JHCC Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 Just an assortment of burn scars and missing arm hair, plus the occasional tired grin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted May 2, 2019 Author Share Posted May 2, 2019 I'll accept! Where do I sign my name? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 38 minutes ago, Chris C said: I'll accept! Where do I sign my name? The tradition is to fingerprint a piece of black hot steel. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted May 2, 2019 Author Share Posted May 2, 2019 Don't worry, Frosty, I'll probably do something dumb like that tonight!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 Dumb? We resemble that remark! No rush, your application is in, your fingerprint(s) will be processed as soon as . . . . Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 When they say dumber than a bucket of hammers---well I must have a good half dozen buckets of hammers around the place! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 2, 2019 Share Posted May 2, 2019 Uh. . . I'm confused now, does that make you smarter than A bucket of hammers or . . . ? Wait, maybe buckets of hammers are like college kids, taken singly at home before enrolling they're bright respectful, etc. but the longer they're in college the dumber they get So the "collective inverse IQ" rule applies to buckets of hammers? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted May 3, 2019 Share Posted May 3, 2019 6 hours ago, Chris C said: But any time you folks care to tuck me under your wing and consider me "one of yours", Consider it done... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted May 3, 2019 Author Share Posted May 3, 2019 Well Frosty, I done went'n did it! I kept pickin' up hot iron tonight. Can't seem to get used to how long it takes that danged stuff to cool off. To me, if it's been sittin' on the floor for 15/20 minutes and it's gray, it should be at least "touchable"...................but dat ain't necessarily so! So where do I send the piece that has my fingerprint in it????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 3, 2019 Share Posted May 3, 2019 27 minutes ago, Irondragon Forge & Clay said: Consider it done... Just wait till he gets a whiff under our wings! 3 minutes ago, Chris C said: Well Frosty, I done went'n did it! I kept pickin' up hot iron tonight. Can't seem to get used to how long it takes that danged stuff to cool off. To me, if it's been sittin' on the floor for 15/20 minutes and it's gray, it should be at least "touchable"...................but dat ain't necessarily so! So where do I send the piece that has my fingerprint in it????? OY VAY!! Do we need to start flagging things when we're joking? Maybe a special FUNNY (We're just JOKING!) text color or something? Okay new guy. Rules for working with HOT stuff: #1. IT IS ALL TOUCHABLE! Just maybe NOT a good idea, hmmmm? #2, If you aren't already holding it comfortably in your hand now IT IS HOT! #3, never, Never, NEVER just pick metal up in a hot shop! See Rule #2. #4, DRUM rules 1-3 into your head till it's so automatic you check before you pick up the fork next to your dinner plate! Not joking! Once you have those ingrained to the reflex level you can start to make effective use of the How to pick up metal in a hot shop, rules. #1, Always, Always, ALWAYS hesitate with your hand close BEFORE!! touching IT. If you haven't been burned enough times your entire hide is a thermal warning sensor system, (I can feel if my coffee cup is sipping hot from about 10" away) The back of your hand or inside of your wrist is VERY sensitive to heat so stop in inch or less from the target metal thing and hesitate. Right now your burned fingers will be super sensitive to heat, USE IT! That's it. EVERYTHING IS ALWAYS HOT! and ALWAYS HESITATE BEFORE TOUCHING ANYTHING! There are other good working rules of thumb. Glenn recommends a hot table, cold table system. Anything hot goes on the hot table and everything else is suspect. Gloves aren't a good thing UNLESS you don't have a choice, a propane forge tends to make you wear one on your tong hand because of intense radiant heat. Otherwise gloves, especially leather gloves tend to: #1 give you the bad habit of just grabbing things. (see hot shop rules 1-3) #2, Leather shrinks when it gets hot enough to burn and can trap your hand to bake like a potato. Gloves are a hazard in many other ways, especially around rotary tools, they can snag and drag you into moving machinery. This is NOT recommended procedure! I have a number of different kinds of gloves in the shop, leather for arc welding and handling sharp stuff like shavings, sheet metal, etc and splintery stuff like fire wood and thorny plants. Cotton Monkey Grips are my general work gloves where appropriate, say shoveling, packing and toting, rolling boulders, sweeping, etc. The Home Depot turned me onto these light weight gripper gloves with the little rubber beads on them, stuff just doesn't slip through them so you do't have to squeeze to have a good grip. Then there are winter gloves, etc. Anyway, gloves around HOT work are iffy, best not to use them and avoid bad habits if at all possible. Oh, Please post pics of your finger printed steel to be officially registered as "one of us." Processing will be complete as soon as the laughter and kidding stops. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted May 3, 2019 Author Share Posted May 3, 2019 Sorry, I didn't bring the evidence home. Maybe an honorary membership??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted May 3, 2019 Share Posted May 3, 2019 10 hours ago, Frosty said: Gloves aren't a good thing UNLESS you don't have a choice, a propane forge tends to make you wear one on your tong hand because of intense radiant heat. A good option is a pair of long pick-up tongs to remove the workpiece from the forge, and then grab it with whatever tongs are appropriate for forging. My pick-up tongs have a dedicated hook on the base of the propane forge -- separate from the big tong rack -- so I always know where they are. Also, a big ditto on testing heat with the back of the hand or the inside of the wrist before picking up: a very good habit to get into. Also remember that your tools will get hot as well, and a chisel, a punch, or a drift can burn you just as badly if it's absorbed enough heat from your workpiece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted May 3, 2019 Author Share Posted May 3, 2019 Thanks, JHCC, all good advice. I'll learn............albeit very slowly. I'm usually a pretty fast learner, but I have to admit I'm embarrassed I burned myself so much last night. Didn't really "burn"............but a quick pull back and "Ouch" and a couple of other expletives when it would happen. The guys all got a good laugh out of it. That's okay, I don't mind adding levity to the evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 3, 2019 Share Posted May 3, 2019 After 15-20 minutes on the floor you can safely quench it in a water bucket USING TONGS! Glenn has a You hold the cold end and hit the hot end and get it right next time T shirt for sale---I wear mine every time I teach a beginners class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted May 3, 2019 Share Posted May 3, 2019 Another thing to remember, is to always pick up tongs you have been using from the reigns not the bit. Once I was doing a project using the drop tongs movement. When I picked up the tongs from the bit they gave me a very painful reminder about that. Pulling tongs from the tong rack by the bits will also bite you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 3, 2019 Share Posted May 3, 2019 I hammer into my students that when passing tongs to someone you ALWAYS grab the section between their hand and the end of the reins never between their hand and the bits. When you pass them you hold them so this can be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted May 3, 2019 Share Posted May 3, 2019 Oh you're in Chris, no getting out of it now. Welcome to the shiny fingers club. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 When developing that habit to always check to see if the iron is hot before picking it up, always check with the back of your hand. The back of your hand is way more sensitive to heat than the front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted May 5, 2019 Author Share Posted May 5, 2019 Well, I thought I was a quick study, but learned I wasn't that quick a learner last Thursday night. Got laughed at a lot. That's okay, I won't be doing that again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 I hope you don't mean you won't be going to any more meetings or doing anymore blacksmithing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donal Harris Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 On 4/30/2019 at 3:32 PM, Chris C said: The owner of the shop has more forges, anvils, power hammers, surface grinders, 2x72 belt grinders and multiple racks of hammers and tongs available for all to use at will. Great guy. I appreciate his generosity, but sure wish he'd charge us something to use all his "toys". You must be referring to Byron (Korney). I agree. Great guy. He was our club president for a very long time. What did you think of that thing that takes up most of the front 1/4 of his very large shop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted May 5, 2019 Author Share Posted May 5, 2019 pnut..................I intend to keep going to the open forge night....................I'm just not going to forget that even though the metal has been sitting on the floor for 20 minutes and is black, that it's still hotter'n a asphalt road in the middle of the Summer in Oklahoma. DHarris, Yup, I'm talkin' about Korney. That "monster" in the North end of his shop is the biggest power hammer I've ever seen in person. I asked someone if it's used and they said he's afraid to fire it up for fear he'll crack the concrete floor. They say he's going to do something about reinforcing the floor before he uses it. Can't imagine why anyone would need a power hammer that's what, 15' tall and sits on at least a 10' round base!?!?!?!?!?! Sure did catch my eye the first time I walked into his shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 "More Power!" I can well imagine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donal Harris Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 They are working on anvils to sell, just like the SFC cone mandrills and swage blocks. Perhaps for that? I asked once why anyone would need something as large as a small house in their shop. I forget the answer now. You have me curious. I will have to drop by there Thursday evening if only to see just who in the heck you are IRL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazyassforge Posted May 6, 2019 Share Posted May 6, 2019 Chris, I’ve been reading about your Thursday night adventures and will have to come to town next Thursday to meet you. I usually leave fairly early because I live down by rush springs but I’ll try to stay long enough to meet you! bill D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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