January 4Jan 4 A planting tool for making seed holes. Used them growing up - didn't know the name for them then.
January 4Jan 4 I Exactly right- I suppose “dibble” would be a verb, then? this one is for willow saplings, I think. Works well, made very nice holes in my yard. Most dibblers are small and handheld- this one is two handed with a foot peddle.
January 4Jan 4 Cool a planting tool. The tool would be a dibble. Dibbling might be a verb for planting, the person using it could be a dibbler. Lots of possibilities but I think it's one of those terms that would be better to differentiate between the tool name and job. It's a tool for planting so using it is planting. The Forestry service uses a little spade-like tool to plant tree seedlings after a burn. People in 3rd world countries use sharpened sticks to plant. If the idea is to make custom dibbles maybe make an adjustable step and long handle so a person could make the hole the perfect depth for what they're planting without having to wear out their arm pushing it in? Useful tool. Frosty The Lucky.
January 4Jan 4 I had never heard of a dibble before this tool. I made it that tall for using while upright. As they say, a little dibble do ya
January 4Jan 4 I made an adjustable jig for my vise. I thought 2 different radii might work but I havent tried it yet.
January 4Jan 4 Nice Pedro. I'm making a mental note of this. My wife asked me for a hook for the bathroom, and, of course, I dashed out to the smithy and lit the fire. I took the opportunity to practice this Brian Brazeal/Alec Steele drawing out on the edges of the anvil technique. It's almost clicking in my head. I still reverted back to the horn after doing the very rough drawing out. Overall, it was a good day. I'm painting this one a gloss sage green because 1) she's done with black steel and 2) it's for our bathroom.
January 5Jan 5 On 1/4/2026 at 9:34 AM, Rojo Pedro said: I havent tried it yet. You might find that the part of the jig that you're not using gets in the way of your workpiece moving around the one that you are. Might be preferable to have the two radii on separate pieces of angle iron. On 1/3/2026 at 7:56 PM, Frosty said: The Forestry service uses a little spade-like tool to plant tree seedlings after a burn. The US Forest Service has a webpage about various tools for reforestation planting. I was familiar with the classic "hoedad", but apparently there are a number of variants with their own pros and cons.
January 5Jan 5 Finally got some lights hung in the shop. This means I can be in there after 3pm in the winter, when it sadly gets too dark otherwise. the lights are some string led bulbs that you might see at a hipster bar or burger joint. It feels very late night party- maybe some brews and some Willie Nelson would fit here
January 5Jan 5 I made a new anvil stand this weekend. Filled it with sand & oil. The ring is already deadened considerably but I'll eventually add silicone to further help with it. I'll also eventually be adding attachments for a tray swing, rings for hammers/tongs, cups for punches, etc. The stick welder is downhill from the anvil location and my little flux core welder probably won't be able to penetrate the 1/2" thick plate so anything I add will have to be on the column or somehow drilled/bolted. The base is currently anchored with RR spikes but I need to draw them out longer. Another task in the 'eventually' column, lol Anyway, I'm pleased with it.
January 5Jan 5 Maybe add a red and blue bulb Ridgeway. If I lived close enough I might sneak in and exchange one or two for blinky bulbs. You might want to round the corners of the plate a little Shaina, one bump and you'll have a deep bruise for a while. You don't need proper penetration for 1/2" plate unless you're making structural welds. All you want is to hang hammers, tongs, etc. your flux core wire feed will work just fine. Especially if you flip the stand upside down to weld under the plate and lay it on it's side to weld to the column. Keep the welds as flat and level as possible, they'll hold just fine. Remember to grind off any paint, rust, dirt, etc. before you weld! Frosty The Lucky.
January 5Jan 5 Frosty, I *wanted* to do Christmas lights, but the Mrs said it has to look nice. At least they’re not those awful blue light led bulbs. Those drive me nuts. shaina, that stand looks great. I would advocate rounding the corners, and more importantly, when you draw out the spikes, flatten the head as much as possible to avoid a tripping hazard. Otherwise, get to work and enjou! the Center for Metal Arts have a small rolling cart, maybe 12x18” and anvil height that have tong racks, hammer racks, and two shelves for punches and general tooling. The idea is to grab all the tools needed for the project, load them up on the cart, and the anvil stays clear. That might be a way to go if you are not confident in welding pieces into the stand…
January 5Jan 5 I like mixing 2700K and 5000K bulbs. But putting them that far apart in a shop would probably drive you nuts when you tried to read temper colors.
January 5Jan 5 Mike, I briefly considered the red Christmas lights, because they were.99 per strand. I thought about how I would look like the blacksmith from Hell with sulfur smoke and a red glare from my forge….
January 5Jan 5 Shainarue, Is your smithy out in the open? Mine is under a roof, but I still bought grill covers to protect my anvil and leg vice from blowing rain and condensation. Rain on my anvil would break me.
January 5Jan 5 28 minutes ago, Ridgeway Forge Studio said: I *wanted* to do Christmas lights, but the Mrs said it has to look nice. You're doing it wrong if the Mrs. wants to set foot in the shop let alone decorate. Maybe buy some fart spray and put a tracker on her so anytime she reaches for the door it gives a little puff. Set up the sound buzzer thing just behind where she'd be standing. I've never met a woman who'd admit to a fart, sooooo, just the chance someone might THINK she did should keep her well away. Hmmmm? Then again, is she a good striker? Frosty The Lucky.
January 6Jan 6 I finished my first pair of pliers yesterday out of coil spring, a la "The Complete Moden Blacksmith". I wanted to make the tool listed in the book for seating the two halves and the rivet, but I didn't have large enough, true enough, hardenable stock, so I just had to cut, grind and file the two boss surfaces after drilling. Between that and the fact that the jaws are just flat with no knurling or teeth, they kinda just look like mini tongs, but they feel great in the hand and I'm keen to see how they compare to my store-bought sets (which are pretty cheap!) Cheers, Jono.
January 6Jan 6 Frosty, it’s amazing- she even likes the smell of coal. I am puzzled. She only gets to come in invited, and is shooed away when she starts mentioning the disorganization in the corner (her art studio is next to my shop, and in similar disarray!) Jono- those pliers look excellent. It is nice to see some of the pictures from that book “come to life”. Thanks for the inspiration!
January 6Jan 6 Pretty cool Jono, I've never made anything that ambitious. Knurling or putting teeth in the bits isn't hard. If you have pliers or similar with "teeth" you like heat up a piece of stock thin enough the jaws will close on and at a medium high yellow heat give it a good squeeze with them. Then when the stock is cool, heat Your pliers bits to yellow and give the stock with the other plier's "teeth" impressed in it and give it a squeeze with the new ones. You MAY need to squeeze the outside of the jaws with tongs or something so they lay flat on the pattern and impress evenly. It isn't as hard to do as it is to describe. Of course you can buy riffling files and cut whatever pattern you like in the jaws. The upside to this is you'll have a set of riffling files for the tool box. Hmmmmm? When I was doing demos I almost never had a spectator who didn't like the smell of coal smoke so long as they weren't directly in a yellow brown cloud when we were getting a dome burning. I used to mine my own coal at an old coal mine about 50 miles north of here and the neighbors liked the smell of my coal stove. If you drive up to the Big Ditch (local's name for the old Buffalo mines) you can smell burning tailings piles and in the general area always has a coal wiff to it, sometimes all the way to the highway. Frosty The Lucky.
January 6Jan 6 Tonight I finished up the billets for my demo project for the hammer-in at my place this Saturday: They are forge welded from wrought iron and 15N20. I really needed to refine the wrought iron and was thinking the 15N20 would add a lot visually. (It also welded very easily!) Each of these billets are way bigger than I need, but is easier to cut off extra material . Keep it fun, David
January 6Jan 6 Thanks Ridgeway and Frosty. Frosty, that idea with spare stock as a mould of existing plier teeth is much easier than I was thinking of - having to hand file them in. (Yes, riffling files would be nice but probably exxy). Your other method is so much more elegantly simple.
January 6Jan 6 My wife goes in the shop every single day. One of our barn cats has decided to make a nest in there so she goes into give him food and water. My next door neighbors mom came over one day and told me she loved coming to see her daughter when i was working. It was the smell of burning coal, she said it reminder of when she was little at her grandfathers house. Hefty, nice pliers.
January 6Jan 6 18 hours ago, Frosty said: You might want to round the corners of the plat Funny, I did that already because I see you advise that so often. Seemed like I had rounded enough but I guess it doesn't look like it in the pic. I'd guess about 3/8" radius maybe. 17 hours ago, MeltedSocks said: Is your smithy out in the open? Yes, it is and has been for the last 4 years. Hammers, tongs, tools, etc all live inside the storage container just behind the anvil. I was standing against it to take that picture. Forge table, blower, vise, anvil are exposed to the elements of our varied Missouri weather. 16 hours ago, Hefty said: first pair of pliers Nice!
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