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What did you do in the shop today?


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1 hour ago, littleblacksmith said:

It seems like most of the “admins” of the site, I never see pictures of their work.

As a photographer I find it difficult to compose a photo of me while working at the forge. Many of the blueprints I have made are of my work.  

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Littleblacksmith (Mark) very well said.. Kudos.. 

I find taking pictures to be easy.   You just snap the little button..   Or push it or touch it, if there is no real button..   Composure of the shot gets easier (lack of) unless you are one of those photo snobs who has to have everything exactly perfect for their photo.  I find it is the composure of the shot that is usually lacking.  And unless staged most the time can be lack luster.    this becomes the largest problem for most.. "How to make the items look the best".. 

I have come to understand the photo of the item is not the issue, but the item nearly needs to speak for itself..  I stopped staging items when I decided the item/s just has to stand on it's own 2 feet.  even if not shown in the best light. 

I wish now that I had taken more photo's of the work completed.  I got to a certain point and stopped taking photos as the work was just more of the same though I never made the same item twice once a batch was done. Well except for nails or back groups for thumblatches and thumbers.  I literally never made another one of and item all ready forged and sold. 

I only took about 1/4 of the work ever completed.. And wish I had taken all of the pieces.. There were some neat ones that i will never be able to take photo's of.. 

 Now the only time I really forge is during demo season or if doing videos and the work is diversified into what ever I feel like making so it is not the same.  

Here are the last items forged.  All wrought iron the last 2 pieces on the right are steeled. Just waiting on confirmation of information before the video is released. 

Stages in Forging a chisel, At Roemer's Forge.jpg

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I seem to go from hot to cold on pics. Sometimes I'm pretty fanatical and document a job throughout. Most often I get pics when finished.

I feel the most important pics are when my work is installed. This shows my iron in context with the setting.

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When doing build photos usually it was in reference to a special build.  Extra fancy hinges. Something I had not done before or something I liked about a particular piece. 

I also loved when I had to make 10 of something and it showed the ganged up photos..  :) 

Install photo's for wrought iron work including hinges that go on shaped doors included.  As does fitted work.. Like drops and such if the bars are continuous. 


Wrought iron with reference as you pointed out best showcases the work.. 

I did not do very much wrought iron work.   Some smaller pieces but it was usually out priced in the area geographically..  The few big pieces I did were for rock stars.. LOL.. Opera singers. 

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Actually I wasn't thinking so much of big iron. I was thinking more of doing a kitchen full of door and drawer hardware, hinges, knobs, pulls or little dangly south western teardrop pulls backed by a rosette and a cotter key fastener. Sweet memories.  Never got enough pics of them. I had a nice sample board for show. 

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Sample board get lost or just disappear?   I have some of the very first hardware I made and I kept these pieces as examples of progression.  I used to have them hanging right across from the forge proment so I could see them. 

its funny whenever I pull out the very first thumblatch and show people at demonstrations.. Because their response is always.. Wow, that is a nice peice.. Something to be proud of..  I chuckle and pull out a thumblatch from the table..   then I get "Oh, well that was a good try".. 

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On 12/23/2019 at 7:45 PM, Glenn said:

As a photographer I find it difficult to compose a photo of me while working at the forge.

I decided to photograph my chime project, just to see how challenging a three handed forgetograph shoot would be.

It can be vexing when one is under the clock, and the heats are going cold and the kids are expecting you at 4:00 p.m., and a hot chime does not ring, and I am not even going to quench until the end. (One basically has to get a feel for what is going to sustain resonance. And this is an example of what one can get away with).

Happy to bash my work further for educational purposes.

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My Son-in-law  the Drummer was "jazzed" by them, so it was a good day.

My hat is off to all those brave enough to post their work here - I do not get to work hot too often, and it shows. I used one hammer, one tong, one 88# Soderfors, two hot punches, and one hardy.

Robert Taylor

Edited by Anachronist58
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Anachronist58, I've never seen chimes like that before. How do they work? I like it. 

We bought a tool kit for my 6- year old nephew for christmas. He has been using his Papa's tools, but he's proud to have his own in his size. He is building a "birdhouse" and he asked me to help him with his hammering. He was choking up on the handle and using a white knuckle death grip. I showed him how to hold his hammer and start and drive the nail. He collected a bunch of nails from when they replaced the windows. Most are bent, so I showed him how he could straighten them out on the anvil of the bench vise. By time I had to leave, he was straightening his nails and driving them in very well. He likes to watch me work in the shop. Who knows? Maybe I can teach him a bit of the craft. 

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CGL, i was about that same age when my granddaddy taught me almost the exact same things. He was a master carpenter, could build anything from a house to a cabinet. I learnt so much from him. How to drive a nail, melt lead into shot, skin a rabbit, make whiskey, etc. He was not a blacksmith but he could repair the tools we had and the like, i remember him working in the forge we had in the barn but did not go out of his way to mash metal. Him and my dad are the 2 i looked up to in life and wanted to be like. My heroes. Your nephew will remember these lessons his entire life and pass them on to his sons or nephews. You will always have a special place in his heart. 

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Anachronist58  I gave forging for 13 or so years after being a professional..    I thought that it would take me 6 months or so to get " back in forging shape"..  

that was crazy thinking..   It's been years and I'm just starting to get a little better now..   If I forged everyday for 6months I'd be in pretty good shape, but every once in 2 months does nothing for my ability.   

Things are about to change though..  I love those shoes.. Mule shoes? 
"

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Conrad, your bottle openers look great. Very nice work.

BillyBones, my Dad was my world when I was little. I was such a big tomboy. Still haven't grown out of that yet ;) He wasn't a blacksmith but he was a jack of many trades, and I wanted to do everything he did. I miss him

My little nephew is being raised by his grandparents who are getting along in age. I'm no spring chicken, but I think I'm the closest thing he has to a mother he can more relate to and who he sees more than once a week. His PaPa and uncle have tried teaching him how to hammer, but he seemed to get it from me today down good. 

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I made a knife as a Christmas gift for my friend out of a scrap bit of rebar I found under my anvil stand. I managed to bend the handle using a vice and tongs (I don’t have a proper anvil so I can’t use hardy hole tools). The bottom of the blade isn’t cracked, it’s just dirt. Third thing I’ve made and I think I’m getting slightly better, any advice is appreciated.

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On 12/25/2019 at 5:06 PM, Rojo Pedro said:

Played with my new guillotine

Got make one of those. Hope I get to do pretty stuff like yours in the coming year.

4 hours ago, alexandr said:

To be continued

alexandr, when you come back, please to tell me of that monolithic table shin and feet:  Это великолепный!

2 hours ago, JHCC said:

Found some tools

 haha, reason I used but one hammer - could not locate the preferred others!

3 hours ago, CrazyGoatLady said:

How do they work?

Everything, in some way, is a bell. Atoms ring, 2 x 4's ring, galaxies ring. Some things go clunk.

Let the Scientists amongst us clean up my mess:

I could not locate the proper piece of junk to gift to the Son-in-law. I said to the wife, "I will just give him one of my old shoes". So, I pick up a nice looking shoe, and give her a strike, and she said, "dwunk!", and, says I, thet ain't gunna work! To the forge!", says I!

OK, as I understand it, in this moment, ringing is resonance, which is when a vibration is ideally supported by it's medium. One could say that the ringing of an anvil is the (adiabatically)  uninhibited return of the original vibration as it bounces back and forth.

Harmonious origination and return is NOT self-cancelling.

OK, forget all of that gobletygook. Your are making the shoe look more like a tunafork. A dinner triangle rings. When you squish the legs of the shoe closer together, straighten them out, and forge their cross sections similar enough to each other that they say to each other, "Hey ve are tvins!" Viola! Resonance! The closer together, and the more "similar" the tines, the better the conversation!

Just remember, they do not talk when they are hot!

2 hours ago, jlpservicesinc said:

Mule shoes? 

Thank you Jennifer. Do not know. A former Canadian neighbor here on an H1B visa for HVAC was a Farrier by trade, and gave me that pile of shoes. I will post a pic in the pre-altered state. And I must say, I was very pleased with how my hammer and tong hands faired with the very hectic session. A Smith knows that it is not a lot of work to shape two shoes, as per, if one does this for a job. But I had to teach myself turning on the horn in this session.....

2 hours ago, Conrad.blacksmithing said:

I like the chime Anachronist. 

Thanks! Nice Horseys!

3 hours ago, BillyBones said:

Your nephew will remember these lessons

Well said, Mr. Bones.

Iforgeiron makes me smarter!

Robert Taylor

 

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