August 21, 2025Aug 21 You like a challenge don't you? I'd recommend not making it life sized though, steel 3' guard hairs might be considered a public hazard. Animatronic would be a B I G hit, maybe make world news even. How about a motion sensor so it could tilt it's head and wink at people walking to the front door? Make the end of the trunk into your mailbox and it could hand you the mail. The wheels starting to turn, Hmmmm? Frosty The Lucky.
August 21, 2025Aug 21 Thanks, Billy! 1 hour ago, Frosty said: I'd recommend not making it life sized though A mammoth project in every sense of the word.
August 21, 2025Aug 21 Started to assemble a chandelier. Had to remember geometry lessons. Divided a circle into equal segments. Making a cabinet in the office
August 22, 2025Aug 22 I'm looking forward to seeing your next chandelier Alex. We divide circles differently. I use dividers or my rapidly becoming favorite, folded string method like the knotted cord method Egyptians used to build a civilization. Frosty The Lucky.
August 22, 2025Aug 22 Finished construction of the prototype for a new model of knitting bowl. Just needs a bit of cleanup and finish.
August 23, 2025Aug 23 Shainarue, good work. Glad to see other women making metal creations. alexandr, fabulous as usual. Awesome work. JHCC, the flamingo is so cool and I love the knitting bowl! As for me, it's been so hot and school back in session so I haven't gotten to the shop up until tonight. More nail making. The one had too much material to head and I knew it, but i did it anyway. It's a Fred Flintstone nail. The other 3 aren't too bad I think except I haven't figured out how to make the heads rounder. Tips on that would be welcome.
August 23, 2025Aug 23 Are you starting with round stock? Personally, all of the nails I’ve made, I always went to a pyramid head. In my mind it looks more visually appealing and won’t get confused with store bought nails. I guess the big thing is to keep it upsetting evenly. Just like with riveting tongs try to shape it with each blow, kind of rotating it with each time. Trick I’ve heard is to hot cut into the shouldered side. This put the centers the mass along the axis of the nail. A little hard for me to explain with words and honestly I usually get caught in the moment and forget… Keep it fun, David
August 23, 2025Aug 23 Try forging a blunt point on the head first, it's easier to center and when you spread the head the force of the hammer will be directed straight into the center. Check the height of your header so you're striking with the hammer head parallel to the header without having to try as hard to strike straight down the center. Fred would love the Flintstone nail, it's perfect for hanging the painting of his Mother In Law, with the stone frame and slate canvas. Hmmm? At demos you sometimes have to make up amusing silly tails about what THAT THING is really for. One of my lines was, "You know how many years it took me to make one JUST LIKE THAT? Have fun, it'll be easier and the results will be worth it. A win win. Frosty The Lucky.
August 23, 2025Aug 23 David, thanks I understand what you're saying. The shank part is getting easier but the heads are not going the way I pictured. Frosty, that makes perfect sense and I'll take that to the anvil next time. The whole operation is making a little more sense to me now and is a bit easier. Maybe after 1000 of them I'll have it down pat lol. I'll have to use the Fred Flinstone angle somewhere. I reckon he would have used a stone hammer and a Sabre tooth tiger fang for his though Should I use round stock for them?
August 23, 2025Aug 23 Give it a try but remember nothing works for everyone so if it doesn't try something else. Use the stock you have, round, square doesn't matter a blacksmith makes it what s/he wishes. Frosty The Lucky.
August 23, 2025Aug 23 Nails look good Crazy Lady (or is it Crazy goats) :-) Love the bowl John. How is the bottom fastened? the cylindrical shape is awesome.
August 23, 2025Aug 23 On 8/21/2025 at 9:07 PM, Frosty said: We divide circles differently. I use dividers or my rapidly becoming favorite, folded string method I hop onto TurboCAD and divide it that way. Hey, why not? I have the software already. In fact, on most projects, be they cabinets, utility sheds, or a power hammer, I build it in 3D and then take it apart to make a cut sheet and materials list. I guess that activity is satisfying something in my brain, but the end result is fewer errors and quicker builds. The weather has been quite nice down here in the panhandle of Florida. A cool front is moving down here, too. As hurricane season peaks, autumn starts to harken. Then comes my favorite time of year, winter. No grass to cut. No garden to attend to. Still wearing shorts, but donning a zippered hoodie in the morning. Plenty of condominium remodels to do because all the tourists have gone home. I'm sure the approach of winter in Alaska is quite different. huh? I'm rambling now. Oh well. Good hang, bro.
August 23, 2025Aug 23 On 8/21/2025 at 3:45 AM, BillyBones said: Before i came into work i went into my shop and grabbed randomly one of those ball punches. As we were talking i reached into my pocket and pulled out the punch and asked "Is this something like what you want?". His eyes about bugged out of his head and asked where i got it. At that point I would have been forced to tell him that I had sat on the couch in my living room, watching the ballgame, and turned it out with a hacksaw, and couple of files.
August 23, 2025Aug 23 11 hours ago, Rojo Pedro said: Love the bowl John. How is the bottom fastened? MIG welded.
August 23, 2025Aug 23 You know I would've said something similar Blue. Unfortunately I've almost never had a boss, supervisor, field lead, etc. with a sense of humor. Worse the ones who didn't understand sarcasm at all and would've started assigning me similar work allowing me NADA for tools. I have my fingers crossed that someday I'll learn my lesson and keep it zipped. For a current example personal victory over my nature I am NOT going to razz John about not forge welding, riveting, forge brazing, etc. the bottom to the sides of his yarn bowl. Frosty The Lucky.
August 24, 2025Aug 24 Brazing would be the better choice, even counter sunk flush head rivets are too likely to snag yarn. I'm a fan of GMAW though, fast easy and looks good with minimal grinding. Frosty The Lucky.
August 24, 2025Aug 24 Had to do a redesign on the storm door project i am working on. The bottom portion using 1 1/2" x 1/4 flat and 1/2" round will be much to heavy. So i am working on something that will be made with 1" x 1/8" flat. The upper portion will be 1/2" x1/8" flats with twists and curves. I got 1 piece twisted and started on one of the wavy bars. That is when my big bending jig came unglued. So i finished on the horn. They are not even and after that i just threw my hands up and went to sit on the porch. Looks like the one side i did not get goo penetration on my weld but the thing has held up now for 5 or 6 years. There will be 5 of these, 3 twisted and 2 wavy. So the wavy has to match. I am thinking of trying a bit more twist than just half turn, maybe turn and a half.
August 24, 2025Aug 24 Are these decorative, repairs, or? If weight is the issue and your overhead door has springs across the top, they can be tightened so whatever is lifting or lowering the door isn't lifting anymore weight than it takes to hold it down. If you don't have springs to adjust, how about using aluminum? There are some excellent acid etch paints made for aluminum. Frosty The Lucky.
August 25, 2025Aug 25 I finished up the bending fork for a door prize at our next hammer-in: I worked on the knife I’m making for my wife. Had it ready to glue up only to find my epoxy leaked. I’m need to order more… Here’s how far I’ve gotten: I also took the time to straighten out a coil spring. It ended up being 7’ 9” of 3/4” stock. One of these days I’m going to make a couple bending forks. It work make this type of thing (and many others) much easier. Keep it fun, David
August 25, 2025Aug 25 DANG, that's a nice bending fork David. Well done! Unless you just bought the epoxy that leaked it did you a favor. Epoxy adhesives have a surprisingly short shelf life. Old epoxy works okay for most things but we drop knives and old epoxy tends to fail under shock loading. Frosty The Lucky.
August 25, 2025Aug 25 Nice work CrazyGoatLady, nails take practice. Sometines the head gets away from us too. Keeping the head even isn't easy. I've been doing some nails today as well, after making another header last Monday to replace the one that shattered. This one wasn't quenched at all. So far so good, though my nails have a tendency to stick inside the header. I'm thinking my punch had too gradual a taper.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.