After three weeks, I finally got some time on the anvil. Last year when I was working at the state fair smithy, one of the old-time smiths said that we needed a new coal shovel for the forge. Well I talked to that same smith at the last chapter meeting and he said that nobody has made one yet. So I thought I would give it a try.

I have developed a fondness for "tying" knots, so I put a reef knot on this one - I only hope there are no other tools with the same there. The pan, a little bigger than my hand, is from a piece of 3/32 stainless, so hopefully it shouldn't rust. the handle probably will first, as it's only 3/8 round. If you look in the first picture, you will see that I have a small supply of the round


My rivets are two on the bottom and one at the back, and yes I should have laid out the holes and centered them. I just got impatient.

The thing is, I use a gasser and don't "need" a shovel, yet. I also don't have any kind of swage, so the pan was formed over a small trailer hitch ball I found at the welding class scrap bin.

That looks like a great job. Now just build a coal forge to go with it. :)

Nice job Paul!

It'll be a great addition to the state fair's shop.

You did a great job on the pan - forming it over the ball gives you a better feel for how the metal moves than than just hammering into a form.

That's Knot bad Paul.

There are lots of things that will make a fine form for forging shapes. I frequently use the holes in the face of my swage block.

It'll be a fine addition to the smithy.

Frosty

nice knot!
the pan, is greath to!, i'f also tought about searching an old trailer hitch .. seems i really should do that :-)

Another fine trailer hitch form is the trailer side ring from a pintle hitch system. Of course a person can forge their own ring but if you see one laying around it's worth grabbing.

Frosty

Let your tools and equipment do your advertising---always a good idea.

The shovel looks great.

Now take it to a boyscout and tell him to untie the knot.

The shovel looks great.

Now take it to a boyscout and tell him to untie the knot.

Better make it a timed event, boyscouts like a challenge you know. :cool:

Frosty (Troop 439, Patrol 2 Thunderbirds)

hey how do i make one of those?
i am quite interested..
i like it to!

Sabre,
What part do you wanna try? I could work out a blueprint for future posting. For tying the knot, though, I found a really easy expedient that works better than clay. Since most of my source metal is 3/8 round, I have a piece of common 14g romex wiring a few feet long. it is stiff enough that I have to work the bends, but it lets me "work out" the bends.

Mr. CivilWar, fyi, I had to untie the knot two times because I made the tail too short to curl:o. Because my forge is only about 4-5 inches in diameter, I have to work the curves quickly and correctly or it won't fit back in to reheat (again:o)

Romex! Great idea. Another substitute for clay is lead. Bruce Wilcock starts his apprentices off making tongs out of a cold chunks of lead.

pault17..
i would like to know how to make the shovel itself...
i will prolly scroll the end instead...
thanks.

You have given me a great idea for a project for my twin boys to work on. They are currently Webelos soon to be Boy Scouts... Thanks for the pictures!

James Troop and Pack 457

Using scrap sheet metal that I had on hand, I cut out a shape that included the rear and sides. I marked out where I wanted the bends to be made (on mine, the sides taper from 5/8 inch at the end to 1 inch at the rear, with the rear being drawn as an arc using the bottom of a coffee can) using a magic marker.

I then put the blank in my vice, on the line of one of the side lines and cold beat the sheet metal to a mostly square edge from front to rear. I did the same on the other side, resulting in a trapezoidal piece of C-channel - sort of.

I pushed the blank into my forge rear-end first, to get the back side hot. for the radius die, I have a 2-inch trailer hitch ball that has a two-inch long 1 inch diameter shank that fits nicely into the hardy hole on one of my anvils. As it's a round shaping tool, I am not worried if it rotates.

once the blank is hot, using a combination of the horn and the ball, I just forged the back end to a nice curvy shovel pan without folding anything.

Oh yeah, two other little things, I also found a little tiny one-inch tow hitch ball that was probably for a cement mixer trailer or something off the back of a 4-wheeler or something - that helped shrink the corners of the shovel. Also, the tail of my trusty russian submarine-shaped harbor frieght anvil is tapered just the right amount for a shovel. That really helped me size and flatten the bottom and sides.

Hope this helps a little and is clearer than mud.

hehe thanks i understand and also i have an new idea for a new hardy tool!! thanks

Good looking shovel. But that is a figure eight knot, reef knot is another name for a square knot. I have a bracelet that I made with a square knot in the center, tails tapering off and forge welded together.

the once and future Scoutmaster of Troop 147,
John

Great job on the shovel and the knot.

Thanks John. I felt funny about the name of the knot, but had seen it in a sailing magazine.
I never had the chance to make it past first class but that was many seasons ago. I remembered from sailing merit badge work that we called it a "stopper knot", but always called a square a square.

thanks