The gardening season is long over. All that's left is to close the rhododendrons. I made an urgent order last week. I made it before the frosts. Winter started again on Sunday))

Alex those are nice looking cages for the rhododendrons. We're not quite as far north as you so do not cover the rhododendrons, I am guessing that you put plastic sheet over the cages?

--Larry

My friend wanted to hang some Christmas paper star lanterns above her tree but her boyfriend doesn't like things screwed into the ceiling. The tree is in front of a window that has a macramé panel she made. We thought maybe it could hang there.

We looked online but couldn't find any kind of hanger that hangs a bracket out for you to hang other stuff from.

I decided I'd make one as a surprise. I'm still waiting for her to go look at it, lol

If she likes it, I'll make another (with a longer bracing leg because I guessed wrong on how far the rod extends from the wall). If not, it was still a good night of forging. It was just one of those nights where there was no struggling and things were just going well. I'm pretty satisfied with that snub nose scroll and the riveted tenon turned out nice. The one other change I'd make is to punch a square hole for the tenon instead of round. I know that already but I often forget, lol

If I were to make these to sell - and not custom measured - then I'd make the bracing leg as a square tube that slips over and can be adjusted using a set screw. I think the hook could stay as is. I don't think a too-large hook on smaller rods would be an issue and I don't think most people would have anything larger than a closet rod. 

 

Shainaru, cool idea. I think i would get some felt or maybe a piece of leather to attach to the foot against the wall. 

Tell your friend i love that macramé curtain thing. That had to have taken a long time to make. 

Another nice gift hat would be pretty quick and easy would be some hangers for the rod the curtain thingy is hanging from.  In general i do not like chrome. That is the first thing i see and my eyes are drawn to it. That is not to say that there are not times that chrome does look good. 

5 hours ago, LarryFahnoe said:

Alex those are nice looking cages for the rhododendrons. We're not quite as far north as you so do not cover the rhododendrons, I am guessing that you put plastic sheet over the cages?

--Larry

Larry, this is what it will look like. Protection from snow and spring sun. 

Billy, I let her know you appreciated her work on the macramé! She was really into the craft a few years back and has a few wall hangings from her journey. This was actually only the 2nd thing she had ever made. She did it in one weekend but literally worked the entire weekend on it. She cut the strings on Friday, then tied all day Saturday & Sunday, then attached to the rod on a weekday evening. She's guessing around 18 hours or so and says it would definitely be faster now that she's had more practice and wouldn't be backing out knots constantly, lol! However, she's moved on to quilting since then. This is the same friend who is the reason I'm into blacksmithing! There was a class to make a "viking's fork" (aka long skewer with twists, lol) that looked fun and she wanted someone to go with her. She moved on to other things. I got stuck here, lol
That's a great suggestion for the rod hangers. I agree, the cheap chrome ones look tacky. I assume it's just what they had around as she's fairly frugal with her spending (outside of materials for whatever her new hobby is, of course!)

Alexandr, the lights on those rhododendron cages bring them to a whole new level! There's no dull winter landscaping in that!

When i got out of the Army i went on tour. I learned to macramé sitting in a Grateful Dead parking lot holding the string with my toes to make necklaces to get money to make the next show. That was the last 2 years the Dead toured. Then it was the festivals with Allman Bros., Wide Spread Panic, Gov't Mule, The Dead, etc. My daughter was right along side me the whole time. I remember holding her in my lap giving her at bottle at Further fest in 96.  Anyway i digress, macramé necklaces, small bags, wall hangings and stuff paid my way for a lot of it.  

My mom is a quilter. She travels all over the place to quilt retreats. 72 years old and she will jump in the car loaded up with her sewing machines and stuff, drive to Alabama to sit around with a bunch of other women to make quilts. 

Bound to cover just a little more ground... 

--Larry

If the thunder dont get you the lightning will. 

I don't have anything pretty to post, but this weekend I made tenonning dies for my guillotine tool (a Mark Aspery style "Smoosh-o-matic" )  and today I tried them out, first using one to make a 5/16" drift and then a 5/16" tenon and a drifted hole to receive it.   I had tried making tenons by hand without that tool and found it very difficult to get right (my tenons never came out cylindrical, but rather like truncated cones).

 

With the dies, making the tenon was a piece of cake, which should advance my attempt to learn joinery.  My wife has ideas for some tile tabletops, and I have fantasies of crafting the bases for those tables.

 

Tommy, that’s great! I really need to break down and make a guillotine tool! My attempts at tenons have been pretty mediocre.

Come on Alexandr, you keep getting me in trouble with my wife . She always ask me when I’m going to make her the same things!

Today, I finished my eye punch, made a bolster, a couple of small strikers (for my son’s scout troop) and played around with making a flower:

Any suggestions for getting the scale and flux out from down inside the flower? 
The flower was just to test out my repaired draw dies and they seem to be sturdy, for now at least.

I think I have everything made of the hammer-in this Saturday. Now it’s time for some major cleanup!

 

Keep it fun,

David

Wife wanted a big red Christmas bow decoration for the front porch. I spent a LOT of time on this one. Mostly because I was using scrap steel but also because the fastening of everything didn't go as planned so I had to rethink some things. Turned out nice though!

Not pretty, but I used my new tenon dies yesterday to make a tenon and a quick-and-dirty (not very durable, and way-too-long) drift to go with it, and today made my first ever mortise-and-tenon joint.  I can see I need to do a lot more practice pieces to get where I want to be, but I'm on the way.

Pictured, the smoosh-o-matic with tenon die, the butcher dies I used to start the tenon, the drift, and my finished joint.

Tomorrow I have to go to the other end of the region again.

Alexanderr you also do the woodwork on your pieces?

29 minutes ago, gewoon ik said:

Alexanderr you also do the woodwork on your pieces?

Yes, I have my own carpentry shop.

Nice. Wood and steel. Busy times

Tommy, i think that drift needs to be a bit longer. 

I use square dies in my guillotine. I find it more universal to make either square or round tenons. 

Looks like a nice crisp shoulder too. I usually have to use a monkey tool and sometimes a file to get them good and tight. 

Alexandr, very nice benches. I assume they will be for out doors. What kind of finish do you use on them? 

Yeah, that drift was definitely overkill.  Started from a random bit of stock and just went with it.

I have square dies for my guillotine, just found it very difficult to make good cylindrical tenons with them.

I used a monkey tool to upset and square up the shoulder.

I tried out making an S-hook from horseshoes. These are intended to donated to the club for selling when they demonstrate at events.

I also tried an idea for candy canes. I used some precut pieces I had for making chain link. If I did this again, I would use a long bar and then cut to length after the twisting. I usually see these made with square bar but I was trying for a bit more realism. So I started with round and cut 3 lines into it then twisted. I like how they turned out and they would be even better if I use a longer bar so I can square the twisting end, lol

On 12/11/2024 at 11:54 PM, Shainarue said:

Turned out nice though!

Indeed it did, should be the center of attraction IMHO. Ya done good, especially for a first attempt.

Thank you!

11 hours ago, BillyBones said:

very nice benches. I assume they will be for out doors. What kind of finish do you use on them? 

Спасибо! Street benches. Boards covered with wood oil.

Alexandr, I am not sure what you mean by wood oil, is that linseed oil or something similar? 

Speaking of wood working, i severally underestimated how much wood i would nee for my cabinet/shelf thingy and had to go get more. 45 BF more. Unfortunately when  last time it was black Friday and they had a sale on. So instead of getting cherry at $3.50  BF i had to pay $4.00 BF. 

Got some pieces done though. Here is the bottom, not sanded as smooth and just 1 coat of linseed but i like it. I use my blacksmithing skills to cover up my lack of wood working skills by adding the ties and making it look like it is supposed be "rustic" 

This is going to be one of the doors, just thought it a gorgeous piece of wood.

And few pieces off the ends. I like this rough milled lumber. I am sure i can think of something to make out of them.

On 12/11/2024 at 10:23 PM, Goods said:

Any suggestions for getting the scale and flux out from down inside the flower? 

Elizabeth Brim uses a soak in muriatic acid on her forge-welded “flowers with claws”.