Jump to content
I Forge Iron

What did you do in the shop today?


Recommended Posts

Lots of great looking stuff on here! I hope you get better soon John!

Can anyone guess what animal this is supposed to be? I’m now trying to figure out if I should show my wife, or get better at them and give her one for her birthday…

Its also kind of cool attached to the stick, so I am trying to figure out if I should leave it sitting on a cube, or a longer stick? Make it a letter opener? So many options…

IMG_2229.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 26.4k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • JHCC

    3153

  • ThomasPowers

    1935

  • Frosty

    1668

  • Daswulf

    1647

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

It's a bit rough but it's definitely an owl, and definitely a lot better than whatever I could do.

Took y'alls words to heart, started to clean up the garage and think about what I really want to make. Decided it's about time I try a bottle opener, especially with my brother's 21st coming up. Think I'll probably do a classic flat one and put a hammered bronze scale on it. My anvil horn is a little flat and I don't have a cone hardy, but I think I should be able to figure it out. At least hopefully.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All the new tools polished, all the old tools repolished, and the chasing & repoussé toolbox organized.

IMG_7368.thumb.jpeg.7b2b3c90608f4cc3053e27b54fa39968.jpeg

The two soup cans on the far left are for tool stock and as-yet-unmodified tooling, the remaining dozen compartments are each 1/3 of a plumber’s torch propane tank (the four on the right are squared off to fit the space), and there’s a divider that keeps them separate from the space for the hammers. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did a bit of shop cleanup, including sorting out a bucket of screwdrivers someone gave me a few years ago. I knocked the handles off a few of the older ones she cut them down to about 4-5” long, so they’re on their way to becoming chasing and repoussé tools.

IMG_7376.thumb.jpeg.cbffb19a3ab0ce77e6ffa6aef47a467a.jpeg

I think the next time I’m at the ReStore, I’ll see if they’ve got any beat up old screwdrivers with square shanks, for the same purpose. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Forged and rough-ground a couple more chasing tools, which still need heat treatment, sanding, and polishing. 

IMG_7388.thumb.jpeg.b959a0c37d45a2818bf8daa595187302.jpeg

IMG_7390.thumb.jpeg.1d7b3e878e3034705758e42a9744d8f6.jpeg

Also did the lining-in for my next practice piece. Working from a recommendation in Moving  Metal by Adolf Steiner, I tried using a rubber pad for backing rather than the usual pitch bowl. 

IMG_7393.thumb.jpeg.1bafbbb45feae084c2d8bb75e8706229.jpeg

I made the pad a while back from three layers of salvaged 1/8” rubber sheet, glued together with contact cement. I’m rather pleased with how well it worked, although I will be mounting the workpiece in pitch for further shaping. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steines (not Steiner; darn autocorrect) also recommends a dense, short-pile carpet; I’m going to see if I can snag some scraps from the renovations they’re doing in the office (once I’m well enough to go back, that is).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

More repoussage toolmaking (still needs heat treating, finish grinding, and polishing):

IMG_7399.thumb.jpeg.f7fe96a033639827978f2723ca73474d.jpeg

Including cutting down and straightening a bunch of extra Allen wrenches as stock:

IMG_7402.thumb.jpeg.59baed10225a69b0e7f4bd34d72c345a.jpeg

Rather happy with the texturing tool, which I made by heating one end of the stock and hammering it against a rough spot in the concrete of the garage floor:

IMG_7398.thumb.jpeg.9fbf99d900c8e1261b17327b6aa697c6.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Heh, heh, heh, I made a texturing tool by hammering it into a granite cobble. I never got around to brazing BBs to a piece of plate and beating a HOT tool into them for a pebble texture tool but the thought persists.

Frosty The Lucky.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was very happy to get back out into the forge tonight after a long absence due to weather.   I made a small knife from cool spring,  worked on a latch for a barn door for a local historical society,  they had modern sheet metal hasps on it and when I was out there for a live demo thought it needed a Blacksmith's touch,  and then I was working on reducing a section of a really big chunk of wrought iron.   About three quarters of the way to reducing it to stock for bottle openers I realized I would make a ladle out of it and so I did.   

20230829_215800.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...