August 3, 201312 yr hello all... I tried my hand at forging something i cant use lol... basically ive been building or making tools all in all just tryin to set up shop so to speak but thats getting mundane and i needed a break so i made this lil snake.....only to find out i need more tools haha.
August 3, 201312 yr Pretty cool! Eye punches would be nice, but you have the shape right on. I don't like snakes and the silhouette gave me the shivers!
August 3, 201312 yr Not bad at all. I like RR spike snakes, the spike head makes a fine snake head. The problem I've observed when someone tries to collect or make all the tools they need before they really get to work seems to be, when they finally get to work they discover they need more tools AND most of the tools they made aren't what they need. Been there done that, have the collection of unused stuff. Frosty The Lucky.
August 4, 201312 yr I like the snake. Here is my favorite snake photo. BTW that's me cutting up the log.
August 4, 201312 yr Nice snake pic. I'm assuming the guy taking the pic let you know it was there or was it napping when the tree came down? I like the saw guide, I've seen a bunch but not one that used a ladder as a guide. What's the make? Frosty The Lucky.
August 4, 201312 yr Like it's ferrous counter part the snake is a fake (rubber). Up close it's not as realistic as the OPs beauty. I first posted the picture on a an international milling forum in 2009 without saying it was a fake and got some interesting responses. Most Aussie snakes are quite poisonous but will slither a mile to avoid chainsaw noise so the first thing you do before approaching a tree/log is to run the saw for a few seconds and they will take off. The rubber snake is the landowners, he has a dog that loves chasing snakes and so they were hoping to train the dog from not doing so using a fake snake. The dog still chases snakes but nearly 5 years later it is still alive. The saw guide is a Westford. It's an Aussie equivalent of the US made Granberg Mark II Alaskan mill. Most alaskan style mills can use a ladder as a guide,
August 4, 201312 yr I'll have to remember the chain saw trick if I'm ever down under. Firing up a chainsaw here is likely to have the local moose come investigate to see what leaves and buds you're trimming. I think we have a picture of me bucking at one end of a birch tree and a moose eating buds on the other. The last time I messed with an Alaskan mill it used a couple 2x6s as a guide. I guess they've made some improvements in the last 20-30 years eh? Frosty The Lucky.
August 4, 201312 yr To amuse my 4 year old son, whenever I forge a snake, I get it good and hot then quench it slowly a bit at a time to prolong the snakes 'hiss'.
August 4, 201312 yr To amuse my 4 year old son, whenever I forge a snake, I get it good and hot then quench it slowly a bit at a time to prolong the snakes 'hiss'. Love it!
August 4, 201312 yr I think it's got eyes, and looks like a mouth too. Just hard to see with it turned sideways. Love the curves, now I've gotta try one to leave on the front porch....
August 5, 201312 yr I think it's got eyes, and looks like a mouth too. Just hard to see with it turned sideways. Love the curves, now I've gotta try one to leave on the front porch....I take it you don't mind sleeping there? :D
August 5, 201312 yr Author Thanks for all the positive comments guys!! It does have quasi eyes but i just used a center punch ...eye punches is one of the tools i was thinking i need to make ...ive got 30 foot of 3/4 sucker rod to use. So far ive made a square punch, a hot cut chisel, bob punch with intentions to make more..i picked up couple jackhammer bits today to make a hot cut hardy...also been working on some texturing hammers out of the hf ball peens. Also today i made 14 of those friedrick crosses because all my neices and nephews came over for the night...still recouping from that..not the crosses..the kids lol...i let each of them be a part of their cross from start to finish. They had a blast!! Well it was actually 14 crosses and a alligator wall hook named stumpy cuz he has no legs :/
August 5, 201312 yr Are crosses a pretty standard "beginner" project or are they more a little more advanced? I saw a video on youtube of a HUGE cross being forged at some blacksmith conference or hammerin so I know the process, but wanted to ask. I have a feeling I'll be making quite a few of them for the neighbor kids as they start coming to see what the noise is all about haha.
August 5, 201312 yr Author I would say its a beginner project because it was pretty simple to do , the hardest part for me was making 14 of them all different
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