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I Forge Iron

What did you do in the shop today?


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CGL:

Thank you. :) The fork is going to the home forge for some more refinement. 

To say I'm having a blast at lessons is a massive understatement. Every time I light a forge and pick up a hammer it brings me Joy. Actual true joy. 

My life has been a bit difficult from an early age and this craft is the first thing that has ever made me truely joyful.

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Not much today; just a few bits of shop maintenance. On the stand for the horizontal bandsaw, I cut off the old casters, put it on a piano dolly, and added a handle so that I’m not tempted to steer it around by the tensioning knob. 

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Also finished up a water leaf forming tool (à la Mark Aspery) for the vise.

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I think I should add some kind of shroud around the motor on the saw, so that offcuts don’t drop on the housing for the switch. 

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C1, nice tractor! Good work. 

Eventless, nice loking tools and fork. The tines look a lil on the thick side but the form looks nice and even. You could dr. It up later with a finial and pointier pokers. 

I like the tripod ADHD. 

John, looks kind of wicked. Have had some fun making fantasy axes before. 

A guard over the motor would be an excellent idea. 

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John, it so sad when relations become zombies, I hope She can use it safely on him and get on with life...

Tripods: a nice thing about using that type is that you can also use it by pounding a piece on either side of the fire and laying the 3rd piece horizontally across it and hang a number of pots, we call them a cowboy cooking set when used that away. (I usually make the 2 U's and an O type myself)

Now I once made a Tripod for a 5 gallon+ cast iron bean pot/stew pot.  Large stock,  I was worried that the weight might cause a leg to push deeper and spill stuff. So I bent the bottom of the leg out and flattened it leaving a couple inches at the end which I pointed and bent down. To use you set it up and step on the flattened section to drive the point into the ground. The flattened section keeps it from sinking any deeper and the pointed section keeps it from splaying.

No I don't have any pictures, that one was done in 1985?, in trade for having a pet neutered.

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John: "commissioned by my cousin for her husband"

Saturday I took the coal forge to an SCA event held at the local University.  Did some teaching,  1/4" stock S hook; two 1/2" large S hooks with incised twist, straightened out some stakes, lent hammers to folks who had forgot them, etc.

Sunday I taught the "intro to smithing" class (AKA the "set the hook class") at the Fine Arts Metals classroom; 5 beginners and a hoard of somewhat advanced students who were supposed to work on their own and come to me if they had problems. (Using a separate forge and anvils.)  I had to stop several times and go over and deal with problems before they knew they were having them... I suggested they team up to help work on their projects and I got one team that was getting pretty good at bottle openers; they were talking about making some to sell at the pre Christmas handicrafts fair.  I told them that I had 7' more of the stock they were using back at the shop; but if they were going commercial, they would need to buy it from me. "How Much?"---"replacement cost."

I also mentioned that they would need to clean up wear and tear on my punch, and mentioned that they might want to forge their own punch in class, as I had several old chisels they could use as stock...And then telling them they should NOT try to cut heavy High C stock using a hardy and a sledge on the SMALLEST ANVIL present! And if they broke it they would have to replace it probably more than US$500!  (Mechanical Engineers, Civil Engineers, Mat Sci, other engineering disciplines students...gives one the warm fuzzies about our infrastructure in the future!)

My relined forge did well the plistix survived.

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Finished up a firepit poker for a dear old friend who moved to a place you can have a firepit!

5/8 stock to start, tapered on an Anyang at an industrial space I volunteer at.

Incised twist for the handle, way too many cold shuts in the first hook so cut off, drill and drift for a hang hole.

cheated some and sawed the split for the working end of the poker, after the hook errors on the other end.

Left a bit of the Octagon to round section square for a final twist, to line up the tines with the hang hole it lays flat when hung.

Just under 3 feet long. a lot less clunky than the verision I made for the house fireplace (on the right) about a decade ago.

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Wasn't today, but Saturday. 4 keychains as a thank you to some tree removal folks, and also finished a few candle stick holders for holding memorial candles which I forgot to take a picture of before mailing them and some hand dipped candles off.leaf.jpg.171402f4aa7803cc50d59c1554d3d11e.jpg

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Made an S-hook just cuase i aint done much lately. Then a fork for the turkey here in a couple weeks. The tines are wider than thick. Small little crack at the base of the tine, but should make it through 1 Thanksgiving dinner. 

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Little more file work and some wax should be alright. 

Pulled this out of my fire also. Think it may make a wall of fame. So here is todays clinker. 

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I also had to make a new wedge for my vice. 

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3 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Now are the terminal curls sized to work as bottle openers?

If that was to me, they in fact do operate as bottle openers. I leave the stem heavy, and generally oval for leverage across the cap. The one of the right doesn't work as well as the other three but I tested each out after they cooled.

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Experimenting dishing saw blades to make a jellyfish upper part. ( had a guy throw money and an address at me at my last event this weekend wanting a jellyfish and to ship it to him. . Ok..... 

Btw, loving the swage block from Holland Anvil. 

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BB, Stone County Ironworks used to hang their "best" doughnut clinkers on nails on the wall.  (Back in the 1980's).  I have a dirt/sand/small gravel floor that is gradually adding clinker to the mix...

Das; one way to do spot heating on larger dished forms is to place the outer side over the hot spot and put a piece of coke inside the bowl over where you want it hot and it will preferentially heat there.  (Pots & shield Bosses---I still tend to pick up sheet metal circles anytime I find them at the scrap yard.)

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Das, can't wait to see your jellyfish. That should make for an interesting build!  

Well, here's my thingy for today. Got to get some more stock because I'm getting low. This was made from some odd rectangular shaped stuff. Took it down to round. I didn't really have a plan, just needed some practice time. I think the pin is too long. Took advice from Goods, and made a more centered eye. One side of the clip is wider. Got some flats on the twist. Hammer work is not nearly as finished as I'd like. But this is my second one, so I'll get it eventually. If anyone has any advice, I'm open. Thanks for looking and great day everyone. 

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