JHCC Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 Finished up the basic forging on a set of hooks for a friend. I’m dealing with a case of tennis elbow, so forging down to 1/2” round from 7/8” round world have been a LOT harder without The Pressciousss. Also decided to add one-inch marks along the edge of the table of The Pressciousss. Very handy when drawing out to a specific length. Also decided that the nodding donkey needed some proper ears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welshj Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 (edited) On 11/7/2020 at 3:34 AM, MacLeod said: Man I’m living in the dark ages!! Nah... thats why we have lights! I really love your seagull lamp. It's been awhile since I've messed with veneer, but that had to be a challenge cutting that thin, that narrow with scissors. Job well done! On 11/4/2020 at 1:11 PM, ThomasPowers said: They tend to be a bit over protective about the cranes around these parts. I have a pond in my yard- and have several big blue herons that like to visit and fish the shallow end, which is closer to the house. Walking out the door to go to work in the morning... i tend to get a pretty good surprise when they get startled by me, startling them, startling me. Lol ... Edited November 8, 2020 by Mod30 Trim quote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexandr Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 I visited the house where I worked several years ago. They offered a new job. I took some pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacLeod Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 17 hours ago, JHCC said: Also decided that the nodding donkey needed some proper ears. I’m worried about you. 14 hours ago, Welshj said: Job well done! Thanks I swore a little while doing it. more fireside sets for me yesterday and today followed Frosty s advice on experimenting with twists and finishes. At the right temp the brass brush is like alchemy love the effect it gives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wirerabbit Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 I worked on blacksmith tools and among others, finished my first hardy from a sucker rod end. Left my charcoal bed low and was able to work three pieces of round bar stock at a time. Chisel, punches, and fuller cooling in the can as I type. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmoleaf Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 New fire rake/poker for my forge. Made from some gnarly rusty rebar. Am enjoying the new anvil. Tried also making hardie hot cut...but ended up quitting on that...too dangerous without correct tongs and fire management issues I need to figure out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 Finished the hooks: three plant, and four towel. Also figured out a new use for election sign wire: impromptu spray rack! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 Nice work elmole, wirerabbit, and MacLeod. alexandr, wow, as always. That is stunning work. Nice John, yeah, always best to spray outside. And use what ya got to hang it from. I'm a coat hanger cutoff and bent, hung on the rafters kinda guy. Or on a board on any kinda stand. Again, use what you got. Should see me feeling around for the furnace heat in the shop to find the best spot in the cold weather lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 Thanks, Das. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 I make a lot of election sign wire hooks, not the H frames, the square C frames. To hang I have a piece of cable strung along one side of the shop as well as a spare sucker rod going across the upper areas from truss to end frame. We also use baling wire a lot out here---it's traditional! Alexander; best praise for a job well done is them wanting more work done by you! Saturday afternoon I fired up the coal forge and started on another LED votive chandelier; this one based on a Colonial American Chandelier I have see. Mine was done from Election sign wire, again the square C frames, from previous elections---this year I didn't see many signs out!?! I started with 6 lengths around a short piece for hexagonal closest packing. Rebar tie wire wrapped to hold it together. Forge welded that end long enough to make a nice solid hook, then went down the length a bit and forge welded it again---I should have used a center piece there as well! (Held it down there with a small stainless hose clamp.) Then fired up the gasser and I did a basket between the two welds and heated it right below that weld and dropped the hook and basket down the hardy hole and bent out the legs and flattened them by placing a piece of plate steel on top and thwapping it with a sledge. (469# Fisher with broad flat face and 1.5" hardy holes, (yup two of them!) Getting dark so I left the six legged spider along till Sunday after church. (Zoom service and our pastor stopped at the local truck stop to provide a socially distanced communion to us on his way home.) Sunday I fired up the gasser and started experimenting on how to make the LED votive holders. Decided to make a tool for twisting the wire around a piece of pipe. Then decided it needed a handle. Then improvised a hardy hole tool from it and this week I plan to make it an official hardy hole tool as that seemed to work the best. Wish my arc welder was usable. Being able to run around the anvil would help too, I must clean a bit more in the shop. First examples were a bit rough so I will tweak them cold before I take a picture. Currently the legs are straight and radial; but the originals were humped up or even spiraled slightly. So what is everybody else doing with election sign wire? (I also watered the melons, dug and repositioned the rocks delineating the driveway, shut down the swampcooler for the season, added the final chain links to my previous chandelier, took the trash to the transfer station, a few more honey-do's---trying to get ready for less clement weather, though we still had a fan in our bedroom window last night...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wirerabbit Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 Thanks for the encouragement, Daswulf. Tools, ground, filed, and wire brushed today. It was my reward for tilling in five sacks of goat manure into the new planting bed. Going to be a rose garden with a few native Texas trees. Not sure I'm bothering with heat treating as the sucker rod is 4621, but I did make a test piece I'll oil quench once I find a quenching container. This stuff was very easy to forge. At one time I had three bars in the charcoal fire at one time. Might be why I forged in an index where I didn't need one and left one out of a forging where I needed one! Such is the life of a beginner. slot punch, round punch, square fuller, and hot cut chisel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacLeod Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 Nice tools wirerabbit. It’s so satisfying turning old steel into useful tools. Hope they give you years of use! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluerooster Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 Put my hand crank leaf blower, blower project on hold, and fired up the forge. Made the second half of tongs, got it punched and fitted to the first half. I still need to draw out the rein on the one, and weld rein to the other. I made it short. (didn't allow enough stock) Oh BTW, Great work, all of yall. Mabe when I'm 83 I'll be able to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 The election sign wire frames I have seen are an H shape, and maybe 1/8" wire. Pretty spindly. Everything else is a banner strung across rebar driven into the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 10, 2020 Share Posted November 10, 2020 Yup those H ones are no good, some even have coated wires! We see fewer and fewer of the Square C ones year by year but there are still some out there. I still have a bunch from prior years when they were common. (I must see what my neighbor has on his property...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 Fixed up the 3” no-name vise someone had thrown out. Excellent quality at four times the price. And in the “need a tool, make a tool” department, the orchestra director needs the soundpost in a cello reset, so I volunteered and made myself the appropriate tool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonnytait Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 Finished off a Hammer today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacLeod Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 Nice looking hammer! What stock did you start off with? 11 hours ago, JHCC said: soundpost in a cello That’s impressive and I’ve never seen one before! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 The end on the left has a chisel point that gets jammed into the post to set it in place, and the end on the right is for fine adjustments, by pulling, pushing, or tapping the post into its final position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 So now you are the Cello fixit Fellow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 I worked in an instrument repair shop for a couple of years just after I got married. Really interesting work, but hard to make a living when your wife is in grad school and you're getting paid by someone getting paid by starving musicians. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Shed Forge Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 I woke up to find the gate to my backyard was knocked over by the 65mph winds we had here last night. Broke right at the base of a post. The good news: the chimney to my forge didn't even budge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 Sounds like you have your priorities right! All I did last night was sell some welding tank bells to a guy and will probably be spending the money on neat blacksmithing shirts from Glen! (Christmas is coming; better get your presents soon in case it takes a while for stock to replenish as others buy them too!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 Finished this guy yesterday actually, tried it out today. Ugly but it works nicely. May have to purty it up a bit. And definately try to make different dies for it. The ones there are just a couple pieces of old leaf spring. The top one is only about 2 1/2" with a piece of mild welded on to strike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 Purty don't move metal Billy. Looks like a working tool in the finest blacksmith tradition. I welded mild steel strike blocks on my leaf spring dies and they broke off after a while. The spring didn't like the HAZ. I tried normalizing the next attempt and it only lasted longer. I just keep the striking surface dressed now. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.