February 5, 20251 yr Like Chad said, whack it couple times then flatten. That is the rhythm. If i go for a while not making forks it takes me a few minutes to get the rhythm back. The cupping should also be addressed from both sides. A couple whacks to narrow it down, lay flat a couple whacks to get the cupping on one side then flip and flatten the other side. When i get that rhythm i can usually get 4 maybe 5 sets of whacks before having to heat again. Which is also why i like the thinner bar, you can work it a lot cooler than thicker bar.
February 5, 20251 yr If the bar is wide enough, I touch both edges to the anvil to chill them slightly. Force as in hammer blows takes the path of least resistance so I put that path where I wish the steel to move. I do similar upsetting bar back from the end, a few seconds standing on the anvil or even a brief dip in the slack tub and upsets don't spread at the end let alone mushroom. Frosty The Lucky.
February 6, 20251 yr Made a couple of these little guys today. Vise stops. Made one for the mill at work and one for the small vise on my drill press at home. They cut layout time down quite a bit when making repeated cuts. One of the things i love about my job. Working 2nd shift there are 8 of us. We are pretty much left alone to do our thing. some nights i have a bit of free time and can do things like this.
February 6, 20251 yr The GF keeps telling me I need to make more heart shaped items, so Today and last night I made a couple horse shoe hearts. Tuesday night I also worked on a couple hoeforks that need to be cleaned up and heat treated and last night made the horizontals for a couple more plant hangers. Forgot to get a picture of them but the upset corners didn't take me near as long.
February 7, 20251 yr Made a bottle opener as a farewell gift for my supervisor, who is moving on to another institution. She’s a big fan of carbonated mineral water, so I did a “fizzy bubbles” theme to the decoration.
February 7, 20251 yr Good one John! Fizzy Bubbles bottle openers has market potential. Better still bubbles are easier to forge than beer foam. Frosty The Lucky.
February 7, 20251 yr I don't recall which thread you posted the suggestion John but I want to give you a loud shout out for suggesting "Time Team." I haven't watched all the episodes by a long shot but it owns a tab on my computer and I've been alternating watching an old episode and then a new one. This one from 2024 is the one currently playing here. They're recreating the Sutton Hoo ship. Yes there is blacksmithing shown. https://youtu.be/OYtVvEG8414 Frosty The Lucky.
February 7, 20251 yr Sent a trio of my horse-shoe racks out of the shop for a local farrier's trailer. First he ordered 1, then went for 2, then within 10 minutes decided he wanted 3.
February 7, 20251 yr Ah, the ultimate compliment someone who wants to give you money for your work and asks for more. I hope you made another because . . . you know . . . Maybe? Frosty The Lucky.
February 7, 20251 yr Oh he'll be back. His eyes were bugging out looking at the other aluminum farrier stuff I've built. Plus his little trailer needs all several repairs. Matt. Chad, those horseshoe hearts are slick. Nicely done. Those are the kind of things that will always sell easy. Matt.
February 8, 20251 yr I played with my DIY 12 ton press today. I first cut up an old table saw blade into 1" x 3" rectangles with my plasma cutter. I love that thing! Then I stacked it with some 1080, lit the coal forge, got it up to forging temperature without burning it (yay) and gave it a little press. I did as much work as I could without squaring dies or thicknessing jigs. Yes, I went off half-cocked without everything I needed to draw it. I need to make some jigs soon, but I'm happy with the amount of metal it moved. It's a big upgrade from my air-over-hydraulic Harbor Freight shop press contraption. One thing I learned is that the 3" x 4" dies I made a week or two ago had too much of a moment arm, and I bent the 1/4" plates that bolt the dies to the press when I got off center too much. So I redid them with 2" x 3" dies. That will work much better. I think I got pretty good forge welds, but I do see a telltale seam on one side after the last fold. I'll address that tomorrow. Again, I'm just playing and learning, and I avoided trimming the palm trees, too!
February 8, 20251 yr 1/2" bolt plates have a limited lifespan in a forging press. Sometimes 1/4" bolt plates don't last the first session, occasionally the first squish if they're not made right. Frosty The Lucky.
February 8, 20251 yr 42 minutes ago, Frosty said: 1/2" bolt plates have a limited lifespan in a forging press. Sometimes 1/4" bolt plates don't last the first session, occasionally the first squish if they're not made right. Frosty The Lucky. I bought these from Coal Iron Works, and I agree with you. I had to straighten them out before I rewelded them. I'll let you know how these smaller dies work.
February 9, 20251 yr I made a 3/4", 1/2", and 1/4" thickness jigs and started on a 3/4" squaring die. I'm going to get back on that Damascus billet tomorrow, hopefully.
February 10, 20251 yr Fabrication work today. First, making and attaching the mounting brackets for the table leg project: Second, adding some reinforcement to the base of my portable vise stand:
February 10, 20251 yr I had my first full day in the forge over the weekend. Had a mate who wanted to make a fire poker and he did it all by himself. I made a few things including a scorpion bottle opener. I made sure I tested it out numerous times for the rest of the weekend. I also started on my mower blade machete and ended up liking it so much I changed it to a big carving/slicing knife! A test piece hardened in water and then I quench the knife in oil which skated a file but then over tempered it. I have normalized it again and will attempt it again next time I get a chance then temper in the oven.
February 10, 20251 yr Making clapboards. They are used by quilters to flatten fabric. I like these. Commercial ones sell for $50+ and they are basically a piece of 2x4 with a finger groove around the sides. These will be made from Katalox, Mexican ebony. A very dense heavy wood. Forge a handle, cut and sand the wood, attach handle, and done. They make a nice payday for little work.
February 10, 20251 yr Tap Tap, nicely done, I really like the bottle opener. Billy, what are the measurements for your finished clap boards?
February 10, 20251 yr I used to make doffers for the local spinner's guild and highly suggest you break the corners of the stock before twisting. Ladies don't have the calluses like we do softening the edges still provides plenty of grip painlessly. I put pineapple twists on them for grip but the sharp corners caused blisters. Breaking the corners made them a HOT item till the market saturated. You might also consider a more rectangular profile "lifting handle" rather than what I call a "teapot" profile like the one pictured above. And mount it in the center of the board. That way won't require as much wrist strength to use. Sorry if that's more critique than you were looking for, I can't help myself where making tools is concerned. The voices keep whispering this stuff. What you have is a very marketable tool in a niche market, talk to the ladies, make some test versions, offer a couple different ones. Maybe different color and weight wood, different finials. The Dachshund head on my doffers changed them from $40 to $100+ tools. My doffers were different in they are more ergonomically designed letting the ladies use leverage rather than brute strength to pry fiber out of drum carder "teeth." I also finished them with lanolin from raw wool so they don't stain the fiber. Better, the ladies can renew the finish at any time by giving them a quick wipe with a bit of raw wool. And NO, NOT BUCK FACE WOOL!! Frosty The Lucky.
February 10, 20251 yr If only you have pictures off all the stuff you made. Some of the small things you mention could benefit from it, at least for me, since i understand it, but at the same time not fully to see it in my head. Translating only makes things worse.
February 10, 20251 yr Tap Tap, that scorpion bottle opener is awesome! I accidentally made a cool "Eye of Sauron" opener, or at least that's the closest thing that it looked like to me. I threw together a squaring die and a drawing die this morning. The squaring die actually worked very well. I put a piece of 3/8" round bar under the angle iron to strengthen them. I got that Damascus billet square and straight, but I only used half because of a bad forge weld. It's on the table to the left. The drawing dies worked okay, but the first time I drew out the billet, I got a banana. Alignment issue I assume. I may just buy the drawing dies from Coal Iron Works. The thickness jigs worked fine, too. I drew out that 3/4" x 3/4" x 3" billet to about 1/4" x 1" x 10". It's toast, though. You can actually see a seam on the edge of it. Oh well. This is learning time. I really need a gas forge if I'm going to get serious about making knives. I need to rethink my die holding system. I copied it from Coal Iron Works (their 9 ton model), but changing dies takes too long to me. Also, melted some holes in my socks. Hence, my handle (if it isn't obvious to you).
February 10, 20251 yr Drawing straight takes practice, if your dies are equally spaced it's operator error. It's common for new guys to hold higher than they should and forge an upwards curve. If it curves to the left you're probably right handed and vis versa. Forge presses move metal faster than we can by hand, however the dies are in contact with the stock longer and so draw more heat. The interior of the bar stays hotter than the outside which means the inside is more malleable and moves farther than the outside, especially edges making them delaminate. You can Probably save the billet by brushing, fluxing, heating the edges with a torch and GENTLY resetting and refining the welds. Next time you take it to the press, especially under the flat dies take another heat every squish OR move to hand work. Frosty The Lucky.
February 10, 20251 yr Thanks, Lucky I did manage to salvage the billet and the knife didn't turn out too bad (for something I wasn't taking too seriously). I quenched it expecting it to come apart, but no tinks or pings, and it appears I ground out the problem areas. I ground it up to 800 grit, but there is a cloudy section in the middle on both sides. I can see the pattern below the cloudiness. Do I just need to grind it more? I am right-BTW.
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