What did you do in the shop today?

[JHCC]

14 hours ago, JHCC said:

I’ve got an idea for a different design that might work better. More to come….

Not the idea I’d originally had in mind, but this came to me all of a sudden, and it seems to work well. 

[White Fox Forge]

I almost finished my dual fuel forge. Got it running smoothly on lpg and forced air but the liquid fuel still needs some fine tuning.

I got a stand built for it out of a steel tire rim, 3 inch round pipe and cement. I would like to make a stand for the liquid fuel so that it can stand freely and be gravity fed. I did need to re-refractory the forge because my cat knocked it off my bench while I was prepping legs for it. Besides that it runs nicely and geats up relatively quickly. My pressure dial for the lpg is slightly off so my best guess is it's running on 5-6 psi which is better than the 14 psi my venturi does. I'm going to build a foundry and annother forge of some kind in the future but this one will suffice. Should u paint it with heat resistant paint? I found some rated for 1800f if I remember correctly. If so, color suggestions? Cheers!

WFF

[BillyBones]

JHCC, i was thinking about your bender at work and i was thinking add a handle so it is kind of an "L" shape, but not at the end. Kind of like one of those police baton things. The handle maybe between the 2 "jaws" (not sure what to call them) and holding with the left hand, well i am right handed, bend with the long handle with my right hand. 

[gewoon ik]

I agree, but she had a couple but uses a trowel the most because handy to her (except flat and big).

If not, can easy be changed

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

19 hours ago, Frosty said:

a garden trowel should have a much flatter handle to blade relationship. (Parallel)

Then there are folks like me that actually prefer the bend like that. That way you can dig down under something and then lever it out of the ground without hitting your knuckles on the ground. I even modified a store bought one to have that bend.

I can't control the wind, all I can do is adjust my sail’s.
Semper Paratus

 

[JHCC]

Finished welding up a radius jig for hot-bending pipe on the Hossfeld. Needs some tweaking, but it’s a good start.

[LarryFahnoe]

Interesting, though I'm curious John, are you hot bending the pipe on the Hossfeld because you don't have the pipe dies or is it that you're trying for compound bends that are too difficult to manage cold?

--Larry

[JHCC]

Both. I also don't have the hydraulic kit necessary for bending schedule 40 pipe cold.

I had good luck hot-bending 1/2" x 2-1/4" flat bar for another project, so this is an extension of that technique.

[LarryFahnoe]

Makes sense, thanks. I don't use mine all that often, but find it a remarkable tool. Sometime back I stumbled upon a Diacro #2 which I think will be a nice compliment to the Hossfeld #2, but the Di-Acro has turned into a challenging restoration project... https://www.fahnoetech.com/this-old-bender/ Who knows how long it will take to complete! 

--Larry

[JHCC]

I've been documenting my own Hossfeld journey here: JHCC's consolidated Hossfeld Universal Bender #2 thread.

[Goods]

I started 3 hawks for a last minute Christmas gift commission. Preform is done:

Of course I have to go in and order more material for the bits… I didn’t realize I was so low. Maybe I’ll just use a worn out rasp. I have a few of those lying around, and time is important here! (It just make me uncomfortable changing the formula)

Keep it fun,

David

[jlpservicesinc]

David do you account for the taper of the handle in your preform?  I can see you have nice sharp but joints for your weld scarfs.. 

[Goods]

Yes, the edge from the sharp corners are square to the top. There is 1/8” different top to bottom for the length of the eye. 
I know the outside radius is fairly tight now, but after I forge the weld down I’m planning on 1/2”~3/4” radius smooth transition there.

Keep it fun,

David

[jlpservicesinc]

Great job. Few people account for the radius difference. 

While I appreciate the extra steps you went thru in your preforms and have done the same thing in the past. 

I've found with mild steel it's not needed. 

Something not shared nor talked about is upsetting via drifting to create the finished seam. 

Yes, yes. I understand.  Having a method that gives you results desired is A#1. 

With this there are progression steps that can be eliminated as a time savings once figured out. 

By drifting the eye to size it tests the eye weld and finishes that scarf. 

I should do a video on it. 

I am not critiquing your method, just sharing food for future growth. 

[Chad J.]

I really need to learn how to make hawks that way.   Usually just. Punch and drift but those are my rr spike hawks.  Goods, how much layout work do you do?  

Still working on my coffin bookshelf but the cold weather and lack of heat in my shop has me distracted when there's a nice warm forge so close by.   Add to that I watched one or 2 too many episodes of forged in fire (because I like yelling at the tv) sooooo.... I have a Kriegsmesser well underway.   Found a crack in the guard last night but that'll be quick to remake, i had used rebar for it.   31 inch on the blade 42 inch overall at the moment, 1/4 inch at the base going down to 1/8 inch at the false edge, started at 27 inches.    No idea of what it weighs currently but it's good ol' 5160.  Hoping to get it done in a couple weeks.  

[JHCC]

There are a couple of good videos on YouTube showing that method.

Nils Ögren: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y49Jcvsk9f8

Black Bear Forge (three part series): Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Gerald Boggs (posted by Mark Aspery): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqyP6tjc2jI

[jlpservicesinc]

Like i mentioned I have not been able to find a video on the subject so I have to assume they simply don't exist.  
 

JHCC Nils and ABANA and Blackbear are for axe preforms..  

Tomahawk preforms being different..   In fact, Tomahawk preforms are a lot like Froe and or Hoe preforms as they use the same type/kind of mandrel and drift. 

Chad, the punching of Axe eyes is a modern approach to mass production.  

Setup a person on a punch machine and axes come out by the dozens in a day.. 

A skilled tradesman in the axe-making biz before this punching took over used other methods..  Wrapping is the main one..  

There were also 2 different ways of "steeling" and axe..  Overlay and insert..  For most modern smiths they use the insert method as that is what everyone shows and copies.. 

I have a hard time watching blacksmithing videos now as there is no new content..  They just keep repeating what the person before them said in a video they had watched on youtube and copied in their own style..  argh.. 

Where are the break thru people that are showing real technique????  



 

[Frosty]

Doing a thing the way you learned and teaching the same to new folks is LITERALLY the "Traditional" method. There are smiths bragging about making whatever the same way it was done hundreds if not thousands of years ago. The ones bragging about blacksmiths thousands of years ago are showing off their ignorance.

Anyway, today's is a multi-media culture, people are broadcasting their entire life to the world, even dangerously intimate matters. You see folks showing off things and giving "instructions" on this forum who sort of lucked into forging something ONCE and are now telling everybody how to. 

I don't watch how to videos anymore, haven't for a few years. Some are using practices so dangerous I want to to there and take their tools away so they don't inspire others to do . . . Shudder.

You do good work, keep at it and when/if you discover a new technique you'll master it quickly. Who cares what the wannabes video and post? 

Frosty The Lucky.

[jlpservicesinc]

Frosty, I agree..   I see it everywhere.. 

I see it in other trades as well.. Farrier being one of the other ones..  

What I see is "There is an idea, this idea gets shared (good/bad/indifferent) and this starts to become the new "Normal".. 

Things 25 years ago I was talking about in farrier work are becoming more heard of but still not "normal"..  

Be it cursed or disenfranchised or indifferent my understanding is well " AKA normal way of doing something" can be the furthest from the truth.. 

I see it all the time, people wasting time on an aspect that in 20 years from now they won't bother with.. 

I've said it before..   Look for the little things that can barely be seen..  These are usually the smallest things with the largest impacts and yet the most disregarded..  (move the metal without hitting it)..   Thats a really good one.. 

Once a person "knows"..  Hindsight is that "Dah" moment.. 

On that..  The radius inside the axe at the poll is created when forged  and then retained when bent..  Not when the drift is pounded in.. 

In all the videos that were mentioned..  The rear portion at the pole was forged without a radius built in..  This can lead to micro cracks at the rear poll.. 

Anyhow, my usual absurdity. 

[Goods]

JLP, nothing taken as a negative. I like hearing different opinions and approaches. I’m still working my process out, maybe one day I’ll be happy with it and faster. Right now I’m painfully slow at it, but I’m going for a particular ascetic.

Chad, the layout work on these aren’t bad. After I recalculated the dimensions, (this time I wrote everything down) I scribed the center line, measured out and ctr punched one side of the top of the eye, then measured the eye width across the center line and ctr punched that. (I get a more accurate final width measuring from mark to mark than separate measurements from the center line.) Repeat for the bottom of the eye. Then it all forging…

Keep it fun,

David

[Frosty]

The old saying for it is, "learn the tricks learn the trade." 

I never start someone out with the little things and a person can waste a lifetime looking for them if they don't yet have the knowledge and skills to recognize or use them. 

Then again it's maybe a difference in how we use words. To me "Look" for means you focus on looking and finding. I use "Watch" for to mean pay attention and take note of the results of a thing. Say, Dang I didn't mean to hit it like that, the metal moved the wrong way. Remembering that blow and results can come handy later when you want it to move that way. Make sense?

Frosty The Lucky. 

[BillyBones]

Jennifer, i thought i was the only one that was getting bored with youtube videos. Same thing over and over. It has got to the point where many i do not even watch anymore. 

I do however enjoy the live streams that some do but it is not so much the smithing as the conversations going on. 

[jlpservicesinc]

Frosty you and I think about the same way..  Just seems the wording is different..  

My intention when forging is to always make the hit of the hammer do more work towards what I'm trying to create without the extra effort..  (so try to avoid corrective actions)   So more bang for the buck..   

I guess it has something to do with longevity..   I'm not sure..  But while we say things differently it's pretty much a wash.. 

Billy,  You are not the only one..   You can count me in..   Rob H. has an Instagram page and he's a Brian Brazeal person.. 

There is a whole group of the Brian Brazeal guys in a group and they are super fun to hang with and talk with..  Mark Ling is part of that group..  They really utilize the basic concepts to great measure..  Gotta lot of respect for that.. 

If you ever get a chance to hang with those guys their methods and understanding is very grounded..   

I like to watch Rob's streams and he's been doing 1 or 2 a day..  

Very few people work larger steel by hand and this group is not afraid of it..   This working larger sectional dimensions helps with proper hammer use.. 

Anyhow, good stuff..  

[Goods]

Well, it looks like I messed up. I forgot one key piece of information. Add your material thickness measurement to that of the handle when doing a wrapped eye like this!

The eye is way too small! Broke the weld trying to size it, and lost some of the transition shape I was going for trying to re-weld it. At least I think you can see the general shape I was going for in the transition.

Now, I’m going the have to rework the next two to get the right length for the eye:

I’m going the have to open them back up and I’ll probably grind the set down back 1/8” on both sides. (I may even start another blank in case I mess something else up.)
I really did not need this set back with the time constraints! Another hard lesson learned…

Keep it fun,

David

[gewoon ik]

goods, sound logic that you have to account for that. Probably would made the same mistake as you did. 

 

jlc you have a link to that instagram? Not a big user of instagram, but I know a lot can be found on it.