May 8, 20188 yr Thanks! We always felt it looks bigger too, but if you put it up next to a traditional 12 lb sledge it's a tad shorter. It lost some weight forging and it still needs the faces ground, so I wonder where it will weigh in at the end.
May 8, 20188 yr That hammer looks great, Can’t wait to see it finished. How long of a handle are you going to put on it?
May 8, 20188 yr Thank you! It may be a bit before I finish it...I have a new belt grinder waiting to be set up to do the job, but I need to find time to do it. The plan is to put a medium length handle on it; maybe around 24" - 30" long. That size seems to work pretty well for us.
May 9, 20188 yr I’d really like to go do some work with Mark but I don’t often get a chance to make a 7hr drive just to go play for a couple of days.
May 9, 20188 yr Yeah I know that drive is no fun. It is nice having a talented smith closes by to work with. I always wanted to get into hammer and tool making but didn't really have the means until Mark and I started hanging out.
May 9, 20188 yr I made a bickern out of a rail road spike hammer and a car axial. The hammer head weighed 10lbs to start and 6 lbs when attached to the axial, total weight when finished is 11lbs. No heat treat involved so far, I am hoping I do not have to do it, time will tell. The work was inspired by Daswulf's stake anvil project this past winter in this forum.
May 9, 20188 yr Nice job! Even better than mine. Yup, use it a while and see if it even needs hardened. I hardened mine to use as a stump anvil as well. If you're not doing heavy hammering on the face it might be just fine.
May 10, 20188 yr Got together with IFI member Lou L at his home forge. We made wineglass holders and a pair of tongs, and afterwards we drank bourbon. Fun was had.
May 10, 20188 yr The bourbon is showing. nice work. Last night ended up being a visiting night. Tonight I got the dragonflies all done and clear coated. Also got a spider done and started a crab. ( thanks for getting that in my head Aus. Lol. Sorry no pictures tonight. My phone was dead and took forever to charge enough to even turn on. I really need a new phone. This one is on its last legs and I'm surprised it lasted this long. I'll get more done tomorrow and get pictures then.
May 10, 20188 yr 5 hours ago, Daswulf said: Also got a spider done and started a crab. ( thanks for getting that in my head Aus. Lol. Sorry no pictures tonight. No worries, Das. Keep us posted on the crab. I've been thinking of some bigger scrap art - a big scorpion might be next. And I found a mudguard off a Fergie tractor that is the exact shape of a crab shell. Even has the bolt holes where the eyes would be. As you would know, the discovery of a perfect piece of scrap is a defining moment. Just have to find the rest to complement the starting piece.
May 10, 20188 yr Those sound fun Aus. I'm sure you have everything you'll need for them. that first main piece does start it all. Then you have the project really in mind to find parts that fit the idea.
May 10, 20188 yr I've been working on this for several days. Got the idea during my research on the Yellin films from the MMOA website. About 13&1/2" (almost) square.
May 10, 20188 yr 17 hours ago, JHCC said: Got together with IFI member Lou L at his home forge. We made wineglass holders and a pair of tongs, and afterwards we drank bourbon. Fun was had. You bums.. I'm only about 1 hour and change away.. I would have found the time for a quick visit... Nice work.. PVF AL, nice work.. Custom dies for the C scrolls? How much time do you have into it?
May 10, 20188 yr 1 hour ago, jlpservicesinc said: You bums.. I'm only about 1 hour and change away.. I would have found the time for a quick visit... Nice work.. Next time, I promise! (And thank you!)
May 10, 20188 yr Beautiful work Al! Looks like a real exercise in consistency and patience. Haven't had much time in the forge recently as life has gotten in the way. Knocked out a quick thors hammer necklace today just to have done 'something'
May 10, 20188 yr Thank You everyone. The first quatrefoil took about 18 hrs to work thru over several days. I made a custom jig to form the c scrolls around, but wound up resizing them around a 1&3/4" pipe. Had to take the second one apart and completely rework it after a friend spotted that I had rolled the scrolls the wrong direction. ( knew something was off, but couldn't figure out what). The last two went faster. It was a exercise in consistency and patience. But my wife tells me I should work on one of those on a constant basis. There are 72 tapers in the piece. I also made some jaws for the vise, to hold during the collaring. Although I lost track of the time I believe I have about 55 hours in it. Al
May 11, 20188 yr PVF Al: nice work! I like the small details on it. Now only a thousand tapers more, and you got yourself a gate! Bests: Gergely
May 11, 20188 yr Playing with spiders tonight while the galvy bits soak to work on some scorpions. Plus a peek at crabby. More table fodder. On top of that I've been getting ready to get serious. Ordered a square card reader, got 500 business cards, and table cloths in black and grey to fit 8' tables.
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