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Let’s see some fire pokers


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Another observation on the differences between girls and boys:  Boys do sound effects, girls do dialog.  If you give a little boy two rocks he will bang them together saying, "Bang!" "Koosh" "Boom" "Pow" and other suitable sounds.  Give the same two rocks to a little girl and she will have them talking to each other and will come up with an involved backstory for them.

In the 90s a friend was going to raise her son in a nonviolent way with no toy guns or other "violent" toys.  She did her best until one day at breakfast her son, about age 4, bit his toast into the shape of a gun and started "shooting" things in the kitchen with it.  At that point the mother bowed to reality.  The son, now in his late 20s, is an avid Wyoming hunter who puts lots of meat in the freezer every fall.

"Vive la difference!"

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Forged another longhorn poker. I usually forge the puller on the end of the poker on the left at right angles to the bull's head. That gives the poker a right-handed use. With this one I folded the head without lining up the point and it has the tang on the poker end vertical when held.

I could easily have made a twist in the shaft to align it in the usual way, but it seems to be perfectly usable in that position. It only takes a small rotation of the wrist to have the puller on either side.

OK, so what do you guys do? Do your fire pokers have the piece that you fire weld back on the left, right, upright or what?

Sorry about the poor photo. Bit hard to get the depth of field along the poker, but you get the idea.

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Nice job Aus, often the part the item has to play dictates the relationship of motif to handle eye, and also the working end alignment,

Things to take into consideration are

Is it a seperate item,

If it is to be suspended how and where, it could be vertical on a wall, part of a companion set, laid down or on andirons,

All situations have a bearing on the design being used.

To sum up, position is relative to function, make them to suit

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Thanks John and TP. I don't do much commission work … these pokers go straight into the shop and they seem to sell well regardless of the alignment of the working end. I think as a general rule, I will make them like the one in the photo, as a small rotation of the wrist either way makes them function well.

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I had a tendency to "overbuild" things; however I noticed that my wife was preferentially using a very light forge rake to work our wood stove.  (One of those "oops forgot the forge rake *again*!" things made from whatever was to hand just for the one demo and then forever after till the next "oops!")

So I've started making some "gracile" pokers as well as the "robustus" ones...

 

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On 12/18/2018 at 11:26 AM, ausfire said:

Thanks John and TP. I don't do much commission work … these pokers go straight into the shop and they seem to sell well regardless of the alignment of the working end. I think as a general rule, I will make them like the one in the photo, as a small rotation of the wrist either way makes them function well.

The options are there to discuss with clients who want bespoke/commisioned items , and are things to consider when discussing the clients options.

It's part of the service that sets our products apart from store bought items, they are unique and designed to solve the client's problem/requirements whatever they may be.

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  • 1 month later...

So a few months back I posted about failing trying to forge weld a fire poker. The consensus was that I either over heated it, or I had copper contamination in my forge (or both). I believe the copper has since been cleaned/burnt out of my forge so the other day I gave it another try. This time it worked with 2 things I made sure to do during the process. First, I filed the scale off to bare metal after the initial tapering of the poker end before bending to weld. Also once I started the process I didn't hit it on the side. I think last time my weld may have been weakened by hitting it on the side to even up the joint after it had slipped sideways. I didn't get a full length shot, but here are the 2 ends. The handle side just has a basic loop and reverse twist. The hook end also has a long one direction twist with it being round stock for the middle section, not shown in the photos. I know its not as fancy as others posted in this thread, but it feels good to finally get the weld figured out. Next one I will try to get a bit more fancy on the details.

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Well done...   If metal is the same thickness and you hammer one side more than the other.. One side will be thicker than the other..  

So, just keep this in mind if you are making an item where you want each piece to be even (same thickness) or uneven once side thicker, other side thinner.. 

I like he taper and the hook.. Graceful looking.. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I could use some virtual tutelage and opinions from you more-experienced smiths. I'm using 3/8"-square HR, and aiming for something like the twisted handle John B. showed on page 3 and described on page 4 (and that ausfire put his own excellent spin on, above).

This is what I ended up with:

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And while it isn't *bad,* per se, the loop is a bit misshapen. I had trouble getting the punch marks aligned, and real trouble getting the loop into a symmetrical shape. I've got a pretty basic bending jig... maybe my heat wasn't even? Maybe I didn't isolate/freeze the right areas? Do I need different or better tooling? Maybe I just need to do it a dozen more times for practice... sigh. :unsure: Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Below is a pic of my bending jig. I have a few other sockets, but I was aiming for roughly a 3/4" ID loop.

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After a discussion with a fellow smith over low count handles and not having the same character as higher count baskets.. This was one sample i did to show there can be another type.. 

i did a how to video on it but used a new video software and the whole edit of footage was no good.. it won't sync the dual screens.. 

Have to do it again.. 

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On 3/2/2019 at 2:04 AM, SFC Snuffy said:

I could use some virtual tutelage and opinions from you more-experienced smiths. I'm using 3/8"-square HR, and aiming for something like the twisted handle John B. showed on page 3 and described on page 4 (and that ausfire put his own excellent spin on, above).

This is what I ended up with:

 20190301_195417.thumb.jpg.c81682a2156a877c642629e873e55600.jpg

And while it isn't *bad,* per se, the loop is a bit misshapen. I had trouble getting the punch marks aligned, and real trouble getting the loop into a symmetrical shape. I've got a pretty basic bending jig... maybe my heat wasn't even? Maybe I didn't isolate/freeze the right areas? Do I need different or better tooling? Maybe I just need to do it a dozen more times for practice... sigh. :unsure: Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Snuffy, Nothing wrong with your loop shape, it's a forging exercise, not a ' make the same'  its also from a different sized material so different parameters are in place.

The adage usually is   If it looks right, it is right,   and then its down to your own standardsperfection is nigh on impossible at this craft.

You used a bender arangement, I don't, just the anvil, hearth, hammer and a leg vise.

Method is

Mark out for end length, mark out for circle circumference dimension and centre punch at these dimensions

Forge the end taper with the punch marks to the side so you can see them when bending.

Take a heat at the centre of the circle dimension and over the anvil,  bend into a U lining up the punch marks

If the punch marks are not in alignment, use the leg vise to individually adjust them to align, keeping the U shape,

When they are in alignment, reheat and bring the  tip of the taper to touch the long edge. Place in the vise so the punch marks align with the jaw ends and tighten vise to make the pieces come together, this will give you a loop/eye on the end.

You can adjust the shape of the eye by using a soft faced hammer/mallet to make to a rounder shape or whatever shape you like.

(Strike the end to push the sides out reducing the teardrop shape to a fatter one until round or what you like)

Then when you can live with the result, reheat and twist the handle section

The forge the other end to whatever you want there.

Picture shows  students work when  on a taster day,  Log roller with dragon face point and an ash rake and a simple hook for two tools

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Hope this helps

 

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The trick I use to get an uniform finial: ring, loop, whatever is to use a mandrel / die, a piece of bar or pipe with an OD the size I want the loop's ID. I mark and heat the bar then wrap it around the die where I want the loop. Depending on how I want the transition from loop to shaft determines how far I wrap it. If I want it tight I wrap it till the free end overlaps the shaft and match the two. 

If I want it to taper into the shaft I leave a gap. Then I heat and twist using the Die as the twisting wrench. You can offset it like the letter P, etc. 

Frosty The Lucky.

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Frosty, sorry.. I do these all the time and I can't follow what you wrote...  A drawing would be easier.. 

Just because language is what it is..  I just want to be sure we are talking about the same thing.  " The finial is the end decoration at the end of the handle, ring, loop, diamond, etc, etc..".  

 

36 minutes ago, Frosty said:

whatever is to use a mandrel / die, a piece of bar or pipe with an OD the size I want the loop's ID

The finials loop?   If you were to add a ring for hanging and such? Butted together to close? 

 

36 minutes ago, Frosty said:

If I want it tight I wrap it till the free end overlaps the shaft and match the two.

Lapped vs butt? 

37 minutes ago, Frosty said:

If I want it to taper into the shaft I leave a gap. Then I heat and twist using the Die as the twisting wrench. You can offset it like the letter P, etc. 

Sorry.. I must being having an senior moment..  

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Sorry, I was getting memories down and I think in terms that don't match other folk's. It's one reason I keep trying to get folks to use known words, names, etc.

If you go up a few pages to Snuffy C's poker, the tear drop ring" is what I was referring to as a finial: ring, loop, etc. The style he used would be what I meant by tapering into the shaft. I should've called a "tear drop" to be more clear.

I maybe should've called it the "free" side rather than end, I was thinking in knot terms AND mixing terms. That is the length that matches to the shaft in Snuffy's poker. 

If I want a tight, round finial ring I cross the shaft with the free end and bend it 90* to match the shaft and weld. Ut would be similar to what Snuffy forged, the stock doubled for the handle. You can cut the free end at the shaft and butt weld for a thinner handle. 

To make a P shaped finial I form it tight and just bend it into a P shape over the edge of the anvil, flip it over and refine the transition on the face. This doesn't work nearly as well if the handle is doubled.

Given a choice I lap weld because it's easier and more reliable.

I use this trick when I want to twist the handle, especially if it were doubled. It gives me a perfect twisting handle without altering the stock in the finial ring. If I want a hook I just forge it. This is really more about the trick than any particular application.

Frosty The Lucky.

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