May 14May 14 My son wants a helmet, so I’m cobbling one together from some salvaged aluminum flashing.
May 14May 14 Looking forward to the progress, John! Tonight I stripped the rust and paint from the vessel which will become a new 2 burner dual function forge. Then I painted it with heat resistant stove paint. Inside, I took nice pictures of the finished paperclips.
May 16May 16 Pretty neat John. Lucky is the son who has a dad that would make him such things. --Larry
May 16May 16 That's a great helmet John. I went to Sugar Grove for the ivba monthly hammer in. I made a ram's head. While I was there, another member gifted me a 3' piece of 1" square wrought iron. He said it's a highly refined piece with very small grain. I'm not sure what to make with it, but don't want to waste it on something trivial. Any suggestions?
May 17May 17 At the Viking event I had several requests for “replica” items. Today I finished up the first two items: A spiral cooking iron and a dish iron. These are not true replicas. There’s pan is 10-1/4” instead of 8” and spiral iron is 8” instead of 4-1/2”. On both the handles are of heavier stock. All by request. Of course, I didn’t use my limited wrought iron supply either. If they requested that I would have, but the cost would have been significantly higher. I also had an order for tent stakes. (Where we were setup there was at least 10” of mulch and most had issues with their stakes holding) These 3/8” square 18” stake will hold much better. I also started these last week: Cheaper ones make from RR spikes. I got maybe 20 of these started. They ended up 3/8” square and ~16” long. Some are already finished and gone… Keep it fun, David
May 17May 17 John, that's awesome. Your son is fortunate to have a father who can make that for him! David, nice work. I haven't seen the spiral iron before but I'm guessing it's for heating things like a slice of bread? We had our Free State Blacksmiths Club meeting today and part 2 of the gas forge building workshop. He covered insulation, refractory options, and burner placement then set us loose to get to work. I didn't know I needed to bring a sleeve for the burner to attach to the forge so I had to finish mine at home. I didn't have any flux core wire so I had to use the stick welder, which I'm obviously still pretty bad at, lol. I guess I could have practiced some patience and waited to weld those on until I replaced the flux core but ... well, I'm not patient Hoping to get the rest of the accessories (plug handles, latches, side supports for the top portion, rail for the bricks when ends are open, and the extendable work rest) finished tomorrow. Then add the insulation and apply the 1st coat of Greenpatch 421.
May 17May 17 Thanks, everyone! So, did some bowl forging. Started out using the bowl forge: Until the dragons breath somehow got directed the wrong way and melted the propane hose: But the oxypropane torch worked just fine: As did the new bowl tongs:
May 17May 17 Shainarue, the pan is for liquidy foods like eggs or biscuit mix. The spiral iron, would be used like a grill surface. Smaller pieces of meet and vegetables. The same person ordered a meat fork also. That is a large two pronged socketed fork with a 36” wood handle for large pieces of meet in place of a split. John, the bowl work you do is fantastic! Keep it fun, David
Monday at 04:36 PM4 days Finally got around to finishing this little guy for my grandson. My bladesmithing skills are marginally better than my leather working skills but it should do him well on the farm. Coil spring with cherry for the handle.
Tuesday at 02:40 PM4 days Last night I finished assembling the counter twisted candle stick. Took a piece of flat, used a top tool and swage block to raise a cross pattern, punched and drifted a hole, made a tennon, and then welded it up to look nice. Also made a dozen or so nails, worked on my counter twists, and stayed making small items for craft fairs, with my first starting Thursday of next week.
Wednesday at 04:24 PM2 days Last night I got the meat fork done. Here’s some process pictures: Tines forged and filed. (Sorry, didn’t think to take in progress pictures until this part was done.) Socket forged and fluxed. Forge welding tines to socket. Forged welding completed and almost cut free of the pipe the socket was forged from. Finished order. Keep it fun, David
Thursday at 03:10 PM2 days I've been in a fairly low funk lately and haven't even wanted to forge since Friday. Last night I decided to whip out something simple that would help clean up the spray bottles we currently have grouped in a corner of the kitchen. I've been wanting to try that reverse twist pattern in flat bar and this was the perfect project for a fun twist. Well, a few critiques of my own work: 1. It's not even. I don't know how that happened. I measured, I marked, I VERIFIED (but obviously missed it, lol). One end has a shorter leg than the other, creating a slanted opening. 2. I think it would look better with the twists closer together. Or maybe even twisted 3/4 rather than 1/2. I'll play with that. 3. I measured the required length but it didn't occur to me to measure the depth required for dropping the spray bottle handles in there! So, it doesn't really work for its intended purpose. I'm going to mount it in the basement bathroom to replace the cheap plastic towel rod that's currently in there.
Thursday at 04:17 PM1 day Good Morning, The Creator is the hardest Critic, Don't beat yourself up!! What you see as a negative, NOBODY else will. It is all about Light, Dark, Shadows. I think it looks Wonderful!! Have a Great Day, Neil
Thursday at 04:23 PM1 day I like the twists you put in. It doesn't hurt to experiment to see if there's something you like better, but these look great.
Yesterday at 05:47 AM1 day I feel the pqin of the uneven legs. My towelrack also had a couple of misfits
22 hours ago22 hr Measure three times, make a mark, measure again, make a story mark, measure again, make the bend and how did it do that?
21 hours ago21 hr You forgot: “Get it hot? Where’s the mark? Let it cool. Find the mark. Mark deeper.” Keep it fun, David
17 hours ago17 hr I covered up the pool ventilation pipe, added another small oak cabinet, and, as usual, a lot of gardening supplies.
15 hours ago15 hr This is more in like with what I was wanting. Not that anyone will ever see it, lol
14 hours ago14 hr Good Morning Shain, First the prototype, to see how it looks. Second, make it Happy!! Looks Dandy. No sunlight for bending Light!! Neil
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