May 25, 20215 yr It has not been a fantastic week here. Rain on the days when I would have had time to forge, No time on the days it would have been perfect. Then pinched a nerve in my neck and my left arm is next to useless. I don't know what I did but it hurts like the dickens. I did finish my walking stick. I "carved" the head into the likeness of a Zuni Bear. It's made out of a chunk of cedar from the front yard and the stick is a branch from the maple tree in the front yard. The shape was simple so I did a rough cutout with a Jigsaw, then refined it with a chisel and a file. Finally took it to the belt sander (Hand held model fixed in a vice). Then I coated the whole thing in BLO. I'm pretty pleased. It feels good in the hand and I like the way the cedar wood grain came out. Now to figure out what iron accents to create for it.
May 25, 20215 yr Spoons can be dished hot on the end grain of a wooden log---it will char a depression as you go! Smokey though. A RR Spike can be smoothed to make a stake to work a spoon over. A dome headed RR bolt can be made into a dishing hammer pretty easily. Many ball peens are two "sharp" to dish a spoon nicely. My first spoon is still hanging around somewhere. I used stainless and dished it in my anvils 1" hardy hole---you can still see the square indents on the back! (Over 35 years ago!)
May 25, 20215 yr On 5/22/2021 at 3:31 PM, alexandr said: I'm resting today. Outstanding choice of music! Shine on you crazy diamond.
May 26, 20215 yr Exams are done, passed one and waiting for the result on the second, but that means I get to have some time in the shop the rest of the week! Today I finally started on a drawknife, after butchering the first two attempts, and thinking I didn't have any good stock left. I found a broken big half round file I took home from my brother's work. So it started drawing out the reins of the drawknife: the final forging looked like this: I'm pretty pleased with it. Then I used some clamps and a piece of wood to start grinding and filing, and finally I put some handles on with 5 minute epoxy. Tomorrow I'm shaping the handles, which are made of Maple, from the logs I got recently. Also I get to practice my sharpening skills tomorrow. The maple is not dried yet, so I hope it's not gonna be a problem, if it is I got a block of mahogany a friend took from the cutoffs at his work. Also bought a piece of 45mm round C45 (1045) steel for 50 eu including shipping! lowest i've seen so far, most companies charge about 1.90eu per kg, which totals around 70 to 80 euros for this stock size and length. ~Jobtiel
May 26, 20215 yr I've got to chop the mesquite tree back from my scrappile and pitchfork the tumble weeds out. Only thing growing in my shop are the barn cat kittens and so far they are hiding in a corner behind a stack of lumber. Perhaps there will be fewer mice in the shop this year.
May 26, 20215 yr 34 minutes ago, BillyBones said: Did some weeding in the shop. Vernonia noveboracensis?
May 26, 20215 yr Make me look something up to get a joke! You're a dog John, a dog I say! Frosty The Lucky.
May 26, 20215 yr Hmm it says it does well in "well drained caliche" wonder if it would grow in "Never wet caliche"?
May 26, 20215 yr Had that in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, when I was working on the ALMA radio telescope.
May 26, 20215 yr I like ceviche, so long as it isn't shrimp I won't break out in hives or worse. Frosty The Lucky.
May 27, 20215 yr Cave Squilla, George. Made me look up another one. Are you guys ganging up on me or something? If so it's going to backfire, I'll start picking up Latin and Greek. Cave Dweller on the front porch would fit here. Frosty The Lucky.
May 27, 20215 yr I Knew that one already. Double checked though and almost got sucked into the rabbit hole surrounding it. WHEW that was a close one! Frosty The Lucky.
May 27, 20215 yr Figured that one out before looking it up. Caveat Lactose. Thomas beat me to Hannibal Lector twist! est indeed! I should've figured that out, I know what imbibe means. Frosty The Lucky.
May 27, 20215 yr Stove elbow endured fifteen years of heat and weather cycling - no complaints. This week when I slammed the front door on the furnace, it just went blehhhh... all better now!
May 27, 20215 yr One more bit of Latin before I go, "Caesar si viveret ad remum vis." ("If Caesar were alive you'd be chained to an oar.") BTW, I can't guarantee the accuracy of that translation. I have it written down somewhere but now I used Google Translate. John, feel free to correct. "By hammer and hand all arts do stand."
May 27, 20215 yr Thanks George, I like it. I wonder how much it'd cost to be chained to the end of the oar on the barge? Frosty The Lucky.
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