8 hours ago, JHCC said:

Finished my first pair of Ken’s Custom Iron bolt tongs.

Looks good! Those are fun to do. I've got a couple sets I need to start. I went crazy and bought basically every one he offered when I first started doing blacksmithing a few years ago. 

I moved the painted frame out into my new smithy just in time for the bitter cold that is coming. Don't laugh, but lows in the high teens/low 20s are no joke here in NW Florida.  There is supposed to be snow and freezing rain on Tuesday, which is a rarity to say the least.  Wife's a teacher so she'll for sure get the day off.  Hwy 98--a straight as an arrow 4-lane road-- has daily crashes even on dry, sunny days. A light dusting of snow will make it look like I-80 in Wyoming. JK.

I previously "dry-fit" everything to make sure it all fits correctly.  I'll start assembling it today.  It's still in the 60s today.

I still haven't quite decided on my setup yet.

The fire pot in my forge is an old brake rotor. A while back i was working and noticed sparks coming from under neath. Upon investigation i found a hole about the size of a quarter. So i grabbed some muffler putty, which seems to no longer be made, and filled it in. A while later the grew a bit more and a bit more. Yesterday i was inspecting and the hole has grown till it is about 1/2" wide and goes about halfway around. I had been filling in spots periodically. 

Anyway a while back i was looking around in the barn and found 2 of these thing. No clue as to what it is, i am guessing it was to hold on wheel weights or some kind of coupler for a drill rig. The guy that owned the house prior to me was a well digger and kept his rig and a backhoe in the barn. Cast iron and about 1/2" thick. A bit of modification and i think it will make a dandy fire pot. 

Gewoon,

That's a good project idea!

We can't do bird feeders around here because of all the black bears.  Gulf Breeze, Florida and the peninsula is practically overrun with them.

Maybe I can make my wife some plant hangers.  She has a succulent problem (addiction, I mean). 

Finished the table, the top of the outdoor fireplace is ready for painting.

How big around is that casting Billy? The center extends pretty far to make a good place for an air grate. I think I'd hold out for a disk rotor IF I used a fire pot in my coal forge.

Gorgeous table Alex, I really like how the pale stain on the wood doesn't cause too much contrast with the bright flower's color. 

What are you going to use to paint the outdoor fireplace cover? 

Frosty The Lucky.

Today, I forged out a hot cut for the IBA conference auction in June:

(Yes, I’m trying to get a head start this year!)

I also forged out a new 1-3/4” kiss block for my power hammer (somehow I lost my last one… ), and drew out more 1-3/4” for ball peen blanks. Here is the ball peen I forged at the hammer-in last week end:

I fixed the over shape I wasn’t happy with from the last round, but I just couldn’t get the eye punched straight. It’s kind of corrected, but not to my satisfaction. Hence the addition blanks…

I really like the bird feeder hanger. Very good aesthetics!

Keep it fun,

David

Those are good looking ball pein and hardy Dave, what did you make them from?

Frosty The Lucky.

On 1/18/2025 at 6:03 AM, MeltedSocks said:

Looks good! Those are fun to do. 

Melted,    I have the same plasma cutter in the background of your previous post. I only use it with 220 volts. It does a good job.

Frosty, both are made from damaged conveyor shafts. 2-1/2” diameter for the hardy. That size is good for forging into the 2” square for hardies. Then 2” diameter for the ball peen blanks. I wanted 1-3/4” diameter for the ball peen and 2” diameter is the closest size I have in the shop. 

Basically, I keep a close eye on the scrap bins at work. We have a lot of very large equipment and even with the best preventative maintenance system, things wear out. So long as I can get scrap tags for this type of stuff, I’ll be set for medium to high carbon stock for years…

Keep it fun,

David

On a side note, I had a very weird thing happen in the shop the other day. As I’ve mentioned before, I have a large swing-arm fuller that I use under the treadle hammer.  Note the handle in the left, which makes it easy to open to insert, reposition, or remove the workpiece.

Well, I was cleaning up a piece of wrought iron that I’d drawn out to 1/4” round, when the handle cracked almost all the way through, flopped a couple of times, and then came off entirely.

 Very strange!

Frosty, it is 7 1/4" ID. my current brake rotor is 7" so about the same size. I am planning on cutting out the piece in the middle so that it has a flat bottom. 

Going to be doing a little more traveling this spring and summer so i need some smaller more portable tools. Small hold fast and a chisel so far. 

Machinery shaft stock is usually good medium carbon steel and makes excellent hammers, hardies and such, Dave. I miss having a ready source for drops and other steel scrap for the gleaning. <sigh>

From the how grainy the break looks I'd say you made your swage from steel with enough carbon to work harden. The ID between handle and blade looks like it's radiused maybe there was a nick left from being made?

7" is a decent diameter for a fire pot Billy and yes putting together a traveling kit needs to bear weight and space in mind. 

Frosty The Lucky.

 

Fortunately almost all the places we will be going have anvils so i will not have to tote one of those around. And the guys i will be going with all have a couple of those doyle or acaio anvils if we need to bring bring them.  I just need basic tools. I have an old carpenters box that i am going to modify. Make taller sides and put a dowel across to double as a handle and a tong rack. I also made a "sheath" for my rasp that will attach to the side. Also knowing what our projects will be before hand helps with what tools to bring, doing wrap eye hawks i would not need say a set of ball punches for example. 

One of the guys has a really cool portable forge. It is ~3' x 3' and folds out to ~3'x6' burns coal has a place to attach a post vice and the plumbing all detaches with the small hand crank blower. I will get a pic some time. 

JHCC,  Could it be due to work hardening of the steel, causing failure of the weakest spot?  I know that is not an area that sees any impact, but the vibrations of impact can cause similar, over time.  I've seen it happen many times.

Melted, since I live about 1/3 of a mile from I-80 in Wyoming and my wife is from Florida (Plant City and Lakeland) I can appreciate your post.  It sounds like you are going to have a very good time to stay home and avoid any of the risks.

Last night the temp at the Laramie airport was -22 (a bit warmer here at the house because we're higher.  At the airport the cold air ponds into the basin) and the high tomorrow the high is supposed to be -2.  Wind chills down to -35 to -40.

We just got a call from our nephew in Gainsville and it sounds like it is going to be fun there too.

The member who hosted this month's Free State Blacksmiths Club helped us make hammers. I decided to make a straight pein dishing or leafing hammer. I just need to get it handled. This should come in handy for any future faces I take on as well as for when I get back to working on beveled scrolls! 

 

3 hours ago, bluerooster said:

Could it be due to work hardening of the steel, causing failure of the weakest spot?  I know that is not an area that sees any impact, but the vibrations of impact can cause similar, over time. 

That’s my guess. 

Started another sign project. I’ll let you guess what they sell…

 

That's quite the mug shot John. 

Frosty The Lucky.

JHCC - the broken handle looks to be a classic example of a stress riser and or heat treatment.  Every time the tool is struck, the handle wants to remain where it is while the rest of the top jaw is moving, even slightly.  The crystal structure looks big too so the part may have been quenched to hot making it brittle. I'm going to guess you will weld the handle back on so be sure to warm the two pieces before you do and I would also make the handle tapered from the full width of the jaw to however small you want it.  This will eliminate the stress riser spot.  I wonder if you made that tool and what material was used.  Grader or plow blade edge?  What kind of sparks does it make?

Great pics John. I can just see the tendrils you're likely to create from the steaming mug... & who sez you can't be stylish in the shop with a good hat?

A nice little hammer Shaina, I would be proud to have made it!

--Larry

The hat was just what I was wearing when I took the photo; I normally wear a bandana or a kaffiyeh when I’m in the shop. 

26 minutes ago, Gazz said:

I wonder if you made that tool and what material was used.  Grader or plow blade edge? 

I did, from a chunk of mystery metal that was in a big pile of scrap I salvaged (with permission!) from a construction site. I’m pretty sure it’s A36 or something similar, but who knows?

29 minutes ago, Gazz said:

I'm going to guess you will weld the handle back on

I’ll probably make a new (and longer) handle from 1/2” round. 

Is it Volkswagens? A sign like that has to be for Volkswagens...no wait, they're air-cooled, that makes no sense. I like the swing arm fuller very much and intend to completely steal your design with slight modifications - for one I don't have a treadle hammer.

On 1/19/2025 at 12:32 AM, Frosty said:

What are you going to use to paint the outdoor fireplace cover? 

Hi Jer! Heat resistant paint.

I braved the cold (45 F)  and did some assembly on my 12 ton.  Amazon is running late, I think, so I won't be able to do the electrical until tomorrow.  Our schools have shut down until Thursday, but hopefully Tractor Supply will be open so I can get the hydraulic fluid.

I've got some high temperature heat wrap (2100 F) for strategic areas on the hydraulic hoses, and I adding some anti-chaffing wrap too.  I had some UHMW plastic that I'm trying as the bearing/wear plates.  I may have to buy some expensive aluminum-bronze plate if these don't hold up well, but I'm going to wrap the sides with this heat wrap and add some aluminum tape to reflect any radiant heat.  We'll see.