Alexandr, i have been seeing your work for a couple years now and i am always impressed. But i think that bed is by far my favorite. I can see my granddaughter having something similar. Which has now given me a monumental task... i have 4 granddaughters and 1 great granddaughter. 

Chellie, I like pairing beginners at the anvil, both learn faster so you pairing up with your nephew is perfect, just make sure he's wearing PPE at ALL TIMES. I like youngsters around at demo, they ask questions and have ideas unpolluted by knowledge. I often learn more than I show and explain.

Hmmm, I think your hinge has to be a mutated or alien "squid". Squid tend to have long pointed mantels with fins and only 2 grabbing tentacles. The long ones with little paddle looking things are used for grabbing fast moving prey and bringing it into the 8 gripping tentacles around the beak. 

You  know, perception is everything so maybe let the people who look at it decide what it is for themselves.

However it turns out I really like it.

Frosty The Lucky.

Frosty, he has tons of questions and I try to answer as best as I can. I've decided it's a little difficult to forge and talk at the same time lol. 

Tommie asked me to make some drive hooks to put up in the animal shed he's building to hang buckets, halters etc. I set out to make 3 today, but I was a bit ambitious considering I'm working outside and it's in the 90s today. So I got one but I need to cut the pokey part (pintle maybe?) down and bend it a bit more. Didn't realize I had tapered it so long with sweat pouring into my eyes... but I think I'm getting a little better each time. I hope lol

Looks good Lady

Thanks Rojo. I had three pieces the same size. I think I'm going to cut the remaining two in half and get four hooks out of that. I know drive hooks are simple but anything that gives me practice in fundamentals and is usable is a good thing 

I had a fail tonight. This is my second attempt to make an Ankh for a friend. I tried the first one a few years ago and it broke. I didn't know much back then. It got buried in my list of projects to do, while I worked on improving skills. I needed a lightweight project to work on this week while I nursed that pulled muscle in my back. While going through old folders, I came across this picture and decided it was time to get my friend's gift done! 

I need to spend some time thinking about how to change what I'm doing before I try again. I don't have any square bar on hand so this is what I came up with using flat bar.

Shaina, a thought just occurred to me. I wonder if you could make a split cross and modify it? Maybe split the top piece in half and forge weld at the top arc then shape out into an oval? Then spread out the bottom  part? Hmm

Fan out the the two side parts too. Anyway, I just wonder if that would work?

Shainarue, it looks like you had a good start there. You could keep the same approach, but don’t think about it as if it was stamped out of sheet stock. Keep it a square cross section near the center and gain the width on the arms by forging them down. Would give depth to the end project. Will need the get the sides squared up though… I think your going about it on a good path, just some tweaking… Do you have a spring swage to set the fuller? Maybe you could use the spring swage in the vise to hold the fuller while squaring the arms in the vise? Or slit a drift after squaring the arms by hammering it into the pritchel hole. 

The slit cross method may work, but I think the center hole throw off the aesthetic here. Maybe, not overlapping the cuts would work, but that could get wonky fast. I may have to put that on my experiment list. (Which is way down on the priority list…).

Keep it fun,

David

Yeah I'm glad you brought that up Goods. I forgot mention to not overlap the cuts if you didn't want the open space in it. I don't know. I've never made an ankh before so that would be my best guess unless I were to see someone make one

I don't know how to link it, but in an interwebs search, I actually found that there's a thread about making an ankh in Member Projects here on IFI  He used a split cross

I like the idea of a Fredrich's ankh.  I don't know if I would extend the split in the top arm down into the space that opens in the center from overlapped cuts or not.  Some drawing or experimentation might be in order.  Play Dough!

That said, my experience is that if you don't have a band saw the cutting with a hack saw takes time and effort and has some difficulty in keeping the cuts straight.  It, of course, depends on the size you want.  A 8-10" wall cross/ankh made out of 3/4" - 1" stock takes a lot more sawing than something out of 1/4" intended as a pendant.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Frosty, reading your comment it occured to me, that i translated "kwal" wrong. It is supposed to be a jellyfish.

Gewoon Ik, it looks like a jellyfish vs squid..  So..... 

Shaina, you really need a preform..   If your goal is the last photo you want to account for the material you actually need to get the shape you want. 

You have excessive material and it needs to go someplace..   So account for the material before the split and get rid of it before forging flat..  I'd rather forge than to cut off but either method will work..  

Keep in mind overlapping blows and if you have the right amount of material in the right places the final piece will just "show up".. 

I would forge weld the top loop back to the center.. This would help miles with controlling the extra amount of material. 

 

So i made some Billy Bones Bodacious Bad to the Bone Mystical Magical Mystery Metal Glue. Also known as anhydrous borax. Any one know of a way to quickly pulverize it? I usually use just hammer or a large hunk o' metal but that is slow and it wants to fly around. I was thinking maybe getting a cheap coffee grinder and using that.  Any thoughts or suggestions? 

Make a mortar from a piece of pipe welded to a flat plate and use a piece of heavy round bar as a pestle. 

BBBBBMMMMG, love it!

I've had slightly better success with a meat tenderizing hammer (faceted face) but that's still slow. Sometimes an awl helps to break down the larger chunks a bit. I agree a slow messy process...

On edit, John's idea is better!

--Larry

This week turned out to be very productive.  Installed another chandelier.  And  didn’t have to travel far, only 100 km one way.

Seems like most of your weeks are very productive Alex, well done!

I am curious though about the white diamond grill in the window. Is that for security or ? Always interesting to see how people do things in other countries which is part of why I enjoy your photos!

--Larry

4 hours ago, BillyBones said:

So i made some Billy Bones Bodacious Bad to the Bone Mystical Magical Mystery Metal Glue. Also known as anhydrous borax. Any one know of a way to quickly pulverize it? I usually use just hammer or a large hunk o' metal but that is slow and it wants to fly around. I was thinking maybe getting a cheap coffee grinder and using that.  Any thoughts or suggestions? 

meat grinder. 

2 hours ago, LarryFahnoe said:

Seems like most of your weeks are very productive

Thanks Larry! There are different weeks, this one was a 3-day weekend. As a rule, on such days I go to the installation.

Billy, I find old hand crank meat grinders cheap at fleamarkets and yard sales. Once you get the pieces to where they will fit into it one of those works decently to powder it. Other than that the moarter pestle idea is a solid one. 

Wow Alexandr, you have been busy. Nice work all around. 

I've used under cut fredericks gross blanks to make some ankhs before. Then just split and round out the top. Mine didnt turn out great but not bad. It was my first and only attempt yet. This was in 2018 so I dont remember exact details. 

 

On 6/13/2024 at 4:14 PM, JHCC said:

Quick suggestion for the bender: if you cut the height of the tubing down to a bit more than the width of the widest stock you'll be bending, you should be able to add a bead or two of weld around the inside.

Thanks for the idea, JHCC.  I did just that yesterday after reading your suggestion. It might have been OK as it was, but Murphy's Law suggests it would have broken off when I needed it the most.  I appreciate the feedback from those with the experience and wisdom I lack! :-)

This is a bit "top-heavy" looking, but it's my first attempt at scrolling. I think the next one will be better. Practice makes perfect (or at least better than the last time.)

- Paul

Paul, I think it looks pretty darn good!

Thanks, GrazyGoatLady. I appreciate the feedback. I read your post about the sweat getting in your eyes and the temperature being 90 F. It's only 75 F or so here, but it'll be 85-90 F on Wednesday and Thursday. This is our first heat wave of the year.

I don't know how you folks stand it. Hopefully, it's not humid. We get a lot of humidity being close to the ocean, and if that's the case, there'll be no blacksmithing here near the end of the week.

- Paul

No forge time here. Projects languishing on the anvil.  Temps in the 90s, and not a breeze to be found.