Charles R. Stevens Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 It’s human nature to over think and over build. I would go ahead and see how it woks, being aware that you have made changes. If it doesn’t work the way mine dose it’s on you. The JABOD project started as a test bed for forge design, then a demonstration on cheap. As you see I am up to 3, and each one under went revisions in use. The latest burns about a gallon of charcoal an hour but isn’t particularly fast heating with the bed pump. It is however quiet and very zen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Owen Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 18 hours ago, Jon Kerr said: ..... I can't wait to get going again. Tomorrow, hopefully. Show us what you make I've just finished beating the largest metal I have so far to make a punch and a drift for making a few palm bottle openers that CC ironworks has just put a video up for. I have a tabletop games night once a month and thought I would make one each for my buddies who come over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Tonight is infact game night here. Galactic or D&D 5e with myself as GM. Seems a lot of us came to boacksmithing from D&D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 My first swords predated the existence of D&D; but I wasn't smithing till after... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 One of my friends from college was lead writer for D&D for years, now over at Magic: The Gathering. I should have him join me in the forge next time he comes to a reunion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kerr Posted May 22, 2018 Author Share Posted May 22, 2018 Haha, I’m a wargamer/roleplayer also! Not so much D&D for me- mainly Warhammer as I love the modelling/painting side. I also GM a Star Wars RPG though. Making a bottle opener for each of my players is a FANTASTIC idea, thanks Nick!!!!! They’ll love it and its great practice for me too. Added that idea to my list.... perhaps after my first 20 basic coat hooks! Tonight wasn’t a complete waste- I got home too late to fire up the forge and hit the anvil (neighbours...) but I could quietly work in the garage for half an hour.... I was kindly given this hammer at work today. Its an old 2lb machinists hammer by Whitehouse. I believe (from a quick google search) the handle is hickory. My understanding from the post about Hammers on this forum is that a machinists ball peen IS a proper blacksmiths hammer here in the UK? Thas exciting! I own my first REAL piece of gear. I gave the hammer handle a good sanding, and a coat of beeswax, and I also waxed fhe anvil post while I was at it..... (yes, the rail is still the wrong way.... *ducks for cover*). I even put some screws in the anvil post so I could hang my new hammer, because it made me feel fancy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Look up the "dice twist" and add the pips! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Nice ball pein John, good score. I don't get what you mean by being your first real piece of gear, you have it hanging on the stand for a perfectly functional anvil. Folks who turn their noses up at RR rail anvils are too new to the craft to know what it really takes to do good work. No, it's not a particular shape anvil. I have a first edition D&D basic manual in the basement. It's a paperback and Gygax explains the rules are only guidelines and players should adjust and invent for themselves. Later editions he's pretty adamant about any game not following his rules exactly is NOT D&D. I haven't played in quite a while, my old D&D gang couldn't play a sci fi RPG for spit. Then I changed jobs yada yada yada. A friend and I have started playing but not D&D, he's DMing using a version of RPG and his mods. As I get back up to speed I might start hitting a local game shop and playing at one of their tables. We started playing a RPG game on Iforge a while back based on a question I and others have asked new folks here. If you were stranded in a wilderness survival situation and had usable scrap available what is the first thing you'd make. I'm afraid I wasn't the best GM and there weren't many experienced gamers playing. We took a break for 4th. of July I THINK and we just never picked it up again. In my partial defense I'm a TBI survivor and it can be really hard for me to stay on task let alone remember to do some pre planning. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lou L Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Wow, apparently role playing and blacksmithing are deeply intertwined. I have some old connections in the gaming world as well. My best was back in my bartender days. I befriended a regular female customer and she turned out to be Margaret Weiss’ daughter. I ended up meeting her a few times and she loved me. She offered that, if I married her daughter, we could have our wedding in front of the castle at Disney. Very cool lady...originally trained as a classicist, became a travel writer, got a job at TSR..etc. Her story of how the Dragonlance story actually came about is neat. A good pal of mine (from our original gaming group in high school) is highly connected. He is the guy who brought Warhammer to Japan. He knows basically everyone in the industry. He also won a miniature painting competition as best of the year in White Dwarf magazine. I think that’s how he landed his gig at Games Workshop. Me? I just like playing ridiculous characters like a fighter with ridiculous strength, low intelligence, and a deep belief that he is destined to be a wizard. Clumsy, loud thieves are fun too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 A lot of us like to cook too. Every once in a while I'd bring a pot of barbarian stew to a game, usually pig's knuckles or ox tail stoup and home made sour dough biscuits or bread. NO slicing the bread! Rip off a piece, sop stew and skewer meat and veggies. I think the winner though was Steve when he brought roasted Cornish game hens. The "food" I saw at the tables at the local game shop was soda, Ho Hos frosted cup cakes green frosting of course and a burrito I think. No barbarian stew for YOU! I thought. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kerr Posted May 23, 2018 Author Share Posted May 23, 2018 10 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: Look up the "dice twist" and add the pips! I just looked this up and they're amazing! Unfortunately I don't currently own a vice so twists might be hard. Though, I guess you can do it with two sets of tongs/pliers? Great to hear everyone's D&D/gaming interests and "claim to fames". 8 hours ago, Frosty said: Nice ball pein John, good score. I don't get what you mean by being your first real piece of gear, you have it hanging on the stand for a perfectly functional anvil. Folks who turn their noses up at RR rail anvils are too new to the craft to know what it really takes to do good work. No, it's not a particular shape anvil. Hah, thanks Frosty. I'm excited to slowly build up the tools I need one job at a time, and hopefully learn a lot while doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 13 hours ago, Frosty said: We took a break for 4th. of July I THINK and we just never picked it up again. Somewhere on an Alaskan sandbar, there's a group of abandoned PCs doing just fine on their own. 5 hours ago, Jon Kerr said: I don't currently own a vice so twists might be hard. Though, I guess you can do it with two sets of tongs/pliers? Fasten one end of your bottle opener to the web of your RR track with a pair of vise grips or a C-clamp, grab the other end with your twisting wrench, and go. In this case, it might be better to keep the track horizontal, so that you (or an assistant) can sit on it to keep it from twisting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kerr Posted May 23, 2018 Author Share Posted May 23, 2018 18 minutes ago, JHCC said: Fasten one end of your bottle opener to the web of your RR track with a pair of vise grips or a C-clamp, grab the other end with your twisting wrench, and go. In this case, it might be better to keep the track horizontal, so that you (or an assistant) can sit on it to keep it from twisting. Good tip, thanks. Fortunately I DO have vise grips so this will work!!!!! Sounds like there are loads of ingenious ways to use the RR Track anvil? Any other good tips? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 There are some good threads about this, so take a look around. The short answer is, look at the track from every angle and think about it as a collection of angles, curves, surfaces, and edges, all of which can be used in a wide of applications. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 now as John said, a rail has lots of shapes you can hammer against. Need to start a curve? Lay the stock from flange to head and smack it in the unsupported middle. Need a broad flat service, flip it flange up etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kerr Posted May 23, 2018 Author Share Posted May 23, 2018 Oh that thread is fantastic, thanks again Charles!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 As with the JABOD this is a road map not a blue print. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Owen Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 22 hours ago, Jon Kerr said: Haha, I’m a wargamer/roleplayer also! Not so much D&D for me- mainly Warhammer as I love the modelling/painting side. I also GM a Star Wars RPG though. I used to play a bit of Warmachine but now I just DM a 5E game once every four weeks. We usually only get through about 4 encounters due to ordering food, general chat etc but we usually have a good time. I like to treat my players with dice boxes, special dice, 3D printed models etc Bottle openers are a good way to practice and making the tools to do it right has been fun, should be making my first few attempts tomorrow/Friday. Neighbours and noise are a big concern for me too. Although the neighbours grandson (early 20s) popped his head over the fence and was pretty excited by it all so it can't be all complaints going on over there! They have a lot of little dogs that bark every time there's movement outside so I think they can live with a few hammer thumps and the occasional scream from me I managed to pick up a leg vise for £30 off of ebay last week. I spend half that on a tiny little engineers vise, useless thing! I had to take the vise apart a few times to clean it up and loosen the spring a little but it works great now. If you want to see the most ghetto vise stand ever, I can put up a pic. I bought a set of steel (rather flimsy but perfectly sized) speaker stands, drilled, bolted it in, put them in a plastic tub and backfilled with concrete. It wobbles a lot but its sturdy enough for twists/filing! If I dig a pit for the tub to sit in it will probably be stable too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 Lateral stability is a critical -- if frequently overlooked -- aspect of vise stand design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Owen Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 45 minutes ago, JHCC said: Lateral stability is a critical -- if frequently overlooked -- aspect of vise stand design. When I get to needing something more robust than what it can stand up to, I will lift a patio slab and drop it into a hole with some more concrete. The slight wobble whilst twisting/filing is already annoying me so it won't be long I already knew that it wouldn't be stable side to side, the tub it's in is longer forward/backwards so I just angle my work to be in that direction. Ghetto but it works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kerr Posted May 23, 2018 Author Share Posted May 23, 2018 (edited) I’m possibly the luckiest aspiring-blacksmith as I’ve also been given a free vice today... and a xxxx good one. Its big, so should take some gentle knocks, and has a quick release trigger too! Who knows what/how I’m going to mount it. Possibly something portable similar to the anvil for now. I also turned my “blade” (aka slightly flattened rebar) into a chisel for hot-cutting. My first home-made tool! Once again I didnt get time to do any smithing tonight.... tomorrow morning I’m off work so definitely hoping to get some done. Depends how tired I am after watching “Solo: A Star Wars Story” tonight. Edited May 23, 2018 by Mod34 Edited for inappropriate language Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 That is a very nice vise, but please don't do any hammering on it. Filing, twisting, bending, yes. Hammering, no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 When you say "it's big" I think of the old chipping vises that weigh in at over 150 pounds. Somehow I think that one is smaller. Example: "Chipping vises are made primarily for weight and durability. With 8.5" jaws and weighing nearly 300 pounds....." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kerr Posted May 23, 2018 Author Share Posted May 23, 2018 2 hours ago, JHCC said: That is a very nice vise, but please don't do any hammering on it. Filing, twisting, bending, yes. Hammering, no. Understood. I just read a long blog post about "How to break your vice." and had never realised how serious an issue this is! Looking at eBay prices the vice is worth a small fortune so I definitely want to keep it good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 24, 2018 Share Posted May 24, 2018 10 hours ago, JHCC said: Somewhere on an Alaskan sandbar, there's a group of abandoned PCs doing just fine on their own. Finding reservations for fishing lodge accommodations in Prince William often means booking 6 months to a year in advance. They got tired of living in a grass lean to hut and eating tide pool gleanings and the occasional beaver so they salvaged the wrecked fishing boats along the bay and about 3 months later opened a fishing lodge. They're doing much better than just fine. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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