What did you do in the shop today?

[Wandering_R0gue]

Hammered out and rough ground a sword blank for my wife. Heat treat is next, but I have to figure out how to do such a large piece in my forge. Otherwise, I'll send it to my cousin for heat-treat. 

Then, I have to design and build a hilt. 

[BillyBones]

Made the wife some 45* hooks for the porch. 

also made a wall mounted brazier, under estimated the amount of material needed so the mounting brackets still need made and attached. Also only got 4 of the 8 rivets in, was getting a bit wore out so i called it a day. So i just held it up to give an idea how it will be hung. 

 

[JHCC]

Finished and installed the railings for the building where my wife has her yarn shop. 

 

[TommyVee]

Made my first attempt at a ram's horns finial on a hook today.  It came out looking exactly like a first attempt, but will serve some purpose or other around the hovel.

Started from 1"x¼" flat bar, and tapering down the finial end sufficiently to make the horns took way more heats than it should have, as did chiseling apart the two horns.  And I managed not to do the chiseling symmetrically enough to be satisfied with it, which made the horns mismatched.  Still, it was a decent learning exercise and I think I see how I went wrong so the next one will be better. 

Living up to that morale patch on my  ball cap.

 

 

[White Fox Forge]

That looks really nice! 

[TommyVee]

John, those railings are beautiful.

[TommyVee]

BillyBones: I like those corner-mounted hooks, and was just this morning pondering making some kind of lantern hooks out of angle iron for our porch.  I see the support pieces are all riveted.  Is your hook piece welded to the angle iron, or is it joined with a sort of mortise/tenon?

[JHCC]

Thank you, Tommy!

[George N. M.]

Tommy, I usually have better luck when splitting things for a double rams horn to use a hack saw, band saw, or cutting wheel than using a hot or cold chisel.  It goes faster and feels like I have more control.  You can also do the split in the original metal and then draw out each one to the same length.  A dividers is good for comparing lengths to get them equal.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[JHCC]

If you do split by hand with hammer and chisel, something to hold your workpiece securely makes a lot of difference. When I was splitting the ends of the mounting brackets on the railings, I used my hold-down stock support to good effect (this is a staged photo, but you get the idea):

 I think the results speak for themselves:

Also, even if the halves come out uneven, they will look better if the outside lines of the two spirals are symmetrical. This is another situation where using a pair of dividers to compare two (hot!) elements works well. 

Addendum: another good tip is to do the basic tapering before you split the bar. That makes it easier to ensure you have the same amount of material on both sides of the cut. 

[arkie]

John, exquisite work on the railings!  The scrolls just flow as if in the wind.  I really like the way you mounted the rail to the steps; ornate and functional.

[JHCC]

Thanks, arkie. I did a LOT of sketching before ever picking up any tools, and I think it paid off. 

[TommyVee]

John and George:  thanks for the tips.  I'll definitely keep those in mind next time I try.

I did indeed use a hot chisel *after* tapering the stock, which is what I thought would be the best approach. but because I'm still using just a big block of steel as an anvil and minimal extra equipment I have no convenient holdfast options at the moment --- so it was very difficult to keep the piece from moving around.  This is what led to my chisel line not being straight and not perfectly bisecting the tapered bar.  I need to come up with something that can hold down the work (like with a bicycle chain and stirrup or something like it).

I have no band saw, but a hacksaw is doable, and will probably try that for the next attempt.  I could conceivably even do that after tapering, I suppose, combining your suggestions.

Your split-end scrolls are indeed gorgeous, John.

[BillyBones]

5 hours ago, TommyVee said:

Is your hook piece welded to the angle iron, or is it joined with a sort of mortise/tenon?

Tennon. after looking at it though i think if i do anymore like it instead of riveting the supports i will just drill holes and use them as another place to anchor it with. Or maybe put the supports on top instead of the bottom. Then just 2 screws going through the support and the angle iron. 

[Tim695]

Tommy, 

Another way I find helps me keep a straight line is to partially cut the line with a chisel when the piece is cold. That way you can use your arm holding the chisel to help steady the work. Once you have the line started, its alot easier to get the hot chisel to line up once its hot.

[TommyVee]

Thanks, Tim.  Good tip, I'll try that, too.

[Donal Harris]

Sweet railings, John. What stock did you use? What coating did you use?

 

Billy, nice corner hooks and brazier. My wife has been on me to make some to replace our old and tacky tiki torches. 
 

Start of a small wrought iron hatchet with inserted high carbon bit and possible HC poll. Hunting knife with old file welded in for the edge. 
 

Tip warped during quench. I tried to straighten it by bending it in a vice between two pieces of flat bar. Tip snapped off. Ground in a new tip. Quenched and it warped again. Reheated and quenched again in oil, after 10-12 seconds I removed it and placed it between two pieces of flat bar and let it cool. No warp. 
 

Once side of the blade had the wrought iron totally ground off. The steel is solidly welded, so it should hold, but assuming I wanted, could I repair that side by forge welding on a thin piece of WI without burning up the edge steel?

[JHCC]

Everything except the back braces and the rails is made from 3/8” x 1-3/4” flat bar. The braces are 1/4” x 1-3/4”, and the rails are 1/2” x 2-1/4” (which, by the most amazing of coincidences, is the maximum dimension for a rectangular handrail allowed by the Ohio building code).

After a thorough cleaning and scale removal, everything got two coats of Rustoleum primer and two coats of Rustoleum “hammered finish” exterior paint. The rails got an extra coat or two, to be on the safe side. 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

23 hours ago, JHCC said:

and I think it paid off. 

Yes indeed, and the lateral braces do not detract in the least. In fact I think they add something to the rail's just can't put my finger on what.

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sails. ~ Semper Paratus

[JHCC]

Apart from adding lateral stability, they help to visually anchor the sweeping curve of the back post. 

[Goods]

Nice job John!

Tonight, I got the cone mandrel finished:

After the final forging, it tool very little clean up this time. The new tooling is making a difference…

Keep it fun,

David

[Chad J.]

Was doing some finish grinding on several knives and got handles on 3.  I'm expecting some micarta that a friend made in the mail tomorrow and I'll handle 2 more, because I need more knives laying around the house and shop but I can't help myself sometimes.  I'm getting better at forging in bevels and it has cut my grinder time down significantly. 

My oldest came down for Father's day and I talked her into slicing a water jug this morning before she headed home. 

[Donal Harris]

I got my youngest daughter to try setting a weld for me once. Didn’t work. The flux squirting out scared her. 
 

My latest key chain. It is for my baby brother he was in the Oklahoma National Guard. 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. He was a TOW crewman. This is what his shoulder patch looked like if I remember correctly. 

[Frosty]

I really like the key fob Donal, I bet it goes over big time! 

Makes me wonder if texturing the background again at 90* would represent fabric well enough to work. 

Just thinking, I can't help it my head is full of thoughts, I hear them everywhere!

Frosty The Lucky.

 

 

[anvil]

Lot of great inspiration! Beautiful railing, John, and BillyBones, your angle bracket is first rate. Especially noticed the right angle bend!