As it's been a while since I've actually done anything, I inventoried my shop.

Going through my stock of mild steel, checking tools that have gone unused for over a year, and (still) trying to plan out some sort of structure to work in/under.

It's been a while since I've chimed in on this forum, so I hope everyone is well.

I did add one new item to my shop. I found this at an estate sale this past Spring and it followed me home.

IMG_0039(2).HEIC

Here's a .jpg file of the photo I just tried to post in my previous comment.

rich_c, I just came back after a couple of hiatus-es? Welcome back. I had to do the same thing. So currently, I'm forging under the stars lol. Although, our home insurance is being a pain (long story) and I'm going to have to move everything.

I wish one of those critters would follow me home. But my little pink blow dryer is getting the job done

Your driveway seems to have the same graffiti mine has sometimes. My granddaughters drew flowers all over my anvil once with chalk.  

Got a request for a dinner triangle. Been a long time since i made one and will provably do it over, not happy with the one side being so much longer. And yes i did forget to turn the hook. 

Then started the layout and framing of my storm door project. 

 

The chandelier is starting to take on a finished look. And a few small things.

On 9/1/2025 at 9:23 PM, Frosty said:

where's the pic of the tripod? 

Frosty, I have it done, so here’s the pictures:

It took me a while to get all the curves to match up right.

Now I have to decide if I’m going to make a grill for it or just a trammel hook.

Keep it fun,

David

That's easy enough to correct Billy, the corner on the too long arm is sharper than the other, just heat it and open it up on the horn, increasing the radius 1/2" will suck about 3/8" from somewhere, make it come from the long arm by gently hammering straight towards the corner on the end of the long arm. 

Remember one arm must be longer than the others or it won't ring. 

The well cover and capstan looks as good as I expect Alex. How does your dog get in almost every picture?

That is NOT what I expected David, I like it already. How much weight does it hold? I can think of a couple ways to make a grill that should collapse into a round bundle . . . Maybe. 

I love that your tripod folds up into the gnarliest back scratcher a boy could wish for!

Frosty The Lucky.

6 hours ago, Goods said:

here’s the pictures:

That’s quite lovely, and well-executed!

Made some modifications to the lever-handled bending jig:

Testing with a couple of S-hooks along the way:

Also made a test piece for a different project:

This was made with improvised tooling, which gives me an idea of what I’ll need to make for a proper version.

21 hours ago, Frosty said:

The well cover and capstan looks as good as I expect Alex. How does your dog get in almost every picture?

Hi Jer! My dogs are free. They go where they want. The workshop is constantly checked.

Today I finished the spatula and forged a ladle to finish out the set:

Keep it fun,

David

Nice set David, I like it. Looking at it just now I had a thought about the double dimple decorations. How about a deer track for deer season? A side view of a burger on a bun? Maybe a flap jack on the spatula, steak on the tongs and a caldron on the ladle?

Hmmmmm?

Frosty The Lucky.

On 9/4/2025 at 5:51 PM, CrazyGoatLady said:

rich_c, I just came back after a couple of hiatus-es? Welcome back. I had to do the same thing. So currently, I'm forging under the stars lol. Although, our home insurance is being a pain (long story) and I'm going to have to move everything.

I wish one of those critters would follow me home. But my little pink blow dryer is getting the job done

I got lucky finding that at an estate sale.  The deceased was an avid wood- and metalworker, and had a nice shop.  Many items were spoken for except the forge blower.  I checked it out and cranked it a couple of times.  The movement is nice and smooth and it pushes air easily.  I paid for it immediately and loaded it up in my little pickup truck. 

On 9/5/2025 at 2:51 AM, BillyBones said:

Your driveway seems to have the same graffiti mine has sometimes. My granddaughters drew flowers all over my anvil once with chalk.  

Hahaha!  My nephew (3) was over.  He was decorating the driveway with my youngest son (9).

As for everyone posting photos of their work, that is fantastic and a good source of motivation!  I've been going over my notes and videos from the ABANA NC Level 1 course I took a little while ago and I'm going to use that to start over and get back into swinging a hammer again.

Table, inspired by robert thomas design in his book.

Only waiting on thr rampa nuts to attach the tabletop to the frame.

When they are arrived and installed, i will take some better photos

Some better pictures. The client aka my wife is very happy with it.

 

Awesome gewoon!!  So well done and great pictures too. 

John, that test piece with the flat swirl is fascinating. I'm guessing each end of the bar is held in place (but not tightly) so that as you twirl the center, the ends can move in?

David, I've never seen a tripod like that and I love it. Also that's a really nice set of serving ware. And all one-piece items it looks like? As attractive as riveted handles can sometimes be, I just don't like 2-piece serving ware. 

Gewoon, I REALLY like that table!

Alexandr, I'm really enjoying seeing your in-progress pics

 

This past Friday & Saturday, I was out at at one of the Garden Show stops with the Free State Blacksmiths Club. I forged for about 7 hours each day. We had a light rain most of the day on Friday but lots of traffic regardless! I didn't take any pictures but the big thing I made was a 6ft shepherds hook with 2-prong stake that I made using the fold-over loop forge welded at the top, then split the loop to make the two prongs. It was quite difficult maneuvering that long bar! I grabbed a nearby chair and set that up behind me just to have something for the bar to rest on when I wasn't needing to hold it vertical! I don't recall what else I made that day but I remember working, lol. The club got commissioned to make a woodworker's holdfast soon after we had emptied our forges to cool down so I said I'd work on it in the morning and he said he'd stop back by the next day.
We had a beautiful sunny Saturday but oddly enough, not much traffic. I got the holdfast done first thing, tested and approved by a fellow member who also does woodworking. The guy never showed though, lol. Since I had already cut into the 1/2" round bar for the holdfast, I decided to do some button flowers & leaves to make a little sculpture that I could taper the end of for another garden stake to add to the table. It was a long day in the sun, and by the time I was ready for the welding, I think I was just done. The first few welds didn't take. A fellow member came over to help and it failed that time as well. I filed the pieces so they were down to bare metal and we tried one last time. When it still failed, I chucked them into the slack tub and said I'd try again at home - using electric weld if that's what it took, lol, and bring it to next weekend's event. It was a bit frustrating because I had done this exact style sculpture twice before without issue. But not in full sun and with someone else's setup. But oh well. It happens!

When I got home, I discovered that I had a pretty brutal sunburn on my right side. My neck was purple, ears and arms a dark red. I soaked in the tub for a few hours, drank a bunch of water, and went to be early.

Sunday, I started a new batch of charcoal so I was outside all day again, splitting logs in the sun for a few hours and in the shade a few more hours (I usually split for future batches while the current batch is cooking - so it's supervised but I'm still productive.) The handle broke at the head of my large maul so I did the remainder with the axe. A few more swings but a lighter tool so it probably evened out.

Last night, I came home from work and headed out to make some "simple stocking hangers". I was having a horrible mental health day and really should have just skipped forging all together but I was hopeful that forging would fix my brain. It didn't. Ugh. So I basically wasted coal because none of the hangers worked. I had watched some videos of other designs and the gist seemed to be that the top part that rests on the mantel needs to be such that the back bend of the hook is in line with the back end of the top. I guess I need to go watch those again because I obviously missed something as all 3 of the ones I tried, in various designs and various angled bends and loops, failed. 
I at least knew better than to attempt the forge welding, lol. I did get the angle grinder and cleaned them all up real good.

Today hasn't been much better in the brain department so I think tonight I'll just strip paint from my portable forge parts in preparation for painting.

34 minutes ago, Shainarue said:

John, that test piece with the flat swirl is fascinating. I'm guessing each end of the bar is held in place (but not tightly) so that as you twirl the center, the ends can move in?

Other way around. Using some flat stock and an improvised bending fork in the vise, I wound up a tight double spiral from the inside out, opened up the spacing between the arms of the spiral, and then twisted the non-spiral sections 90 degrees to lie flat.

Of course, it was only after I'd finished them that I remembered the round jaw pliers I picked up a couple of months ago, which would have made tweaking the curves a LOT easier. I may also make some miniature bending forks, as John Switzer did for his Yellin-inspired gate projects, and I've got an idea for a double-scroll bending jig, if this ends up becoming a production item.

Ah, that makes sense as well!

 

Thanks Shainure. I prefer the one piece forgings as well. The inspiration for the tripod came from watch YouTube videos of Viking festivals in Europe. Every tripod I saw in those videos were of that style. Several of them also had grills hanging from the that resemble Viking ships. I’ve placed an order for 1/4” round to give it a try.

Gewoon, that table is fantastic and goes very well with the decor!

Keep it fun,

David

I love the table Gewoon! I'm not sure what it brings to mind, graceful and beautiful but also somehow menacing almost insectile. My voices are whispering The Walkers from "Invaders From Mars". That isn't it though. Maybe what I like best is how much it's making me think about it.

Most or all of us who Make thing have had those days Shaina. I think the lesson in this one is when to walk away and do something else for a while. To paraphrase an old adage, "The better is the enemy of the good."  Another hazard of trying to make something work too many times is, you are practicing mistakes that lead to a failure. Do NOT practice failure.

Make sense? Go back next weekend or the weekend after and Just Make them, do NOT try to do them right, just do. 

Free standing hooks like mantel hooks MUST have the suspended weight farther from the edge of the mantel than the center of support. 

Call the part of the hanger on the top of the mantel the "Pad" and the part the stocking hangs from the "Hook". You can put the pad right on the edge of the mantel provided the hook is enough closer to the wall the stocking is closer to the wall than the Pad. Stand at the end of the mantel and you can see it easily. That is why making the pad arm reach way back is much harder to get to work. Unless the pad and hook arms form a spring clamp between them but that's a different critter.

Anyway, draw a C and extend the bottom at least 1/2 again as far as the top and it'll work. Make sense?

Frosty The Lucky.

Frosty, channeling your inner Yoda? "Try not. Do or do not. There is no try." 

This past spring i was at a hammer in making a Celtic cross. The forge i was using was being controlled by someone else, so i did not have consistent airflow.  The fire i do not know if it had been cleaned all day so it was dirty. I had everything going against me when i went to weld the ring. I even said to someone i will be amazed if i pull it off, especially with people watching. When i set the weld i did it by sticking my tongs in the fire and squeezing the piece. Pull it up a bit to cool slightly then back to temp and refined the weld. 

My mom brought me a spoon she had that broke. It was a green plastic handle, maybe bakelite but i am not sure, chrome with a 2 piece design. One of the rivets had broken free and she wanted to know if i could fix it. Not that it was special or anything particularly but she has had it for well over 50 years. And now my daughter may inherit it.

1/4” square hooks, not shown - joinery practice fails…

 

Pedro - you show us the pretty and leave out the failures? We are going to start to imagine you as sometype of god....