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I Forge Iron

What did you do in the shop today?


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Putting the word out you want to share driving expenses works for new guys just like old timers. Post the request on the local ABANA's website even if you have to join. Posting here is good too. 

It's just a matter of asking around. Of course you don't want to hook up with a Jeffry Dahmer but take a couple pics of the car, license, the others in the car and email it to friends, relatives, etc. if you're concerned. It's not a bad thought even if it's just for the memories of a drive in a vehicle filled with blacksmiths headed to one of the best blacksmith conferences in the world.

Frosty The Lucky.

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Worked on my franken-scythe which is a combo of parts from different scythe cultures and styles.

Norweigan carbon steel blade, homemade snath in eastern european fashion with a single handle and eastern european wedge style attachement instead of screws.

I need to work on the handle ring yet, didn't get it the proper size for the snath (which is hand carved so not perfectly round or straight all the way). Had to resort to some shims to make it fit for now. I have made it so you turn the handle to tighten the ring around the snath. The idea is you will be able to easily move the single handle to where you want it without tools. I might make it into a two handle setup yet though.

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Had to reinforce the snath, it broke more than once. Fir isn't the ideal material... But cheap and light.

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Finally got out to the shop Sunday. 95* with about 95% humidity. I worked for a while, rested a bit worked some more but at the end i had to push to get done and the work reflects that. Then went and figured it was time to quit, grabbed me a cold adult beverage, sat under the tree in the shade and promptly passed out from dehydration and heat exhaustion. (didnt even get to enjoy my beverage) Take my experience as a lesson, quit when you are getting fatigued, do not push it. The work gets bad and you end up laid out in the back yard. And drink plenty of water and maybe some gatorade or pedialyte to get those electrolytes and such back.

Anyway i did get some marshmallow/hotdog sticks made for the grandkids. The forks were folded, welded, and then cut to separate. Tapered and flattened. You can see how uneven and crooked the forked ends are from getting fatigued. 1/4" round bar i just grabbed at the local hardware store. 

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On 6/16/2021 at 4:29 PM, Ted Ewert said:

I've been practicing my blacksmithing skills lately attempting to craft a presentable set of tongs. I'm on about my sixth pair now and have figured out a new way on each to mess it up. With every error the fix requires making the other half the same. This invariably results in the removal of material. What started out as a stout pair of tongs slowly becomes a stout pair of pliers. Is a humiliated blacksmith an oxymoron? 

Anyway, here is what I did in the shop today. Long box jaw tongs for 5/8" square stock. 

 

looks great i have yet to try a pair of tongs so there beter than mine (nothing)

On 6/20/2021 at 3:48 PM, Frosty said:

We're getting into serious mosquito season here, I was running the string trimmer around while Deb has the RV elsewhere and I got bitten up good. 

Frosty The Lucky.

frost keep the bugs  i simpathize on the trimmer part i did 5 or five 8 hour days of that at work some string some star blade

 

On 6/24/2021 at 1:18 PM, Nathan Kraft said:

I’m not 100% sure but I think six feet, unfortunately for me I’m 6’2, and usually wear my cowboy boots with an inch and a half heel. Next year I’m going to be getting a sheep, and I’ll be feeding early in the morning (getting up at 5:30, in my truck driving at 5:45, at the barn at 6). I foresee many a groggy early morning head knock in my future. 

if your ranching down there there are these black hats with a large brim you can wear they work well to defend your head from wacks as well as the sun i beleive they also come in white

On 6/24/2021 at 6:42 PM, Nathan Kraft said:

Whoops, I forget not everyone is my age when I talk to people. The license that matters most to teenagers: drivers license. For fun, though, we shall say it’s a shepherds license. To be fair, it kinda is, as my mother won’t let me get a sheep until I can drive, cuz she “doesn’t want to drive me to the barn at 5:45 every morning” *joking exaggerated eye roll* 

haha i got about about 8 months and then im in that boat as well (in BC its 16 to get the L and 1 year L to get N 2 years N to freedom)

On 6/25/2021 at 5:30 PM, Nathan Kraft said:

Since we are (er... we were) of trucks, I quite literally just got my first truck, now I just have to wait til October when I can drive it... legally, that is. She’s beautiful and I got a great deal on her. 

go one picked out for myself to mid nintys 1/2 ton hope to grab it late summer/fall after i earned enough through this summer job at a fab shop

On 6/25/2021 at 5:43 PM, Nathan Kraft said:

They ain’t the best pictures, but they’re what I have.

hey you took pics of the wrong pics theres no RAM or DODGE on it so can you please send the real pics and quite kidding us

ok for me there was nothing in the shop other than the fact that the air is on fire (30-45C for the last while)  looking forwards to some cooler weather, have been going through cold drinks like crazy and sitting in the pool for hours 

oh and im designing a hydrolic press for in the shop will give more details when farther along 

M.J.Lampert

Edited by M.J.Lampert
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I like the viking funeral idea Frosty. I'll tell my kids that's my burial of choice. They can shove me out through the gate with the tide.

Continuing with bathroom items... I made a hand towel rack that passed inspection. When she says that she knows a friend who would love whatever I made, it goes back to the shop. 

 

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Started putting my grinder back together finally. It has just been too hot to be in my tin cooking oven of a shed to do much, but got the grinders drive wheel bearings reinstalled and it is up and running again!

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The heat and humidity here in the greater Cincinnati area has been downright oppressive. It's like breathing soup and your sweat just puddles and drips off of you. I've been hunkering down in the AC as soon as I get out of the laundry room at work. It was 78F with a dew point of 76F last night at three in the morning. No escape from the heat and humidity even at night. 

Pnut

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I think Marysville and Cincinnati are close enough that the weather has been about the same in both places. I work in a laundry room and the last few days I've gotten off work, ate something, and went straight to sleep. I don't handle the heat like I did twenty years ago. It beats me up now. 

Pnut

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Thomas Powers and I don't get much of the humidity, except for now when the monsoons are swinging through, but we do get the heat. Yesterday we had some fabulous lightning, localized flooding, downed power lines, and some of our official valley birds (the Trampoline) took flight in rather spectacular fashion

Out my way near Fabulous Las Vegas NV, June, July, August are the months when it will be 100F every day, with low temps from the high 70's to low 90's, which don't happen until 3am. Then by 9am it is 100F again. We have already had highs of 117F with more on the way. 

I have been researching buildings for a shop space, so when the house in Fairfield CA sells I can build a shop, and get busy on my varied projects.

 

 

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The abandoned mines are being barricaded off, and sealed to keep people out, and the closest bunkers are next to Nellis AFB.....and still in use.

Subterranean is my dream house/shop, and I think I have a relatively inexpensive way to do it. Just need to bounce some ideas off a structural engineer.  

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4 hours ago, Pat Masterson said:

Ted - what’s going on where the twisted bars go into the part that would be mounted to the wall? Was this welded at all? Can you give some details and pics? Really interesting piece. Thanks. 

Hi Pat, I used a piece of 3/8 × 3/4" flat bar for the mount. I bent 1" on both ends 90 degrees and drilled 2 holes for the 1/4" rod to fit in to. I built a jig to bend the twisted rod so it was an even arc. Once I had the arc made I put the 90s in them and fit the ends to the holes.

I could have left it that way since the rods were jammed in pretty good and hard to get out. To be sure I added some JB Weld in the holes. 

I wound up drilling the holes one size over 1/4". That allowed for easier installation and some room for the epoxy. 

I wanted the mount to taper into the twist as much as possible, so I used the smallest stock I had that would still allow the two holes to be drilled.

There was a lot of fussing and adjustments to be done which tried my patience. Now the wife wants a matching piece for the other wall.

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It looks well Ted, I would've made a different joint between the twisted round and the rectangular ends but that's just a detail. It's a very attractive handle, I think you'll have to learn to make them with less fussing, they're going to be popular.

SWEDISH CHEF: LEARN TENDERIZE STEEL!

Frosty The Lucky.

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