What did you do in the shop today?

[Gandalfgreen]

Frosty the wise strikes again good idear. 

Thanks Billy.

[Chad J.]

Ted, what size stock did you start out with on that candle holder for the leaf?  

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

36 minutes ago, JHCC said:

And smoke some sausages or something while you’re at it. 

(Side note: do not apply spray-on bug repellent near a lit forge.)

Bug spray is very flammable, more than once when I was out of starting fluid in the shop and I needed to move a machine inside to work on ive grabbed a can of off spray and started an engine with it  lol, 

jlpservicesinc, I dig the bright blue! 
 

gandalf, I’m always covered in so much oil and grease I guess I’m not tasty to the mosquitoes I never have a problem but when my wife comes outside in the evening they eat her alive, so I started saturating one of my safari jackets in bug spray for her and it works pretty well,

when I was deploying over seas there was a spray they had that would soak into our uniforms that worked pretty well but took overnight to cure into the clothing and would last for days! If you know anyone active duty that could get you some I’ll bet that would solve your problem till fall! 

 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Permethrin* is what I use for gear/clothing spray, it's made by several companies Sawyer and Cutter come to mind right off hand. Works well for ticks, chiggers and all flying, biting insects like mosquitoes.

[BillyBones]

Permethrin, or pyrethrin is an organic compound found in the pyrethrin daisy, or Dalmatian chrysanthemum. You can make a simple spray by making a "tea" of boiled flowers and water that works quite well. A handful of flowers in a quart of water boiled at a low temp and you are golden. 

 

[jlpservicesinc]

7 hours ago, JHCC said:

Nice temper color on the thumbnail. 

blue brittle..        Lasted the whole demo weekend 2 coats of blue, 1 for tips, and 2 clear...  Started peeling last night.. 

Longest polish has ever lasted when I'm working. 

[Randy Griffin]

Get some Happy Jack Kennel Dip and 1 gal sprayer. Mix 4 oz/gal. Spray everything the skeeters might land on. A fine mist. Controls skeeters for months. Be careful around cats. Permethrin supposedly not good for them. I don't have to worry about that. All our cats lay around the front porch waiting for a handout.

[JHCC]

Bees are also especially sensitive to pyrethrin, so it’s best to spray at night when they are not active.

[Randy Griffin]

Good point. I don't have flowers or garden around my shop. I have wood borers, mud daubers and wasp.

[bluerooster]

I mix peppermint/spearmint with witch hazel, and put it in a spray bottle. Works wonders for repelling sweat bees.  And smell minty fresh all day.

 Tried to forge a dragon head gas key today while it was raining.  I learned quite a bit during that process, and mabe the next one will turn out better but this one is kinda wonky.

[Frosty]

Nothing wrong with wonky, I like it. Gives me an idea, how about a round bald head and face with a giant twirled mustache?

Oh heck I looked again and your forged a dragon with a mustache. That brings me right back to my first thought, a wizard head w/mustache. 

You're coming along nicely with the gas keys.

Frosty The Lucky.

[pnut]

On 8/17/2021 at 12:52 AM, BillyBones said:

Permethrin, or pyrethrin is an organic compound found in the pyrethrin daisy, or Dalmatian chrysanthemum.

If you're allergic to ragweed stay away from pyrethrin containing sprays,shampoos, and ointments. 

Pnut

[Are John]

Done some more work on an actual pair of tongs to replace the wooden ork-tongs. Have been drawing out one end, piece started out as 1/2 inch square bar at 1' , now just under 15". Planning to do the same on the other end now.

[Frazer]

I generally start with the jaws and work back to the reigns, but either way works I suppose. What type of tongs are you making?

It might be worthwhile to take a flap disc and radius the edges of your anvil before going much further. Those sharp corners can introduce cold shuts while drawing out your stock, setting down material for your boss, etc.

[Are John]

Flat jawed ideally, I've been doing a mixture of drawing out on the horn and longways on the face, would be far easier once I have some metal tongs with better designed jaws. The wood ones I use currently are rather naff for grabbing the square bar i'm using any way other than at a right angle and on the flat face of the bar, makes hitting down the corners a bit tricky. Small steps, but once i've fashioned a more pratical pair I hope to make an even better pair.

 

Re the rail anvil; i'd not dare do any modifications to it as of yet. But the half that's in the shade does seem more ground down than the other, not that much but it's noticeable in person.

[JHCC]

2 minutes ago, Are John said:

i'd not dare do any modifications to it as of yet.

Understood, but sharp edges on an anvil face are BAD. You want at least a mil or two of radius, so that you don't get sharp nicks that will inevitably cause cold shuts and cracks. You can always do additional modifications later, but this is the absolute minimum.

[Frazer]

I think you'll find drawing out stock on the edge of the anvil can be a very efficient method of moving material quickly. Those sharp edges will make this process more difficult and may introduce problems unnecessarily. I will also note that anvils with sharp corners are more likely to chip if you accidentally hit them. However, this might not be as much of a concern with a piece of RR track unless it were to work harden over time. Just something to keep in mind.

If you look at any forged item where material has been isolated (tongs are a good example of this) you will notice that in almost every instance there are no sharp corners at these transitions. This is purposeful to avoid stress risers.

Whether you had an improvised anvil, a brand new one from a modern maker or an "antique" anvil, the recommendation to correct an edge like that would be the same. Add a slight radius, use it for a while, add a little more if you feel like you need it, and so on until you're satisfied. The nice thing about an improvised anvil is that they are relatively easy to modify, customize, repair, replace, etc. so I wouldn't worry too much about making modifications. Especially minor ones like this.

Some people add a gradually increasing radius along the edge of their anvil so they have a range to choose from depending on the project. If you want to keep an area with the sharp corner then keep it. However, I doubt you'll end up using it much down the road.

[Are John]

Thanks for the input gents, despite not using the sharp edges thus far, grinding the edge off does seem rather inevitable for when I move up in the world.

[ThomasPowers]

Usually we get someone saying that their anvil originally came with sharp edges and yup, they generally did. The manufacturer expected the user to dress the edges to suit their work and methods of work; as differing types of smithing profit from different edge radii.  If you feel that the anvil should be used in "as shipped" condition; I assume you have also drained all the gasoline from your car and never start it so it will be in "as shipped" condition when you go to use it as well...

[JHCC]

21 minutes ago, Are John said:

grinding the edge off does seem rather inevitable for when I move up in the world.

Grinding the edge will itself move you up in the world.

[Jobtiel1]

Spend some time forging today after a while of doing other things, and got a good test drive in on the new fire pot and electric blower. And I did my first two forge welds! I wanted to make a flux spoon to use when learning forge welding, so I thought I could use 8 mm round for that. Bend the end over itself twice to create mass for the spoon.

There are big shuts visible, but it works and the welds took, so I'm happy.

Also, I uncoiled some coil springs, and just before dinner, managed to forge another fire striker. Already visible in the first pic

All in all, a good day!

~Jobtiel

[alexandr]

I have been working with wood for several days.

[SinDoc]

Alexandr, I wish I had your shop. Both tons of woodworking AND smithing goodies!

[Dewnmoutain]

Tried to work on making spade tip hooks. Just cannot seem to hammer the spade shape just right. 

[Gandalfgreen]

Everyones work looks great I cant wait to get started. Bugs have kicked my behind again and made me decide I need to get something to take care of it. Was able to get my log stripped of bark and started to burn the outside of it before I couldnt handle smacking myself any longer. Had to spend some time with kiddo so didnt get to the forge but everything comes with time but my kid always gets that time first. Keep up the great work fellas I will post a picture here soon of my first solo work.