1 hour ago, ausfire said:

Drilled first and shaped?

Yes, that’s right. I straightened a couple of coil spring segments on Sunday and threw them in the hot box to anneal. Yesterday, I drilled out the centers on the drill press (at 1/8” and 1/4”) and ground down the outsides on the 2x90. Next time I fire up the forge, I’ll harden and temper them. 

3 hours ago, ausfire said:

I would like to find a way of forging an eye punch that has a spot in the middle. I don't think it's possible.

I can think of three ways to do it off the top of my head, although I have no idea if any of them would actually work.

1. Make the punch as I did above, but drill an additional smaller hole at the bottom of  and centered on the main hole. Insert a small pin to act as the punch for the pupil. (Maybe braze it in place? If you did, you probably wouldn't be able to do a proper heat-treat on the punch.)

2. In a piece of high-carbon steel, forge the eye you want with a normal eye punch and dot the pupil with a center punch,  Harden, and hammer the end of a heated rod into the eye to form it to that shape, like some people do to make their touchmarks.

3. Drill the hole in the end of the punch blank with a hollow-center drill bit. I don’t know where one might get such a thing, but presumably a machinist could make one.

This is all purely theoretical, and as I said, I have no idea if any of these methods would actually work. Might be fun to try, though.

 

Sure. I started just cutting the mouths with a hacksaw. It's very little work and way easier then when I chiseled them open hot. Once I'm done with the snake I cut a little fork tongue out of copper, put it in the mouth and tap the mouth shut on it. 

It's really inspiring seeing everyone's projects, big and small.  Thanks for sharing!!

I installed a small wicket for the dog.

alexandr, everything you do is above and beyond. Like today i cleaned up my mower and attempted to mow but it rained.

For you its like, today I made the fanciest dog gate the world has ever known, nothing special though, im alexandr...

But seriously, i strive to be half as good as you.

Another beautiful piece Alexandr. Open or closed it's a work of precisely planned and executed art. How does your dog like it?

Frosty The Lucky.

I think Mr Pr3ssure sums up the feeling of many of us about alexandr's work.  He makes us all feel a bit inadequate.

Alexander thats an adorable gate,  nice work

Today is my son's fifth birthday. He got his first visit to my friend's forge and made his first nail and first hook.

Sarge, that is cool ya got the kid doin it. My granddaughters are 6 and love to be in the shop with papa. They mark the anvil, but cant move steel for nothing. 

So today Alexandr makes a master peice of a wicket (thanks i learnt a new word today) and me i set my self on fire.

Great, and great firsts Snuffy! Good job getting him started. And tell him Happy Birthday from the ifi group.

Billy, the key point is that you got it out in time to tell us about it and to not be in intensive care.

Scruffy, that's awsome. I'm jealous of those safety goggles. Those things are awsome.

I set myself on fire at work a couple of weeks ago. A little too much excitement for an ammunition factory.

My son did a bit of both (moving metal and marking the anvil). I got him a small ball-pein, but it's too light to move much steel. He does okay with my little 2-lb. rounding hammer, but it's really too heavy for him to get more than a few swings in. Fortunately, the striking anvil is a good height for him so that's what we used. Thanks for the kind wishes, all.

Dear Sargent First Class Snuffy,

A classic blacksmith quote:  "Yes, I know I'm on fire, just let me finish this weld."

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Finished a few walls with insulation and drywall in the tiny house today. The big wooden cube is the landing for a split ladder for my kid to get into his loft bedroom. Trying to get a room fully insulated for A/C before Florida gets much hotter. Lol.

Thanks guys.

Bench made a couple of years ago, stands in the same room.

21 hours ago, Frosty said:

How does your dog like it?

It isnot mine. My dogs live free.

Dog Gates were a common feature in large country houses in the UK (and a great place to show off fancy smithing). Some of the coffee table books on such houses show them.

In my house we have a cat excluder door for our bedroom. We use a swamp cooler and so need to leave the door open for cooling; but my wife doesn't like to be woken up by cats jumping onto the bed from the top of the dresser.  Unfortunately it's currently just a screen door. Perhaps when I retire I can work on a fine steel filigree one.

Those look like outdoor dogs alright. We have one long haired dog but she's Deb's service dog and lives indoors, the smooth coat Dachshunds are definitely indoor dogs in winter. We can't let ours run anyway, we live on a busy road. We use child gates to keep them from chasing the upstairs cat or jumping on Deb to play. 

You humble me every time you show your work Alexandr. You're a blacksmith artist in the truest sense of the term. Thank you for showing us your work.

Frosty The Lucky.

Yes thanks Alexandr. My Wife makes me show her your posts too!

I wanted to swing a hammer after work so I squared off a piece of 1/4” round copper. couldn't  believe it took 20 minutes !!  Fun to do

On 4/23/2019 at 2:54 AM, ausfire said:

I would like to find a way of forging an eye punch that has a spot in the middle. I don't think it's possible.

Some endmills have a void in the center. Perhaps you could find a ball endmill that has a center void and Chuck it up in your drill press. (or better yet a lathe)

Other endmills are unavoidable. 

Forge a punch to make the eyepunch. Drill a void in that punch before hardening. However a small cone in the eyepunch will overheat and wear fast.  Why not just use a separate punch to make the pupil? 

Someone recently gave me this thing, but I'm not exactly sure what it is:

The shape sure seems reminiscent of a cold chisel, but the end is pretty strange. Perhaps it was just modified at some point? If anyone knows what it is/was, please let me know. It does spark as fairly high carbon, so I was thinking I maybe it would make a decent hot chisel.

On 4/23/2019 at 8:15 PM, George N. M. said:

A classic blacksmith quote:  "Yes, I know I'm on fire, just let me finish this weld."

Aah, nothing beats the smell of _ _ _ in the morning,,,