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What did you do in the shop today?


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11 hours ago, Jobtiel1 said:

...., how do you plan to attach the "thumber" to the front latch, have you left a thicker piece behind the finial, or do you attach it in some other way?

Two pieces of flat steel, welded on. Through which is a hole for a rivet.  I tried to slit and fold the hole for the two parts on the back side, but that didn't work out too well. So I flattened it all back out, and welded two pieces, on on each side of the hole, on the back side.   I need more holes in my homemade swage block.  And as sure as I write this they were welded with fire by the forge. ;)

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Thanks Frosty! It means a lot! Had someone over today, he made a huge raindrop disc (about 4.5" across). Mine didn't work out, I was helping him with something and it overheated. I might be able to use part of it, though. We'll see next time. I might end up upgrading my anvil and forge this summer. A 66 Vevor sounds nice, as does propane.

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I just call them how I see them. When are you going to start buying stock rather than using coins? 

Just remember do NOT try making mokume gane from brass and silver! They make an eutectic alloy with a low melting temp say 250f? Makes silver solder. I've played with brass and copper a little, copper and silver has nice contrast but I didn't get involved enough to do more than make a hefty clamp. 

I might give it a try again sometime seeing as I know someone with a proper kiln I can maybe mooch a little time. How about cutting silver wire in rings of a couple sizes and laying them between copper?

The voices just never stop talking about ideas. I hear IDEAS!

Frosty The Lucky.

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I hope to order some stock in the next week. Riogrande, a jewelry supplier, has sheet. I plan to get a 12x12 18 in copper, a 6x12 in brass and one in bronze, and 2 6x12s in nickel silver. All 18ga. Should run $90-100. I just need to be careful with it. 

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Started in on a set of hinges for the shop door I'm building.   My barn has no good way to be secured currently and I have a bunch of tools to put in it.  The site is going to be 2 x 6 dowel pinned together and sealed.  These hinges, a handle I'm forging then riveted steel straps going across the door.   The swinging garage doors are going to be another challenge but one at a time. 

20210418_155431.jpg

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Bluerooster, that's an interesting approach, I am also in the process of making a thumb latch, next time I'm in the shop I'll take a picture of how I'm doing it.

Chad J, did you forge weld in the pintle pins? Or did you pressure fit them or something else?

~Jobtiel

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I got to spend some time forging yesterday.  Another leaf.  It went faster than previous tries, so progress.  I figure I could be pretty good at them if I do another 196.  I'm also getting better at keeping the fire at a consistent heat.  I would like it to be hotter, but I'm consistent enough to be able to work.  good enough for now.

I also improvised a holdfast for my improvised anvil that worked fairly well.  Since I have a monolithic chunk with nothing like a pritchel hole or hardy hole, I can't use a traditional holdfast.  What I ended up doing was taking an 8 inch C-clamp and clamped it to the anvil.  I clamped it about 2 inches down from the face so there would be a "loop" and I could pivot it up out of the way when not needed.  If I knew it was going to be needed I would make sure it was tight, put the piece through the loop and swing the loop of the clamp down to where it would hold it firm to the face of the anvil.  It made adding the "veins" on the leaf much easier.  It also meant I could punch holes in some things I am making for in house cat gates (The wife has too many cats and we occasionally need to separate them)

I also got to try my hand at re-doing the glazing compound around a 100 year old window.  Patience is a virtue on that.  You have to do things slowly and methodically so as not to break the glass.  14 individual panes.  I'm glad we only have the one window like that.  It's a picture window for the living room.  It's pretty, so we are keeping it instead of replacing it like we did with all the other windows in the house.  Once the compound sets It will be time to paint the wood.  I think maybe adding a single large pane in front of the window to add some protection and increase the insulative value.

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Using a C clamp that way is a good idea, very good. You can really tighten the screw to hard to push by hand and tap it down or up with the hammer. Not getting carried away and BEATING on it of course. 

Another thought regarding your window.  In winter we seal our windows with clear plastic sheeting that uses double sided tape around the frame. Once the plastic is attached to the tap you use a blow drier to heat the sheet and it shrinks tight. It's really clear to start but attracts dust and it gets cloudy before we take it off.

However if you put it on the inside between the mullioned window and the single pane it would be protected from dust while providing triple pane insulation for the house. 

Hmmm?

Frosty The Lucky.

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That's a good idea about the shrink wrap, Not entirely sure how it would work over that window. Lots of different levels of surface. The window itself is supposed to be able to open, but it is stuck fast with 100 years of paint, warping and so on.  I'm fairly sure I would break the panes if I tried to force it, so I'm thinking just going for a full seal up.

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11 hours ago, Jobtiel1 said:

Bluerooster, that's an interesting approach, I am also in the process of making a thumb latch, next time I'm in the shop I'll take a picture of how I'm doing it.

Chad J, did you forge weld in the pintle pins? Or did you pressure fit them or something else?

~Jobtiel

Here it is assembled.

 

IMG_20210419_122557876 (Copy).jpg

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Paul, if you want the window to function again, track down a sash knife. They work wonderfully for freeing up windows that have been painted shut. Pretty easy to use, but you need to be careful about not cutting into the wood. 
 

I couldn’t find a good picture online, but if needed I can dig mine out a get a picture of it.

David

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freeing it from the paint, Sash weights, all good reasons for me to just seal it up.  Less hassle that way

The paint still looks like xxxx  It'll take some hand sanding to finish paint prep.  I can't wait to see how it'll look when I get it painted and touch up the new trim paint.  

Edited by Mod30
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I have a respirator appropriate for lead paint dust ready to go.  I already did as much as I could with a belt sander and then a mouse type sander but stopped before I broke any glass.  Removing the old glazing compound was mostly picking away gently with a pocket knife and a putty knife.  Most of it popped loose at a touch, this was long overdue.

For the most part, there isn't much left to do with hand sanding.

 

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JHCC, how did you cut the rings?  They look wicked straight. My Dad made the wheels for my smoker out of pipe. He used some sort of thing that attaches to the pipe and then it makes a perfect, straight cut all around the pipe. Something they use with natural gas lines. 

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They’re all made from flat bar, bent by eye the easy way. The four small ones are 1/4” x 1”; the one large one, 1/4” x 1-1/4”. The small ones were bent hot, and the large one was bent cold (by hammering, using one of the bending tools from Schmirler’s Werk und Werkzeug des Kunstschmieds). I welded the ends together (FCAW), and then trued them up on the anvil. 

Here’s a fun trick: if a ring isn’t perfectly round, some parts are going to be flatter than they should be, and some are going to be more tightly curved than they need to be. If you put the latter over the tail of the anvil with the bulge up and hit straight down, you’ll even out the curve.

A8C6745D-1A07-443C-B5ED-D1FC0AFE3422.jpeg

Repeat as necessary. If the curve is consistent and the width is the same in all directions, you’ll get pretty darn close to a perfect circle.

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D, your Dad was probably using a pipe cutter which is the big brother of a copper tubing cutter.  Both use a hardened steel cutting wheel which is tightened down onto the pipe or tube to be cut and then rotated around the pipe or tube making a shallow groove.  Then things are tightened up and another turn cuts the groove deeper and so on until the pipe wall is cut through.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

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We have an old church here that has plexi over all there windows, but they are 150 year old stained glass and it is there to keep vandals from breaking them. 

I have somewhat of the same problem with glazing windows, however all mine are interior. I have windows between a couple rooms. I am doing them with silicone caulk instead of the old glaze. Looks about the same but much easier to work. Right now though i am doing the interior doors. They all have gorgeous bronze hardware that has about a 100 years of paint covering it all. A good paint stripper and a lot of mineral spirits and so far i have 2 out of 15 done. The good thing is the wife dont want them perfect she wants that aged chippy paint look. I been posting some pics of my progress, the next will come once i get the 2nd door hung. It is a double, bi-fold between my bedroom and the living room. Next up is bathroom doors, yes i have more than 1 door in the downstairs bathroom, then the mudroom and upstairs. After i rebuild the basement stairs. Man a lot of work in an old house but the resale will worth it. 

Anyway, i made me a filing vice this weekend. Not real purty but purty don make functionable. 

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Edit: 2 of 15 doors done, of course that means 45 hinges, 30 lock plates, 15 locks, 30 doorknobs, etc., etc. 

 

Edited by BillyBones
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