Bolt Jaw Tongs Demo (Plus a 1/2" Square or Round Challenge)

[ThomasPowers]

Frazer said: " Fortunately, blacksmith tools are unlikely to be damaged in shipping"; True; but I've lost a number of items in flat rate boxes through them being stronger than the box.  Now I tend to build a wooden insert to keep the steel *inside* the box.

And then there was a friend who sent me two pieces of steel to make a tool holder for my screw press from.  I asked him to put the address on each piece as well as the box.     So I get a note to come to the Post Office to pick up a box.  Wait in line and present it and they said "So *YOU* are the guy!..." and had me go around the counter and into the back where the tattered remains of a flat rate box could barely be made out through massive amounts of strapping tape; sitting in a wheelbarrow.  They told me it was over weight as it weighed 72 pounds with a 70 pound limit.  I told them it was weighed when posted and weighed exactly 70 pounds and if it was now over that; it was the strapping tape the Post Office had added!

[Frazer]

Lary, the scribe was an example piece I made for 2 day hammer making class that I helped with. I added the lines to show how even simple things can make a tool more visually appealing (if you're in to that sort of thing). We made the tools to make the tools to make a hammer.

I use a different scribe that I made from an old chainsaw file since it now has a pocket clip.

The bending fork is made from a Unit V RR anchor.

TP, that's a good story. USPS must dislike blacksmiths.

[Goods]

That’s a scribe? I wondered what it was. (How deep are you scribing with one that big?)

I do agree about the embellishment makes a big difference…

Keep it fun,

David

[Frazer]

It is a bit large. That's mostly due to the starting stock size I had at the moment. Since it was intended to be a display piece (still functional, but for people to look at in a class setting) I didn't take the time to make it smaller.

That being said, I don't scribe very deep regardless of the size of the scribe itself. When I need a scribe, generally a scratch will do or I'll use dykem along with a scribe.

I'll add that the point is still reasonably thin and it has a chisel grind so the point is on the same plane as the back face of the scribe. That way it will run directly across a straightedge etc..

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

On 2/18/2022 at 2:03 PM, Goods said:

How deep are you scribing with one that big?)

To paraphrase Dundee,

that’s not a scribe… this is a scribe!!!

[lary]

I wanted some 1/2 inch rivets for a project and didn't have any, so I rounded the heads of some bolts,

 

You don't give yourself enough credit Frazer, the tongs are awesome. Making a garden rake....

[anvil]

Nice scribe. I make my cold work tools bottom heavy. Not only do they look nice, but being bottom heavy adds balance and better control

[jlpservicesinc]

Anvil, which side do you consider the bottom. The working end or the striking end? 

[JHCC]

I know the challenge is over, but here’s a spatula I made over the weekend (along with its inspiration: a wooden spatula I made some thirty years ago) from a chunk of 1/2” round stainless:

 

 

[ThomasPowers]

John, will you be adding Corian handle slabs for a dishwasher safe kitchen tool? (Passivate *first* before adding a handle!)

[JHCC]

No, it's fine as-is, and I don't want to cover up this lovely hammer work on the underside of the handle.

I might soften the edges just a little bit with a file, though, to make it a bit more comfortable 

[anvil]

Jen, the working end is the bottom, the struck end is the top. With a center punch done this way, because its bottom heavy, the the balance is down and the tool tends to stay in place, not jump out and make a double mark. This works for cold chisels as well.

John, I like your angle in the middle and the upset on the end... class details!

[JHCC]

Thanks, anvil. The butt end isn't really upset; it's just not drawn out as much as the rest of the handle. Same with the angle in the middle: I didn't upset to add any thickness, but drew out fairly aggressively on either side of it. (I did do a lot of upsetting for the end that became the blade; my sideways punch tongs are very good for holding 1/2" round vertically for upsetting.)

On 2/20/2022 at 4:30 PM, anvil said:

I make my cold work tools bottom heavy.

Fat-bottomed tools make the rockin' world go round.

[ThomasPowers]

John, *smithing* world!

[TWISTEDWILLOW]

Only if they were made in Detroit smith city

[ThomasPowers]

Building too much on a song's lyric?

[Frazer]

John, nice spatula. In my limited experience stainless is tricky to go thin like that. Do you know what alloy you were using? I've done a couple of very simple items with 304, and I've tried 17-4, 303 and 316 once each. Every time I was just experimenting with some scrap for fun.

It doesn't look like you had issues in the blade with tearing, which I find stainless likes to do if you try to work it too cold.

I've already done SS chopsticks, but a spatula would be interesting to try. Adding it to the to-do list.

[JHCC]

I don't know the alloy, alas. This (and the chopsticks I made a couple of weeks ago) started life as part of an industrial cart I bought a few years back and converted to a combination stock storage/hammer rack. I noticed later that the cut ends didn't rust, so after I did some further modification a few days ago, I decided to use one of the cut-off pieces for the spatula. 

[Frazer]

I'm a medical device engineer (metrology group to be specific) and the vast majority of the parts coming out of our tool room are SS. Electropolished 316L is the most common, but we use other alloys as well. Occasionally (albeit rarely) there is a usable piece of material that I'm able to take and experiment with, but most of what's sent off to be recycled are chips. Lots and lots of chips.

My local steel supply also has a drops section for stainless that I've perused once or twice. I just don't make many items that need to be stainless so more often than not it's not worth the trouble.

[JHCC]

Happy to bring you a couple of chunks the next time I'm in the Rochester area.

[Frazer]

Shop is open anytime.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

When Our local Tyson food plant upgraded one of their lines, I was able to get about a hundred pounds of stainless steel. Haven't really tried forging it though.

[Frazer]

My cliff notes would be that it's tough like spring steel, has a narrower working temperature than carbon steel (especially on the low end, sort of a cold short situation) and there is very little scale.

[ThomasPowers]

Hard on things like drill bits and abrasives.

[pnut]

The first time I tried forging stainless steel I was completely surprised by how hard it was under the hammer. My only advice would be to keep it hot. 

Pnut