What did you do in the shop today?

[Daswulf]

Nice Chad, are you going to etch the ladle? 

Jennifer that is some beautiful work. That trident fork is inspirational. 

[Chad J.]

Vinegar works for that right?   I'll etch the outside a bit and the handle.  Not going to such the inside.  If hate to create holes for stuff to get stuck in. 

[Daswulf]

Vinegar would work but it will be slower. Good point on not creating crevices for  food related items. 

[Frosty]

I love the carving / serving fork Jennifer though I don't know how well it would work for Turkey or ham. I'd still display it, it's beautiful.

The hoof knife is beautiful too but once again I'd have to try it to decide if I liked the shape of the handle. It's been more than 50 years since I trimmed a hoof, I doubt I could do a decent job anymore so my thoughts are really dated. Also I can't imagine you'd make a tool that didn't work well. 

If that all made any sense.

Frosty The Lucky.

[jlpservicesinc]

Frosty thanks. 

The tines are long enough / tall enough for a traditional knife when it comes to carving.

No go on modern chef knife just to tall. 

It's a carving fork vs utility fork for sure.  Aka not used for heavy work. Could lift/move a 20lb hunk of meat. 

Hoof knives. 

As with all things I'm always looking for better ways.  Never happy with status quo.

The blade shape I developed 20 years ago.

Now I'm messing with handles.  I'm trimming between 30 and 70 horses a week. At my age I have to find everything I can to make every action more effective. 

Comfort and ease of applying useable power is getting more important.

The basic handle shape was copied from Brett Miles. A farrier in PA I gave lessons to on hoof knife forging. 

I've changed it's overall dimensions some to fit my hand better and added the thumb swell. 

 

Have you ever seen or used a loop knife? 

[Frosty]

I haven't tried to lift a roast with a carving fork since I discovered salad claws an bought a pair of plastic ones for handling meat. The aesthetics of your fork are worthy of display anywhere.

Yes, I've used hook  and loop hoof knives even my pocket knife to trim hooves. I talked to our farrier about what and how to trim a hoof after a badly thrown shoe. I've talked about Banjo's badly thrown shoe here before as the reason I started carrying a nipper, clincher/puller, shoes and nails when I rode more than a mile or two from the barn. When I  saw a sheet rock rasp I bought and started carrying one of those too. I walked that poor injured horse about 4 miles to the nearest phone so I could get a trailer and farrier out to him. I treated his leg twice daily for a couple months and then lunge lined him to start building his condition before riding him again. 

I was never a farrier but I learned to "cowboy" tend hooves, pull a bent shoe without damaging the hoof further, trim out any splits or delamination and rasp it smooth and even enough to nail a shoe. 

I just noticed I didn't mention carrying a hoof pick but we never rode anywhere without a hoof pick, we cleaned hooves before we brushed to saddle to make sure there wasn't a problem. 

Now I'm missing my horses again. <sigh>

Frosty The Lucky.

[GhostTownForge]

3 hours ago, Chad J. said:

Vinegar works for that right?

I just read a book that mentioned this! If I remember correctly, you brush it with oil, then etch it in dry acid mix from a pool supply store? After that, I believe you wash the acid off in a baking soda and water mix to neutralize the acid. I'm not quite sure. Please correct me if I'm wrong. The book was titled The Skills of a Blacksmith, Volume 1: Mastering the Fundamentals of Blacksmithing. Mark Aspery

[Chimaera]

Jennifer, love the spoon and fork. I've been trying to make a copper coffee scoop for months, but just can't get a good bowl. Did you use a swage block?

[JHCC]

I decided to add a rim to my bowling ball/pitch bowl, having lost patience with pitch running down its sides. 

This was adapted from a decorative element of a long-sidelined project, which gives it a kind of witch’s cauldron vibe. 

[Daswulf]

Looks great John. Copper rivets are a nice touch. 

[bluerooster]

I've never used a loop hoof knife, I've used the hook knife. As to picks, I've used many, and also used what ever was handy, a stick, nail, pocket knife, etc.  We quit using shoes on horses about 20 or more years ago.  They stayed barefoot  all the time. Then we found the horse boots, Those things are the cat daddy. (made working their feet much easier)

Jennifer I like the fork and spoon, they are works of art, and the hoof knife with the thumb part is cool too.

JHCC  Way cool pitch bowl.

[gewoon ik]

Nice spoon, perfect for eating out the soup bowl from the person in front of you.

Nice set jennifer.

What ya coocking jhcc?

[Rojo Pedro]

Really nice Jennifer and love the pitch bowl John along with all of your repousse tools.

Very inspirational both.

[Frosty]

I love it John, it's so in keeping with the old tradition where craftsmen put so much effort into decorating otherwise common tools and equipment. I miss the days when tools had style.

You done good John.

Frosty The Lucky.

[JHCC]

7 hours ago, gewoon ik said:

Nice spoon, perfect for eating out the soup bowl from the person in front of you.

[...]

What ya coocking jhcc?

"Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool, you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me."

[Frosty]

And such a good argument for tolerance. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[The Jeff]

2 hours ago, JHCC said:

Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet

INCONCEIVEABLE! 

[GhostTownForge]

Love that movie, 

[Buzzkill]

You keep using that word.  I do not think it means what you think it means.

[gewoon ik]

5 hours ago, JHCC said:

"Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool, you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me."

Sorry, no idea what you are talking about.

[Buzzkill]

It's from the movie "The Princess Bride"

[Scott NC]

5 hours ago, Frosty said:

tolerance

  Temperance too....

[jlpservicesinc]

On 8/30/2023 at 12:45 PM, Frosty said:

I haven't tried to lift a roast with a carving fork since I discovered salad claws an bought a pair of plastic ones for handling meat. The aesthetics of your fork are worthy of display anywhere.

Yes, I've used hook  and loop hoof knives even my pocket knife to trim hooves. I talked to our farrier about what and how to trim a hoof after a badly thrown shoe. I've talked about Banjo's badly thrown shoe here before as the reason I started carrying a nipper, clincher/puller, shoes and nails when I rode more than a mile or two from the barn. When I  saw a sheet rock rasp I bought and started carrying one of those too. I walked that poor injured horse about 4 miles to the nearest phone so I could get a trailer and farrier out to him. I treated his leg twice daily for a couple months and then lunge lined him to start building his condition before riding him again. 

I was never a farrier but I learned to "cowboy" tend hooves, pull a bent shoe without damaging the hoof further, trim out any splits or delamination and rasp it smooth and even enough to nail a shoe. 

I just noticed I didn't mention carrying a hoof pick but we never rode anywhere without a hoof pick

Frosty The Lucky.

Frosty most have never seen a loop knife..  Never mind used one.  Your in a select few then. 

Cowboying up is needed if you ride off country.  Having the basic ability to pull and nail on a shoe when needed is a basic skill..   It's old school but also should be learned today by those that work the horses. 

A horse owner will do far less damage then most professional farriers..  The owner is much more conservative. 

No need for a hoof pick with these hoof knives..  That's what the bill off the back side is for. 

22 hours ago, Chimaera said:

Jennifer, love the spoon and fork. I've been trying to make a copper coffee scoop for months, but just can't get a good bowl. Did you use a swage block?

I used a wood stump the first go..   I did not like the size of the spoon so flattened it out more.  then used a swage I have in the trailer. 

Scoops can be tough to do..   I've made several types..  The oldest time was from a flat piece of plate and the edge seem is welded in the forge.  This can be tricky for newer smiths until they figure it out. 

for scoops it's always easist to make a form to go over or into..  Depending on the depth of the scoop plays in the most me thinks. 

18 hours ago, bluerooster said:

I've never used a loop hoof knife, I've used the hook knife. As to picks, I've used many, and also used what ever was handy, a stick, nail, pocket knife, etc.  We quit using shoes on horses about 20 or more years ago.  They stayed barefoot  all the time. Then we found the horse boots, Those things are the cat daddy. (made working their feet much easier)

Jennifer I like the fork and spoon, they are works of art, and the hoof knife with the thumb part is cool too.

 

I specialize in barefooted horses..  Have for over 25 years now.. I'm with you for barefoot..  But shoeing today is still big business. 

Most people have not even seen a loop knife..  Or a flat knife..  I don't use a flat knife because I use a straight knife and loop..  

I do have an extra pocket on the apron and the flat knife can be handy though. 

Thanks on the utensils..   

12 hours ago, gewoon ik said:

Nice spoon, perfect for eating out the soup bowl from the person in front of you.

Nice set jennifer.

What ya coocking jhcc?

Thanks and yes, the handle are plenty long enough to sneak across the table..    

5 hours ago, Rojo Pedro said:

Really nice Jennifer and love the pitch bowl John along with all of your repousse tools.

Very inspirational both.

Thanks..  

JHCC love the hardware on your pitch bowl..  Very spiffy.. 

[JHCC]

Thanks, jlp. 

(By the way, I've not seen a loop knife in person, but I've seen them used in a few horseshoeing videos.)

[jlpservicesinc]

Your welcome..  Very neat work.. 

That is a great point.. I stay away from horse shoeing videos..  Makes sense now though I forget we live in the information age.. Or at least the easy information age.