What did you do in the shop today?

[JHCC]

This is very true, and it's what I miss about solid fuel. 

The thing that *really* interests me is induction.

[Chad J.]

I can precisely melt the project while I'm explaining what's going on and answering questions for the person on the other side of the anvil. 

Unless it's too big for my propane forge I only use my coal forge for demonstrations or to forge weld something.   

[Frosty]

More precise than an oxy propane torch? 

Truth is I WISH good smithing coal was available, I'd have a coal forge set up. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[alexandr]

On 7/23/2023 at 5:57 PM, Frosty said:

It's no surprise you remain on good terms with acquaintances and friends in and from Ukraine, it isn't the people causing the war.

This is a very painful topic. Unfortunately(((((

 

On 7/23/2023 at 4:27 AM, jlpservicesinc said:

If you don't mind me asking..  what do you charge per hour or shop rate?  

We agree on a price with the customer. I don't have any calculation formulas. I try not to offend myself, and not to scare the customer away. I don’t pay rent, I have my own workshop, I don’t have hired managers who need to pay salaries. We try not to pay taxes))), only for those payments that go through officially. If workers are hired, they are usually paid piecework. Percentage of the total cost.

 

Installed in the morning.

[Frosty]

It's painful to watch on the news let alone have to live with it.

Frosty The Lucky.

[jlpservicesinc]

3 hours ago, JHCC said:

This is very true, and it's what I miss about solid fuel. 

The thing that *really* interests me is induction.

Very reasonably priced now.  You'll have to get more paying gigs and stash the money away for a new tool. 

"We agree on a price with the customer. I don't have any calculation formulas. I try not to offend myself, and not to scare the customer away. I don’t pay rent, I have my own workshop, I don’t have hired managers who need to pay salaries. We try not to pay taxes))), only for those payments that go through officially. If workers are hired, they are usually paid piecework. Percentage of the total cost."

Alexandr Thank you..   Being that I'm from the USA and have limited travel abroad I am always curious as to what the wage is for a given item or work..   Really I'm just interested in what people do and how they make a living. 

It seems all over the world it's about the same.  Try to do great work for a decent pay..  

Thanks

[JHCC]

I'm just trying to get enough money to refill my propane and O2 tanks!

[alexandr]

8 minutes ago, jlpservicesinc said:

I am always curious as to what the wage is for a given item or work..   Really I'm just interested in what people do and how they make a living. 

The economic situation in Russia is extremely unstable. If you count in Russian rubles, my salary is quite decent. But if you count in dollars, then the level of the worker in America. Literally a month ago, the ruble exchange rate against the dollar fell by 40%, literally in 2 days. In 2014, after the capture of the Crimea, it fell 2 times, in the late 90s it dropped 4 times in one evening. But I'm not complaining at all. We're just adjusting to the current situation.

[JHCC]

Just a reminder that political discussion is not allowed on IFI. Please be cautious.

[alexandr]

9 minutes ago, JHCC said:

Just a reminder that political discussion is not allowed on IFI

I remember it. Only the economy.

[jlpservicesinc]

thank you again..  Our inflation rate is pretty high right now, so the dollar will not buy as much as it used to either. 

Forged this small Tulip hook today.  More class prep. 

Yes JHCC nothing political.. 

 

[alexandr]

10 minutes ago, jlpservicesinc said:

Our inflation rate is pretty high right now, so the dollar will not buy as much as it used to either. 

As a rule, we make savings in dollars. But since last year, I began to buy bitcoins. A little creepy. (стремно)

The workday is over. Delivered a bench to the customer.

[Purple Bullet]

John - what Jennifer said about induction is spot on. I just bought my second induction forge and and a TIG cooler for about what I spent on my first induction forge. Induction won't do everything, but it does so many things quickly, without waiting for a fire to get right, that I don't see myself working without one (unless something really drastic happens - like the grid going down.)

I'm still not up to speed with my ankle (in a boot and using a cane) but I did recently consolidate a couple of opposite twists cable billets for a billhook. As I've mentioned before, I can't consolidate/weld cable in the induction, but once it is consolidated I draw and shape with induction. Induction is great for detecting unconsolidated parts of the cable billet (usually on one end). Stick it in the coil with power on and if it doesn't heat up, it goes back in the coal or gas forge. Next time I do that I'll try to do a short video clip to illustrate. 

[Purple Bullet]

Alexdandr - Magnificent, as usual. The door treatment, I find inspirational. One day I'll have to try something like that. 

When I visited your country back in the 1990's I saw a lot of ugly welded reinforcement rod bars on windows and gates. On the other hand there were window frames and eaves with really nice carvings. My impression was that woodwork was used artistically, but iron was more utilitarian. I'm glad you are changing that. Of course, its a big country, but at the rate you work, you must be making an impact!

[LarryFahnoe]

Alexander, did you also do the grillwork on the door next to the bench you just delivered? Beautiful work! That whole door is quite impressive. On the bench, I like the way you turned the one leg out at the end, very unique.

--Larry

[jlpservicesinc]

So last forging day before heading off.  Samples plenty.

First horse heads.  Middle 1 is #3,  Figured they would be a welcomed beginner project. The 3rd one looks decent.. Still have to work out the little details I'd like to add.  Like getting a proper ear. 

Trivets, nails, hooks, and tool steel/heat treatment, will be covered in the class. 

The Tulip hook is rather intense for beginners. Will have to see how the students are.  Super excited. 

 

[JHCC]

More shop cleanup and reorganization. Tonight, this included replacing the integral thing rack on the base of the outgoing coal forge with a freestanding version welded up from bed frame and other scrap.

(Might add another crossbar at some point.)

[JHCC]

Also added some tool holders on the outside of the tool drawers of the vise stand, for those shorter punches that would get lost in the drawers. 

And remounted the C-clamp holders on the side of my hammer rack (their previous angle made the clamps susceptible to falling off).

[Shainarue]

Wow John! Your shop is gonna be spiffy soon!

I worked on a pair of shelf brackets last night. This was a two-fer project.  I'm in a Facebook "Weekly Blacksmith Challenge" group and this week's challenge was "decorative work with files or chisels". Deadline was Tuesday night and I submitted the photos just under the wire! Then this morning there was an update that they extended the deadline until Sunday. Oh well. It's gonna be SO hot this week that I appreciate having one of my projects finished.
The August blacksmith club trade item theme is a pair of shelf brackets. So whoever pulls my name at the meeting will get these. I'd like to try the concept I had in mind again sometime but I've got 3 other projects to finish in just a few weeks so... Later, lol

I need to cut the texture in my texturing hammer a bit deeper, I think. The dark finish really hid the bark texturing/twisting I did. At bare metal, it looked good. Not too pronounced, which was just what i was looking for. 

 

[Frosty]

Looks pretty good Shaina. The one with the curved hip looks better IMNSHO. Putting two 90* bends in opposition tends to exaggerate any little difference. In most places the sweeping "corner" on the 90* hip would look fine but when there is a crisp 90* right there to compare to then not so much. 

Make sense?

You can bring out the texture by buffing it out with 000 steel wool to brighten up the high spots. Fine emery cloth works too but can look too sanded.

I like your incised decoration and award them a WELL DONE. Did you make your own chisels / punches? If so include pics of them in your entry.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Shainarue]

I actually commented on that to my mom when I shared with her. It bothered me that the curve was different between the set but I was accepting it as a 'natural' look since not all branches look alike, lol
If I hadn't been trying to meet a deadline, I likely would have redone that one arm. It's also thinner - not just to look different, although that's what I sticking to (lol), but because I hadn't noticed a stress crack in the tenon and it fell off while I was re-texturing. So I had to draw it out a bit longer to account for that loss & make a new tenon. I should have compared the bend to the first one while I was doing it. I think I was just scared I'd break another tenon that I didn't want to mess with it too much, lol

I did not make my own chisels. I had a pretty good set I had picked up from an estate sale way at the beginning of this adventure into blacksmithing. At the time, I didn't even know there was a difference between cold and hot chisels, lol 

I did re-grind a few of them to make them work how I wanted though!

 

[Frosty]

Uh HUH, that's a good story, I'd stick to it.  

They're dandy shelf brackets. Were they mine I'd use them in the shop or office so I could look at them later and reflect on where I was, where I am and what color I wanted to paint the Kitchen. 

Okay, a hobbyist Frosty pro tip. When you're making items that need to match like shelf brackets make each component for all the units at the same time.

Please forgive my terminology. Say you're making 4 brackets, cut the 4 pieces of strap stock for the wall/ shelf screw plates at the same time so they all match. Forge, punch, etc. all the finials at the same time. Chase all 4, then Bend all 4, tweak and trim to match. 

Do the same for the hips, cut 4, texture 4, tenon 4, bend 4 all at the same time, tweak to fine tune to match. All 4 hip components should interchange between the 4 screw plate components.

Not bend everything at the same time literally just don't make one bracket, then the next, etc. Make the components together, it's easier to get everything the same. 

Here's a thought for your next shelf brackets. Instead of a 1/4 round or bent L hip, how about making a 45* brace with a branch that doubles as a hook or rod hook? If they're supposed to represent a tree branch, nobody expects to see two exactly the same and the minds of the people looking will literally SEE what they expect too see. Tree branch braces perhaps with another thinner branch between to hand coats, pots and pans, whatever.

For fun little touch leave a single leaf on one of the branches. 

Lots of potential fun to have while you fill every bare wall in you, Ashley(?) your Mom's and all your friends places with cooler and cooler shelf brackets.  Every Christmas everybody on your list could get a set of shelf brackets of that year's theme. Heh, heh, heh. 

Years from now you'll be known world wide as Shaina the Shelf lady!

Frosty The Lucky.

[Shainarue]

This is actually how I did do it. Each step I did both. Learned that lesson when I started trying tong making. The only thing I didn't do was matching the very last brace and that was because I was scared I'd just the tenon. It was a bit on the thin side compared to the others. 

I had actually started the brace with a notch cut out which I had intended to draw out as a twig extending. But I cut into it to far and it fell off. This was the same bar that the tenon fell off of, lol. Just wasn't going well on that brace! 

Anyway, yeah, I want to try again sometime when I'm not rushed to get it done and really play around with ideas. I was also limited to the stock I have on hand. I'm out of play money till end of August. 

[Frosty]

Yeah, that happens to everybody. Next time weld a branch or twig on and hammer then file to dress if an arc weld. 

I consider making matched multiples intermediate blacksmithery and you're still pretty new to the craft. On that basis you done good. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[BillyBones]

Shainarue, i like the chisel work. Quite nice.