Day off for forging

[Michael]

Took a whole day off work to get some forging done, and after a trip down to South San Francisco (Brisbane, really) for a 100 lbs of coal, got to hammerin'.

 

Nails to warm up, leaves to add to the "100 leaves on the screen door project", and then some experiments:

 

Tried a Colonial Spatula from a 1990 Peter Ross diagram in the FABA magazine, starting with 5/8 stock. Was moving along nicely until I over fullered the stem behind the blade. Still attached but I can see the crack forming in there. At least I'll get some welding practice when it breaks.

 

Years ago I made a RR spike tomahawk, with the spike head as the blade. Wanting to try the other way around, so the head becomes a hammer head opposite the blade. Learned how the spike needs to be supported or the head bends, obscuring the hole. Have to either make a punching bolster that will let the head hang off the end or (doh, slap to head) quench the spike head before drifting the hole.

 

Dragon head on the end a bar, horns are never to my satisfaction, but did come up with the idea to neck the bar down right behind the dragons head, and then use that little step to keep the head from moving in the vise when punching the eyes and nostrils.

 

last, made a little  (3 inches overall, 1 inch blade) viking/blacksmiths knife from a tiny scrap of socket chisel steel I'd been saving.  Fits nicely in the hand, tempered and sharpened up easily. Not sure how to make a sheath that small though.

 

Thanks for looking.

[TheFullSmokingBar]

Hah, took off work yesterday and forged. I finally whipped up one of these

And a bunch of these that a guy I work with is gonna use in his BBQ restaurant to hang old lanterns on

[GNJC]

Few things better than taking time off from what you should be doing to do what you want to do! Good to see you making old cooking gear too (my favourite occupation).

 

Something that few books mention / illustrate is the fact that the metal of the spatulas, spoons etc. in the old days (i.e. when these items were hand forged) was considerably thicker than in their modern counterparts. This was for many reasons but, mainly, because the metal wasn't as consistent as modern stuff and the users wouldn't buy tools that would wear down or break easily.

 

The pictures of your work appear to show that you are getting very thin toward the edges; by my estimate, too thin. Other than that good efforts, look forward to seeing future projects.

[GNJC]

I should have added another point... although the metal was generally thicker, utensils were still often quite elegant in appearance. This was because, despite having thicker metal, either by very skillful hammering or (more often) judicious use of a file, the edges and corners were made to appear more delicate.

 

It is an odd thing, but even on pieces I've made - and know are pretty thick - just seeing edges that have been filed to look thinner actually makes me feel that the whole item is lighter and more delicate than I know to be the true case.

[Michael]

Few things better than taking time off from what you should be doing to do what you want to do! Good to see you making old cooking gear too (my favourite occupation).

 

Something that few books mention / illustrate is the fact that the metal of the spatulas, spoons etc. in the old days (i.e. when these items were hand forged) was considerably thicker than in their modern counterparts. This was for many reasons but, mainly, because the metal wasn't as consistent as modern stuff and the users wouldn't buy tools that would wear down or break easily.

 

The pictures of your work appear to show that you are getting very thin toward the edges; by my estimate, too thin. Other than that good efforts, look forward to seeing future projects.

Thank you for the info on Colonial utensils.  The only info I had was from a couple of drawings in one of the magazines.  Kitchenware seems a good fit for smithing (how many hooks and bottle openers does anyone need really) and if I can get the spatula process figured out, that would be a whole lot of additional gifts I could pass out to people.

[GNJC]

You are right that kitchenware is a good fit for smithing, it all started in the forge in the old days. A little research can make forging easier; a good photograph is helpful, a good diagram is a lesson in itself - this is because it can highlight the welds / rivets / joins etc..

 

A good book to start with is 'Colonial Wrought Iron - the Sorber collection'; this show lots of old American ironwork from farm stuff to cooking gear. Another book, from here in the UK, is 'The Old Devon Farmhouse' by Peter Brears; his diagrams show just how each piece of metalwork was made and - very helpfully - the text gives dimensions for each piece. If you want any other info just PM me and I'll give what help I can.

[Borntoolate]

Mine from the other day.

 

 

 

[Michael]

A good book to start with is 'Colonial Wrought Iron - the Sorber collection'; this show lots of old American ironwork from farm stuff to cooking gear. Another book, from here in the UK, is 'The Old Devon Farmhouse' by Peter Brears; his diagrams show just how each piece of metalwork was made and - very helpfully - the text gives dimensions for each piece. If you want any other info just PM me and I'll give what help I can.

Thanks GNJC, I'll look for those two at the library.

[Michael]

A good book to start with is 'Colonial Wrought Iron - the Sorber collection'; this show lots of old American ironwork from farm stuff to cooking gear.

 

Is it ever!! Great book, just picked it up yesterday from InterLibraryLoan. With a Peter Ross introduction as well. Lots and lots of ideas there. Gonna have to find a used copy of this.  Still working on the Devon Farmhouse book.  Thanks for the tips, I see a whole stack of kitchen gear forged as gifts.