I just finished up a chasing/engraving hammer. I made the head a couple months ago. I drilled and filed the eye instead of punching it. I found that out the hard way( 4 previous tries). I forged it to shape and then cleaned it up with files and a grinder. 

The handle is Goncalo Alves that I shaped and filed to shape. I actually used my lathe to mill the filework around the neck of the handle. Took a little bit of patience and clean uo but I got  'er done. I might use it to decorate my next project which is a pipe tomahawk.  I'm very glad to have completed this. This has been a project I have had in mind for the last two years. I am thinking of making more and selling them at demos but I have a bit much on my plate lol.

WFF 

Great looking hammer well done. 

Decided to have a go at my first pair of tongs. I'm pretty happy with the result, I got really fatigued by drawing out the reins so they could be a bit smoother but they hold material really well.

 

// NJ

Very nice hammer and tongs look great for first try, look good for third try for that matter - good job eveyone

Very nice Hammer, White Fox Forge!

I ducked into the shop to make a joinery sample for a potential customer.

 He liked it, and I’m expecting a deposit soon. 

Thank you! That's a nice pair of tongs, especially for your first. Joinery looks good too

Cut and glued up some dimensional lumber for a couple of anvil stands. Flattening the top, banding, etc. still to go. I hate waiting for the glue to dry. Dogs are there to hold boards down and for moral support.

NS, your good boys are your snoopervisors.

Most scrap yards sell on single buyer contracts and can't legally sell to anyone else. That and insurance won't cover non-employees in the yard. 

It sucks, I used to LOVE the scrap yard. <sigh>

Frosty The Lucky.

White fox, very nice hammer. 

NicZa, those look better than just about every set of tongs i have made. 

Got this years serving fork done. Get it's first use come All Saints Day. 

After a bit of work i cleaned out my forge. I found this huge chunk of forge glass in the bottom. 

Shut down and went to enjoy my home towns annual Halloween festivities. 

 

Super Sucker Side Draft Plans

M3F, bluerooster;

across the street at the anvilfire site you can find a nice plan/example. Scroll down the main page while looking for 'The Master's Plan File'. Select that and then you'll find a plan listed. I used that and some of Jock Dempsey's notes for designing and constructing mine.

Cheers,

Don

Edited October 22, 20232 yr by Don Shears
Spelling error

Nicza nice tongs.. 

On 10/20/2023 at 7:05 PM, bluerooster said:

There's a diagram on here somewhere, 

For what it’s worth, here’s a link to the one I made from a helium tank: 

https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/57590-helium-tank-super-sucker/

I got my first commission about a week ago. He doesn't know what he wants yet, but I sent him a few pictures of things I made. 

Congrats GhostTown. I hope it's a nice smooth commission for you, especially seeing as how it's your first. 

I just happen to have one of those helium tanks. Problem is that it's still fulla helium.  I guess I need to get to blowing up balloons.

 Got out there today, and removed what's left of the barrel hood. Cleaned out the forge, and just scooped it all into the slack tub. Then scooped out what was floating.  Dumped the rest. I'm sure there was good coal in there, but also so much rust flakes, not worth the trouble to try to seperate it. 

Working on a bottle tree for a commission.   Mostly welding and I'm really glad I went and bought that little Flux core welder.   I would have been very annoyed with my stock welder doing this. 

The demo went well this weekend. I haven’t taken many pictures before, but I got a couple this time around.

Basic pictures of the setup (not the best pictures…):

 

Here are a couple of the items made while demonstrating:

BBQ fork and spatula as well as the a few leaf key chains and pendants.

This flower was going to be just a key chain. It just kept growing, with the aid of a few forge welds.

Overall, the crowds weren’t as big as last year, but a lot of people seemed interested and the weather was good. It is a completely open air forge, so it would have been a lot easier if it was cloudy all day. Two full days of forging and interacting with the crowd made for a pretty good weekend!

I’ll try to get better pictures of the setup next time.

Keep it fun,

David

Made a little sandbag (for cold work of small pieces of copper and brass sheet) out of a piece of leather left over from making my apron. 

An odd shape, to be sure, but bigger than it would have been if I’d squared it up. 

(Also, I’m quite pleased with the stitching on this. Amazing how much better it comes out when you mark out the spacing with dividers first.)

Goods, how did you do on sales?

GNM

Good Morning, John

That is a great size Anvil. It should work a treat.

A lot of people don't know that if you use a Steel Hammer and a Steel Anvil, your material will stretch. If you use a Soft Hammer with a Steel Base or a Soft Anvil with a Steel Hammer, your material will move and not stretch.

Neil

George, it really felt like the sales were lower that last year for me. The smith I was with seemed to be doing pretty good. However, when I got home and counted the revenue, I came out a little better that last year’s total. I think the main difference was having more inventory, so even with better sales, I had more to take home. Of all the items I forged during the demo, only one of the fire pokers were left unsold.

Honestly, these events aren’t about sales for me. The main reason for me to attend is the demonstration itself. The sales are just a bonus. (This is only a hobby for me, and I’m really not wanting to take the enjoyment out of it.)

Keep it fun,

David

7 hours ago, swedefiddle said:

It should work a treat.

I might replace the sand with lead shot or steel BBs one of these days. For now, sand will work, and I had it on hand already.

9 minutes ago, Goods said:

This is only a hobby for me, and I’m really not wanting to take the enjoyment out of it.

That's my standard response to anyone who suggests that I could blacksmith for a living. My only goal in doing paid work is to underwrite the hobby and occasionally provide a few more ducats to the family budget.

David,  I have always felt about the craft much the same way as John, a hobby and fun but generating enough income to pay for fuel, metal, tools, etc..  There was a time when I was between careers when my income came from my hammer but I didn't make much more than unemployment insurance but it felt a lot better than being on the dole.'

I have also always felt that sales are the ultimate compliment, people give you their money for what you have made.  There are not many compliments higher than that.

Yes, inventory is the ticket to higher sales.  If you think you might sell 5 of X make and bring 10 to the event.  I'd always rather haul stuff home than miss a sale.  A half empty table does not inspire customers to buy.

Congratulations on improving over last year.  However, I have found that doing an annual event on multiple years can result in saturating the market.  The same folk come each year and they don't need or want anothe Z that they bought last year unless it is for a gift for someone.  We make durable goods, not consumables.

By hammer and hand all arts do stand,"

 David, if I may ask... where were you set up for demo and sales? I did visit a couple of spots in Parke County, last weekend.                Life is Good              Dave