Made these hairpins from upcycled materials: pins are forged copper, and the straps are pieces of a leather belt of the last transmision belt driven wheat mill in Hungary. Put the pictures and info on my FB site, and both of them were sold right away. - Now I have to make new ones... Oh, the sufferings I bear...

Bests to all of you!

Gergely

Cool hairpins, Gergely. The textured copper looks great. Nice how you have brought in the historical aspect with those old straps.

I made another cobra or two today with Jennifer's idea of making the rings on the hood. Had to make a quick oval punch. Here's what happened. I'll refine the punch a bit so it cuts deeper.

 

Nice!

Could you possibly flatten the belly of the snake a bit by hammering it hard into a wooden block so the top side smooths, and leaves the threads on the other, or even file one side before bending to shape (just looking at the top of the neck where it flares out into the hood)?

Might make it more difficult to bend it to keep the belly side down, but it would add yet another depth of texture to it.

ausfire, that is so cool.. Nice job..  Number stamps or did you make up a special punch..  You building up inventory??  Big show coming up?
 

 

Bad estimation on my part. I knew what I wanted to make (a hairpin - hairpiece?) and had a good idea of how to do it. I used the stock I had available at the time, and this is what I got:

I think it's nicely proportioned, and considering all the bends were done with a hand-held bending fork and a hammer I'm happy with it. But... it's about 50% too large. So it's a success as a proof of concept, but not as the gift I intended. Next week I'll flatten the one piece out and keep it as an S-hook, and maybe thread the other for use as a plant hanger or some such.

I'll try again with 1/4" or 3/16" stock.

 

It's good as it is, it's just a blanket pin. You mislabeled it is all. 

Frosty The Lucky.

On 3/28/2018 at 6:37 AM, jlpservicesinc said:

ausfire, that is so cool.. Nice job..  Number stamps or did you make up a special punch..  You building up inventory??  Big show coming up

I made a special punch but it was a quick job and I think I can do better. I never thought of using the 0 number stamp ... another idea you have given me!

And yes, I am building up some stocks. This is our quiet time at the Village Forge because it's the wet season here and flooding etc limits tourist travel. It's a good time to catch up on some maintenance and practise a few new things at the forge without too many on-lookers.  However, things really ramp up over Easter and I want plenty of items available in the shop. We are hoping the roads will open very soon or we will be depending on local custom over the four day holiday break.

 SFC Snuffy it's perfect for holding the cloak shut like a pinnanular. 

ausfire, is there a Website or some more information about the museum?  I think stuff like that is very interesting.. 

 

A friend asked for something with a leaf, so I made her a combination letter & bottle opener. Of course, the leaf burned at the last possible moment. 

 

Made a bottom fuller from a FAIR rail anchor, long enough to reach the part of the anvil where the treadle hammer hits:

And snapped the handle off my rounding hammer!

 

Happy fun times JHCC. Lol

Hi,

I'm a bit behind with it but, JHCC I really like your African inspired ring handle knife. Is its original from Cameroon? - Or have you got more info about it? I tried to search for something like that and found almost similar shapes but I'd like to know more. (While searching I happened to run into a very inspirational shape of a wooden knife, that I will try to forge sometimes.)

 

Thank you ausfire ! Just got the response from the buyer, they love them - what else can one need to hear. 

I was thinking maybe a thinner lined oval for the hood rings on the cobra, I'm not sure if deeper cut will do better - but we'll see, won't we  I very much like your snakes, too.

 

About work: Yesterday I had to forge a Chinese made masonry hammer into an electrician's small pick axe. It was not fun... Especially when I tried to quench it in oil and it didn't harden, then quenched it in water and it cracked. A bit more work to do, but doesn't matter - got it done anyways. I had to make another e. pick axe from scratch, and it was easier and quicker to get ready.

Also preground and HTed two parangs with over 10" blades - now that was fun! Also HT-ed my first pieces of the Rollerblades series: one bearing roller forged into two knives.

No picts this time, but soon...

Bests:

Gergely

8 hours ago, jlpservicesinc said:

ausfire, is there a Website or some more information about the museum?  I think stuff like that is very interesting.. 

Certainly. My forge is part of the Historic Village Herberton complex. Our website is

www.historicvillageherberton.com.au

 

7 hours ago, Gergely said:

I really like your African inspired ring handle knife. Is its original from Cameroon? - Or have you got more info about it? I tried to search for something like that and found almost similar shapes but I'd like to know more.

The label in the case says “Nigeria, Benu State ca. 1890”. Unfortunately, the museum does not have an online catalog, but one of these days I’m going to write to them to see if I can get more info. In the meantime, here’s a photo of the original:

(Apologies for the poor photo quality. It was a dimly lit room, I was using my cell phone camera on zoom, and I had to angle myself to avoid glare off the glass case. Note also that the original maker was a much better smith than me.)

Ausfire,  very nice website for your museum!  Your place would be a must see for me if I were visiting that part of Queensland!  Thanks for sharing.  Tom

Tom: Thank you. Good Friday today and it's one of our big days of the year. I'm expecting many visitors to the forge this morning, so better get my skates on. Let us know when you are visiting Queensland and we'll give you a tour.  Or you could be my guest smith at the forge. Invitation extended to all IFI community. 

Ausfire,

Thanks for the invite!  Have a busy, safe day.  Have enjoyed seeing all the items you have made and posted.  Thanks for the inspiration!

Tom

Hey! All great ideas guys!

JHCC Wow, nice piece! I found two similar shaped knives from Nigeria at the https://anthro.amnh.org/collections which is my nr1 place to look for African tribal objects. But yours represents very sophisticated lines and style.

I own several edged weapons from the Central-African region and after looking, touching them closely and trying to reproduce some of them I can tell the same: those smiths there really knew their job. The rustic and "primitive" lines of the old ironworks are often made with such precision and care that no shame if you can't get it done yourself.

Bests:

Gergely

I'm on holiday now, but the parangs' epoxy curing while we're having fun .

 

That's a fantastic resource, Gergely; thank you so much!

Hey, jlpservicesinc! Here are two crooked knives from Alaska that were donated to the AMNH by my great-grandfather:

https://anthro.amnh.org/objectlist.html?object_list=60 %2F 4991

https://anthro.amnh.org/objectlist.html?object_list=60 %2F 5003

Well, that is neat.. Nice job.. 

JHCC, Very neat pieces.  Beautiful as well as functional..  Great grand pappy was an explore or indigenous peoples.. ??? Either way both exciting and neat.. 

I've come to the conclusion that I have never had a single original thought in all my life.. LOL.. 

That's really nice, 58er. I like the way you have kept the heat colours. Great work.

Nice work 58er that is an excellent peice...

6 hours ago, jlpservicesinc said:

Great grand pappy was an explore or indigenous peoples.. ??? Either way both exciting and neat.. 

Episcopalian missionary in Anvik, AK from 1886 to 1933. He was also something of an amateur ethnographer: learned the local dialect, collected and translated folktales and mythology, and sent quite a few artifacts back to the AMNH.