What did you do in the shop today?

[jlpservicesinc]

David, sorry to hear it, but that seems to be on par..  Rush nothing works.. 

Looks like the eye wall thickness is about 3/16" or little more.. YOu could forge this extra metal out around the drift and then reweld..  Massaging the metal around.  It doesn't look like your overall small.. 

How much more material do you need? 

[Hefty]

Tested out a recent hook for pulling candy for candy canes 

Worked quite well for only being tied to a cupboard handle, rather than fastened to a wall. (Sorry the pic is sideways)

[JHCC]

A little Repoussé on the Road, experimenting with a travel alternative to chaser’s pitch: Silly Putty!

[Goods]

Well, at least I seem to be good at making clinkers:

Honestly, a much better day in the forge! I got the next two hawks reworked, one forged out, and normalized. The other is ready for the bit:

Both welds opened a little, but not too bad.

The 1st one may get reworked, but I’m honestly not going to be happy with it, so I may put it in our next Iron-in-hat. The last time I did that it end up as a prized item… It probably won’t make me happy, hopefully it will make someone else happy!

A for how much material I needed, it was about 3/8”.

Keep it fun,

David

[BillyBones]

Goods, nice recovery. 

Made another book stand for my mom for Christmas. This one is for travel kind of. She like to go to quilt retreats just about anywhere East of the Mississippi. So i figured she can use one that folds. Just the back leg hinged so it is just a smidge smaller, but when travelling every inch counts. 

Sometimes you get lucky as well. You can not really see but the little scroll on the top i left in the fire a bit to long. Rather than burn off i pulled out in just enough time so that the metal melted and it looks a bit like a penny scroll now rather than a pigtail. 

[jlpservicesinc]

Nice work guys.. 

[DNADave]

Today I cleaned up my shop and a pair of shears I found for cheap at an antique mall.  I guess these go in the hardy hole?   And then my wife wanted a hanger for her grandfather’s banjo to hang on the wall.    That was a stretch of my ability at this point but….”.it will hang”

[bluerooster]

Good lookin' banjo hanger.  And a nice big shear, you should be able to cut up some pretty heavy sheet with that.

 I finished up the tongs, then made a bottle opener. I tried to put a diamond on the end of it, but it came out all wonky.  I'll find out if it works shortly.

[JHCC]

I have a big pair of shears like that, which I used for 16 ga. and thinner steel before I picked up my more modern bench shear. Also good for trimming those extra-hard toenails.

[Goods]

Cleaning the shop, that’s what I was supposed to be working on before I got this commission. I am hosting a hammer-in here and have a lot of cleaning to do before I can have people in, let alone food for people!

Today, I got the forging on the second hawk done and both cleaned up, thermocycled, and hardened:

They are both temping currently. I’ll get better pictures after that.

I also learned to torch weld! I broke the bit on my bent jaw tongs, which was bound to happen. So I fired up the torch with a welding tip on it and used some 1/8” CRS as filler rod and welded in a big fillet:

I’ll probably have to do the same thing to the inside jaw before too long… I was surprised how easy it was to weld with the torch! Similar to Tig welding, but at least for me, not as graceful. Not sure that graceful is the right term, but it kind fits(?).

keep it fun,

David

[Dabbsterinn]

nice weld! it sure looks like it'll hold. torch welding was the first welding method I learned and I'll say the hardest part was learning to adjust the flame just right. I feel like the puddle is a good bit bigger in torch welding than in any other type unless you've really got the amps cranked up so I found it much easier to watch and learn how it moved.
while torch welding is mostly outdated there are several situations where that's the only option like when you're welding around some sensitive electrical equipment or can't get electricity to where you need

[JHCC]

Torch welding also has some very interesting aesthetic possibilities. See the early 20th century work of Edgar Brandt (an early adopter of torch welding for its own sake) and the more recent "puddle people" of Peter Renzetti.

[Frosty]

Nice bar shears, I rescued a pair from the dumpster at work and use them pretty regularly for up to 1/2" sq. CRS. It wants to tip my anvil off it's stand if I try cutting larger. You can hammer the bottom shank into the ground if you need to, they're tough all round tools.

You're getting pretty good at your hawks David, they're looking better every time.

I haven't done any gas welding since buying an oxy propane torch, the velocity of the flame tends to blow the melt out of the puddle which makes for lousy welds. 

If you can gas weld learning to tig weld takes a couple minutes, mostly getting used to tiny, shallow puddles and speed to heat. It's a skill anybody who fusion welds should have, even if it's just a step to becoming a good welder. The cause and effect is very visible and slow enough to really grasp what's going on. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Scott NC]

IIRC adjusting a gas welding flame was just getting a decent cone. It's been a while though. 

[Direwolf]

Hi all, I've been gas welding since I was a kid, I tend to mig weld more now though for thin metal. As Scott said flame adjustment is very important. You want a neutral flame, just google that term, and the correct size tip for the thickness of the steel. For example 22 gauge use a #00 and 1/2 inch #8 or more. If you don't have a book with tip size and gas pressure requirements I'd bet it could be found on line. Just as important is the gas pressure, to much or little will cause unbeliveable frustration! If you have single stage regulators as the pressure in the tank drops you will have to addjust the regulators once in a while if it's a long job. It is very easy once you get the hang of it to adjust the welding heat by moving the torch tip closer, further, or faster. I also like to use the gas welding tips to heat shrink dents out of sheet metal like fenders as it is so easy to control the heat also to braze cast iron. Gas welding is a good skill to learn I would still do more of it if acetyene wasn't so pricy these days. Hope this helps, if I had time I'd fire up a torch and taake pics of flame types. Lake Superior is being generous with lake effect snow today. Happy welding!

[Goods]

Direwolf, thanks for the input. I do have the guide that came with my torch set. I used it as I initially setup my torch, but didn’t even think about reviewing it for welding. I just put the middle size tip on, adjusted the flame to what looked right (based on the discussions here on tuning gas forge flames) and gave it a try. (It helped that the first welding I learned was Tig welding on tool steel for stamping die repair.)

The knowledge shared openly here is a wonderful resource for the community!

Keep it fun,

David

[Hefty]

I was working on bottle openers for my son's work team's Christmas presents today and decided I really needed some bolt jaw tongs to fit around the opener section so I roughed these out of some rebar. They're only out of 1/2" so they're very light duty tongs but they seem to fit well.  I put an offset in them as well, just because I could!

I tried something different for the bits, this time.  Instead of chiselling a v, I flattened out the ends into a flat rectangle, then I held one side of the rectangle in the vice and hammered the other side over to make an almost 90 degree angle. Repeated for the other bit and then, when I had them riveted, I hammered them around a piece of round bar to align them. 

Not what I originally planned for the day's session, but I'm quite happy with the outcome. Now I just have to grind the texture off the reins. (And get some other stock apart from rebar!!)

Cheers, 

Jono. 

[BillyBones]

Hefty, i have some tongs that i made jaws for then welded on rebar reigns. I have found that when doing that not to take the nubs down all the way, just enough to make them comfortable. I do not know about anyone else but when working i find my hand slipping towards the jaws. Leaving the nubs gives me "traction" on the riegns to prevent that. 

You may also want to check out JHCC bottle opener tongs. They open backwards, kind of like external snap ring pliers when you squeeze the reigns the jaws open rather than close. They hold the bottle opener by the inside of the loop. 

[Hefty]

Thanks Billy, the traction advice is good and I'll check out JHCCs tongs. 

[Jo_Bai]

That sounded interesting, so I did some digging:
 

Seems like I need a new pair of tongs.

[Shainarue]

This is always my favorite thread to check in on. I love seeing everyone's work! There's so much talent and great advice in this group.

I haven't forged in a little over a month now - been busy getting the house ready to sell, then packing, then moving, and now unpacking! However, today I was off work because Ashley had some dental surgery and needed a driver. This meant I had lots more daylight hours to work outside so I used that time to get the (hopefully temporary) shop assembled!

Tada!

It's 10ft x 20ft - basically double what I had at the old place. There are 4 very large netted windows (2 each side), and both ends can be unzipped & rolled up. So it should be nice and breezy in the summer. 

Now I need to move all the stuff inside and set up the forges and anvils. I lost a lot of sand during the move so I need to go buy some more of that to get the anvils set up. I'm thinking I'll keep the solid fuel forge just outside the entryway just like at my old place. I have a propane forge as well so I can set that up pointing toward the entry when in use, which should do nicely for heating up the space.

The treadle hammer will need to wait until spring since it will need a concrete footing poured. 

But it's coming along! I might actually be able to forge something over Christmas break!

[George N. M.]

It may be the photo but the frame work seemms to have a lean to it.  I suggest putting some substantial stakes out and using strong ropes or cables to keep it from leaning any further or even pulling it up to a more verical position.

Is the new house the one in the background?

Congratulations on new digs and a new shop.  This seems to be an upgrade from your old garden shed.

G.

[Mothman_c3w]

Today I finished and waxed this cuff bracelet I made as a Christmas present for my wife. It took me about six hours total to do the metal work. This is my first time making something quite like this. I think it turned out nice and I am pretty proud of it. The design is heavily influenced by Mike Edelman's incredible jewelry work.

My wife knows what she's getting, but not what it looks like. I had her close her eyes and try it on multiple times while I tweaked the sizing and shape. I used Renaissance Wax as a finish; we'll see how it holds up.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

I bet your wife will love it. I know mine would, kinda reminds me of early Celtic work. Renaissance wax is a very good choice to maintain it. Ya done good.

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

 

[George N. M.]

Very nice.  Kind of a Goth/Steampunk/Medieval vibe.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."