February 20, 20179 yr I want to see what my friends come up with since a couple of them have pipe certs etc and know the welders in the area better than I do so I'm waiting to give them a few days to see what they come up with.
February 20, 20179 yr Starting the stockpile of supplies for a power hammer build. 3' from the cut to the beginning of the threads. Weighed in at 297#...unfortunately it's not solid stock, but the inner diameter is pretty small so hopefully it's enough mass for an anvil. The plate behind it is nearly the same weight, 1.5" thick. The sledge is an 8# for comparison.
February 21, 20179 yr I just heard from my wife that a new vacuum cleaner is following her home, which means that the old one is about to be available for repurposing as a blower for a JABOD forge.
February 24, 20179 yr Last Saturday at the steep hollow forge combo demo event. It Was a blast. Also got an "Ore to Axe" how to dvd. watched it, and recommend it to anyone wanting to get into iron smelting. Littleblacksmith
February 24, 20179 yr Lee Sauder, Steve Mankowski, and Shel Browder are working on a sequel to "Ore to Axe" about how to make the steel they used. They realized that story needed to be told as well. I'm not sure what stage it is in right now, because I haven't talked to them in a bit. Ore to Axe is interesting to watch. Can't wait to see how to make steel!
February 25, 20179 yr Well than, I will be looking foreword to that! On Friday, the day before the event, I decided to spend the day at the shop rather than school, and sometime during the day I started playing with some 3/8" square, and made a pretty nice plant hanger from it. I really liked it, and so did Stan Bryant, and so he traded me the pair of tongs to the right of the 5 1/2lb straight peen hammer. I was a bit surprised that the tongs he made weren't a little nicer. As he said "I just make **** hammers, I cant do **** like that" I must say, he is quite they guy to hang with. Littleblacksmith
February 27, 20179 yr Some recently acquired treasures: Heavy duty 2" dia rollers for future roller stands, and a heavy mounting element. Some old horse wagon parts and a wrought iron rod with eye on the end. Out of shape harrow, one of my favorite raw materials - if it's not wrought they are made of the nicest old mild steel. Real pleasure to forge. Hexagonal stainless rods, probably SAE 321, but not sure. Some of them have stamping in them and the number (4541) may mean the 1.4541 steel number which is equivalent of 321. I really don't know what to do with them yet, but I like hexa stock. Gotta figure out something nice for bathrooms or kitchens. Bests: Gergely
February 28, 20179 yr 5 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: Incised twist towel racks come to mind... Thank you, Thomas, for the idea. Twist is a must with hexa stock . The only problem is that these are a bit thick to my taste. About 3/8". Although towel racks can be little beefy - We'll see, I have plenty work to do right now, so I have the time to think about these... Bests: Gergely
March 1, 20179 yr Goodness that's a cute little hammer. Would love to have one like that, but neighbors are too close.
March 2, 20179 yr W T &F co post vise. 5" 70lb-free....will post pics once I get it cleaned up and mounted
March 2, 20179 yr Got it mounted. May not keep it there but with limited space it was perfect for now
March 3, 20179 yr I dropped by John Newman's shop today with the express purpose of having some pieces follow me home. Here are the three exceptionally badly photographed items that rode back with me. Now for a bit of filling, grinding, and elbow grease application. Any practical advice apart from "file, sand, grind until smooth?" -Flux
March 3, 20179 yr Grinding, filing, why? None of those are dies to produce finished pieces. Save the filing and sanding for the work, not the tools. Oh sure, knock off any burrs or stick up buggers but there isn't much good reason to shine them up. Seriously even if they were mirror polished by time you hammer out a ladel or bowel it's going to need some blemish removing. Frosty The Lucky.
March 3, 20179 yr 15 minutes ago, Frosty said: Grinding, filing, why? None of those are dies to produce finished pieces. Save the filing and sanding for the work, not the tools. Oh sure, knock off any burrs or stick up buggers but there isn't much good reason to shine them up. Seriously even if they were mirror polished by time you hammer out a ladel or bowel it's going to need some blemish removing. Frosty The Lucky. Now that's music to my lazy ears.
March 3, 20179 yr 29 minutes ago, Frosty said: ...by time you hammer out a ladel or bowel... If you're going to be hammering out a bowel, Frosty, I don't want to be anywhere nearby.
March 3, 20179 yr 1 hour ago, JHCC said: If you're going to be hammering out a bowel, Frosty, I don't want to be anywhere nearby. Oh good grief! That brings so many mental images and stories to mind I'm almost tempted to claim it was on purpose rather than a typo. I may have invented a new blacksmith saying. The mighty smith takes the morning paper to the bathroom and hammers out his bowels! Been there done that. Yes John please, I'd prefer you not be nearby when I'm hammering out my bowels. Of all today's typos I believe that one stinks the most! Frosty The Lucky.
March 3, 20179 yr 5 hours ago, Frosty said: Grinding, filing, why? None of those are dies to produce finished pieces. Save the filing and sanding for the work, not the tools. Oh sure, knock off any burrs or stick up buggers but there isn't much good reason to shine them up. Seriously even if they were mirror polished by time you hammer out a ladel or bowel it's going to need some blemish removing. Frosty The Lucky. Couldn't agree less. If you want to make spoons and dishes with coarse surface textures...and spend time on each one cleaning it up, fine. If you want to make spoons which are smooth and with a mirror polish it is much more efficient to clean up the tools and not put any marks onto the workpiece surface which have then got to be removed. Best way to take marks out, is not to put them in. Alan
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