JHCC, the flamingo has been fun to watch you build,  can't wait to see it finished.   Melted, the laces look like they are there,  and agressive hammering it's practically the shop  name.  

Was working on a couple sets of tongs last night.   This set needs to be finished but it was at about 90% when I called it.  Made them from 9 5/8 inches of 1/2 inch round.  I was annoyed when the twists didn't come out even but I did them just because.   Trying to spend a touch more time making my tools look better and not just function. 

Goat Lady, I watched several videos on making a nail header before starting mine.  One guy mentioned the hourglass shape.  TA drifted from the bottom.  My gut instinct was to drift from the top to keep the nail from slipping deeper into the header, but then I realized the taper of the nail itself would prevent it slipping, and drifting from the bottom lets the nail fall out easily.  So, I'm with TA (always a smart choice). 

Chad, the leaf does look like a shoe with laces.  You just gave me inspiration to forge a shoe.  The wife is a fitness instructor, but she could be a reincarnated Imelda Marcos (but she's still alive) because she has a Brooks athletic shoe obsession.  I have two pair of shoes that I actually wear.  She has a closet full.  So maybe she'll appreciate a black, waxy steel shoe?  Nah, she'd make me paint it purple and green.

1 hour ago, MeltedSocks said:

  Nah, she'd make me paint it purple and green

Could you compromise and settle for blue/bronze/purple/brown temper colors?

BillyO 

Billy, that's a good tip on the butcher.

Melted, going with TA would probably never be a bad idea

Chad J., I like the idea of a twist in the reins.

Finished up the new nail header.  Very humid and sticky today.  I really struggled to get my sweat-drenched t-shirt off the normal way without tearing it (handful of t-shirt between the shoulder blades, pull over head), so I had to take it off like a woman (arms crossed in the front, grab hem of shirt, pull up over head, shake hair). 

It was actually way easier, but I ain't switching.  Just a one time thing!

Melted, I try to tell my husband it would be way easier to take his shirts off like I do, but he disagrees. He used to have a long ponytail, but I don't think he he ever shook it out lol. 

Your header looks nice. Do you specialize in tool making?

Nice looking nail header Socks.

I added a pipe clamp safety to my treadle hammer a la John Switzer.

I need a rubber end but it works great. Makes a big difference to control and I hope to never have to test it for real :-)

 

1 hour ago, CrazyGoatLady said:

Your header looks nice. Do you specialize in tool making?

Thanks.  I don't really specialize, but it seems I like making tools more than making the things the tools are supposed to make. 

Pedro, Thanks. Now if I can actually make some decent nails.  I'll try that tomorrow afternoon.

I agree, making tools and using my tools is the most fun, regardless of the outcome. 

That's a real nice nail header, Melted. That long thin handle is an especially nice touch as it won't send the blow vibrations up your hand as bad as the thick handled ones. My first nail header had a short-ish handle and was about 3/8-ish thick. Ouch. If I recall correctly, it was made from a RR spike.  Last year, I drew out the handle to double the original length and it's better. Still vibrates a bit but not nearly as bad as the first iteration. 

Melted, all the tools I've seen you make so far are very good looking and seem to work well. I'm envious. I haven't made very many tools because I'm sorta scared to. I'm always afraid I'll not do it right. But I've been researching quite a bit and I'm going to try it. What I have suitable for tooling is coil and leaf spring and sucker rod. I may have other things in my steel piles but I know those for sure. What do y'all think would be best to use? 

11 hours ago, Rojo Pedro said:

I added a pipe clamp safety to my treadle hammer a la John Switzer.

A few years back he smacked his hand in the treadle hammer i think it was and was on the DL for a while. I remember the videos of his hand all bandaged up. 

One of my freinds was working with another smith striking for him and hit the his hand with an 8# sledge on top of a guillotine die. He now has a couple pins in his hand. The guillotine is a beast not the ones most use on an anvil. 

CGL, do not take this the wrong way but if you are going to be a blacksmith use must learn to make tooling. Like has been said time and time again, make a tool to make a tool to make a project. Start simple. Ever watch Mark Asprey? His chisels and slitters are flat bars. They do not have to be octagon. Those leaf springs, cut a slice the thickness you want, forge down a taper on the end, heat treat. You have a chisel or a slitter if you draw the taper out long. Simple but good practice and learning. Once you make a punch you can then make a bolster, and if a square punch a nail header. Do not be afraid, just do it. I remember back when you were posting a lot more often and you were making forks and the like. They were clean and nice. So i know that you have it in you to do good work. 

I take my shirt off girly fashion, but except for my time in the Army i have had long hair all my life. I did not know that there was a girly or manly way of taking your shirt off till now. 

When I cannibalized parts off my of HF shop press (that I converted to an air-over-hydraulic, foot pedal actuated, pretty much worthless forging press) to finish my power hammer, I salvaged this carbon steel round bar that was the business end of the press.

When I was making my first set of decorative shelf brackets, I shoved the bar into the fire because I was going to anneal it.  Out of sight, out of mind. I completely forgot about it. This is the result.  I was able to use the good end for the nail header. 

BillyBones, I was in the USMC, so that's the difference. Just kidding!  You know we have to keep up the interservice rivalry.

The manliest way of removing your shirt is to grab two handfuls of t-shirt at sternum level and pull laterally outward in opposite directions until the fabric rips.  I did that once.  Wife said it was fake.

4 hours ago, BillyBones said:

I did not know that there was a girly or manly way of taking your shirt off till now. 

It was a new concept to me too. My honest first thought was - dang, people will genderize anything! lol. For what it's worth, I use both ways described above (and even other methods!) depending on what I'm removing, lol

6 hours ago, CrazyGoatLady said:

What do y'all think would be best to use? 

I have used both and both have held up just fine for the type of work I do. I was also scared to try making any kind of tooling until I worked through the ABANA Level 1 Curriculum. As soon as I made the first one, I was like - why was I so scared of that?!?! It's honestly easier than any of the projects you actually use the tool on, lol
If you know how to taper and keep things square, then you can make any variety of chisels and fullers and square/slot punches. From there, just go SOR and you've got your ball punches and hole punches! Of course, a little filing is usually necessary for the cutting end on punches.
Heat treating is super simple on sucker rod because you can use water. I've been told you can do the same with coil spring but I haven't tried it yet. I use oil for those. I've also been told you can just let the coil spring air cool after forging and it'll still be plenty strong enough. I also haven't tried that, lol. I didn't want to have to remake the things I used coil spring for (various eye punches).

BillyBones, thanks for the tip/reminder that flat bar tool steel can be used for quick flat-end tooling! I dunno why sometimes that stuff just doesn't occur to me. The leaf spring I have is from a school bus and pretty beefy, which makes it kind of a pain in the keister to cut, so it'd be easier to use the coil spring even for flat tools. But in the event I ever have smaller pieces, hopefully I'll remember this thread, lol!

How I remove my shirt depends entirely on either whether or not it has buttons and whether or not it's on fire.

The quickest way I know of to take a shirt off is by spilling boiling water on it. ON fire is a close second as is getting drenched in HOT hydraulic fluid when a fitting blows. I actually felt something odd when I pulled the lever and looked at it so I saw the hydraulic hose through the gap when it popped up and blasted about 30gal of hot DN600 hydraulic fluid at me. I had just enough time to spin around and slap the kill switch so the fluid hit me in the back of the head and covered me.

My hair was silky smooth and shiny until it grew out. I don't recommend it though.

Frosty The Lucky.

I'm just happy if the boys don't leave all their clothes wrong side out unless it's actually needed.

BillyBones, no offense taken. It's not that I can't make the tools, it's the heat treatment process that comfuzzles me. Frosty once said to me that I'm a quick study, but I'm really not though I wish I was. I know all the information necessary is here on IFI. I don't know if it's a learning disability, but reading things to learn comes kinda hard for me. Visuals help much more, but when it comes down to it, I learn best by doing. I wish I could actually have someone who knows how to show me directly. And if I don't understand something, I only ask limited questions so as not to aggravate someone or wrack their nerves or get angry with me because I'm not getting it. That's a bit of a leftover from when I was a kid I think and I've never been able to get over and a character flaw. I've watched so many videos on how to do it but not everybody does it the same and I'm like a deer caught in the headlights on knowing which way to go. I apologize for making such a long post about this. It's a struggle and I keep hoping I'll just get it and not have to ask so much. Thank you the encouragement. It means a lot. 

Shainarue, thanks for your post. I'm glad to know I'm not alone in being afraid to do something. I'm glad you overcame that!

The great Chris Farley everyone!

Tell me how and i will forget, show me how i may remember, help me do it myself and i will never forget. Or something along those lines that i learned long ago. 

When i was in the Army i remember my DI telling everyone there is no such thing as a stupid question. You may think it is but that person asking is trying to learn. I am not a very patient person but that little bit of philosophy has kept many of my co-workers from getting strangled. One old guy i bet i have told the same thing to 100 times...

Instead of reading how every one does it just pick one, like John Switzers method. Make a list of the steps and then go by that list and do it step by step.  

When i was in Iraq we were refueling the tank. One of the guys pumping the fuel in got distracted when the tank commander said something to him just as the fueler hit high idle. The pump jumped up and out of the fuel tank and the support guy manning the fueler got drenched in 20 or 30 gallon of JP-8. That got him out of uniform pretty quick. 

I was typing the same thing as Billy when his reply came through. Pick one and don't worry how others do it until you're comfortable with exploring. I personally go with the easiest, lol

I'm same as you - and likely most people. I don't remember what I read. Heck, sometimes I'll read something fairly short 3 or 4 times and just not comprehend. Like my brain just refuses to engage. Even if I write it down, sometimes I won't remember parts. I remember more when I am doing the thing and someone else is telling me what to do. But even then, there have been times I've gone home to do it on my own and realized I forgot a step after messing it up, lol

The one thing I have going for me is I've never shied away from asking questions. That said, I have been in a situation a few times where I'm being shown something in a class of other people, and the instructor said, "make sense, everyone?" And everyone nods so I don't speak up. But I will grab the instructor separately and ask for further clarification. Most recently, that was the "hawk's beak" which should be visible when doing the penny scroll. Everyone else saw that negative space right away but I just wasn't seeing it until someone colored it in on the chalkboard. "Oooooh, that DOES look like a hawk's beak!"

So yeah, anyway. You're not alone.

Go ahead and get the tools forged out. Then at least the first step is done. 

Doggonit Chellie, you ARE a quick study. Your problem is you study too many things at the same time and have trouble sorting out what works. All the "faults" you listed above are normal human mentation. Everybody does it or they tend give right up. Sure it's easy to get lost in what might go wrong, that only takes a little training to overcome, just adopt a trial and error philosophy and you'll learn to love it. Every single failure is school, you learn more from failures than successes every time.

Often what happens when we read something over and over and not get it is we've created a loop that always leads to the same answer. Again normal thought processes. The easy way to beat the loop is put it down and go do something else, take a nap, chase the boys around with a broom, anything to put it out of mind for a while. Your subconscious and reflexes make millions of decisions per second, just to be awake and standing. Sleeping on something lets that enormous computer in your skull apply itself without being distracted by what we think.

One VERY IMPORTANT THING I HEREBY INSTRUCT YOU TO DO IS. ELIMINATE THE PHRASE, I can't, from your vocabulary!! One hemisphere is literally telling the other hemisphere NOT TO DO IT. Replace it with a question, "Why NOT?"  I don't know how is just opening the gate to figuring it out. So you need help, everybody does, many of us hang out here to answer questions often between ourselves. Thomas Powers and I often helped each other out with ideas, techniques, etc. we might not have thought of without trying a hundred others first. 

It's the whole point of the forum and others like it. We bounce blue sky thoughts around all the time and every once in a while one sticks to another and something good comes about. It's the whole point of brainstorming and most often the B E S T brainstorming sessions start with a question.

Another secret is, you don't have to know or "understand" something to be good at doing it. 

One of the reasons I loved kids at my demos is because their questions are unpolluted by knowledge as are their observations. One of my favorite ever was a kid maybe 8 asked, "Why do you do it that way?" I explain and he says "Why not do" . . . something he had no terms for) We just started talking, the audience sort of parted a clear line of sight and their heads were swiveling like a it was a tennis match. Finally I asked if his parents were there and the lady standing a couple feet away with an open mouth and swiveling head raises her hand shyly. "Can he come up and show me what he's talking about? I won't allow him to be hurt." 

I dearly wish I remembered what learned from him it was much easier and more effective than what I had been doing and the audience was glued to the show's every word and motion. Something like that happened so often I can't remember specific instances but Mother's expressions and how they changed are burned into my memory. 

There is nothing wrong with not knowing something. "Ignorance can be cured but stupid is it's own death sentence." R. A. Heinlein in his Lazarus Long character.

End yak.

Frosty The Lucky.

Billy, thank you for your advice. I actually decided I was going to go with John Switzer on how to make tools because somehow, he seems to make it more clear to me. He also reminds me of my Dad and it's a comfort to watch and learn from him. 

Shaina, I hear you on not speaking up when everybody else seems to get it. It makes me wonder now if all the others who say yes are really understanding it or they too don't want to be the one who "doesn't get it." As I get older, I am getting better at asking questions without fear of looking stupid. Thank you for your response. It helps a lot. 

Frosty, what can I say? You always know how to make me think about things in a completely different way. Everything you just said is spot on. After posting my original thoughts on this, I was thinking about sometimes it may be a detriment to take in too much information from too many sources. I used to manage a Subway and occasionally an employee would have an idea about how to do something differently and I was always open to it as long as it didn't go against compliance. Some of the ideas they would have would be great and we would implement them. Things I woudnt have thought about. Your story about the boy made me think of that. 

Thanks for the support y'all. I am feeling more confident now. I'm about to go out and sand and put some BLO on a  couple of hammer handles. Maybe try to make some more nails if I don't run out of time. Y'all are the greatest 

I didn't take it too far? After I'd submitted it I started worrying about it. I get too carried away sometimes.

Frosty The Lucky. 

No sir, not at all. I needed to hear it