Holidays seem to always be the busiest time of the year...

  Last Thursday I picked up 400 pounds of coal.  That should keep me going for about 6 months.  I also managed, through the goodwill of a friend, to locate some 3/8" x 1" bar stock.  I believe that this may be the ideal size for me to do the clock gears...  yee haw!!!

  Also was given some high quality tool steel.  Will put that to good use making some anvil tools.

Reinventing the wheel...

  Yesterday, I was at an SCA event teaching blacksmithing.  After I demonstrated making a boot scraper, I helped two people to produce forks.  One made a fork appropriate for a large fire while another made a feast fork.  Then, after I rested for a bit, I decided to try something that I hadn't tried for about six months.  That is, to make a basic "wheel" that would eventually become a clock gear.

  Now, the wheel is not like the wheel you would find on a buggy, that would be too easy...  (no offense to any wheelwrights...)  Most blacksmiths, if they are making a wheel, make it so that you bend the metal the "easy" way.  That is, the curve is made through the thin part of the steel.  For the clock gears, I need to bend it along the thick part of the material.  The stock I was working with was 1" x 1/4".  I, in a fairly short period of time, was able to bend a circle and weld it closed.  Now, since my skills aren't that great, it was not a perfect circle.  But, it was still more than close enough to make me happy.  I truly feel like I will be able to complete this project.  It may still be a few years off, but it is possible.

 

By the way, anybody know where I can get a cone mandrel?  Preferably with about a 12 bottom diameter? 

Punching holes sucks...  Well, actually...  Its not that bad.  Once I learned the trick of doing it, its quite easy.

Very good day on the forge today.  Things are definitely starting to click...  I started by making a square punch.  Next, I played around with trying different things.  The biggest thing I tried was a pot/pan hanger...  The hanger I am trying to make is modeled after one scene in Fellowship of the Ring.  It's on the back wall in Bag End when Bilbo and Galdalf are having tea.  Relatively simple...  However, this time of the year keeps me from staying out too late.  Had to come in as the day light began to fade.

  Been busy with work this week.  Have only had limited time on the forge.  I may head over to Orlando this weekend to pick up some more coal, 300 pounds usually lasts me about 4 months.  Hopefully will be able to get some time on Saturday to do some serious work.

Had some good results this week...  I was pleasantly surprised when I did the bootscrapers.  I did 3 scrapers this week.  All of them took me less than 2 hours with good results.  First time that I used a chisel and drift to open a hole.  Packing up tomorrow to head home...  Hope to resume work on the clock frame.

Well, haven't had much forge time recently.  Mundane life keeps getting in the way.  On the road for most of the next 4 weeks.  However, one of those weeks is visiting family.  I am taking the forge to do some playing around while I am visiting parents for Thanksgiving.  I hope to also make some gifts for family while I am practicing.  I was thinking of doing some 16th-17th century boot scrapers.

Was at an SCA event yesterday.  I did blacksmithing for most of the day.  Some of the day I spent working on the welds for the clock posts.  Doing much better on the welds so my confidence is much higher now.  Going to probably not have a chance to work for a few days.

Much better day on the forge.  I did 5 fagot welds on 1" x 1/4" stock.  Aside from one time when I pulled the metal out of the forge way too soon, all of the welds came out perfectly.  I did grind tests on some of the welds and they all looked clean...  Patience pays off.

With the sucess with the welds, I was also able to see if I was able to do what I wanted this for in the first place.  I esentially want a bar of steel that is about 30 inches long.  The dimensions of the bar is 1" x 1/4".  The exception is for about 4 inches on either end.  On the ends, I need the bar to be 1 1/2" by 1/4".  So, I'm doing the fagot welds(bending the steel back on itself) so that I have enough metal to make the bar thicker at those points.  I drew out 4 of the welded pieces and in each case, I was able to get it close enough to what I wanted that I know that it should be no problem.

I'm going to start documenting the project with photos just in case anybody ever stumbles across my blog.  Even if noone ever does, it is very helpful for me to document the entire process.

Tonight spent a short time trying to do the fagot weld.  Had mixed results.  Probably not getting it hot enough.  I usually work during the day so I think working late is throwing off my judgement on the welding temp.  The colors of the metal look different at night as compared to daylight.  I did try to do several welds on 1/2 stock and had no problems.  So, this weekend I will be attending an SCA event.  I plan to spend part of the day just trying to get the weld down pat...

Woohoo...

  I just picked up a new ASO (Anvil Shaped Object, insulting blacksmithing term for cheap Indian or Russian made anvils).  It is 110# compared to the 55# that I am using now.  The 55# is getting pretty beat up.  That is what you get when you use ASO instead of real anvils.  However, I don't mind as I am still learning and still have the occasional errant blow to the anvil face.  Also, the Hardie hole is a better size and this anvil actually has a pritchel hole.  I'd rather screw up a $70 anvil as opposed to the $1500, 450# Peddinghaus I am planning on getting down the road.  So tomorrow I will be making a new anvil stand and getting back to work.

Last night was an effort to work on the frame for the clock.  I am trying two different methods to make the corner posts.  The corner posts are about one inch wide for most of the length.  The ends are about 1 1/2 wide.  The first method I am trying is take a 1 1/2 wide bar and reduce the middle section of the bar down to one inch but I'm having trouble getting a consistant thickness.  The next method which I think is probably the best way to go is to start with a one inch bar.  To make the wider parts on the end, I am going to fold the ends back using a fagot weld.  That would then give me enough material to give me the 1 1/2 inches.  I tried one weld last night but when it got too dark, I stopped and decided to double check my weld.  After grinding the bar some, the weld was very good except for two small areas.  I will try again this week to see if I can't correct the problem.

  By the way, I am starting with the frame for several reasons.  First, it should be one of the easier phases of building the clock.  It will give me a chance to learn before I start the more difficult aspect of doing the gears.  Second, I can't really do any other part of the clock until I have something to attach those parts to... 

Allright,

  This is my first post.  Just to warn those that might stumble across this, I am not the kind to bare my soul to the whole world.  The reason I am doing this blog is two fold.  The first, is that I am always interested in finding those with similar interests.  The second, and more important reason, is that I am documenting my dream project.  What is my dream project you might ask? 

  About 6 years ago, I worked for an extended period in England.  I was in London for close to two years.  For most of that time I worked in the Covent Garden area of London.  About 5 minutes walk away was the British Museum.  Because of my interest in history, I found myself freqently visiting the museum over lunch.  One of the exhibits always caught my attention time after time.  That was a 15th-16th century clock...  The photo from the museum can be seen here...

http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/ixbin/hixclient.exe?_IXDB_=compass&_IXSR_=ea2&_IXSS_=_IXFPFX_%3dgraphical%252ffull%252f%26_IXsearchterm%3dcassiobury%26%257bUPPER%257d%253av2_free_text_tindex%3dcassiobury%26_IXDB_%3dcompass%26_IXNOMATCHES_%3dgraphical%252fno_matches%252ehtml%26%2524%2b%2528with%2bv2_searchable_index%2529%2bsort%3d%252e&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXSPFX_=graphical/full/lg&_IXimg=ps343113.jpg&submit-button=summary

  Well, I decided when I got back to the states, I wanted to make a copy of the clock.  The two first reproductions that I made were of wood.  A photo of the second reproduction can be seen here...

  I made that clock in early 2000.  After going through some personal stuff in my life, I finally found myself wanting to resume the project early this year.  The original clock was made of metal, not wood.  So, in order for me to make a true reproduction, I have to teach myself blacksmithing.  I started with the blacksmithing early this year.

  In my future posts, I hope to go into technical details about the stages of production.  This is a project that will potentially take several years and I just wanted to keep a journal of my progress.