March 3, 201412 yr It's been a while since I posted here, so I thought I'd share my most recent projects! The first is a bracket to hold the sign I'm making for a local brewery, it's probably the best piece I've made so far and I'm very happy to think it will be on display! Because it was my school coursework, I had to document everything, which meant I had plenty of footage to put together to make a video! I used jigs where I needed consistency with the pieces, but I always like to do some freehand as well to make them unique! It was really awkward doing the vine wraps with a small coke forge as heating the long pieces was difficult. Here's my latest piece- a four legged tripod! It has four legs as it needs to fit around a walled firepit, so four legs was the best way to make it look nice and not have it an awkward size! The S-hooks are there to allow for adjustment. I didn't picture the grill which hangs from the a hook to allow the customer to cook some meat on it and adjust the height! The customer was very happy and may send some business my way! I'm so happy to be finally doing some big projects and making it all pay for itself. I never imagined it would develop into this when I started 18 months ago- I thought I'd be making swords! :P
March 3, 201412 yr I love the way you put little leaves on the collars to make them vines! It looks awesome! :)
March 4, 201412 yr Greetings Gundog, Well done... You should be proud of your progress... I love the way you board stomped the metal straight. My only complaint is NO SAFETY GLASSES.. Keep up the great work... Forge on and make beautiful things Jim
March 4, 201412 yr Author Thanks everyone! I figured the best way there would be to heat it at the two high points and use some kind of press with a large surface area to get it flat... I didn't have a press, but I had some wood and myself! I used to wear safety glasses all the time, but I couldn't get on with them. For normal forging I don't normally bother, but when I'm doing any welding or delicate work that involves a lot of scale I always wear them! I've had the old hot scale fly onto my eyelids twice now and they were both when doing work with a large surface area/mass ratio and because I was holding my face too close to see exactly what I''m doing!
March 4, 201412 yr Here in the States they have come out with safety glasses that are easy and even "stylish" to wear---usually sell them at lumber yards and construction supply places as they couldn't get the workers to wear the old clumsy dorkish looking ones and eye injuries are *EXPENSIVE* for an employer! I try to wear something in front of my eyes as much as possible, (got my regular glasses in a safety prescription) and not just for forging. A world famous bladesmith nearly had to give up the craft after an accident mowing!
March 6, 201412 yr Author You can get some pretty posh glasses from the opticians over here too! I don't know what it is, but glasses seem to give me trouble. I have a pair of distance glasses but I keep them in my pocket until I actually need them otherwise I feel uncomfortable, get headaches and they're generally distracting. I get the same issue with sunglasses and safety glasses. I will never neglect to wear them in situations that demand them, but I sometimes don't wear them when it would perhaps be a good idea.
March 6, 201412 yr My point being that most situations demand them; we just don't realize it until we are on the way to the hospital!
March 6, 201412 yr Nice work. A note. Most of the old pot hooks were of flat stock so that when a bail was put on, there would be a little less twisting and twirling of the pot or kettle.
March 6, 201412 yr Author Thanks Frank, hadn't considered that! I'm not sure how much hanging of pots they'll be doing as it seems like they'll mostly be using the grill, but in future I'll at least make the bottom hook from flat, they'd certainly be easier to make from flat bar!
March 6, 201412 yr And in much earier times round stock was rather unusual, not until the 17th century with the use of rolling mills did round stock become easy to source.
March 6, 201412 yr The Saugus River Ironworks in the NW USA had one of the early rolling mills at it! compared to the old "batter mills"
March 6, 201412 yr Author Sometimes I wonder why I bother buying round stock, because I always taper it down to square then back to round! Unless I'm doing long untapered sections I prefer the texture of square to round anyway!
March 8, 201412 yr Great video. I seems to me that you gained skill and confidence as it progressed. Also, the music in the video is fantastic. iD please!!
March 8, 201412 yr The Saugus River Ironworks in the NW USA had one of the early rolling mills at it! compared to the old "batter mills" Thomas, I am not sure this is quite right. It may be, but last year I visited the Saugus Iron Works - here in Massachusetts. http://www.nps.gov/sair/index.htm It is a National Historic Site and well worth the visit if you find yourself in the Boston area. - But this one is not in the NW. Bill
March 8, 201412 yr Author Thanks! Bikecop, the music in the video is The Butterfly performed by Celtic Woman- if you like that kind of music there's hundreds of brilliant Irish jigs around! I need another big project I can put loads of time in! It seems that when making stuff for the fun of it I don't seem to put in the extra time to make it as good as I can make it!
March 10, 201412 yr Something else you can use instead of the S hooks is an adjustable bar. Simply a flat bar with a hook on both ends and a series of spaced holes to raise and lower another hook.
March 10, 201412 yr Cross Pein; the information is in the book "Ironworks on the Saugus" nearly 400 pages of in depth information published by a university press. May I commend it to your attention? As these things go it was quite readable. I do not think they used it to roll round rod but they did do rolling and slitting to produce nail rod.
March 13, 201412 yr Wow! Very nicely done! I like the video showing your steps. Keep up the good work!
April 30, 201412 yr Here in the States they have come out with safety glasses that are easy and even "stylish" to wear---usually sell them at lumber yards and construction supply places as they couldn't get the workers to wear the old clumsy dorkish looking ones and eye injuries are *EXPENSIVE* for an employer! I try to wear something in front of my eyes as much as possible, (got my regular glasses in a safety prescription) and not just for forging. A world famous bladesmith nearly had to give up the craft after an accident mowing! To err once is humane, twice is stupid and third is usually when you lose something. 3 Times I have had to rush off to the optometrist to have a piece of steel removed from my eye. First 2 no glasses, third time with "safety" glasses. Make sure they wrap around. I've been very lucky when other have not. Not worth the risk.
April 30, 201412 yr Sorry for the typo; rereading it Fresh it leaps out: it is in the NE not NW Ah, the tide was going out, it happens to me all the time. Frosty The Lucky.
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