What did you do in the shop today?

[JHCC]

Pr3ssure, you, Das, and Andrew Rice (IFI member skyforgemetalworks) live at the corners of a roughly equilateral triangle and should get together for an afternoon. Andrew gave me my first lessons in hammer making, plus he’s a really cool guy. 

Here is Andrew (r) giving me pointers on striking (this was in Latticino’s shop):

 

On 4/27/2019 at 6:02 AM, jlpservicesinc said:

JHCC Love the hammer.  Looks like it will be a metal mover for sure. 

Thanks! I find myself favoring lighter hammers these days, for some reason, and I thought a cross-peen about this size would be handy. 

[jlpservicesinc]

Great picture..   There is something for sure about having a lighter hammer 2-2+ lbs in a great design with a longish handle that will, in fact, cover most bases.. 


For myself, I have a tendency to not have the long-standing endurance I once had so migrate towards a heavier hammer.  I have been using the 2.75lbs hammer extensively lately and will be looking forward to the 4lbs in the make now.  

I miss calculated the amount of waste on the chunk (nearly 6lbs start) so will come in under the mark and it will be a heavy 3lbs... I had planned a 4.5lbs but there was so much loss. 

[Daswulf]

Thanks for her birthday wishes.

 

[BillyBones]

Das, that is a lovely young lady you got there. Cute as a button. Give her another Happy Birthday from me. 

Kids, ya spend 2 years teaching them to walk and talk, 16 tellin them sit down and shut up. When my youngest turned 18 and moved off i thought great me and the old lady got the house to ourselves now. Then the oldest one came back... with her kids. Once ya get one they just keep on multiplying like cats in the barn. The cats are not near as mean as the daughters though. 

Seriously though treasure every minute with them, 18 years goes by in the blink of an eye. 

 

So about accidents in the shop. This happened a while back ago, 5 or 6 years maybe, but i was pulling the trans from a bucket truck that had a sub-frame. While unbolting it one of the bolts broke and the frame fell on my hand. It pinched 3 of my fingers between it and a drive on rack. The middle and ring got a pretty good cut. The first joint of my pinky was hit just right to dislocate it. It was on the corner of the rack and the frame and that corner acted like a  hammer hitting steel on a cut off. When i got the frame back up it was dangling by the skin on the bottom side. 

My old lady made me get an apron after catching my self on fire the other day. 

[Frosty]

GREAT photo DAS! It'll be a perfect postcard to send to the Grand parents and relatives. You have a good eye for photographs and lighting and you got the shot before her butt got cold and her expression got less happy. WELL DONE Brother!

Did you have the pinky finger reattached Billy? 

I've done myself some mischiefs  but haven't removed any parts. . . Uh, external pieces like digits. . Uh . . .ER . . . Well if I don't count brain tissue I guess maybe. I'd better just shut up or I'll have to stay away from anything more dangerous than a pillow or blanket with a dachshund in my lap. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Billy Bones, pictures or it didn't happen

 

[JHCC]

Mostly messing around today to try out the new hammer (which turned out to be slightly softer than originally planned, but otherwise quite nice). Made a dragon-headed letter opener for my daughter:

And a penannular brooch to use as a belt buckle:

[BillyBones]

Ok, so after checkin with the old lady it was in '09 i chopped off my finger. (aint it amazing how much faster time moves as you get older. I swear somebody is moving the clock hands and lowering the floor on me.) 

Frosty, this is the honest to God's truth as to what i did. I laid my finger flat on a bench, with the heal of my other heal off my other hand i smashed it 2x and back into socket it went. I then dosed it in peroxide. Then i soaked a piece of paper towel in peroxide, wrapped it around my finger. Then wrapped a piece of gauze over that and wrapped it all up in electrical tape. Went over and finished pulling out the transmission from that truck. 

Here it is today:

If you look close you can see the scar, i guess i could have washed my hands. (yeah right, like they would get much cleaner)

On to what i did today

Made a mini-hatchet out of an old ball peen:

And i re-planted my pineapple. Yes i am growing a pineapple in Ohio. I have had it for about 5 years. I take it inside in the winter and put it under plant lights. The cat chewed on it this past winter so the leaves look a little scraggly but it should be OK. 

[Fowllife]

That’s a fine hammer John, and a nice letter opener. 

Great picture there Das, there’s always time for making memories.

The wife told me a needed to clean up the yard, so I finally dug through the my pile of steel and made a pipe rack. I managed to get all the stuff in yard stacked, but I think I have some more out back in the old mink house. It needs a few finishing touches, but it’s usable  

 

[Frosty]

Well done Billy, it seems to have worked. Nice custom bugger hook you got there.

Nice stock rack Fowllife. Are those galvy guard rail posts on the bottom? 

Frosty The Lucky.

[ausfire]

Das, that is a lovely photo of your dear little girl. It doesn't seem like a year has gone by.

[Daswulf]

Thanks guys. She is a cutie.

Frosty, every once in a while I can line up a good shot. She is a mover, and a girl of a million expressions so I usually have to take a bunch of shots to get a good one. Funny enough on that one I took two and they were pretty much the exact same. Thankfully with digital, I can just delete bad ones. 

Aus, I know, where does the time go. She's growing up fast. 

Did pretty well at the fair yesterday and will be there noon till 5 today. Of course with everything going on I didn't get everything done to have a great booth display like I'd want but it works for now. My last minute pictures weren't great either and it was so busy I didn't have time to get any during. 

[JHCC]

My daughter was kind enough to remind me yesterday that she’s closer to the age I was when she was born than I am. Where does the time go?

[TRR1143]

Made my first set of bottle openers yesterday. Fairly simple, but they work. Made the punches last week, they get the job done.

 

[Daswulf]

Nice firsts TRR! 

[BillyBones]

My youngest daughter is half my age now. I tell her that just a few years ago she was 1/10 my age, then 1/4, 1/3, now half and at this rate soon he will be older than me.

My twin grandaughters have recently lost their first tooth. Grandma hates it when i tell them they are going to loose their fingers and toes for the adult ones to grow in. 

[Frosty]

Traumatize the Grandkids and get them ready for life. It's an important job, almost a much fun as spoiling them and sending them home to their folks. You remind me of an old friend of my Parents who kept stealing my nose, scared the crap out of me. Probably literally. He and his Wife, Asalta were always good for sweet treats and noisy toys. 

Spoil on Billy!

Frosty The Lucky.

[SLAG]

Child abuse

[anvil]

On 4/27/2019 at 7:49 PM, JHCC said:

And a penannular brooch to use as a belt buckle:

Really nice! and i especially like the facets on the pin.

22 hours ago, Daswulf said:

Thanks guys. She is a cutie

That she is!

[Eventlessbox]

The fingers and toes is a good one. 

Reminds me of the first time my wife got pregnant.  I convinced her that the stuff holding her bellybutton an innie would snap at some point as she got further along. 

Had her going for close to a month. 

[pnut]

That's too much. 

[JHCC]

Hammer Mark II:

And a mason jar handle:

Also broke the handle on my rounding hammer. Again.

I’m starting to think I need to re-drift that beastie with a larger eye. I’ve broken two handles on it, but never once on any other hammer.

[zip]

It’s hard to tell from the pictures, but did you round the bottom edges of the hammer eye  where the handle passes through?  It looks sharp on my screen.

By how it’s breaking at the head it seems like a sharp edge that is stressing the handle.  

[Laynne]

JHCC, more pics of the Mason jar handle please. I've not seen those.

Laynne

[ThomasPowers]

Today; I unloaded the truck at the casita.  Yesterday I taught an intro to smithing class from 8am to 6 pm with lunch off.  Morning class was under enrolled---getting college students up in the mornings still seems to be a problem. For the beginner's class I had 2 adults, one of them a Metallurgy professor at the college... Then the afternoon class was full up over the top---Hot steel and humans everywhere.  No lost time injuries, screams, etc.  The "advanced" section---in parallel but using a different forge and working on projects with just some coaching. had a good number morning and evening.  I sold a scrap ballpeen to a student an a bottle opener made from a buggy tyre from the local scrapyard.

Looks like I will be in NW Arkansas May 12-18 if all the schedules meld correctly!