What did you do in the shop today?

[HondoWalker]

Been a while since I forged anything. Last time I made a spoon. Earlier this year had a water leak in my closet. So  we had to take the shelves and hanger poles out. I had noticed one of the  "pipes" was heavy, but didn't think more about it until around Thanksgiving. That's when I saw it was not pipe. It is a solid steel bar 1 inch by 5 foot. I cut 8 inches of it off and got to forge it Saturday.  It became a knife. I hadn't forged a full tang knife yet so that's what I made. Cleaned it up last night. Today I put a handle on it and shined it up a bit. Was going to make the handle out of walnut but I couldn't find enough to use on both sides. One side is walnut. The other is red oak. And I finally got my mark on one correctly. It's just an "L". Couldn't quite carve a H So I had to use my middle initial. Once I have it sanded down to fairly perfect I'll coat the handle in epoxy to lock the shine in and to seal it up.  Here's a picture of it. Yesterday and today.

[George N. M.]

Hondo:  If you're just using straight lines as a touchmark such as an A or an L or an M or a rune you can just use one or more different width chisels to strike in the mark.  If you are doing it hot, which gives you a deeper strike, hold the chisel with a vice grips or tongs to keep your left hand away from the hot metal.

Nice work, BTW.  Have you been able to figure out what level of carbon is in the closet rod?  If it is just mild steel quench it in super quench (google it) and don't temper it.  That will give you the best possible blade out of mild steel.  It will never be as good as a properly hardened and tempered higher carbon steel blade but it will be a lot better than just plain mild steel. 

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[Dewnmoutain]

Christmas presents finished. 3 back scratchers. 

Wish i could have seen how the middle one was going to space apart before i hammered it flat so i could have done a tighter twist. But, it turned out well enough to leave my shop.

[M.J.Lampert]

nice looking products dew

 

[Shabumi]

9 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

Did you have trouble selling Karn Evil 9

That would be a tough sell, but luckily we only name the ones we keep. That way people can name the puppies themselves, but they can get puppies out of "Up town girl"(Kristi) and "Man in Black"(Cash) or from "Riannon"(Stevie) and "Sly and the family stone"(Sly). Alot of people keep with the theme and name their pup after a song by one of the parent artists.

7 hours ago, John B said:

Make hanger like an inverted V shape with ends flared out

"Slaps head* That is a much simpler idea. Its basically what my rivets turned into, only these will be easily replaceable if needed.

Mr. SLAG, the pop rivets are a good idea too, though I think I'm going to try the upside down flying V idea first

[BillyBones]

Maybe instead of battlements i can just go with a palisade. 

My dog was named Ziggy from David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and the spiders from mars. My daughter liked to say it was from Ziggy Marley though. 

[twigg]

My new horizontal forge was threatening to roll off the table yesterday from the weight of the burner, so I welded some feet / brick holders for a wider base today. They also keep the refractory bricks I use as doors from falling off the table and being obliterated.

Welds are real ugly but it passes a vigorous earthquake test. Only thing missing on this forge now is an emissive lining.

Still putting the finishing touches on the gifts. Cutting it close!

[DennisCA]

16 hours ago, M.J.Lampert said:

kids

"fire" 

"oops didn't mean to hit you dad"

half a minute later..

"fire"

"oops didn't mean to hit you dad"

you

"ok that enough the catapults are now mine"

 

I am worried I might be releasing something I wish I hadn't, but oh well.

I test fired one last night and it worked, the catapult has no stop on the  throwing arm, but it gets thrown clear on it's own so it flies roughly straight ahead, which I think is good.

I have to modify the trigger mechanism, I tried to superglue it but it just didn't hold, I will have to resort to a mechanical fixing.

 

Also this weather really isn't condusive to blacksmithing anything, my outdoor forge is just slushy wet mush, can't keep the water out even though I have sealed it as much as I could. Looks like blacksmithing will be a summer only thing for me until I get the shed / forge built.

[Glenn]

Outside forges (and the 55 forge) can benefit from a plastic, or other material, cover over the forge.  You can split open a large trash bag or use a tarp.  Use a bungee cord, or rope to tie it in place.  One good size cover is a 40 pound bird food grain or sunflower seed bag that can be cut open. 

Just be sure to try to eliminate any dips or collection points for water.

An old umbrella will work if you have one laying around. They are designed to shed water. (grin).

[pnut]

I used a piece of scrap particle board in a construction site garbage bag and it worked fine until the neighbors tore it up.

Pnut

[SLAG]

Mr. Glenn,

How about graduating to a semi-ridged cover. Something like a plastic garbage can lid.

You could try it down with with "rope" but bunji cords are faster. They can be fitted into holes in the rim of the lid and those holes can be reinforced with metal grommets.

It's worth a try and not expensive.

SLAG.

[HondoWalker]

20 hours ago, George N. M. said:

Hondo:  If you're just using straight lines as a touchmark such as an A or an L or an M or a rune you can just use one or more different width chisels to strike in the mark.  ."

Don't have small chisels yet. I made my mark out of an old steel lathe bit. I put it on hot and hope it doesn't get sanded off. I've sanded a few of them off. I have no idea what kind of steel it is.  I quenched the edge and it is good and hard. The rest of it is still drillable. On one of my first forgings I quenched the whole thing and ruined a couple drill bits trying to drill it. Plus if the whole blade is hard it takes more energy to polish it.  At least that's my reasoning. Could be wrong. The drawknife I made from angle iron is mild steel I think. Quenching did nothing.to it and you have to sharpen it every time it's used. Still a beginner. Thanks for the complement and advice. 

Edited December 22, 2020 by Mod30
Trim quote.

[Andrew Collington]

Probably simple stuff, I know, but I made some tree decorations today.

[Paul TIKI]

Yay, I got a leaf to come out looking almost leaf like.  I need lots more practice.

[M.J.Lampert]

Paul TIKI: thats better than i can do yet 

[George N. M.]

Hondo:  You can make small chisels from concrete nails which are made of high carbon steel.  Also, you can use any reasonably high carbon steel such as a coil spring.  Just draw it out to the size you want, harden, and temper to a straw color.  You can even make a chisel out of mild steel if you quench it in super quench.  The first time I saw super quench demonstrated the end of a bar of mild steel was cut off, forged to a chisel, quenched in the super quench, and then used to cut off another piece of the same bar with no damage or dulling to the new chisel.

Making tools is the best use of a novice blacksmith's time.  It is good practice and lets you make more and better things more easily later.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[Jaegers Forge and Foundry]

Finished up the last of my Christmas gifts a spatula 

I know my anvil base is crappy I’ve been meaning to upgrade it but I wanted to finish Christmas stuff first I’m gonna start working on it tomorrow 

[Paul TIKI]

M J .  Watch black bear forge on YouTube.  He has a great video on it that makes a lot of sense. I also did a mock up with play dough and a tack hammer to see how his technique actually works.  It turned out to be easier than I thought with the exception of chiseling in the veins.  The piece kept trying to jump off the anvil

[Daswulf]

Jaegers, it's not crappy If it works. 

[Daswulf]

Working on a rushed trout sculpture. Late notice and in time for Christmas. I'm totally winging this one, or should I say playing it by fin.

It will probably have a base of underwater plant life and a lure in its mouth more upright like in the one photo. 

[twigg]

No room to set up the forge tonight in the borrowed space I work in. I spent the time upgrading my forging table, so it now requires less assembly and doubles as a poor man's welding table (welding on the floor last night was no fun!). I took off the rake-head tong rack because it was a little sketchy for something that has to be carried down stairs.

It's not obvious from the photos, but that's not 1/2" thick steel plate, it's 3/32" thick sheet that's bent on the sides to 1/2". In other words, there's a 1/2" air gap between the steel top and the plywood underneath, for thermal insulation. The steel sheet never has to come off, so even if it goes the way of the potato chip it won't matter. The through holes that fasten the sheet to the plywood are countersunk on the bottom so it sits flush on the frame. Feeling pretty good about it!

[BillyBones]

Das, love that fish. Too cool. 

Twigg, pretty neat little table there. 

One of the guys i work with asked me if i could weld something for him one night. Him and my group leader were in the maintenance room trying to figure out how to work the TIG. My group leader could not find the ground. He was "shocked" when he discovered the ground was the table. 

[Frosty]

You do nice fish Das, I'll be watching for the finished piece. Uh. . . There's something Das about the fishy? 

Nice table Twigg, I like it. The tops a little thin for durability but it'll be easy to change. Eventually any welding table top needs a major overhaul or replacement. Good balance, well done.

I'm wondering who your group leader's replacement is, Billy. Want the job?

Frosty The Lucky.

[George N. M.]

Das:  Could you give us some idea of the technique you use to make something like Mr. Trout?  Do you raise each half and then weld them together and weld on the fins and tail?  Or something else?

Thx.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[twigg]

I feel bad for whoever's TIG machine that was, Billy. The thought of seeing two folks *trying* to figure out how to use your expensive welder... He must've blown a fuse!

Didn't see your fish before Das. It looks awesome! I can't believe it's a last minute project. Are the lips a weld bead?

Frosty, I hear ya on durability. I was just working with the material I had lying around. That sheet came off a warming drawer oven I took with consent from a pizza place's dumpster. I used it as a welding surface for floor welding for a while and figured it made a good fit for this table.