February 6Feb 6 On 2/1/2026 at 10:14 PM, alexandr said: I traveled over 300 km to the other end of the region to get the dimensions of the stair railing. I previously built a chandelier and gallery railing in this house. I took some photos. looks cool
February 6Feb 6 Hello Ericx and welcome! Please read the "Read Me First" topic at the top of the page, especially the parts about quoting. Quote only enough so that someone following the thread can understand which post you are referencing. This is a worldwide forum and not everyone has access to fast internet and pictures take a long time (and often money) to load. We LOVE pictures but like to discourage duplicate posting of them. Alexandr is from Russia, does wonderful work and we are fortunate that he shares with us. Please also edit your header to include your general location so we know where in the world you're from. Often the answers to questions depend upon were you are and you may find out that some who lives just down the street is also a smith. Brian
February 6Feb 6 Beslagsmed, that's 3 of us now trying out that folder! I messed mine up and drilled the pivot holes on the wrong end. I obviously wasn't thinking. So last night I worked on filling the holes and today I will drill on the correct end. I'm also noticing that my spring might be too short. I really don't want to try lengthening as I've used epoxy and aluminum to fill the holes and any substantial heat would ruin that work. Club meeting is tomorrow so I'll have a pic soon. Alex, your work is always inspiring. A collapsible chandelier? So will the recipient require instructions for assembling? I made a collapsible bag rack last year and getting everything to line up just right and still be solid with mechanical connections was quite tricky.
February 7Feb 7 I made a split cross from a rr spike. Cutting it took longer than I expected and the cuts show on the center legs (I'll have to grind them out when I clean it up).
February 7Feb 7 While the wife went off to her "gluten-free Bridgerton-themed tea party" with her girlfriends, I spent the day in a Kaizen mindset in the shop. I wish I had taken before pictures, but just imagine that one corner or one wall that is a cluttered disaster area. We've all had one. You can see the footprint of the disaster area where it hasn't been swept in years. I use my old cargo trailer as a storage area for wood, but today I added a storage shelf for all the metal that was cluttering up this side of my shop. It's something I've been wanting to do for years. Finally made it happen!
February 8Feb 8 You cleaned up the talus slope. Made a couple trinkets for a friend. 2 pendants, one a Celtic dragon the other just a spiral. a troll cross, and a bottle opener. I messed up the finish on the opener so i have to burn it off and redo. Also a couple hat hooks for the house, my hat/coat rack is getting crowded. Still need a finish put on. My toes were getting cold so i called it a day.
February 8Feb 8 Woke up at 5 am to finish this folding knife and drive almost 3 hours to the BAM meeting. I'm not an early bird. Anyway... Straight blade folding knife. Learned a lot on this one and will definitely be making a better one in the next few months. I filled the incorrectly drilled holes with aluminum and epoxy. I didn't have any brass or copper. In hindsight, I should have just used mild steel and tried for a friction fit. Oh well. I very carefully used a torch to bend the spring away and draw it out further so it would sit in the notch of the blade. I couldn't for the life of me get it straightened out again. Couldn't apply heat once it was laying in place because it would start burning the epoxy. And I didn't have time to redo the epoxy. Then after setting the pin, it was so tight that I couldn't get the folder to move even when I clamped the blade in the vice and hammered the folder! So I carefully used a torch again to heat as close to only the pin as possible, while using a squeeze bottle to squirt water over the blade so it didn't lose the heat treat. Finally got it to swivel nearly closed. Unfortunately, I melted a bit off the tip of the spring. I called it "good enough" to avoid risking any further damage. All of my struggles with this could be traced back to the initial incorrect placement of the pin holes. So I'm confident the next one will go much better!
February 8Feb 8 It looks like a cartoon black panther crouching low and stalking something. Very cool! Billy, nice looking stuff!
February 8Feb 8 After having my folder end up too tight to open by hand, I had to grind the rivet off and try again. I ended up copying the technique from the video and made some little some copper washers to put in. I also tweaked the gap between the "scales" and ground a tiny bit off the corner of the blade where it first engages the spring when opening. Second time was the charm. I've also included some pictures of my belt buckle because the blade was made from the leftovers of that billet. My son had the brilliant idea for my Insta post, the audio: ZZ Top - Sharp Dressed Man! Cheers, Jono.
February 9Feb 9 On 2/6/2026 at 7:31 PM, Shainarue said: Alex, your work is always inspiring. A collapsible chandelier? Thank you! The disassembled chandelier takes up 2.5 times less space. Shipping costs are correspondingly reduced.
February 9Feb 9 I spent almost 8 hours on Sunday cleaning out, rearranging, and some organizing of the shipping container I use. Currently the containers of charcoal, table forge, anvil and post vise are all outside uncovered - just far enough outside the shipping container that the doors can open. The gas forge, all tools, steel, and barrels of coal are inside the shipping container. I just open the doors to start forging. Also inside is the huge lever action No. 0 Buffalo Forge which I'd like to actually use someday but needs to stay out of the elements or risk losing all the careful restoration I did! My intention was to eventually be able to rearrange so that I could forge INSIDE the container after adding ventilation. But before I go cutting holes into the container, I wanted to make sure the layout worked. A much needed push arrived in the form of needing to make space to store 13 bags of coal for the Kansas club for a week. I still need to make the hanging shelves which will help clear up even more space. I don't have a lot of lightweight stuff though so I'm not sure how much help that'll actually be. No one wants to be lifitng heavy stuff down from a shelf, lol It's a 20ft container with doors on both ends. Before/after of driveway end (will be mostly lawn care equipment). The big empty space is where the riding lawnmower will be but for now it's where the bags of coal are stacked. I moved the desk to that side with intention to use as a filing station or other seated cold work. TBD if it stays. Before/after of forging end. It still looks quite messy but all the stuff on the floor just needs sorted through and added to the shelves. I still need to work out the best arrangement of everything on the shelves. I will eventually also have some hanging shelving as well as vertical planks on this side, so I can attach containers for holding the most frequently used tools. Hang the less frequently used tools higher up and out of the way. I need to fashion some sort of shield for the oxy/acetylene tanks. I don't like that they're so close to what would eventually be the forge. But I didn't see any better place for them where I didn't have to wheel them out just to use it.
February 10Feb 10 Spring and her cleaning urges arrive early, good for you Shaina!! I won't add anything about inspiration for this end... --Larry
February 11Feb 11 A few quick projects this evening, a farrier nail flower, some more nails with a couple being single heart, trying to make tongs from 4 inches of 1/4 inch round, and I was challenged to make a fredrich's cross dagger. Also making progress on my anvil stand for the 350 pound Peter Wright.
February 11Feb 11 Haha, the nails are bigger than the tongs! I love making little things. I actually had in my list of projects for summer to make tongs from 3/8" material as practice until I feel like I have the technique down. I'd rather practice on stuff with metal that's faster & easier to move. Why were you making the tiny tongs?
February 12Feb 12 Can we get a good broadside view of the PW, Chad? Today I got home and decided to work on a bunch of miscellaneous projects to finish all of them. All but the stake anvil are heat treated. The stake anvil is made of a rr connector bolt. I tried water, oil, and air hardening, but cannot find out how to harden it! If y’all have any experience, I would love to hear! The punch and hot cut were oil hardened, and the rr spike bowl adze in water. And yes, I know the hardy is twisted, it was my mistake, but the angle actually works better for me!
February 12Feb 12 Trade item for the UMBA winter conference Shaina. I'm going to do a couple more attempts before I select the best and finish them.
February 14Feb 14 Here you go Asa, a side view of the PW. The swords for my daughter are done. I'm extremely thrilled with them, and I love the contrast of the rough, organic look of the guards with the clean lines of the blades. 15.5 inches from guard tip, center of balance right at the guard, and they with innings at 32 and 35 ounces.
February 15Feb 15 Looks like it has made many wonderful things in its lifetime, Chad! Where did you find it? I finished a mini stake anvil for my brother’s silver smithing.
February 15Feb 15 I didn't fire up the forge this morning because today we were going to spread my mom's ashes. I'm sitting around waiting for time to leave when I rechecked the text from my sister. Good thing. It's next Saturday, not today. Too late in the day to get into tong-making. So I piddled in my workshop. Not only did I clear off my workbench, but I sanded, cleaned, and applied a coat of BLO to the MDF surface and a coat of Trewax to the table saw. But, the entropy thing will kick in the moment I open the door tomorrow morning. While spraying a 60" long mantle hood earlier this week with my Fuji system, I decided to go ahead and do this upgrade I've been contemplating for a couple of years. I added coasters to my anti-tip thingy and bungies so I can pick it up and move it around one-handed. No more kicking it around my shop either.
February 15Feb 15 Yesterday and today I cut and welded up the pieces for a 2 way guillotine tool. Fullering, flat, butchering and tenon dies: The butchering dies are very efficient! I butchered in a little too deep for the tenon dies I've made using the existing hole in the leaf spring. A second heat really rounded it up nicely. I'll just need to get a feel for how much to butcher in. The fullering dies work well, but on the first heat I didn't get each blow to line up as I rotated the bar. I got better on the second heat. All in all, a great success! I've yet to try with the tool mounted 90 degrees for lengthways fullering. I'm keen to try this on some knives I plan to forge soon. I also want to make a set of ball/collar swage dies for it too, but if I do any more grinding today, I think my neighbour might jump over the fence and strangle me! Cheers, Jono.
February 15Feb 15 12 hours ago, Asa Simons said: I finished a mini stake anvil for my brother’s silver smithing. Wondering if you're planning on grinding polishing the little anvil...a silversmith would want a high polish lest the work be spoiled. Congrats on a great success Jono! If your neighbor got a bit ticked, maybe he needs a little key fob or perhaps a bottle opener? --Larry
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