Lit the gas forge last Saturday afternoon while the wife and daughters were getting their nails done. Made a couple of sturdy hooks for a co workers' beloved cast iron cookware. He needed substantial hangers for what I think are Lodge frypans.  Also heat treated a half a dozen spring steel chisels, quenched and tempered in used fryer oil.

Sunday being Father's Day, my chores were delegated to the loving family and I got to light the coal forge. Helpful that it was a windy day to carry the smoke away. Started out handling a new wire brush, a little tall but it bears down well. Then practiced some hinge welds, a local chapter of a period furniture group asked me to demo some hardware this Saturday.  Made a little jig last week to roll the barrel in the vise, bent a section of 1/4 by 2 inch bar and rounded the square end to match the 1/4 inch pins I'm using. Pins are a bit large for this hinge but it's what was at hand.  Cut a stack of hinge blanks (under the jig at right side of the photo), next a bent, unwelded blank.

The welds in thin stock are very instructive, its very easy to see the surface get liquidy, the frying bacon look that I've read about, in this 1/16 inch strapping, rusty decorative barrel hoops. The barrels are decorative, not the hoops.   Once I get this demo done I need to practice some welding in thicker stock.

tried some more dragon head shaping with the new chisels.

 

nice hooks, michael.  and the dragon!  do you turn the hinges on the jig in the vise, or on the anvil?

Turned in the jig in the vise, much more consistent that way.  Once you get the weld the pin acts as a drift to size the barrel correctly.  Interesting that the small hinges need the weld to keep them from levering open, but big gate hinges (like yours) can just be rolled and butted and they'll hold.