What did you do in the shop today?

[Scott NC]

9 hours ago, George N. M. said:

What other habits or language does anyone else have from the military or other earlier life experiences. 

  The term "head" comes to mind and I still use it.  The origions of the word are interesting.  Use was evidently a problem on some submarines and resulted in the sinking of German Uboat U-1206 during WW2.

  I feel everybody is doing fantastic shop work though I don't always say so... 

[JHCC]

10 hours ago, George N. M. said:

the phonetic alphabet.

I was never in the military, but as the possessor of a frequently misspelled last name, I’ve taught myself some of it for giving people my name and email address over the phone. 

[anvil]

For some reason when I think of front and back, I use the navy fore and aft, but I don't use the terms port and starboard for left and right. I often think of the floor as the "deck".

I came from a family of smokers but never smoked,, well, once in the 6th grade I did to be cool, but I didn't inhale.  :) . When I was in navy bootcamp we had smoke brakes and you got a brake if you were a smoker. If not you got to pick up cig butts. I got rather passive/aggressive and picked up butts.

For the most part I could care less what folks do with their ash or butts. However if anybody puts anything in my forge fire they get a short, terse, and rather forceful explanation as to just why this is inappropriate. If they take offence, too bad. Most don't.   

[Frosty]

I wonder how much tobacco companies paid the Navy to encourage smoking like that? I'd have developed a stronger reaction to butts anywhere but an ash tray if I'd gone through that or more probably taken up smoking. I took up smoking because I didn't know many people who didn't smoke and constant exposure got me. I'll spare everybody the Spock quote. 

Frosty The Lucky.

 

[BillyBones]

 "REMF", "pogue", still use them, i think those are mostly used by combat arms though for the guys in the rear. "Post-haste" when we need something done yesterday. I do not drive a car or truck but a vehicle. "Uniform" (as in everything the same, not your clothes) and  "squared away". My foreman gave me a weird look not long ago when i asked for a "sit-rep". 

There are a few others but they are not family freindly. Military folks have a colorful lingo to say the least. 

I also still write like i did. For instance i put a "/" through my "0"'s so they do not look like the letter "O". I also have to think when writing dates, especially at work, or i will write them DD/MM/YY. 

Then of course there are the habits we keep. Like 5 minutes early is late and we can eat an 8 course meal in the time it takes most people to pick up a fork (eat it now taste it later). I catch myself standing at ease still and your hands do not belong in your pockets. And no matter what i always have a pen in my pocket. 

[gewoon ik]

The scandinavian guys find Ø instead of 0 confusing. Why a letter in between the numbers?

[Donal Harris]

Was trying a wheat twist for the first time today. I probably should’ve tried with mild steel instead of wrought iron.

I wouldn’t have had nearly as much trouble fighting cracks and splits, having to do one side all over again because I made two left sides because I forgot to reverse the way I was turning the tool wouldn’t have been as painful. 
 

Another thing I plan to do is go back to a glove on my hammer hand. Had I been wearing a glove I wouldn’t have been burned by the random bit of flaming scale. 

[Goods]

I made a little more progress today. I finished up a slot punch for the power hammer and got my hatchet billet squared up and marked it ready to punch:

Keep it fun,

David

[Shainarue]

15 hours ago, George N. M. said:

piano wire

I was in the shed today installing a hanging light and needed a thin wire to make an S hook as the package was missing one. I noticed the piano wire I received from SFC Snuffy and got it hot with the portable propane torch. As I was working with it, I thought it would make a great pin for the next brooch! Ashley thought the same about space for the material. She's going to test it out tonight. 

Glenn, that's a good idea for the hardy plate. I'll definitely make one if I start on another project that requires chisel or punch work. I had actually told Ashley that evening that if I was going to making these with the twist in any kind of mass quantity then I'd want to make up a jig to hold the stock in place and warm. My hold fast didn't want to keep the grip on the reduced stock size. I would get a few good lines but as soon as it cooled to black heat, it would jump out of the hold. So I thought I'd make a jig which the hold fast would hold better and if it was cold weather then I could also heat the jig to get longer lining time. 

[TommyVee]

Another weekend, another part of a Sunday afternoon available to play in the shop and try to learn something.

Made two more skewers (finishing off a set for a Christmas present) and a penannular brooch (smaller than my last try, with a more uniformly tapered pin this time).

Then I tried my first forge welds.  First try was over-ambitious, trying to weld together four bits of wire from political signs, hoping to make a basket twist.  This was an abject failure, partly because I didn't have them bound up tightly enough to stay together at heat, and never got them to stick to each other.

So I gave up on that and tried a fagot weld in 3/8 square bar instead.  My first try went very well and I was so pleased I folded the welded bit back onto the main body and tried a second one.  That one didn't go so well and only welded for a little ways away from the fold.  I decided to turn the practice welding piece into a practice fire poker and just drew out the welded parts into points.  The first weld is there in the part that forms the long, straight part of the forked part of the poker, the second at the tip. 

I was pleased to find that my gas forge was able to be pushed hot enough to get the job done.  It was clearly hot enough to do the weld of the bundle of wires if they had been straight enough and held tightly together enough.  That may take a lot more practice.

 

 

[JHCC]

Improvements to the newest bowl form: welded on a rim made from 1/2” square bar, bent cold on the fly press. 

[BillyBones]

Tried a bit more on my wreathe hook, i am thinking the side on the back of the door does not need to be as long. Made a wood chisel for a Christmas gift for someone. A carving knife for the wife for Christmas and 2 mantle hooks to hang stockings from. Knife and chisel both made from 1090. 

[Shainarue]

Nice work Tommy. I haven't braved the forge welding yet, but then I also haven't had a project that warranted it yet either. 

I like the improvement JHCC. 

Billy B, the back side of the door hanger could be curled and used to hang something on both sides. 

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

Beat me to it, I was just going to suggest that about the hook on the back side of the wreath hanger. It looks good Billy B.

[Wandering_R0gue]

I have a charcoal forge Inside my shed. I ran a chimney through the roof, so I can close uo the doors and it gets comfortably warm. We shall see what it is like come -40°C later this winter. 

[Shainarue]

Tested and approved! 

[Chimaera]

On 11/20/2022 at 1:03 AM, Shainarue said:

I don't have a brass mallet yet nor do I have a wooden or rawhide mallet

Looks great! I've more than once grabbed a thin log from the woodpile and used it as a mallet 

[Goods]

Got a little more time in the shop tonight. Working larger stock again. I upset a 1-1/4 x 5” square bar down for use as a swage for drifting the eye on a hatchet. Then, realized my 2”diameter bar wasn’t quite big enough for the cheeks I’m looking for on the hatchet. So I ended up upsetting that down to 2-3/4” diameter:

It worked out pretty good. I have some clean up to do on it and weld some bar stock to the bottom, so I can use it in the post vise. (Now if I could only find my touch mark…)

Keep it fun,

David

[Shainarue]

Chimaera, best option I had in wood was a 2x4 and it was just too beefy for such a tiny piece. A small branch would have been nice. 

Tonight's brooch. I decided to go with the 1/8" round for the brooch and piano wire for the pin. Also tried a different pin attachment method and curled it around instead of just a single fold or loop. 

It's Ashley's favorite so far. 

On 11/19/2022 at 11:39 PM, Glenn said:

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

Here's a video of forge to anvil from tonight. I could move the forge about 6 inches closer to the shed but that's it. 

 

[Chimaera]

Got my first hidden tang finished. The blade is snapped and welded, the guard is scrapped, and the handle is rough- but it’s a knife. Oh, I also had to use my tan epoxy which looks like trash. Got two old knives reforged into more pretty and practical shapes, and have two itty bitties started for next time- a squirrel tail and a hidden tang. Also got my new flatter back from a friend: just need to find a handle and dress the face. 

[Les L]

Chimaera, The knives look good. 

[Chimaera]

Thanks les. I feel really stupid, both of those top ones I’ll have to re heat treat- they picked up warps that I didn’t notice in my rush. I think they’ll be fine though once I get them straightened out.

[Donal Harris]

[edit}

”He/she is squared away”

I no longer refer to my hat as a cover, but I still feel odd if wearing one inside or not wearing one outside.

I still inhale my food and surprisingly the mess hall is what I miss most. Best breakfasts I’ve ever had.

 

Edited November 22, 2022 by Mod34
Edited for inappropriate language

[Jobtiel1]

Finished a Christmas present for my girlfriend, it's a rack for her scout scarfs, she does a lot of national events where she gets a different scarf each time.

The bottom is oak, round dowel is (probably) pine or fir.

I also made a screwdriver bit for a bit brace, good practice on the shoulders for the transition from the square end to the round shank.

~Jobtiel

[Donal Harris]

 I was pretty sure that wouldn’t fly. But no sentence is complete without at least one or two. I could barely speak when my Mom was around for at least a year or so after Basic.