What did you do in the shop today?

[Vinito]

Not today, but a couple days ago I finished building this jig to enable my standard hydraulic press able to do some forge press work. Can't poke holes since the press only has spring return (single acting cylinder) and would get stuck, but I did provide for changing dies via a 1/4" x 4" x 4" base plate. I don't know if it will last forever, but it handled a few hours of use smashing hot metal and still works perfect, i.e. nothing has bent or is binding or anything.

It was fun to figure it out and build it. Took one day to make the jig and a couple more hours the next day to make a couple pairs of dies. Made it with pickings from the scrap pile except the $1.75 springs.

[jlpservicesinc]

Billy that is cool.. Nice work.. 

Alex are these the new ones or the ones you need to make copies of? 

[Daswulf]

In the house. Finally tried some of my home made salsa and boy was it good. 

Didn't add spicy peppers to this batch and it is just fresh and refreshing. Fresh bell peppers and roma, san marzano and cherry tomatoes from the garden. Had to buy the white onion, garlic, cilantro and other stuff. Big bowl almost overflowing only canned 3.5quarts. Next time I'll use my even bigger stainless bread making bowl. 

Gatta be chunky so i hand dice everything. 

[TommyVee]

Still on my quest to get my "piton-styled" bottle opener right and the process streamlined.  Getting there, after having made a smaller drift for the opening than I was using before, but still managed to overwork the hole so there's a very obvious stress crack near the "lip" of the opener.  I think I need to flatten and spread out that part of the bar *before* punching rather than after to make the punching easier and the drifting less stressful on the material that remains.

I also made a basic touchmark out of a scrap of old coil spring with the aid of a dremel tool --- made the basic punch yesterday and let it cool in wood ash, carved the design and hardened/tempered it today.  It was intended to be a sort of stylized "TR" (my initials) with the T and R sharing a vertical line, but a little oopsie with the engraving bit allows it to be interpreted also as either a duck or a rabbit as one sees fit.  It'll do for now.

Tried it out on the opener, and it came out better than I thought it would for a freehand drawing on a bit of spring steel.  (pictures below are of the mark on the piton, the design only looks raised because of the lighting from my camera phone)

 

 

[alexandr]

5 hours ago, jlpservicesinc said:

are these the new ones or the ones you need to make copies of? 

I made these lamps a couple of months ago. But they were recently installed.

[jlpservicesinc]

vinito that is a nice spreading jig for the press.. . 

Das that looks like some great Salsa..  Great salsa is hard to come by..   

thanks Alex.. 

 

[Rojo Pedro]

Salsa with no hot peppers? I dont understand!

[Les L]

Thanks Jenn and Chimaera

great start on the hammer Jenn, I’m looking forward to seeing the finished pictures 

beautiful as always Alexandr 

[Daswulf]

Maybe next time Rojo. My kids will not eat spicy stuff at the moment and I really wanted them to eat some. 

That and I didn't grow any hot peppers this year. Last year I grew too many hot pepper plants and my bell peppers didn't do well.  My youngest was eating bell peppers off the plants this year like they were apples. 

[Donal Harris]

I agree. Salsa without peppers is like the Bulls without Jordan or the Patriots without Brady. 
 

Still not finished, but did get one of the feathers rough forged. Still need to texture it and forge the other one. 
 

I need to chop the tip of the beak off where it begins to curve down, add the eyes, beak features, and other texture, but it is very near to done. 
 

I plan to make another just like it, but with a carbon steel beak and carbon steel to the blade shape on the back of the head. I want it to use for walking around the neighborhood. There are a few bobcats and occasionally a dog will decide his yard includes the street. I am too old now to run and a bullet is too permanent. 

The WI split in two spots on one side of the eye and in one spot on the other when I was drifting the hole. I plan to fill the cracks with using a MIG, grind the welds flush, heat it so the grind marks flake off as scale, and then camouflage those spots using a needle file to match the WI’s grain somewhat. The cracks are not bad enough to affect structural integrity, the fix is just for aesthetics. 

I will be making a wider slot chisel before making the next head. The one so tried to use was only 3/4” wide at most. Had it been an inch and a quarter, I think maybe I could have drifted it without splitting. That and stop drifting after 2 or 3 blows. 

[BillyBones]

Das, when i was  kid i used to do the same thing. I love bell peppers. I would also eat the cucumbers and rhubarb while in the garden.  

[alexandr]

The gardening season is almost over, but there is no less work.

[Jobtiel1]

Beautiful work again Alexandr!

I finished of a small adze I have been working on, and I started working on hardware for a wooden vise for the woodworking bench. I'll update with how I made it once it's done.

The adze is from 25mm square with a piece of 1095 forge welded for the edge. Hopefully it can do some bowl cutting work when out and about.

~Jobtiel

[Daswulf]

Nice work Jobtiel.

Love the pictures of your work and scenery Alexandr.

Billy, one of my favorites was fresh raddishes. Tho peppers, beans and peas were great too. Always nice in the growing months to pick a fresh snack while working. 

(Typo day I guess, I almost sounded like elmer fudd with waddishes and was talking about growing moths. Tho my garden does seem to grow moths)

[JHCC]

Playing with forging a double bowl:

 And reground a 1” spade bit to cut the center holes in some grinding disks (made from leftover grinding belt material):

[alexandr]

Guys, thanks!

[Donal Harris]

Copper or steel bowl?

[JHCC]

Steel. I’ve made a lot of knitting bowls for my wife to sell in her yarn store, and I thought it would be cool to have one that could hold two different yarns at once, for colorwork. 

(Some examples of the single version, with some chased decoration.)

[671jungle]

Good day y’all. Hope all is well.

CV bearing housing repurposed into a blade. I have been filing corners amd sharp edges before the quench amd it seems very soft. I was under the impression that it was a very hard steel. While cutting, sparks displayed as HC. I didn’t have enough material to do a break and heat treat test. Anyone have experience working these into tools? Thanks?

[JHCC]

Oddly enough, I forged one of these into a bracelet for my daughter exactly seven years ago today. 

My understanding is that CV joint cages are usually made from 4340, similar to 4140 chromoly steel, but with a bit of nickel for better resistance to cracking. Four points (0.4%) carbon is low for a knife steel; we had a good discussion of this a few years back:

 

[Goods]

I finished up the claw hammer today and a slip cross for my wife to give as gifts.

I’m not real happy with the hammer. The claws ended up going a bit wonky, so the slit isn’t a nice even taper. Next one will be better…

Keep it fun,

David

[jlpservicesinc]

Dave.. Look at you go..  that hammer looks great..  Every step is a step forwards..  very nice. 

JHCC, you have gotten the bowls to an expert level..  Love them. 

Jobtiel1 nice looking adz.. 

[JHCC]

Intermediate at best, but thank you. 

[MacLeod]

They’re great bowls..
 

 

 

 

 

[Shainarue]

JHCC, I'm looking forward to seeing that finished 2-yarn bowl! 

Goods, I've got that cross on my list of projects to do (eventually). I think my mom would love it.