Thomas,you've smashed a billet on End,into a thin disk?I suppose that does tell one something about the weld seams! Beth,i guess what i meant was that growing up in USSR,where religion was outlawed,was interesting:By age of 13-14,i couldnt've even define the word "religion".Later,i've come across ANY number of religions,and,thanks to my twisted past,could effortlessly accept them without any prejudice... (literally )But by then i could see plainly that everyone simply calls the same things by different names,and it's all completely INNATE,encoded in us. As far as the plurality of god,i'm not so sure that the many cultures that had been accused of that were,in effect,worshipping several gods.It might've been all a misunderstanding.For an example,our local savages,in their very savage shamanistic past,had certainly The One beginning of everything,were monotheists to the core(their religion was actually spookily identical to Christianity,including such details as the original sin,the flood as punishment,confession on the deathbed,and many other). I won't show you my bellybutton technique!It's copyrighted!!!Well,ok,i'll admit that it sounds more exotic than it really is...It's simply a marsupial-style fold in whatever apparel you've happened to be forging in,to support the tongs while you use both hands.The leather apron makes a skoocum one(Technically,the anvil should be positioned low enough where holding the reins in your crotch should work,but as the space of ground around the anvil gets stomped down,and age/eyesight,as well as some of the smaller/more precise work make that height more natural,it's inconvenient,though more secure). The reason that i went to the flat dies was that my bottom die was flat,and the top - a fuller.One thing that it did was break the weld-seams in a laminate,as it scooted the top of the stock more relative the bottom.It was fast to draw stuff using it,but i'd rather not torture the steel like that(forging down large WI stock damaged it severely,a part of why i've been loosing stuff lately). Well,i've been a brat today.Instead of working on kitsch,like i'm supposed to,grabbed a chunk of W-2 that i had laying about,and started on another axe,solid steel,this time...(I didn't have that much coal,and was too hungover to design as i go,after the neighborhood conference yesterday).Making more charcoal now,and should be back on track manana. W2 is lovely!I' m so pleased to be working with something that i can't hurt.It can really stand up for itself,kicks back like a vicious mule.And is WAY elastic,as compared to WI that i've been using so much lately.(But i love it all,a terrible Fe junkie,just can't help it... ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake pogrebinsky Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 Didn't get very far on the axe,but will post a photo of the blank,to show just how irresistable,candy-like,it looked! Also,a picture for you Beth,that's my automated diswasher system. (It's an Alaskan Red-backed vole). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K. Bryan Morgan Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Oh goodness.. I think I am going about making mine all wrong, after looking at your pics. What I'm doing is wraping it, well sort of. I don't have a drift made yet. Not for lack of trying. Its still in process. The only thing I have thats semi sized material is some jackhammer bits I got for free from Home Depot. They just throw the old, worn out ones away. The young man in charge of the departement lets me pick through them from time to time. Anyway. thats the only thing I have that I can think of that will make a drift big enough for an axe or hatchet. About 1 1/4" hex. Its very tough to forge. Very hard stuff. So I figure either, (acccording to the junk steel chart I have) S7 or H13. All by hand too. No mechanical means to shape it. So. I see from the shape of your hole that its about a 2 to 1 ratio lenght to width tear drop shape. Is that close to what I observe there? I deseperatelly need to get some pics done and post them so I can show you what I have so far. Your starting with a billet? Or a certain sized piece you already had? Should I weld mine up to be a billet then pierce and drift from there? Or, make the mandrel and continue to do the wrap? I'm eyeballs deep here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy k Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Jake - this week I've been demoing at our local county fair, and today on the way in I was thinking of the heart hooks you make ( as I was thinking of something not to overy time consuming to make, but in refelecting on that now, they do take many heats). So, I stopped at the Ace Hardware and picked up some 10" spikes and figured I'd give them a try being it's more less a week of my forge play time, other than a few mini horseshoes for the kids. So I made one and it turned out OK. Looking at it, it seemed a bit different but I was just going on memory of you picture. I made the normal neck for the base of the leaf - then well due to length references i slightly flattened the area after hooking the neck on the edge of the anvil - flattened the area the width of the anvil, then hot cut the flattened area ( one side slightly short of the other with the leaf. Then I tappered accordingly, and scrolled to the heart shape. I had a hardy tool for the 2 depressions (then hot punched both holes) for other hooks Ive made so that worked great, then turned the head end of the nail for the hook. Now after seeing your's after getting home - I see what I didn't do, that you did - I made 3 today and sold the second one, and had many compliments on the nail to hook process. Thanks for posting that pic Jake - was a fun forge day with those. Here's my try at them from memory(not that great)..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake pogrebinsky Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 Jeremy,right on!You've done a MUCH beter job than i've ever had the patience for(but i did usually had a rope-twist berween the mounting holes and the heart,by making the heart smaller,you can buy 12" spikes for that,and it'll give you those few inches more). Be VERY carefull,these hooks are awful,in that everyone likes them so much...It'll turn into a job for you,wether you like it or not.(I hate to refuse anyone,but hate feeling like i'm in a sweat-shop of my own making even more...Plus,they're so small,it kills my back tinkering with jewelry type stuff...So i pretty much avoid ever showing them to folks so they won't ask me for them.Can i send them over to you now?!). Bryan,hold off!Don't look at what i'm doing at all,i'm playing at a very particular game,i'll explain later. What is it that you'd LIKE to do?Can you post some pictures of the axes that you liked,that appeal to you for any reason?We can start there,it'll be a good place to start,as a matter of fact. Don't ever worry about being over your head,we all are,or it's boring as h...You're lucky in that you don't even realise yet just how much misery the axes will cause you,so enjoy it while you can! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake pogrebinsky Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 This is what you're risking,Jeremy.Looking at this should give anyone a VERY sharp, intense shot of sciatic pain,just looking.Ugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake pogrebinsky Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 Bryan,my forge is about 6 feet away,so i'm kind of writing while forging,sorta. The drift is more important for some axe types than others(on this one here i don't even have a drift-i'll make one once i fugure out what i've got going here). On wrapped axes the drift becomes more critical,as you can't drift against youir weld,but only straighten a little. It helps to do work on axe with the drift in place.So,if that work gets too violent,the weld can stress out as well. That's just loose thoughts in re:Planning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake pogrebinsky Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 This quite,unassuming fellow here makes some of the best axes in our time,in my opinion.You can look at a few here(sorry about it being in russian,but it's the pictures that are important).http://knifelife.ru/articles_MA.htm I'm doing an experiment along the lines of exploring his direction in this all.I'll screw up this one,and the next,AND the next...Et c. But,i'm learning so much,man.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K. Bryan Morgan Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Holy cows.. thats some pretty amazing work. I know I'm not ready for all that. I understand what your saying about the drift. I can see in my minds eye what you mean. I saw some shapes in the site you posted I think would work for what I'm trying to do. I'll see what I can hammer out tomorrow. IF, I can get the shape, I think I can get it done. I was also gonna make a BBQ set for giggles and see what I can come up with out of all the rebar I have laying around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake pogrebinsky Posted August 4, 2011 Author Share Posted August 4, 2011 Bryan,of course you're not ready for that.Nor am i ready for that.The point is,though,that both of us know enough to know where we WANT to go,what needs to happen,eventually. I've NO idea how Artemiev does it,but i've been trying out things here and there,and it's fantastic,boss!I just beg you not to settle for some railroad spike axe!And we'll get there,some day,and have a blast on the way! I'm using propane now,and it takes a spell to come up to heat,so taking a breather at the comp meanwhile. M.Artemiev is so cool because:That poll,it's just ".right"Also very long,up/down,that's what takes all the pressure in work(not the sides. The walls of eye-so thin,man,it's also right,for balance and all else. That angle of eye forward-that's unique nowadays-used to be common.That REALLY helps in chopping work. The eye is wide,lots of wood in there(sturdy handle)but does not destroy the slick profile.Notealso how the axe tapers from eye forward-wedge-like,no abrupt dip(a ridiculous feature in many axes,especially wrapped). There's TONS more valuable info implicit within,but,THE most important thing is: His axes are ALL scaled.He reaches that shape by forging.Now,ain't that just cat's meow?!An that's why i consider him one of the VERY best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K. Bryan Morgan Posted August 4, 2011 Share Posted August 4, 2011 Never fear. I will never, ever make a railroad spike axe/hatchet. Not that there's anything wrong with anyone who makes or has made one. Its just too simplistic for my wants and needs. I may go down to Alaska Steel tomorrow and see if they have any drops of some larger square mild they would be willing to let go of. That with some of the spring steel your sending me I should be able to come up with something. If I can I'll drop by there tomorrow. But I'll need to make them some hooks or maybe a little set of key fobs. I promised I would bring something to them next time I came in. I have plenty of coal right now. I may fire up the coal forge. I can get the drift up to heat faster. I'll work on that after I wake up though. I need to get some sleep. Have fun and I'm very interested in seeing what you come up with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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