9 hours ago, Daswulf said:

Frosty, I just dismantled a lesser treadmill. I forget now exactly what the motor was but I think it was under 1hp. This one was fairly simple and I'll have to figure something to do with it. I had a Much better treadmill but gave it away to a friend that wanted to use it. I hate running on the things myself. I told my friend if he goes to get rid of it I want it back for parts lol. 

Today in the shop, as all week, I have been cleaning and reorganizing. I've been working around "stuff" in there that had no point being in there so just today I removed 3 engines and 2 transmissions. I'm starting to see floor space.  

There is a lesser treadmill in the shop I started taking apart. It has a 1/2hp. AC motor and I've tried a 1/2hp on the grinder so I didn't go any farther into the old treadmill than the spec. plate. Cool thing about it is it has a centrifugal clutch type torque converter pully on it. I'm going to hang onto the motor, controls and lose the rest. I need more space to clutter up.

Frosty The Lucky.

Yesterday was spent welding.... and I was finally able to get the decorative washers and bolts installed.  Finally, after all this time, the door project is nearing what I hope is the end.

The Tom Kennon Blacksmith Shop was back up and running this weekend after our flooding disaster earlier this month. We had water five feet deep in the shop. Fortunately, we were able to move out most of the equipment to higher ground just before the water rose into the shop. It is all back in place now and I was able to do a small project.  It was a letter opener made out of 3/8 inch mild steel. I did a variation of a pineapple twist for the handle where I did not score the sides with a chisel as usual. I saw this at the BAM Conference last month and gave it a try and I really liked the result.  Here are pictures of our shop in flood along with this weekend's project.

 

 

Mod note:  This is a short video featuring the same shop.

 

Neat effect -- I shall have to give that a try. 

Ripley, I know a local blacksmith who last year was flooded and he was not able to get anything out in time. He spent a lot of time cleaning up afterwards and I can imagine the devastation. Glad you are back up and forging. That is a nice twist on that opener.

So are we able to come and visit again? I keep hearing of a blacksmith shop in Doniphan that is like a meeting every weekend. I'm I at all hearing correct?

Yes, the Tom Kennon Blacksmith Shop is open every Saturday morning by one or more of our local BAM members. Check out our website at:   www.doniphanmissouri.org/tom_kennon_blacksmith_shop 

Sometimes there are enough of us to make a crowd and we trade off on forge time and sometimes it is just one or two of us.  Feel free to join us.  If you are coming a good distance you can call me to check on our status for any last minute changes. 573 996-4931

well, this is several days.

Organized my scrap pile some, it is soooo much better! I enjoyed that a lot, I found some stuff I had forgotten about, and also found lots of my early attempts!

finished my first hidden tang knife, the picture I have is of it gluing. Pattern welded steel, brass guard, and mesquite handle. The fitting it all, isn't perfect, but next time I'll just shoot for better, its all you can do.

forged 5 knifes, need them done by next week, as I have a survival camp I will be attending and hopefully selling a few if not all. Profile ground them, beveled them, and then tonight I heat treated them.

                                                                                                                     Littleblacksmith

 

Nice work. I've been trying to clean and organize my shop and it's been a nightmare. you done well.

On 5/28/2017 at 4:19 PM, Frosty said:

I'm headed out to the shop in a minute. I found a treadmill for cheap with a 2.5hp, 7,000rpm DC motor at a yard sale Thursday and brought it home. Friday I started taking it apart but got called off and didn't get the motor out till yesterday. Have any of you seen the circuitry and wiring in one of these things?! 

Anybody out there have an idea what it needs to work on a belt grinder? Speed control would be nice but I don't need a lap counter or programmed work out routines to tilt the treadmill and change speeds. Of course that might make for interesting grinds. 

Frosty The Lucky.

When i built mine, i kept the control panel in tact and cut off all the unnecessary plastic bits. I used the pressboard platform that is under the belt to make a box to mount it in. That way you can have a variable speed set up for cheap. I left the incline motor disconnected from the board, but i did debate on using it for the belt tensioner... i will snap some pics when i get home. Mine was only a blue, red, and green wire (i think) coming from the motor to circuit board, and same from the circuit board to the control panel. I set my desired speed and grind away, but it does automatically stop after an hour. I guess its a built in safety feature, which is a good thing.

worked some more on the knives, the handles are gluing right now, and will be finished tomorrow. I finished one today, the big chopper. Ain't there a name for this type of blade? Wenge wood handle.

next I'm gonna be attending a survival camp, I've known the guy for about 6 years, all of those years I have taken classes from, and am hoping to sell some there. later in the summer I will also be helping with some more of his camps and hopefully sell some.

                                                                                                                         Littleblacksmith

 

I was able to hit some hot steal today. Worked on my ugly tongs.

Then I made a hardy hot cut. The forging is done now to the grinding.

It started out as a 1 inch square. I tapered to fit the hardy hole.

Then forged the blade.

How do I avoid fish mouthing? I will grind out I think.

Thanks for looking!

Mel

 

 

Start drawing it down on the very end by driving the edges in towards the center and work your way back. Use a heavy hammer and soak the piece in the fire till it's hot all the way through.

Force always takes the path of least resistance. The steel wants to move equally in all directions under the hammer. If you strike perpendicular to the face it will spread in 360* but will move farther where there is less resistance. The end of the bar has nothing backing it past the end. The sides at the end are slightly backed except towards the end, the section towards the rest of the bar is backed the hardest of those 4 directions. Straight down is the full thickness of the bar and the anvil. The steel Must move farthest where the resistance is least. The surface will flow towards the least resistance, the end. To bulge out on the sides it has to pull the held end material with it while pushing downwards and deforming the full depth.

Fishmouthing is hold in your hand, touch and look at evidence that force must follow the path of least resistance.

Did that make sense?

Frosty The Lucky. 

Like Frosty said but in slightly different words...and pictures

Look at any basic blacksmith book and it will show you that when you want to form a taper/avoid fishmouthing you must first drive the corners in to form a blunt point and then lower the angle of the workpiece to the anvil to form the required taper.

There are no fixed rules, and there are some variations to the above process depending on the size of stock relative to hammer power, but it is a good concept to be aware of.

Essential when working wrought iron of course, the first few blows of any process with that material is to consolidate the welds of the bar and prevent not only fish mouth but fraying/delaminating.

Alan

Also if you hot cut the end of, or grind a rounded end it wont be so bad, as the fish mouthing just brings it flat. What I do most times.

                                                                                                                     Littleblacksmith

Check out this video of Jason Knight forging a point on rectangular stock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqCieOsxlrc.   Note that he hangs the stock a little past the edge of the anvil and then forges the point down later in the process.  This works pretty well for limiting fish mouth, but I'm not sure how it would influence a precise pattern welded billet.

6 minutes ago, Latticino said:

Check out this video of Jason Knight forging a point on rectangular stock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqCieOsxlrc.   Note that he hangs the stock a little past the edge of the anvil and then forges the point down later in the process.  This works pretty well for limiting fish mouth, but I'm not sure how it would influence a precise pattern welded billet.

Interesting video. Pretty wobbly anvil, he's got there.

Thanks guys! I will remember that on the next one. I also think I will upset the end for the cutter to make a wider cutting edge.

Thanks again!

Mel

The other option, of course, is to expect fish-mouthing and just grind it off. Brent Bailey does just that in his "Making a Pein" video; the cross-peen fish-mouths, and he just cuts it off on the saw and profiles the peen on the grinder.

 

1 hour ago, JHCC said:

The other option, of course, is to expect fish-mouthing and just grind it off. Brent Bailey does just that in his "Making a Pein" video; the cross-peen fish-mouths, and he just cuts it off on the saw and profiles the peen on the grinder.

 

That is the plan. Later today I will get my little belt grinder out and make a stab at it.

Mel

finished up all the knives! tomorrow its fire steels!

                                                                                                     Littleblacksmith

If your fire-steeling is that impressive, we'll have to start calling you "Prometheus"!

As for me, I made a mobile hammer rack.

(Made from the salvaged base from a gas grill and some thin-walled square tube from an old gazebo frame.)

6 hours ago, JHCC said:

The other option, of course, is to expect fish-mouthing and just grind it off. Brent Bailey does just that in his "Making a Pein" video; the cross-peen fish-mouths, and he just cuts it off on the saw and profiles the peen on the grinder.

 

We all end up doing that some times. And some times it is the most efficient and economic way of achieving the form we need.

But in this instance the question was how to avoid fish mouthing...rather than how to correct, repair or remove it. 

Sometimes prevention is better than a cure.

It is useful to know how to avoid it even if the required end result of a given project is best achieved by creating a fish mouth and cutting it off.

Alan

First project from new shop. 

You would be a big hit at the local winery!