Got legs and a decorative piece made for my hall tree. 2 small and 1 large nail to attach said decoration. Coat and hat hangers are soaking in vinegar to get painted. The legs need a bit of tweeking, then on to the drill press for holes to attach. Cut, sanded and stained my 4x4 post, just need some poly on it and it will be ready. Today will be lag bolts and screws to attach everything and if i have time an umbrella holder, if not i have something to do tomorrow. 

No pics till she is done,

Got the second coat of the satanite in the little volcano forge,

And got it drying out infront of the milk house heater, 

I guess I’ll figure out the curing process tomorrow morning 

12 hours ago, Arthur210 said:

Do you have a picture of your mark, Jim? I don't want to infringe if they are too close to differentiate. (But it sounds lile they are different enough not to.)

They are different enough. I haven't made a stamp yet and mostly use it at work to identify work I have done with soapstone. I just thought it was neat they were so close.

Thanks Jim! 

12 links in an hour. Very happy with my work, and even better, my wife is very impressed!! Now, what to use it for…maybe the beginning of a never ending chain?

“‘I wear the chain I forged in life,’ replied the Ghost. ‘I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.’”

Sweet chain Will!!!

maybe hang some bird feeders or wind chimes?

Got the little forge cured this morning, piled up some bricks I had on the one that came with the kit and played around with some different steel to see how long it took to heat up

i heated up 1/4” square bar in just a few seconds, then some 5/8” round in a minute or so and then 7/8” sucker rod in a few minutes

this was a fun little project I might make myself another gas forge later

One thing I did notice is it’s pretty loud it sounds like a rocket ship engine! 

I think imma order some of the ITC-100 from Mr Volcano to see what kinda difference it makes

I dunno much about gas forges but over all I’d definitely recommend this for someone wanting a kit with everything in the box ready to put together, the instructions are very straightforward and easy to understand, if I can put it together then anyone can! Lol

 

One advantage of the NARB (naturally aspirated ribbon burner) is that it is much quieter than a regular gas burner. 

Looks good Billy. It needs something of the floor but not that full size fire brick that comes with. If all you can find is 3,000f hard fire brick use split brick, it's half as thick and will use half as much propane coming to heat. 

I've been wearing my BOS noise canceling headphones in the shop since I got them. I can still hear everything, just not above about 55Db. and I can listen to audio books, music, etc.

Frosty The Lucky.

Picked up a cheap-o cart from Harbor today to put the press on.

Press is a 32 ton air jack I got for around $140, and the frame was built for free by a friend using scrap steel he had.

Now all I have to do is get a compressor that's not a steaming pile.

Nice chain, forge and press. Last poker of 2022 for me, but not the last dram.  Thank you again to everybody on ifi for all the information and advice. All the best for 2023!

Happy New Year’s Eve MacLeod!!! An to everyone else!

 

I'll also lift a dram of single malt, to wish everyone a safe and happy new year.

Mac, took me a minute to see the poker. I was focused on that wonderfully full glass and wondering what sort of damage I could do it.

I have to settle for some McMasters Canadian, with some Jim Beam orange. What can I say, I'm a cheap date.

I'll lift a couple drams of Highland Park, "Viking Honor," tonight myself. At my age I have a lot of friends passed on and more still to wish good to.

 Frosty The Lucky.

Happy New Year’s all!

First project in my forge for 2023:

Sized for 1-1/4” square stock. I need to get better at making tongs, they just took ways to long for me to make.

Yes, Frosty, I did break the edges on the swage. I’m going to have to take way more of though. At the 3/8” octagon stage, I went straight to the swage and it pretty rough. 

Keep it fun,

David

Right is better than fast. Looks good, Goods. 

Nice tongs Goods. What size stock did you start with?

Happy New Year every one!

Cool chain and nice tongs. 

I took a stroll through the smoky peat and leather of my new favorite Islay style nectar. :-)   My Brother always gives me the beast Christmas gifts. This one made it to new years

 

Lary, I used 12” of 3/8” x 1” of A36 for each reign. (The reigns on my tongs tend to be on the long side. I like to be able to put both hands on the reigns when doing heavy work under the power hammer.)

Keep it fun,

David

I've mostly been spending my free time building my new little side-yard smithy that I just posted about in the shop forum. I did take time the week before Christmas to hammer out some hair pins and tea light holders for gifts.

I also finaly forged and finishing a blade, a little blacksmith's knife from new 5160 that I sold to my daughter's new father-in-law for a dime that I gave him. Sounds a bit weird, but my native friends taught me the tradition that if you give someone a blade, versus selling or trading it to them, you sever the relationship you have with them. I like that tradition so I follow it.

Fire bird, that is not that weird. It is a penny around here though. As a matter a fact i was just watching a TV show the other night and some did that as well. 

Started on a hammer yesterday. Heat treated today. A bit soft in the center of the face but edges hardened nicely. Peen skates agile really good.  Back out and make a handle after a quick bite.  Started out as a 5” piece of S-cam weighs right around 2.25 pounds by the fish scale.  

On 12/31/2022 at 10:49 AM, Will Brouwers said:

never ending chain

Will, I went to a BA meeting last year and the host had this chain swag going all the way around his shop at least twice. He said he tries to add a few links at least once a week. His are the forge welded variety but concept is the same! 

On 12/31/2022 at 4:34 PM, MacLeod said:

Last poker of 2022

Mac, that's an impressive handle on your poker! The head/antlers - is that all out of one piece?

Goods, those are nice looking tongs! I'm also working on another set of tongs and good grief, they are taking forever! I too want to practice making them to get faster but I also don't want to spend all my time making tongs. 

Fire Plus Bird - I really like those hair pins. It's another thing on my project list "just because". I only know a handful of people with enough hair to even warrant a hairpin, lol, so it's totally just something I want to do because it looks pretty.

 

Lots of cleanup on the yarn shop sign, plus priming and painting.