Had a nice long day in the shop today,  made several shine-stien handles, a small load of farrier nail hearts, a pair of grill forks, and a hummingbird that was still in the forge at the time of this picture.  Also had some beef short ribs going on the smoker too.  Was a good day. 

Had a nice long day in the shop today,  made several shine-stien handles, a small load of farrier nail hearts, a pair of grill forks, and a hummingbird that was still in the forge at the time of this picture.  Also had some beef short ribs going on the smoker too.  Was a good day.  I didn't spring any leaks either,  though I did get a few scale burns. 

On 9/14/2025 at 9:51 AM, Frosty said:

Getting hooks right can be tricky.

I've been doing a little more research on this. The original picture I saw must have been in my Facebook feed because I did a search for "hand forged carabiner clip" and found the same, or similar, image on Etsy.

It looks to me like a suitable curve for the hook section, to allow the wire clip to fit and work, should be a section of a Fibonacci, or golden, curve. Mine are currently too semi-circular with parallels either side. I'm not going to actually plot a golden curve mathematically but having that in my head should help me to visualise what I'm aiming for as I forge. I also figured out that my holes for the wire clip were in the wrong spot. I did a cold-forged piece out of thinner stock at work (ignore the curve. It's still wrong - rush job.) and with correct hole placement, the wire has a satisfying over-centre "snap". I took a video as well, but I couldn't re-size it smaller like the images.

I'm hoping this design, once I forge out a few more to polish my method, could become a popular sale/gift item.

Thanks for looking.

Jono.

 

I thought I was so clever to come up with this idea but then while going through blacksmithing videos on youtube  I watched one that was a tour of an old midwest blacksmiths shop that had become a museum and there on one of the tables was the same knife!  In any case I thought it was a good repurpose of a rusty abused pair of tin snips and you get two knives from one pair, a left and a right!   I think I have to make a sheet metal sheath for it.   Also in the picture is a small hardware item that I'm not sure of its purpose but looks interesting.  I have found perhaps half a dozen of them in my garage or barn and have no idea what they might be used for.  My property was formerly a place where ice was harvested and stored so it may have something to do with that endeavor.  Any ideas?

Don't get hung up on the golden mean, you just want functional snap hooks, you don't need to describe them mathematically. Proportion can be pretty important. I think the shank is a little too long but that's my taste, not a rule. The clip should be closer to the hook, any weight on the hook will extend it some and with the clip as it is stretch might cause it to slip out of the hook. If that makes sense.

Just don't get hung up on any one detail and keep making them, you'll know when you get them right.

Frosty The Lucky.

good Morning Jono,

The finger on the inside of the hook is so the Hook won't release and loose it's load, when the Hook goes slack. Is there a way you can make it springy so you have to push the finger open, to disconnect.

I use Hooks similar to that to hold Box End Wrenches together in my Walk-about Tool Bag.

Neil

Hi Neil, yes, it is springy. I was going to post a video of it but it was too big on the screen. The two photos are to show that it can spring to fully-open or fully-closed, with an over-centre action. I'm still playing around with the placement of the holes for the wire, and what kind of wire, to get one that stays only-closed and can't over-centre the other way because it will bottom out on the inside of the hook. I hope that makes sense.

Cheers,

Jono.

On 9/14/2025 at 2:31 PM, Frosty said:

Baking soda and water pulls blood nicely

That stops bleeding? I will have to keep that in mind. I am on 5 different medications for my high blood pressure so a small nick now bleeds a gallon. And the bruising, i bruise just brushing up against something. 

I remember my grandpa was the same. He would be working on something with blood running down his arm dripping on the ground. 

Heh, heh, heh, might I've never tried it. Direct pressure still works for me within reason. I take lisinopril and have been for a while but I didn't bruise or leak like this till a couple years ago. Heck I have to be careful scratching an itch on the backs of my hands. It's not so bad elsewhere but I still find bruises where I don't remember even a bump. 

I expect to not notice cuts working in the shop, I'm usually pretty focused on what I'm doing to notice the little things. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Lisinopril, amlodipine, atorvastatin, water pill, and aspirin. I am just glad that i have the VA to get my scripts through, i would be in the poor house otherwise. But then again it was my time in the military and being deployed that is the root cause of my problems. I go and get cancer screenings about once every 3 months, they space out the different screenings rather than all at once. And that is from the toxic chemicals i was exposed to. I remember when i was deployed for Desert Storm back when they set the oil wells on fire, everything was covered in a fine layer of soot and oily residue. Some days mid afternoon looked like dusk the smoke was so thick. 

If i scrape up against something i have gotten to the point that i notice it now just becuase i have trained myself to look and make sure i am not bleeding out. It does seem that small nicks and scrape bleed a whole lot more than actual cuts. A scrape and i bleed for an hour, cut my finger with a kitchen knife and it only take a couple minutes. 

Atorvastatin is for cholesterol.  Aspirin, mmm, thins the blood a little.  I took those first two for quite some time, still do, but my BP only became well controlled when I started Carvedilol.

I stopped taking aspirin and the nosebleeds stopped. Aspirin doesn't actually thin the blood it effects how the platelets work supposedly preventing them from collecting on your blood vessels. Turned out I was "sensitive" to it but a previous EX doctor told me to take aspirin daily but it turned out the recommendation was based entirely on my age, not blood pressure.

I'm just going to stop now or things will wax way to political. 

Frosty The Lucky.

A VA doctor asked me what prescription and over-the-counter drugs I took.  When I said "none," she looked surprised.  She fixed that and gave me a prescription for steroid suppositories.  So, not only do I take prescription drugs...

Never mind.

Saturday started off great!  I was going to make my first hammer, or attempt to do so.  I needed to resize my "long-finger pincher-style" pickup tongs to fit the blank, so I stuck it in the fire.  I got sidetracked by looking for my bending jig, which was exactly where it was supposed to be in my anvil rack, but I was digging around in a cabinet.

By the time I got back on track, it was almost too late.  They were burned, but not completely burned to the point of being ruined.  However, I thought they were weaken enough to be inadequate for holding the hammer blank now.

So, time to make a proper set of pickup tongs similar to TA's.  I thought 1/2" coil spring would be big enough, but it looks like the bosses are a bit small.  I think they will still work, but I'm going to remake them using 3/4" 4140 that I ordered off eBay (my GMC Sierra has 150,000 miles and needs new front struts...hmmmmm).

These are my first set of tongs from scratch.  It's fun learning the techniques.  I'll try to finish these up Thursday or Friday, depending on my work schedule.

24 minutes ago, MeltedSocks said:

When I said "none," she looked surprised. 

The old Army standby of 800 mg of Ibuprofen, caffeine, alcohol, change your socks, and drink water. Not necessarily in that order or one at a time, right? At least I never got started smoking.

About 10 years ago I walked out of the house and realized that I was seeing double.  They did CAT and MRI scans and found nothing and concluded that I had had a "micro event" (little bitty stroke) which effected how my brain processes vision.  The double vision self  corrected in about 6 weeks but I now have to take Plavix (a blood thinner) to prevent a recurance or worse.  So far it has worked but as a result it takes longer for minor injuries to clot up and stop bleeding.  I'm more careful than I used to be to avoid injuries that would result in major bleeding.  If I sustain something that could involve internal bleeding, e.g. a closed head injury, it would be off to the ER to make sure nothing bad is happening internally. 

13 hours ago, LeeJustice said:

Atorvastatin is for cholesterol.

That is what it is usually used for but it causes the body to absorb calcium also. I take it for the build up in my arteries. Narrow arteries, higher pressure.

 

I started making homemade natto and eating 50 g per day.  This was in leu of the cardiologist putting stints in my heart, which in a stable ischemia actually lowers your life expectancy.  I also take 8000 FUs of nattokinase supplements.  Nattokinase way outperformed statins in reducing ischemias, by 3X in one study.  It also dissolves clots, but doesn't prevent them from forming.

I was suspicious when the cardiologist scheduled me for the cath-lab the very next day without consulting me.  I figured he was trying to hit his numbers for the year end bonus that the manufacturer hands out.

Yes, I'm that cynical. 

I can not get past the smell of natto. 

Are you sure we're talking about the same thing?  Cooked and fermented soybeans?  I would have guessed that you couldn't get past the stringy sliminess. 

Yesterday and apparently in theme.

Not really happy.

the flipper is maybe to small. And i forgot to bend it a bit, so flat as a pancake.

But happy with the eye at the end.

The fork needs to be more pointy, but the ridge runs nicely.

but the eye is wrong. It keeps twisting so the ridge does not continue.

and for a set, they are similar but also not. Size of handle is to different.

i think i will try the flipper a 2 piece with a rivetted handle to the flipper.

 

Those are corrected easily enough Gewoon. The spatula can be heated and a shallow S bend but in the shank just behind the blade.

The fork is only missing some file work and making the tines more parallel towards the ends. If it's mild steel I just put a spacer between the tines and squeeze them in the leg vise. Don't close them too much but if you need to open them back up you can do that on the anvil horn slipping the crux of the fork over the horn with the handle standing vertically. You can then simply pull the fork straight off the horn forcing it to spread, do this a little at a time checking to see when to stop. Or you can lightly tap with a hammer on the tine's curves on a wider place on the horn. Again, do a little and check till they're how you like them.

Making forks come out functional, even and pleasantly shaped takes practice, keep at it and don't forget the file is your friend.

Frosty The Lucky.

Photo of fork that is going to SOFA that will be auctioned off with the Indiana group..  I think Brian and Ed B. will be there. 

I forged the 2nd fork and the 3rd for the Nol Putnam Memorial hammer in Broadway VA few weeks back. 

The last is the lock forged for saturdays demonstration. 

Beautiful forks Jennifer, they'll be a big hit. 

Is the set down just before the handle on the lock lift up once it passes the bale and latch it in place?

Frosty The Lucky.

I could certainly make my natto in the shop.

Frosty

Forkpart is easy to fix, i know. Was to tired to continue. Is more the eye part at the end i'm dissapointed. And it is overworked already, with big grainstructure (i can see it cracking).

The spatula I will bend, only my stupid me already put the finish on. Was after the photo I realized it will not work the way I made it.

Ah well, not to bad for 3hours work, just more care for the details are needed.