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I Forge Iron

Forged Rocking Chair WIP


Ranchmanben

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Ben, your work is absolutely stunning. You should have no reservations about your work or your talent. You are your own worst critic. Only you will see any "flaws"... everyone else will see the beauty and craftsmanship in your work. You have become a very accomplished smith; an inspiration to the rest of us.

BTW, at 80-90 lbs, that rocker ain't gonna blow off the porch!!!!

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 I've been amazed at how fast you made this piece Ben.  The maker's eye is always drawn to perceived flaws in the work.  I think it's a product of the desire for perfection, the unobtainable . For the rest of us your work is just beautiful and the execution masterful. The amount of fitting and joinery is daunting.

I can NOT wait to see your next one. 

Frosty The Lucky.

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I haven't commented, but I have been watching. Absolutely amazing work and it was great seeing your progress as you went. Way way beyond my skill level for sure, and I am extremely impressed with your abilities. Look forward to seeing your next project!

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Now Arkie; I've seen the porch blow off the porch up your way before, (we drove through Greenwood a month after the 1968 Tornado)

Ben;  now you can put an oscillating magnetic field under the porch and have the rocker begin to rock on it's own---great for Halloween!

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Thomas, the winds in your neck of the woods can get a bit hairy, too!!  At least we don't have the dust.  I had my fill of that when I lived in W. Tx....cotton fields and desert in the springtime....ahhhh.....I remember when it rained (sometimes) mudballs.

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Day one of the on-site competition is over. For our “artistic category”, meaning you get to use modern power tools if needed, we built a pair of one piece cable damascus spurs. I’m awful proud of what we turned out. My striker and I never even got close to something that would be acceptable as a single spur when we practiced. We did forge the billet beforehand and the buttons were purchased, all else was done on site. I had planned to just soak them in acid for a bit then rinse them off in water. Luckily, there was an experienced damacus maker there to let me know all the additional and unexpected steps that are involved with finishing damascus so it looks decent and doesn’t end up being a wad of rust in the morning  

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You do amazing work. Your chair is a true work of art, and the spurs are beautiful. I like how you added the little diamonds on the rowl. I think a darker leather for the strap would contrast with the pattern nicely

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1 hour ago, Daswulf said:

When you get a chance could you show us how that works? I've never seen one like it. 

The curved piece is pivoted at the top and and has a blade on the convex side. You stand up the stick with the bottom end on the little adjustable foot, place the blade on top of the other end, and pull down. If the stick splits all the way through, well and good. If it doesn’t, move the adjustable foot up a notch and repeat.

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You may have lost the competition but you Won on your personal work. and you learned things, accomplished, and met new people and saw other work and are better for it. Congrats on your own PERSONAL Win. ;)

 

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Thanks everybody. I was quite a learning experience. My striker and I were pretty burnt out by the end. All my stuff sold at the auction so I’ve got that going for me. 

Thought I share the coolest bit of forging done over the weekend. A fella named Austin Edens and his dad built a set of working handcuffs using only hand tools and they made it look easy. 

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2 hours ago, JHCC said:

So, they had the competition locked up?

I'm sure they did. Did you notice the key is also a bottle opener?  It's hard to beat that kind of thinking. :ph34r:

I REALLY like the kindling splitter a LOT. I might have to make one I split a lot of kindling and the hatchet is noisy in the morning. The real challenge will be getting Deb to let me hang it on the wall. Well, I suppose I could start splitting more kindling from larger chunks earlier in the morning, that's really noisy. Hmmmmm.  

It's a really nice piece of work Ben, what a win win competition. Competition is good for everybody involved even the spectators.

Frosty The Lucky.

 

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What were the spec's for the comp?  Was there a flyer?   What were the categories?

glad you had a good time.. These types of events a lot of the people practice some items to perfection.. 
 

In the way back My Boss wanted me to go into the professional horse shoe making competitions..  I went and checked it out as you have to get a coach.. These guys were brutal..

They worked more on being precise..  It became that each shoe, was made by step.. and each step was worked over and over again till it was so consistent..

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