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I Forge Iron

What did you do in the shop today?


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12 hours ago, ausfire said:

Forged a snake out of a round file today.   I thought it may have been brittle especially doing the upsetting for the head,  but the metal worked fairly easily. The texture of the file makes believable snake scales:

Nice! Will have to start warching out for files now.

Mel

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Buzzkill: Thanks. I have one old rebar snake that stays in my forge area permanently and I have noticed more than one visitor take a backward step. It has rusted to a realistic looking brown colour. Our eastern brown snakes are not to be taken lightly.

Frosty: You are right. Very marketable. These snakes walk out (or slither out) of our tourist souvenir shop very readily. I do have a good supply of files, although the round files are less common than the flat files and farrier's rasps.

Mel: Yes, the round files are good. Even really small ones like chainsaw files make good miniature snakes.

Das: Nice punches. Can you briefly say how you achieve the depression for the eye punch. Shaped over a ball bearing perhaps?

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2 hours ago, ausfire said:

 

Das: Nice punches. Can you briefly say how you achieve the depression for the eye punch. Shaped over a ball bearing perhaps?

I just drilled them Aus. Didn't take long at all. Once I really test them out I'll see if they leave a nice depression. If they don't I can always refine them. 

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Today I finished up the propane forge we were building and gave it a test run. Works like a charm. Then I cut apart one of the two water tanks that followed us home.

Started out with a 3 in. air cutoff wheel but found out it was painfully slow. After cutting a slot long enough to get the blade of a reciprocating saw in finished in short order.

My wife sees a plasma cut fire pot out of the main part and I see a charcoal forge in the bottom, also got some real heavy rubber that was the bladder which should come in handy around the shop.

 

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Aus: If round file snakes are a good enough seller it might be worth just buying new cheapos in bulk from China, where ever. It's not like you're going to file anything. Hmmm?

IDF&C: They make cool Minion outdoor fire places or chimneas. I can't think of a good reason not to let your Minion moonlight as a BBQ and hold down a part time job as a charcoal forge. Maybe a  Steampunky minion Hmmm?

Frosty The Lucky.

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4 hours ago, Frosty said:

 

IDF&C: They make cool Minion outdoor fire places or chimneas. I can't think of a good reason not to let your Minion moonlight as a BBQ and hold down a part time job as a charcoal forge. Maybe a  Steampunky minion Hmmm?

Frosty The Lucky.

How did you know Debi is a minion aficionado ? Here is her version of a favorite minion that she made in a steel fabrication class at Eureka Springs School of the Arts. It's about two feet tall made out of reclaimed items.

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Well, I sure didn't get to make a sexy chandelier!

I spent the day making 10 simple coat hooks.  Seems like it shouldn't take a day to do it, but I had a reporter from the local newspaper want to do an interview and I made him swing the hammer so he'd learn firsthand what it was like.  Took forever, but it was great fun and I'm actually looking forward to seeing how the piece comes out.

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I'm with you, Vaughn. No magnificent chandeliers here either, but I did forge eight ceiling hooks from coach bolts to hang up two chandeliers in a new house on our museum complex. Did some fancy-head bolts to pin the natural timber over the fireplace too. (You might remember, Vaughn, this is the house that is built on the site of our old scrap heap.)

Alexandr's work is really high class stuff. I think he should have forged some nice little black steel cable clips for the electrician to use!!

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A friend and I tested some coal he dug on Castle Mtn. and it turned out to be from a good seam, burns hot, clean and clinker free. Good coal for the collecting. It's okay with the mineral owners for limited personal use within reason that is. 

That was today, recently I've been putting the finishing touches on my grinder but now the motor wants to trip the circuit breaker rather than run. <sigh>

Frosty The Lucky.

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Made a bracket to hold up our sun shade from the underside of the eaves.  Coolest part as a beginner was to create the second hole using a chisel and drift.  I could have just drilled it but I love that no metal chips were made.

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Started building a large dining room table to go with the 8-foot oak bench described previously.  Two of the legs welded on at nice right angles, but the other two pulled in far enough to need correction.  About twice a year I find a use for my HF port-a-power.  Assembled the needed tubes and end fittings, applied some rosebud, pumped a few strokes, held it there while the leg(s) cooled, and all is well - now on to making quarter-braces, leg spreaders and wrestling with the 2" oak slabs.  The customer wants to use the table for his Thanksgiving clan gathering...we'll see...

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Our porta power sets idle alot as well but they are definitely handy! Nice fab job on that base, interested to see the build. I have a project in mind like that. Keep us posted! 

Made some more progress on the rack. I can not believe how long this is taking me........

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1 hour ago, ThomasPowers said:

Nothing in the shop today; but I did go by the local fleamarket and buy 35 used rusty farriers rasps for about 50 cents per.  Then over to my parents house to help Mom write Dad's obituary.

Very sorry for your loss Thomas.

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