August 10, 201312 yr Forged a "man sized" hog roast skewer as a present for the landlord of one of my local pubs this morning before going to his beer festival in the afternoon. Pretty pleased with it considering it was my first attempt at anything similar. Always keep your landlord sweet. The fork/skewer... A sense of scale... In action... In the hands of a proper sized man...
August 10, 201312 yr Nice work, very clean. My only question is how well the curved tines work, or are just the very tips used?
August 11, 201312 yr I like it but I too have to wonder how well it works with that much curve to the tines. There's nothing like a forged gift for the host of the beer fest for good PR. Well done Joel. Frosty The Lucky
August 11, 201312 yr Very nice work. I like every part of it. I make fork tines in the same style. Two thumbs up.
August 11, 201312 yr I agree - it's very nice work. I also like the sight of all that pulled pork. Not to hijack the thread but I'd also like to comment on the gift idea. In addition to my ironwork and machine shop job, I put up a lot of square hay bales every year. Many years ago, my sons and I figured out a handy size for hay hooks so I built a half dozen to ensure we'd have plenty on hand. However, as I sold hay over time and got to know my customers, I would give the hooks away to anyone who showed up more than once and liked using the hooks. One lady remarked that she always thought of me when she pulled a bale out to the horses - and that is Marketing 101... Even if you don't make money on the deal, the goodwill generated can be priceless.
August 11, 201312 yr Author Eurgh, my head, I haven't drunk that much in ages. Sorry about all the pics, I started the thread when I got back from the pub. I like it but I too have to wonder how well it works with that much curve to the tines. I thinned down and straightened out the tips enough to skewer a sausage/few bits of hog roast...the rest of the tines were just for effect really...I just wanted it to look cool. To be honest I pretty much made it up as I went along as the main purpose was to try hot cutting along the bar to split it as I'd never tried that before. From there on I just got a bit carried away! Quite pleased with the twists all in all as I only have my coke forge as a heat source - no spot heating devices. How would you guys split the bar? Hot cut it? Band saw? Angle grinder with a thin disc? Couldn't agree more Mr Wooldridge. I have to admit that I was fully aware that in rural communities where the pub is the heart of the area, (everyone knows the landlord - and the landlord knows everyone), letting the landlord know what you're up to isn't a bad idea when you're a novice trying to get you're name out there. He showed it off to a few people too.
August 11, 201312 yr They came out looking cool and will serve for a number of things. Best of all, it's beautiful, the twists came out very nice, the tines are even and well proportioned, the hanging loop and finial scroll look well. How I split a bar depends on what I'm splitting it for. Usually I flatten it a little and hot cut it. Gordon Williams showed us the slickest hot cut for splitting I've ever seen. I haven't made one yet but will if I have time tomorrow and will post a pic. Sometimes I use a band saw, say for split crosses. If I want a lot of eat in the tine, say for a spading fork I simply do a welded loop, cut and draw the tines down to points. Or how about this, determine how long you want the ties, cut two pieces of stock twice as long, bend them in half and weld them to the shaft, cut and draw the tines down for a 4 tine fork. (Wait, would that be a Fourk?) Oh, if you want to make a three-ork just bend the end double but cut and scarf a piece that will just fit in the fold. Weld it up, cut and draw it out. Viola! <grin> Anyway, there's no ONE way to forge tines. Or most anything really. One of the basic tenets of blacksmithing is. "Faster, Better, Cheaper, Easier." Any time you can improve one of these in a project you up your profit so it's. . . . GOOD. Profit isn't just money in your pocket, often it's a trick that lets you make a thing twice as fast or with less sweat, less material, etc. In other words, it's Bang for the buck. Frosty The Lucky.
August 12, 201312 yr Cool, I'd like to see that if you get the time. Cheers You bet. I didn't get to it today, spent hours preheating an anvil then several more welding up severely chipped edges. An earlier attempt at repair or just cleaning up the chips meant the face was ground down from about 1 1/2" back from the edges so the face to the edge was several degrees shy. What a PITA! About the only way to bring it back to a flat face with 90* edges would be to build the face up from the edges back about 1 12". Sorry, that's not what we were talking about but it's on my mind. I still have a couple few hours of grinding to do tomorrow and I'm stuck in brain lock. <sigh> Frosty The Lucky.
August 12, 201312 yr Very nice. When you wrote ""man sized" hog roast skewer" though, I was expecting a 6' spit for a pig roaster. Guess that's what happens when you have friends who are in the 4-H pig club. LOL I agree marketing wise things like this are priceless. I made a few forged hooks to hang robes and towels from a customers hot tub canopy and a matching hook to hang up her radio that looks like a lantern. I've picked up way more work from her friends who have seen my stuff at her place than I can count. The 2 hours playing at the forge and the $25 or so worth of material was worth every penny. I'd like to see your hot cut Frosty when you get it done as well.
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