jlpservicesinc Posted August 19, 2023 Share Posted August 19, 2023 Forged a Trident at today's demo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 20, 2023 Share Posted August 20, 2023 Very attractive Jennifer. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostTownForge Posted August 20, 2023 Share Posted August 20, 2023 I did quite a lot of work over the week making stuff for the NM state fair. Not the best, but pretty good for my very first nails, hooks, and bottle opener. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted August 20, 2023 Share Posted August 20, 2023 Started making a cabin latch. 5/16" square bar. Not that big of a deal just wanted to show off the weld really. Folded the end over and managed to get a good weld with out shearing the square end into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted August 20, 2023 Share Posted August 20, 2023 Billy Nice work.. The ABANA curriculum addresses the issue you mention.. The curriculum is a great way to address skills without having to learn it on your own. There are tons of videos on it and the methods are extremely well thought out and explained.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted August 20, 2023 Share Posted August 20, 2023 The time that Latticino guided me through my first welded tomahawk, he insisted on my using “The Magic Welding Hammer”, which only weighs about a pound: heavy enough to set the weld, but not so heavy that you over-forge the workpiece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shainarue Posted August 20, 2023 Share Posted August 20, 2023 Yup, I noticed the hidden design after the fact. This might be their only year in use though, as the 115+ degree heat prompted a discussion about finding an indoor venue. Next year (and likely following years) will take place in an air conditioned community center. Only a few people knew I made them (or even made a trip to the bathroom to notice, lol). Jennifer, that's a nice looking trident. Looks similar to the colonial fork you have a video of. I'll have to give it a try. Billy, that's good clean work on the hook! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostTownForge Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 I'm probably the only one, but I can't see the weld on that hook. Maybe I'm just goin' crazy tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hefty Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 That means it's a great weld! The "barb" shaped keeper on the hook has been formed by folding the stock over and welding it back onto itself. He's made a really clean weld so there is no visible weld line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostTownForge Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 Ahh... makes sense, just wasn't sure what part he had welded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlpservicesinc Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 Of note on the weld.. Flat to flat will always give you the best seamless weld as long as the sides are aligned. Flat to flat is the surface area not the stock dimension. Flat to flat is the best and easiest.. Round to flat, round to round.. In these last 2 types of welds.. There needs to be filler material that basically makes the round stock into flat stock or an additional piece with the correct scarf added in. Or enough material reduction to get them both into the flat to flat relationship again, not in dimension but in surface area. There are ways to negotiate this type of problem without additional material, but it's not a beginner technique.. I often find when teaching forge welding that people get confused by the misinformation they read online. Forge welding is a very simple process.. Literally, anybody can and should do it. Something to keep in mind and also why having a good hammer face is important. When you are forging the metal, it will generally move lengthwise the most.. It also moves to the sides and also back towards your hand or tongs to a much lesser extent.. With this said.. When your hammer lands on the hot metal, the area in contact with the anvil and face of the hammer are held or squished in place at the center of the hit area.. This means that if there is a hollow the hydraulic force within the metal upon hit will be forced into all directions including sending the low spot towards the hammer face and the anvil if the temperature is correct. kinda like squeezing playdough in your fist.. It will work thru and into any cracks.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 Worked on another repoussé practice piece. I’m not completely satisfied with how this came out, so I might reset it in the pitch and work the details a bit more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George N. M. Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 John, still very cool. Slava Ukrani! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shainarue Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 John, I think that is beautiful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 Nice piece John, especially for someone as new to chasing and repousse as you are. I'm sure you've mentioned it before but I don't recall. What are you using for pitch? If the improvement you're looking for is better plannishing you need something really stiff with that fine detail. Lead is good at that level of fineness but it requires melting lead. Lead also has issues chasing into too and I haven't done any in too long to keep up with new pitch recipes or products. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 I made the pitch myself, using a classic mix of rosin, brick dust, and a dollop of linseed oil. You're right that it's a bit soft for planishing, especially when the weather is as warm as it has been lately. I've been thinking of stiffening it up with a little more brick dust, but I'll probably start with Douglas Pryor's recommendation to pop it in the fridge for a few minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 It's been a long time and different group since pitch recipes were a topic. IIRC reducing the linseed oil improved things but it had issues just like increasing the dust. Some folk were screening the brick dust a little coarser so it was less plastic under the hammer. Chilling the pitch works pretty well and you can adjust the stiffness with either chill time or controlling temperature. I don't know if anybody was using an cool/cold water bowl around the pitch bowl but that would give you an easy way to control the temperature. Too stiff add a bit of warm water, too soft add an ice cube. Hmmm? The first time I talked to someone who practiced chasing & repoussee he used asphalt. He was a slope head, (worked on the North Slope, oil fields) and decorated the old metal hard hats. He talked about it being a poor substitute for HIS pitch. I didn't know diddly about the art at the time, I could see and understand the basic process but it wasn't until I got home and could do a little research I got a decent lay handle on it. Then I mentioned it to my metal head artist friends on the Artmetal.list and started getting all kinds of info. I had limited success with my own attempts but I wasn't going to make a proper pitch. I mixed powdered grog and a bees/paraffin wax mixture. It worked but nowhere near as well as a real chasing pitch recipe. It was fun when friends were over and we all sat around after dinner chasing Altoid tins and sharing the chasing punches. Good times. <sigh> Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 One of the nice things about being a blacksmith is that making your own chasing punches is no big deal and a LOT less expensive than buying them. I figured out the other day that if I had purchased individually all of the punches I'd made up to that point, I would have spent over $800. Of course, I've made a few more since then.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 1 hour ago, Frosty said: I don't know if anybody was using an cool/cold water bowl around the pitch bowl but that would give you an easy way to control the temperature. Too stiff add a bit of warm water, too soft add an ice cube. Hmmm? Don’t think that would work with my setup, considering that my “pitch bowl” is a bowling ball with one side flattened. However, that does give me an idea: I could try cooling off the workpiece with a spritz bottle of cold water or with a cold, wet rag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 Bowling balls are just semi-hard plastic and most plastics are lousy insulators. Find a little larger bowl and use the ball as a heat sink. Maybe screwing a larger diameter piece of modestly thick, 1/4"+/- aluminum to the ball would allow you to keep an edge of the plate in cool water. Spritzing with cool water should work. The pitch and project don't care about getting anyway. Not once you get the project set in the pitch that is of course. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 The trick is that whatever I do to cool it down in the summer has to be compatible to whatever I do to warm it up in the winter (although that's easily accomplished with the heat gun). On a slight tangent, I'm thinking of adding a metal rim around the perimeter of the flat spot on the ball, to keep the pitch from flowing down the sides. Ideas are percolating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 Ah, that ones easy. Cut a strip of flashing and wrap it around the pitch, one edge touching the ball, the other just above the level of the pitch. It's flashing, you can secure the lap with duct tape. Hmmm? I LOVED this kind of brainstorming it's almost too much fun to be legal. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 Yeah, but I want something a bit more robust, and I'm saving the flashing for projects. Don't worry: it'll be creative and fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyVee Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 Have been busy trying to make stuff to display at the NMABA demo at the New Mexico State Fair in a few weeks. What I've got so far: a toilet paper holder, four hair pins, and a bottle opener intended to invoke "piton" thoughts in the minds of people who know what a piton is. I plan to make a few other things, including a paper towel rack in the same style as that TP holder, before the fair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted August 21, 2023 Share Posted August 21, 2023 Yep... the bottle opener could be used to drive in cracks of a rock face, to secure rope and aid in safety of the climber. The hair pins may prove to be a smidgen heavy but they look nice. I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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