What did you do in the shop today?

[anvil]

I don't smoke, but once upon a time a dude who did came into my shop and flicked his butt into my fire. Well, boy howdy, when I got finished flicking his butt he never came back.    cigarette butt of course.

[Frosty]

When I smoked I was pretty casual in the shop but not at other's places. Many years ago a friend was visiting and literally reached over an ashtray to snuff a butt in a house plant. Said it was good for them just before I ran him off. Not permanently but he used an ash tray from then on out. 

I look back and it's hard to believe how inconsiderate and selfish the addiction made me.

Frosty The Lucky.

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

I don’t smoke in other people’s shops, houses or properties out of respect for them an their property

i also don’t treat visitors to my shop rudely because they don’t know any better about something,

I can convey a message without getting all bent out of shape about it just as easily, and still have a paying customer when I’m done that will return an spend more money later,

 I’ve never had a customer leave cause they don’t like the way my shop floor looks or anything else for that matter 

considering the fact that I can clean it all up an after one machine have mud, oil, grease and lord knows what else all across the shop floor it’s pretty messy, the buts are the least of what’s laying on the floor at the end of the day

Customers still come, still bring machinery, an still pay, and that’s really all that matters to me

i stay friendly and respectful with just about everyone I’ve ever met, but in the rare case that anyone don’t like me, my prices, my repair times or the way I do things in my shop, they are not being forced to come here an do business,

they are more than welcome to drive out of the county or across state lines and find a shop floor and or mechanic or prices an times that suits their personal preferences better,

I’ll just stay here an keep doin what I’m doin an making money doin it!

 

[JHCC]

Well said!

[Frosty]

I was only speaking for myself and the neighbor I ran off got run off regularly. He was emotionally and socially arrested at about 16 and needed a little verbal slap down regularly. He's a nice enough guy you could trust to watch cash on the table but his judgement was that of a 16yo much as I like him you can NOT trust his judgement.

For example I let him detail my Eagle Talon, he did a meticulous job and earned every penny I paid him. He cleaned and "Armor Alled" the spare tire and jack! However, the next time I turned the key the radio blasted me with rap at max volume and I discovered he'd "cleaned" and Armor Alled my glovebox. I had to get the registration, insurance and tire guarantee replaced, he'd tossed everything. Nice guy, just no judgement. 

It wasn't until I started trying to quit smoking I discovered how it effected people around me. I'm still over sensitive, I can smell a smoker in the parking lot and a lit cigarette? HOLY MACKERAL! I'm not an anti smoking crusader though, I've been completely clean for about 13 years now but it took the TBI to finish the deal. If I have the windows open I can smell a lit smoke ahead of me on the highway. 

When I smoked I didn't even think about people around me there were times I even asked for an ash tray in a home without sign of one anywhere. Toss butts? I made sure I wasn't going to start a fire but that's about it outside. I didn't realize it but I was a true Butthead.

So, no I don't begrudge smokers in their own space. I remember the power of the addiction.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Wandering_R0gue]

Today's forging adventures....

Made myself a touch-mark, and a chisel. Both currently tempering out, then I will sharpen and handle the chisel. 

First time in a long time doing winter forging, but was able to get the shed from -15°c to +5°c just with the forge. Started off in a heavy sweater, finished in shirt sleeves. 

[Chimaera]

Looks great! I just know that if mine wasn’t symmetrical I would forget to mirror it

[Wandering_R0gue]

Almost didn't remember... and I etched it right way round on the too so I'd know which way is up. 

[Mark Ling]

Set up at a show not far from me in Conroe Texas. Cold and wet today, knew when I was going it probably wasn’t worth it. 

[JHCC]

Back when I was a salesman, someone told me that even the people who don’t buy give you a chance to practice your sales pitch for those that do. 

[Mark Ling]

But as a more general update I’ve been going all over it seems. Here’s from when I was in Canada forging some 3x5” bar out of 8” round train axle, 600lb steam hammer. The bar itself was about 140lbs

[JHCC]

Whoa…

[Mark Ling]

Here’s some photos from my demo at quadstate, of mine and Jonathan’s forging stations, and then what we did in our demo. Those tools were forged all with a striker in 6 hours. 

[Frosty]

My comp said the video wasn't a recognizable format, I'm running Win-10. I listened though.

The way you're holding the two handled hammer looks like you're doing the  potty dance. 

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[gewoon ik]

Nice pictures.

Looks clean, nice sign.

No action fotos?

 

R0gue, smart about etching. For work i need to stamp some stuff from time to time. No markings on the shaft. I've stamped some stuff upside down or sideways (square shank). Always looks nice on pictures that you include with the certificates. You don't feel like an idiot. 

Twisted, it just i don't like seeing cigarette or welding butts laying around. The dirt i couldn't care less. You work there and you are not a cleaning man as a job (maybe a little so you can at least see what brand of machine they bring in). Something from a job at the shipyard. Grinddust and slag and dirt everywere, but i get annoyed at the welders/fitters for leaving their cigarettes and electrodes laying around. Didn't care for the rest, i know they have to sweep. That they just take a steel bucket and throw them in, we had 0,5l paintbuckets at the warehouse. 

Also if the owners see that, they cared a little less about the mess we make to their pressious highgloss paint and leave used ceramics or used grinderdiscs laying around. 

Thanks for offering to sweep if i ever make it over there. Don't know if ever, so maybe sweep from time to time, the ceiling can become really low after a lot of dirt.

 

 

 

Just seen the film. 

Wow.

The amount of heat comming from that thing.

[Frosty]

Tried again and found one that worked. I don't know why it didn't like .mov. The hammer looks like fun to run.

Frosty The Lucky.

[BillyBones]

One of my co-workers used to operate a 200# steam hammer at the Dayton Forge and Heat Treat company years ago. 

When i was in the Army i got caught throwing a cigarette but on the ground, that is a big no-no on post. Since that day i developed a habit of what we called field stripping the but. Knock the fire off then roll out the little bit of tobacco left in it, then stick it in your pocket till you find a trash can. Still do it but now a days i forget more often than not to find that trash can. I also have a bad habbit of not cleaning my pockets out when i change cloths. Makes me glad i am at work when the wife does laundry. 

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

42 minutes ago, gewoon ik said:

if i ever make it over there

Lemme know if ya do! You’re welcome here at my shop anytime! 

im a strictler about welding rod ends being picked up around here, they have a nasty habit of finding their way into tires and causing a lot more headache for me,

Billy,

it was like that an base in the Navy too, but on ship you were only allowed to smoke in designated areas because of fire hazard, if you got caught smoking anywhere else it wasn’t pretty! Lol

[Wandering_R0gue]

Finished Chisel

[George N. M.]

Billy B., it's funny how habits and language we pick up in the military stay with us for the rest of our lives.  Sometimes it makes objective sense, like your habit of field stripping butts and not littering them around, and sometimes it is just a quirk.  I always use "say again" instead of "repeat" because "repeat" in the artillery means to fire the last target again and you might now be standing on it.  I also roll my socks in the military style and use other military jargon like "niner" and the phonetic alphabet.

What other habits or language does anyone else have from the military or other earlier life experiences.  I'm sure Frosty has some habits that were instilled into him in his father's metal spinning shop.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[Shainarue]

R0gue, Nice job on the touchmark and chisel! I have also taken on the winter forging. Tonight I started at 0°C and finished at -5°C. My forge is outside and the anvil/vice inside the shed. Takes a lot longer to get anything done as the steel loses heat as soon as it touches the anvil or hammer! I do have an old fashioned stove iron that I heat up on the forge while I'm hammering and then set on the anvil while I've got steel in the forge. It helps a little. I have a portable propane heater on my Christmas list! 

Mark, those are some beautiful tools! And the metal moving in that video... Oof. 

 

[Glenn]

Moving the forge closer to the door will save a couple of steps and make the move from the forge to the anvil quicker.

When you take the hot metal to the cold anvil do not lay the metal flat against the anvil face or surface, but rest the metal on the edge of the anvil and angle it slightly up.  This keeps the metal from contacting the anvil face and loosing heat until you are ready to start hammering.

[Shainarue]

The forge is literally just outside the door. It can't sit in the actual door opening because then too much smoke comes in. I'll take a video tomorrow showing my pivot. It's not even 2 steps. Today was mostly chisel work. Can't really get away from laying flat for that. 

Here's what I finished today. Chiseled the lines on all four sides, softened the edges and twisted. Then curled one side into a tight curl and shaped the heart. Once I was satisfied with the heart shape, I made a loose curl with the other end. I don't have a brass mallet yet nor do I have a wooden or rawhide mallet. But I did have a section of copper pipe so I clamped that in the vice and used pliers to pull the bends around the pipe. It was finicky but eventually got the job done. Then when I needed to straighten out the warped parts, I used that same copper pipe as a hammer while the piece was on a slab of wood. 

I couldn't get a forged pin to slide right so I made the pin using wire instead. 

[George N. M.]

Very cool and interesting esthetically but I think there could be a problem in actual use.  You need a certain amount of space for the material to "pooch up" where the pin goes through it.  This might work with a thin material like a silk scarf but I think there could be a problem with heavier fabric.  I suggest that for the Mark 2 version you use a bit longer stock and make the curve that is nearest the middle of the pin in the photo further away from the pin to allow for more fabric in the middle of the brooch.

Also, something I do with penannulars, particularly smaller ones, is use piano wire, which is high C steel, for the pin because it allows the pin to be of a smaller diameter which minimizes damage to the fabric.  Heavier pin stock can leave ugly holes in finer woven fabric.  I have found piano wire at model railroad stores and some hardware stores.  It comes in straight lengths, not as a coil or roll.  It has to be worked hot.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[Glenn]

1 hour ago, Shainarue said:

Today was mostly chisel work. Can't really get away from laying flat for that. 

Nothing wrong with laying a piece of hot metal with a hardie post to keep it steady) on the top of the anvil and working on the hot metal.

A 2x4 or piece of firewood can be used as a wooden mallet and can impact the metal both horizontally or vertically.