What did you do in the shop today?

[BillyBones]

Jennifer, even with a bad paw your work is extraordinary. 

Blue, just a guess on my part. What about hand soap? The guys i work with like to use Dawn dish soap, that dries me out like you would not believe. last summer my wife got poison ivy pretty bad and was told by her doctor to use Dawn to wash with becuase it would dry out the oils in the skin. 

Frosty, i got some of that Silverdine stuff for my skin and it seemed like it made it worse. May just be me though, my mom has an allergy to metals. The only jewelry can where has to be gold. Any other metal causes her skin to break out. I have never really noticed it on me, but it may be different in a "cream",  suspension or whateverer you call that stuff. 

Larry, i heard long ago super glue was made for medics in Vietnam. I am pretty sure that is not true though, but regardless i have used superglue for cuts and the like for as long as i can remember. There is always a tube in my tool box. 

 

[jlpservicesinc]

Thanks..

On the subject of creams..  I like the Goldbond medicated..  I get alligator skin and funky breakouts this time of year. 

I've tried all sorts of over the counter and even some prescription stuff..  Nothing would touch it.. 

On a whim I tried goldbond extra strength and a week later it was cleared up.. 

[Frosty]

Gold Bond makes good products across the board, I like their medicated powder. 

Super Glue was invented during WWII but it wasn't until Viet Nam that it was used to close wounds and stop bleeding, then as a suture. If I read it right, soldiers started using it to stop bleeding and a chemist name of Cooper changed it around so it wasn't a toxic irritant for use by medics. It started saving lives immediately and medics started calling it Super, glue. That last is the part I'm not clear about.

Anyway, great stuff and yes I've glued cuts when I couldn't let them heal. It's great for keeping junk out of cuts and your body pushes it out of the wound as it heals. I love the stuff, I keep a fresh squeezy in my tool bag.

My older Sister is allergic to metals including gold. All her jewelry is polished stone, glass, etc. Dad made her wedding ring from apple green jade and a fire opal. She has to be careful what kind of gemstone she wears too.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Nobody Special]

My wife is allergic to metals too, nickel gets her, including high nickel steels, and any copper, so bronze, brass, even gold under 20k can break her out. She can hit a doorknob that has the protective coating worn off and she'll end up with hives. Copper pans for whipping egg whites is a huge no-no. I was fixing the neighbor's broken pipes today and she was watching me. Kept saying, "Can't touch that, can't touch that..."

She also gets bad cracks and dermatitis in the winter, treats with steroids and lotions, the dermatologist recommended staying away from hot water for one, and she was getting strong UV light treatments which helped a lot. Gold bond eczema creme and prescription halobatisol.

[White Fox Forge]

I worked on a key for a immigrant chest and lock I am making. The key is still really rough and needs some clean up on the intricate parts.

[jlpservicesinc]

Nice key..  Forge brazed? 

[White Fox Forge]

Yessir! Four parts. The ring, tube, collar and bit.

[bluerooster]

22 hours ago, jlpservicesinc said:

So I have to ask because of where you are at..   

Your trying to make a Tanto?  Wakasashi?  with traditional HC outer skin with inner softer metal? 

Don't take this the wrong way..  Your kinda going about it the hardway..  Or the ultimate skill way..  

I often lose heart when I see someone trying something in which the chances of success are very low..  

The best way is to forge a Sunobe and forge from there..  Put in all the correct markers and lines and then go from there. 

I'm a huge fan of "Success breeding success" and within a few blades, you would be right where it would be much easier. 



Anyhow, keep after it.  

Wakizashi.  But it came up about an inch short. Yes, Next trip out I plan to forge the LC core to shape then add the HC shell. Also, keep the LC a bit farther from the cutting edge.  And to forge the bevel a bit more, and forge a better finish, (fewer hammer marks).  It's definitely been a learning experience. Welding dissimilar alloys together, Drawing, and shaping, while at the same time keeping the outer layer same thickness on both sides, keeping "pecker tracks" (hammer marks) to a minimum, keeping scale off the anvil, so the piece stays smooth, Working at welding heat of one metal, while not allowing the other metal to crack do to too much heat, etc.  Getting the core to welding temp without burning the shell, just first one thing then six.

  I have the blade filed, and clayed now, and will be going for heat treat this coming weekend. I'll be building a JABOD,  with a trench long enough to uniformly heat the blade, using charcoal.  Heating 3 or 4 inches at a time, and keeping it hot, in the coal forge would run me up the wall.  Also need to build a quench tank to dunk it in after it gets hot.

  I still have the faulty unfinished blade, that I may use for a smaller blade of some sort.  I cut it into 3 pieces, to see how the weld took on the shell to core.  It looked good except where that one piece broke off.  There's enough of it left, that I could forge it into mabe a filet knife.

[bluerooster]

White Fox, that's a nice key, can't wait to see the lock.

[JHCC]

A little repoussé-on-the-road (specially, during downtime watching the yarn store for Lisa, who was under the weather):

 And a bit of cleanup on the new punch:

(This was just wirebrushing the working parts and oiling the whole thing, but I may do some additional cleanup on the handles later.)

[Arthur210]

Last Saturday, two more penannular fibulas (also known as Viking or celtic brooches). Made from 5/16" square bars.

[JHCC]

Traveling for business, so doing a little “repoussé on the road”.  

Silly Putty makes a surprisingly good backing material. 

[Goods]

Arthur, I like those broaches. I’m going to have to make some at some point and you’re setting a good bar.

John, you just keep getting better with that repousse. I like seeing your work!
 

Tonight, I finished up a pair of tongs I started at IBA state hammer-in Saturday. I decided the reigns needed drawn out a bit more, so I ground the rivet off and cleaned them up a little more to my liking:

Sized for 1/4” square. (I didn’t have any small stock tongs for my 12yr old to used while forging in the shop with me. I had to make that a priority!)

Keep it fun,

David

[Daswulf]

Nice work all. 

Arthur, ive made a whole one pennanular in my time. It was a real experience dealing with the inexperienced buyer on how to use it that Ive passed on making more. Tho, is it good to have the pins bent to lock on the ring better? 

John, nice scroll pattern. Funny, I knew I had a punch like those but just checked and i have the same ones with no dies. Picked it up at an auction. 

Goods, the tongs look nice and solid. They no doubt will be well used and enjoyed. 

[George N. M.]

Das, when Madelynn and I got married it was a Scottish themed wedding because we both have Scots ancestry (her more than me).  I made her a special penannular to wear at the wedding but she was almost late coming down the aisle because neither she nor the Matron of Honor could recall how to work it.  When I sell or give them I always explain and demonstrate how they work and, if there is time, I make the purchaser fasten it in a piece of cloth to set the instructions in muscle memory.  I will also hand out an illustrated set of directions.  It's odd how something so simple isn't intuitively obvious.

You probably know this but I'll throw in a bit of my spiel for anyone who doesn't know why they are called "penannulars."  "A circle is an annulus.  A ring or or doughnut is an annulus.  "Pen-" means "almost".  A peninsula is almost an island and penultimate is almost last.  So, a penannular is almost a circle."

They are also known as omega brooches because of their resemblance to the Greek letter omega.

G

[Daswulf]

Thanks George.  Some good info there. Some I never thought about that makes sense. I ended up sending her a visual instruction on how it is used and that ended that. They are available online. Not a bad idea to have them printed out ready if selling them. 

Never put the thought into the name but it fits. 

The greek fibula tho... still not sure on that one. Kind of. Not trying to have a toga party at the moment. 

The pennanular was honestly a random thing at my table at the time and the lady picked it out and seemed to know what it was so I didn't give it a second thought till I got messages about it. Some things can just be too much to want to deal with when other things are simple and easy. 

[Chad J.]

Took a long weekend and attended the UMBA winter conference.  It was a good time but most interesting thing is the club president has been trying out making crucible steel using an induction forge.   Trying to replicate wootz with more modern technique and analysis.  He have me a piece with 2% carbon to work on.   It is the single hardest piece of steel I've worked.   I welded on a work stick but the first few heats it barely moved.  I've got it to a rough shape of where I want it now but I've had issues with cracking and hand to take it over to the grinder and clean it up. I'm working it carefully not going too hot but it is stubborn.   On the other hand I completed a nice little skinner and got my best grind on it yet.  I slowed down and took my time v hammering in the bevels then going back and cleaning them up with a file.  Seriously reduced my grinder time.  Also made a couple more hangers I'll have to post pictures of when I'll done cleaning them up. 

 

[BillyBones]

I have made more of those brooches than you can shake a stick at. I know 2 different vendors for the Ren fest. I have never been but i guess they sell pretty well.

Iron was a popular choice for penannular brooches in Ireland and Scotland because folk tales say that carrying a piece of iron with you would keep away fairies and other mischievous critters. Or so i have heard. 

Got some "1/2"" round bar today. Not much just a couple feet. It is 1030 seamless tube. 4, ~3' sections. Have no idea what to do with it but i also did not want to through away. The bars are 1/2" outside diameter, with ~.100" hole through them. Any suggestions? 

[Frosty]

It'd be a nice size tubing for an experiment I've been wanting to try for some time.

Shine up the inside of a couple three inches so its "ready to weld" clean and flux the inside. Prep a piece of high carbon rod a couple thousandths too large to fit through the hole. Heat the rod to orange maybe a little hotter and flux it. Heat the fluxed tubing to welding heat and slip them together. I think they'll weld maybe with a couple tries but it's an interference fit so if it's clean and fluxed they should become one without hammering, the tubing shrinking as it cools should apply more than enough pressure. I don't think you'd want too much temp difference, say high yellow over cold or the tubing would tend to stretch rather than really squeeze down.

Done in an inert atmosphere it'd be a sure thing and not need flux.

Anyway, there's one idea.

Frosty The Lucky.

[BillyBones]

Frosty, when i first read that i though it was a bit wacky. Now i think i can be just a small piece. And working in a machine shop i can almost guarantee i can get a drill and use the shank as the rod. 

I assume that you would heat the rod to a welding temp as well? Or insert the rod cold and then heat the whole thing to a welding temp?

I was looking at the print today. The material can be anything from a 1018 to a 1030, but the supplier we get it from paints the 1030 red on the ends. I can dig a bit more into my paper work but today i was having problems holding the length on the parts we are making out of it. I have a +/- .0021" but every 500 parts or so would go up or down a couple thousandths. Finally figured out one of my tool holders was bad. So i did not have time. 

[lary]

Got the reigns shaped half round and realized the boss area wasn't quite the same. The only tongs I had that would hold well were the 1/2" style I got from Fazier. 

Some things I've been doing for the past week. Made a 2 1/2 Lbs cross pein, chisels and a punch. Straitened out several pieces of door spring for future whatever projects. 

[Frosty]

I'd only heat the center rod enough to melt the flux and form a prophylactic barrier against oxy. The tubing needs flux as soon as it'll melt, maybe use roachproof, it melts at a much lower temp that borax based fluxes. Dang I'm blanking on what roachproof is but it makes a good prophylactic barrier.

Diffusion welding is about getting the atoms close enough together they start exchanging electrons. The usual way in a smithy is to brush the oxides off stick the pieces together and heat it till the atoms are in a very excited state HOT so electrons or whole atoms start exchanging between the two pieces. Yes?

Wellll, another way to get the atoms close enough together is with polished surfaces or pressure. Dad kept all his jo blocks (gage blocks) in separate boxes wrapped in oil paper and went ballistic if someone stacked or just laid them down touching they'd weld together in a very short time, seconds.

So polishing up the ID of the tubing and OD of a rod that's a few thou. to large to fit and sweat fitting them WILL weld them. Provided they do not oxidize in the process so the flux.

It should work though I've never had very good luck forge welding HS steel. I got several coffee cans of dull and broken drill bits from the heavy and light duty shop back before I retired. They bought drill bits in bulk so it was cheaper to replace bits than the time to sharpen them. Sharpening drill, lathe, etc. bits is one of the first things Dad taught me to do so I have probably 25+lbs. of old drill bits. I hung coffee cans by the drill presses with dead drill bits written on the sides. I haven't bought a drill bit in 30 years. (;

So I tries canister welding a handful of the really wasted bits, one attempt was with mild steel powder another with stellite powder and I couldn't let them soak long enough to get welds. The powder welded but not to the bits and yes I shined them up first and they went into the canister oiled.

That's just me and I stopped trying pretty quickly so my experience is no indication. Not a good one anyway.

- - - - - -- - - - - 

Looks like you had a productive day Lary, Good on ya!

Frosty The Lucky.

[swedefiddle]

Good Morning, Lary

There are some very knowledgeable members of the North West Blacksmith Association, who live near you. Contact www.blacksmith.org and ask who else lives in the Gorge. I know of at least one who has his own Blacksmith School.

You are missing a couple of basic steps.

Neil

[Chad J.]

Been trying my hand at hangers.   The one I ground down to 1500 grit on the body.   I'm going to use a spray on clear coat as I'm not sure if bee wax or BOL could cause staining long term. 

[George N. M.]

Because BLO dries hard I would think that there is little chance of staining clothing once it is completely dry.  Bees wax might be more problematic.  A hard automotive wax might work too.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."