Bad work, good info.

  Well, after some serious examination, I have decided to scrap part of the hinges.  Part of the hinge, the way I made it, could suffer easily from metal fatigue.  This is were a piece of metal is flexed back and forth until it finally breaks.  Springs don't suffer from this as much as other metal.  In the case of the chest, the hinges may have held out for years or they may have broken the first time it was opened.  So, I've lost a lot of the past few days.
  However, I did learn something valuable from this experience.  When I first made some of my chisels, I tended to make them much more thicker than say a normal woodworking chisel.  Think of something in the shape of traffic cone.  Well, I decided to thin one of my chisels to be more in the shape of some of the ones I've seen other smiths using.  I was worried about taking the blade too thin because of the heat.  I was worried the thin metal would get too hot, too fast.  Well, I was surprised as hell when I used the thin chisel for the first time.  I was able to cut through almost 1/4" steel with one hit.  This compares to 5 or 6 hits using a thicker chisel.  Also, it tends to push less metal out of the way so cleanup is easier.  I guess all that experience of other smiths should be a lesson to me...  :)
  The second bit of good news, and this was a biggie, is that my recent contact sent me a detailed line drawing of the type of lock I need to make.  This came from the museum which houses the chest.  The line drawing answered all of my questions.  I am very happy to say that all my theories on the operation were correct.  The line drawing did show me a few features that will make the lock more reliable.  The line drawing is below.  The key is inserted, turned until teeth on the key push some springs up(top of the drawing), then the key is used to slide the lock to the left in this drawing.  The key cannot be removed until the bolt is back in the locked position.  Modern keyholes are the exact shape of the key.  The keyhole on this lock is actually used to slide the key to move the bolt.

Hot damn!  (no blacksmithing pun intended)

  Well, digging around on the internet paid off.  I found the gentleman who made a reproduction of the same chest.  He sent me some info along with some pics with promises to send me more.  The best part was that he sent me a close up of the key.  Its shape and cut is pretty much exactly what I expected.  He will hopefully be sending me more but the shape of the key confirms almost 100% my theory on the locks operation.  I've included the picture sent to me below.

One set of hinges done...

  I just finished one set of hinges.  While things didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked, I learned some more methods.  I could have saved myself quite a bit of time today but had to restart a few times as I worked to figure out how to do things.

  Perhaps the best thing that I learned today involved a weld that I had to do.  Welding in blacksmithing is far more difficult than it is using a modern oxy/act or arc welder.  Well, I needed to weld a small piece of metal onto a part of the hinge.  The problem was that I couldn't figure out how to keep it there when doing the welding.  Then, I remembered something I saw on a special on making swords.

  When making authentic swords, you start with small billets of steel which are welded together, folded and rewelded over and over.  This is done for many reasons but what I remembered was that the small billets were held together in various ways.  The method that I utilized was to take steel wire and wrap around the pieces to hold them together.  I was able to use this to do one of the best welds I've ever done.  When I make the second hinge, I will post pictures and it should make more sense.

  The hinge is shown below.  It is about 14 inches long.
 

Good day, so far.

  Taking a lunch time break and also a break to look at a new CD that just arrived in the mail.  It is a lot of information on how to smelt iron(extract iron from ore).  A future project that I thought would be fun at an SCA event such as Gulf Wars is a multiple day demo of starting with ore and eventually producing some simple tools with the iron that was smelted.  Anyway, I'm getting off track.

  I was able to finish one half of a hinge.  I'm going to head back out and try to finish the other half.  It actually went pretty well.  I tried one technique for making the hinge which didn't come out like I wanted.  Tried a second way and that was fine.  I also punched the holes for the nails.  I'm not worried about perfectly centering the nail holes as the nail heads will not be centered on the nail shaft.  When I go to put the nails in I can rotate the nails to make everything look nice.  I went ahead and blackened the hinge with oil to protect it from rust.

Frustration...

  So, I've looked at the lock on the chest as much as I can.  The problem is that the catalog illustrations just are not that complete.  Well, I think I have found a gentleman that did a reproduction for ABANA (a national blacksmithing group) and I'm hoping he has some insight into the lock.  I sent an email hoping to get some insight from him.  I THINK I know how it works but I don't have enough confidence to proceed until I confirm it or have no other choice.  So, I'm going to put the lock part of the chest aside for the moment.  Between the hinges and nails, I have enough work for a few weeks.

Whoops...

  So I had some nervous energy and decided to go ahead and file the lock plate.  Went pretty well until I got to one corner.  After a minute or so of futility I realized that I must have accidentally hardened the corner.  When steel is harded, it is very difficult to file.  I probably quenched the steel when it was at the right temperature.  So, I left the corner until I can soften it in the forge again.
  I was also happy because there were a few holes that were close to the edge.  After the filling, there is still enough metal to keep the nail from breaking out the side.  From what I can see from the original, this may have happened at one spot.
  Tomorrow, I need to pick up some steel for the nails.  I don't have any stock thin enough and I don't want to spend an hour thinning down metal just to make nails.  I also hope to go ahead and get the keyhole punched.
  Right now I'm watching a special on Heron of Alexandria.  I've seen it before and it amazes me what he was able to do.  The automatic theater is of particular interest.  After I complete the clock, I may try to recreate some of his items.  The omen machine is also pretty cool.

Whole lotta holes...

  I have the rest of the week of for the holidays so spent time on the forge today.  I decided to work on the lock plate for the chest that I'm working on.  The first order of business was to harden the punch I made a few days ago and to put a handle on it.  Next, I cut a wooden template for the plate.  After further study, I decided to go with a size of 3 1/4" x 18".  This is very close to the actual size.  Anyway, I cut the wooden template to help me cut and trim the plate properly to size.  That went easier then expected.  After the plate was cut to proper size, I moved to the nail holes in the plate.

  The original plate had 18 holes in it.  I added an additional two holes to the design simple to secure the ends a bit more.  Not really a significant change.  Well, I was able to punch the holes fairly quickly.  I had to frequently stop to do some cleanup on the punch.  Because of its contact with the hot metal, it is easy to deform the punch.  On the good news front, this is the first time I have done a lot of punching.  I've done a few here and there for tongs and the like but this is the first time I've had to do a lot of holes.  Other than a few minor errors(which are easy to fix or conceal) they came out pretty good.

  My biggest fear was the amount of metal left on the outside edge of the plate by the holes.  The act of punching causes the metal to push out a little.  To fix this, I simple file the bulge away.  I wanted to make sure the holes were very close to the edge but not so close that the hole breaks out the side.  Other than one or two close ones, when I do the filing, it should come out pretty good.

  I've included a pic of the plate below.  The bulges around the holes can be seen.  Next, I will file around the holes to restraighten the edge.  After that, comes the keyhole then the holes for the locking mechanism and the latches that the lock engages.  I should be able to get a lot of that done over this weekend.

I spent a few hours on the forge today.  I took half of a block of tool steel I cut a few weeks/months ago and worked it into a punch.  The punch is sized for the nails for the viking chest.  In blacksmithing, holes are usually punched not drilled.  I already had a round punch but it would have been too big.  Also, I made my previous punches out of railroad spikes.  They work okay but tend to deform too easily.  This metal is S7(type of steel alloy) which should hold up much better to the heat.  So, I took the block of metal and stretched it into the punch.  There should be enough metal left over to do another punch or possible a small chisel.  The punch is currently annealing in the wood ash.  Had to stop as I am heading out for a party that is supposed to last well into tomorrow.

Quick update...

  I picked up a handle for the top fuller but it turned out to be a touch too small so will save it for later.  I took the fuller out of the wood ash and after some cleanup on the grinder, I am pretty happy with the results.  It would look a lot better if I had a belt sander(not the variety used for wood sanding).  It would allow me to put a nice polish and finish on the fuller.  Oh well, it will still work perfectly well just that it will be a little ugly... :)  I will try to upload a pic once I have the handle on.

  Not quite smithing but I did teach myself to weld copper last night.  I am going to replace my water heater soon and I want to do it myself.  I have to say that welding copper pipe is one of the easiest metal working things I have ever done.

Excellant day,

  Stayed home today to spend the day smithing.  I decided that I need a top fuller.  A top fuller looks a lot like an axe or an adz but instead of a blade it has a rounded edge.  Its designed to be set on a piece of metal and struck by a hammer.  This can be used to put a groove in a piece of metal(suck as the groove down the center of a sword) or it can be used to help stretch out a piece of metal.  I will be using it for the latter.

  So I started from the beginning using a scrap piece of 4142(thanks Tony) steel I had laying around.  I was able to form the tool and create the eye for the handle.  It is now sitting in some wood ash to remove any stress from the forging process.  Once it is completely cool, I will clean it up a bit on the grinder, harden and temper it then put the handle on.  I'm pretty happy with how it came out.

  I'm also happy with how quickly I was able to make it.  It took me around 3-4 hours.  I could have done it quicker but had the right size pair of tongs give out on me in the middle of doing the work.  I'm really happy with how quickly some of the work is going for me now.

  This is a pic of a fuller from centaur forge.  Mine will look pretty much the same except the fuller runs perpedicular to the handle instead of parallel.

DOH!!!

  Figured out what I was doing wrong with the nails.  Hopefully will get to try "correct" method soon...

Not such a good day...

  Work kept me busy this week so wasn't able to get much time on the forge until yesterday.  I did some tinkering around before starting work on a nail heading tool.  This is a simple too that allows a smith to form the head on a nail(duh...).  Anyway, I ended up making about 10 nails.  Only one of those ended up being usable.  I need to figure out what I am doing wrong and then practice it a lot.  I should be able to form the point of the nail, cut it from the stock and form the head in one heat.  Once I become proficient, I should be able to produce one or two nails a minute.  It makes me feel sorry for the smiths at Williamsburg.  Each smith when I was last there had to make 8000 nails per year.

Good day...

  I spent most of today on the forge and made a lot of progress.  I continued work on the plate for the lock.  It was a lot of work but very satisfying.  I am really at the point where I can usually do what I want.  I was able to draw out the metal to the plate.  The following pics show the progress thru the day.


  This is fairly early in the day.  You can see the half inch stock metal on the lower left and how thinned out it is on the other end in the upper right.



Another pic, a little later in the day showing some progress.

This final pic shows the plate at the end of the day.



  Some notes on the plate.  It is about 22" long and 3 3/4" wide.  The final piece will be about 18 1/2" x 3 1/2".  It may not seem that big of deal to make a simple plate like this.  However, it actually required a lot of work and experience to have it come out even and straight.  I'm glad I did it.  My goal over the next week is cut the plate and punch the holes for the nails.  After that, the holes for the key and the bolt for the lock.


Finally, a picture of the actual chest(from http://www.greydragon.org/trips/stockholm/index3.html)



Notice the lock plate on the front of the chest, some of it lost to corrosion.  The nails are easily seen on the perimeter of the plate.  Also visible on the plate is the keyhole.  It is in the center and looks like and upside down "L".

A final note:  I surprised myself today.  I happened to look at how I was holding the hammer.  When I first started smithing, I simply wrapped my hand around the hammer handle when working.  I read early on that a better form was for the thumb to point down the handle towards the hammer head.  I tried that style but found it akward.  I noticed today that my thumb was positioned correctly.  I have no idea when I started holding it correctly...

Noodle arm...

  Well, it was the first time on forge since before Thanksgiving.  I started to work on the Viking chest.  I decided to make the most difficult part first.  I am working on the lock that is built into the chest.  The first piece that I am making is a plate about 3 3/4" x 19".  I am starting with a piece of metal that is only 2 1/2" wide but it is 1/2" thick.  I am stretching the metal out to get the correct width.  This will also thin it down to about 1/4" or less.  I could have started with a piece of sheet metal of the correct thickness but doing it this way has several benefits.
  The first major benefit is that the plate will have a more worked look.  Another benefit is that it gives me a good excuse to practice some techniques I will need for the clock.  Anyway, I did get about half of the plate stretched out.  It was a lot of hammer work and my arm is limp now.  Still, was good to get back to work.

Forge time!

  Allright, its been a while with the holidays but here is a quick update.  I went to my parents(Hicksville, Ohio) for Thanksgiving, gained more than my share of holiday weight and was very anxious to get home and back to the forge.

  On the way home, I stopped in Louisville, Kentucky to get some coal.  The company didn't have an easy way to measure the coal other than dump it in the truck and weigh the truck.  I had wanted somewhere between 800-1000#.  I ended up with 1150# of coal.  After filling the truck, it looked like it could handle it and the suspension wasn't bottoming out.  I was pleasantly surprised that the truck had no real acceleration or braking problems related to the excessive load.  Also glad that I put a transmission cooler on the truck.  Now, just have to figure out where to put all that coal...

  I want to do some forge work today but still very tired from trip to Ohio.  I will probably get at least a little work in today.  Need to lose the Thanksgiving weight...  :)

Weekend update...

  What a fun weekend.  I did an SCA event this weekend and once again I dragged out the blacksmithing stuff.  I arrived Friday evening and unloaded all of the equipment because I didn't want to do it in the morning.  Well, after I was set up, I went ahead and started smithing.  I worked from about 7:30pm until 11pm.  I then got up fairly early on Saturday and spent all day working.  Made another pair of tongs, finished some gifts for the Royals, split a hunk of tool steel (it was too big for the tools I needed) which was a bit more work than I wanted to do but a lot of people were fascinated with the process, worked some on a new chisel made from the previously mentioned steel, made a spearhead and generally just tinkered.  By the time Saturday night rolled around I was exhausted when I loaded up the truck.  I was barely able to stay awake for dinner.  I'm glad I loaded up Saturday because by Sunday I was very sore but felt good...
  I also realized that the chest I mentioned in a previous post is a very good project.  Since it is a period blacksmith tool chest, will be a great way to make my smithing area at events and demos look more medieval.
  Finally, just watched a new series on History Channel called "The Master".  It is about master craftsmen in history.  Two episodes showed a lot of good smithing.  One was a master armor maker and another was for Samurai swords.  Unlike most specials of these types, these specials focused on the actual methods of production.

  I will see about getting some pics of the actual chest I want to build online.

 

Last Sunday I decided to make some more tongs.  After having the good success on Saturday, decided to do some more on Sunday.  I took a look at my tongs and decided it would be a good thing for me to remake most of them.  So, I started to make a new set of bolt tongs.  Bolt tongs are used to hold (surprise, surprise) bolts, think of 2 to 3" carriage bolts.  I did not finish this pair of tongs but they are already looking better than a pair I made about a year ago.

Lucky...

  I managed to make a pretty full day on the forge today.  It started with making some gifts for next weekend.  That went okay but not as well as I would have liked.  Then I moved onto some various projects.  One of the projects that I am going to try to work in is a reproduction of 9th century viking tool chest.  The tool chest includes wrought hinges and a lock and key.  I will also be doing the woodworking for the chest.  I'm considering making some items that were also found in the chest.  Doing this as a diversion from the clock.  If I only work on the clock, it would get frustrating.
  Anyway, after screwing up several things in a row, I took a break in the afternoon which ended up turning into a nap.  Around 5:00 I decided to go drag everything back inside.  However, I had not completely shut down the forge and it was still hot so I decided to go ahead and make a pair of tongs.  I'm glad I did...
  This pair of tongs is a very basic pair.  I made them in less than 3 hours and I am extremely pleased with how they came out.  I've made many sets of tongs before but this is the first set that I made that looks as good as the tongs I see being sold online or in better blacksmith shops.  This was one of those times that everything was clicking right.  Even the tong hinge is nice and tight(meaning that there is no side to side play in the hinge)
  As an aside, it was a great time to work.  When I went out, it was almost completely dark.  I worked by the light of the forge and a few lights in the garage.  I live in an area that is partially surrounded by wetlands.  It was a clear, moonless night.  The stars were out bright and clear.  I spotted an owl on several occasions and I could here the hawks calling out to each other.  The temperature was just right.  And to top it off, my lady is making a run to the store right now to get dinner!  :)  Life is good...

Blacksmithing heaven...

  So, I've been going stir crazy with not being able to do any blacksmithing.  Yesterday, I decided to make some calls to see if I could find some coal.  After exhausting the list of smithing supply stores I found a listing of farrier supply stores that had some stores that I hadn't tried.  After a few phone calls and a road trip, I have 200# of coal to last me until Thanksgiving.
  I spent all day today smithing at an event.  I made a cross piece for the clock.  I won't be able to use it as some elements of it are not what I expected.  But, as I was telling a friend, as long as I learn something new, it is never a wasted day.  Good to be back at the forge!

 
^-- I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!"   Revelation 6:1

With apolgies to the religous readers out there...  Something truly monumental today.  I WANTED to go to a fabric store.  For those that know me, asking if I want to go to a fabric store is like asking me if I want my toenails pulled out while listening to Barbara Streisands greatest hits.

I need to make a carrying pouch for my files for when I do demos.  When I've transported files in the past, I didn't worrying about them but after talking with several other blacksmiths, I was advised that you want to avoid the files from touching each other as they can cut each other's teeth.  Especially when they are the higher quality, expensive files. So, I picked up about 1 1/3 yards of denim.  I hope to sew it this weekend.

Just a quick update,

  I have definitely put the blacksmithing on hold.  I threw out the bad coal Monday.  I could have struggled to work with it, but I'm at the point that unless its an emergency I have no desire to work in those conditions.  I am putting things on hold until early December.  That is when I will be returning with about 1000+ pounds of coal.  I am going to get the coal dumped into the bed of the truck.  That will actually cut the cost in half.  I should be able to get the coal for around $70-80.  To have it bagged would push it close to $200.  So, I am going to be looking for somewhere to store it.
  What I am going to do is make and elevated flower bed alongside a bare part of the house.  I am thinking that about 8' x 3' x 2' deep should be enough to store the coal.  If I am guessing correct, the 1000# should be enough to last one full year.  That would be good because I can just make it an annual thing to pick up the coal.
  To look on the bright side of things, this will give me a chance to take care of some things in the garage.  I already resurfaced my table saw.  The problem with Florida is that tools rust rapidly.  I also want to make a tool stand for the blacksmithing.  Right now, my tools are scattered around and in buckets.  I also want to make a pouch for carrying files.  The pouch would be designed to prevent files from contacting each other(don't want files to file each other down.)  Anyway, that is the plan.

LOL  oops...

  So, I just happen to glance at the pic of the clock when checking on the blog and I realized that I almost made a very significant mistake.  This past weekend I made the first of one of the side pieces.  This is a piece for the long axis of the clock.  Well, the way I made the piece is actually an end piece.  Because I caught it this early, not a big deal but if I hadn't caught it early...  Well, let's just not go there.  Think happy thoughts...  Think happy thoughts...  Go to the good place...

Really, really f***ing bad coal...

  So, did some demo work this weekend.  I started with finishing off the fourth post and started a side piece of the frame.  Also finished a set of tongs.  Now, this was all much more difficult than it should have been.  The primary reason was the coal.  The coal was giving to me very graciously to tide me over until I could buy some more.  The problem is that the coal was meant for a power plant, not for a blacksmith's forge.  The coal produced heavy clinkers (a glassy by-product of blacksmithing that sticks together at the bottom of the forge) and did not heat very well.  I was fighting the fire most of the time.  So...

  I'm going to dump the coal.  It was a very kind gift but it is unusable.  I am going to be on the road for the next few weeks so I am going to not smith for a few weeks.  I am visiting my parents for Thanksgiving and I have already found a supplier of coal that is on the way.  I should be able to get Pochahantas #3 (the name of a specific coal seam, considered to be one of the best coals for smithing) from them for about $20 per 100.  I'm thinking of getting half a ton.

  I don't usually say too much about personal things here but I do have to say congrats to Muireen!  You deserve it and the reaction of your peers and others show that everyone agrees with me on this one.

Bad coal, bad bad coal!!!

  Getting ready to do a demo/teach this weekend.  Work and hurricanes have been a major disruption for the past 8 weeks or so.  Anyway, I ran out of my regular coal and had to borrow some from a friend.  The problem is that the coal is a very low quality and had a lot of dirt/sand mixed in.  I made a sifter to sift and wash the coal.  About half of the weight of the coal was washed away.  What is left is of questionable quality.  If worst comes to worst, I am going to stop at a coal supplier on the way to see my parents for Thanksgiving.
  Going to go pack for the classes now.  Also, steel is !#$#* expensive these days.  I bought some steel for the clock today and was way pricing.  I spent about $170 on steel this morning.

Yet again...

  Due to work and yet another hurricane, not much to report... 

Finally...

  Looks like this storm season is finally over for this area.  Next few storms are fish storms (only the fish get hit by them).  So, dragged out the forge today and made another set of tongs.  This pair of tongs is a set of V tongs.  I'm really getting happy with my progressing skills.  I was able to make the tongs in about 2 hours.  I was also able to put a curve into the two parts of the tongs.  I eyeballed the curves and when I compared them, they were within about an eigth of and inch of each other. Very cool...

Fired up the forge and produced a new pair of tongs pretty quickly.  Also rehardened the punch.  I made the punch out of a RR spike and it doesn't hold well to the heating when in use...

Looks like Ivan should stay far enough away to spare the house.  That's good because several neighbors are already flooded and the neighborhood couldn't take much more.

#3 on the way...

  Haven't been able to do much recently.  One storm after another.  Ivan is now tracking close to the house but it is still far enough out that it can turn.

Quieting down

  Storm is passed and thankfully no real damage other than a bit of water seepage.  The eye did actually pass directly over me.  For about an hour there was no rain, little wind.  Anyway, gave me a chance to do a bit more reading on the clock.  I really want to be able to fully document this project.  It has been a great experience so far and I've learned a lot already.  I hope to continue to learn more.

Auntie Em, Auntie Em!!!

  Hardened and tempered the punch today.  Also finished a heading tool then made my first nails.  After that, decided to do some general practice welding.  I'm really surprised by the progress I've made.  Everything that I wanted to do I was able to do quickly and easily.  Compared to a year ago, I've really come a long way.

  The first real band from the hurricane just passed overhead.  Some gusty winds and rain but nothing too bad.  The eye is now forcast to pass within a few miles of my house but it should be down to a tropical storm by then.  I am expecting to lose power and maybe a little flooding but nothing too severe.  This neighborhood loses power if some looks at the power poles in a funny way.

Fun time

  Well, Frances is still closing on the house but hopefully it will just be a tropical storm by the time it gets close.  Anyway, tonight I took stock of the shape of my shop and I came to a conclusion.  I need more tools before I can go any further on the clock.  So, I started by making a better punch then my exisiting one.  I'm making a punch so I can use it to make new tongs (I have 4 tongs but they all could stand to be remade).  I was amazed by how quickly I made the punch.  Even though the punch is fairly simple forging, it suprised me that even with cutting the metal to length, smoothing it, shaping it, grinding it and starting the annealing, it only took me about 45 minutes.
  Once the tongs are made, it will make it easier to make other tools like punches, chisels, hardies, etc... Anyway, once I started the punch annealing I did some cleanup work on post #4.  I still need to make a steel run and hopefully that will happen sometime next week.

Bad year...

  Yet another hurricane is heading my way.  So far the track is showing the closest approach about 50 miles to the NE.  That is good because it would be the weak side of the storm.  Also, the storm has to cross Florida before getting here but still have to be prepared.

Bit of a diversion...

  I haven't had forge time in over two weeks so I decided I need to do something even if it wasn't related to the clock.  I did some minor stuff today and finished with a heading tool made from a RR spike.  Came out much better than a previous attempt.  A heading tool is used to put heads on things like nails and bolts.  I still have to put a hole in it.

Even more about the saw...

  Last night, I was reading the book on the Mastermyr find and came across a passage.  It said that the original discoverer of the find, a farmhand, actually took the hacksaw and tested it on another piece from the find and was able to make a small cut.  I think if a hacksaw could still cut after 1000 years that it probably was really effective when new.

No problem with the saw...

  I can breath a sigh of relief.  The use of hacksaws in period is documentable.  I use a hacksaw on both the gears and the corner posts.  Recent information came to me that hacksaws weren't in use until 18th century.  That definitely appears to be incorrect.

  The Mastermyr Find(9th century Viking blacksmith toolbox) definitely contains a hacksaw.  The hacksaw has all of the makings of being a metal cutting hacksaw.  First, the shape of the teeth matches a modern metal cutting saw.  Also, in the same find were several axes and adzs.  These were made of wrought iron with a hardened steel for a cutting edge.  The steel's carbon content is 0.4%.  This is about the minimum carbon steel can have and be hard enough for tool work.  As a matter of fact, after checking my other materials at home, 0.4% is when steel suddenly gets to stage where water quenching it can harden it.  Unfortunately, my new book did not analyze the steel in the hacksaw.

  Another interesting item in the find was a piece of antler.  Some might immediately think of a decorative use of the antler but this was in a blacksmith's toolbox and blacksmiths have another use for antler.  If you take a piece of iron and surround with organic material such as ground bone or antler, then take it to critical heat for a length of time, the iron will become case hardened.  What that means is that some of the carbon from organic material actual enters the iron, increasing its quality as a steel.  Case hardening has one major drawback, the amount of penetration of the carbon is usually somewhat minimal but a depth of 1/32" is fairly easy to achieve.  With the hacksaw blade, this is okay.  Since the blade is so thin, the carbon could penetrate from both sides, possibly all the way to the interior.

  Whew, one less thing to worry about.  Oh, and here is a drawing of the hacksaw.  Click if you want to examine in detail.

Checking things out...

  Well the storm disrupted things for a bit and work has been busy so haven't had as much chance to do forge work but I have been working on the clock in another way.

  When I was speaking to my contact at the British Museum, he cast some doubt on whether or not metal cutting hacksaws existed in the middle ages.  This took me off guard because in his original info he sent to me, the going theory was that was how the teeth were cut.  He said that he had some others in his field jump his case about suggesting such a thing.

  Well, I'm been digging around on the internet, talking to some of my blacksmithing friends around the country, have some books on the way, etc...  and I think I have enough evidence to argue that the middle ages did have hacksaws capable of cutting metal.  There is not, as of yet, any definitive proof but I suspect that a book that should arrive within the next few days has what I am looking for.  According to one of my contacts, the book actually makes reference to a hacksaw being used to cut metal so we shall see.

  Getting some more coal on Friday.  It will be a lower grade coal but it will get me by until I can get the better stuff.

  Also, I think I am going to make some Viking artifacts, maybe even a lock and key.  Just think it would be cool.

Lucked out...

  Charley completely missed Tampa.  Unfortunately, the storm slammed into people who only had a few hours notice.  I hope to get back to smithing tomorrow.

Lousy weather...

  Finished the tent stakes but now have to get house ready for Hurricane.  The current track for Charley takes they eye directly over my house...

Factory work sucks...

  Because of my limited coal supply at the moment and because I'm making a trade, I have put aside the clock for a short time.  I'm making about 16 tent stakes.  Now, stakes are very easy but I hate doing repetative work.  I've got them all cut but I have to take a break so I can get on a conference call for work.  Since I'm working on a major website for our human resources department, they let me work from home.  After the call is over, I hope to get back to the stakes and finish them.  However, with that much hammerwork, there is a good chance that I will only be able to forge about half of them.  I want to get them done before the tropical storm moves in later this week.

Voice from the past...

  So, about 2 years ago I had an exchange of emails with a gentleman at the British Museum.  He provided me with a rich source of documentation for the clock.  At the time, I did not even have a forge.  Well, with starting the clock I decided to try and get in contact with him again.
  I just received his reply today.  He is very interested in helping me further with the project.  He is a very accomplished horologist and is head of a large portion of the collection at the museum(specifically, late medieval).  I think he is interested in hearing how my reproduction is going.  In his article, he made some suggestions on how the clocks were made.  I have offered some possible alternatives that I think he is very interested in hearing more.
  So, this has a bit more incentive (and pressure) to do the clock.  I want to do this project right.  The greatest limitation I have at this point is my lack of advanced blacksmithing experience.

Still working,

  Post #4 is almost done.  I've also gotten into the habit of doing some simple and small at the end of the day.  Partly to remind myself that not all blacksmithing is as hard as what I've been doing.  It also helps me to "cool down" after doing the heavier work.

Work continues...

  Finished up post #3, started #4.

Steel run!!!

  Well I have to say that actually working on the clock has really increased my blacksmithing energy and interest.  For about 18 months now I have been learning the basics of blacksmithing.  What used to take an hour I can now do in minutes.  A simple tent stake would take 10-12 heatings(number of times put in the fire to reheat) but I can do them in 2 heatings now.  One heating for either end.
  The frame posts are coming to the point that I need to start making the other parts of the frame soon.  To do that, I need to pick up some more metal.  The posts are made from 2 1/2" x 1/2" stock.  I think the crossmembers will be either 1 1/2 x 1/2 or 1 x 1/2.  I am keeping pretty close to some period examples.  Some of the period examples are a much thinner stock but I chose heavier for 2 reasons.  First, I simply like the heavier look better.  Second, I expect to have to transport this clock on several occasions so the heavier stock should make it more durable.
  Unfortunately, I am teaching this week.  I will have to wait to pickup the steel until early next week.

Still continuing...

  I put a few hours in on post #3.  Its almost done with the hot work.  My coal supply is getting very low.  Down to about 30-40 pounds.  My regular supplier is currently out but a local blacksmith said that if worse comes to worse, I could have some of his.  I may be calling him soon.

Work continues...

  Started on post #3.  I was able to get about halfway through before it got too dark.  The more experience I get doing this, the faster it is getting.  I'm including a pic below that shows what the post looks like after cutting the excess material away.  This is from post #2 before the cleanup hammerwork has been done to straighten it back out.



  And now, I had a fan last time I was working, including his pic here...

Thinking can be dangerous...

  Allright, all this work on the clock has gotten me thinking about techniques for different parts of the clock.  One of the most critical areas, for obvious reasons, is the teeth on the gears.  The cutting of these teeth has to be pretty precise.  When I did the wooden clock, I cheated.  I wrote a simple computer program to automatically draw the gear for me.  I would then take that pattern, glue it to the wood and cut out.  I could produce one of the larger gears in an hour or two.

  For this clock, I want to be much more authentic so I'm not going to cheat by using a computer drawn pattern like that.  Much of the layout work will be done using a compass.  My greatest area of concern has been the actual cutting of the teeth.  Because I will be using a hacksaw and files to cut the teeth, I was worried that it would be easy to screw up by cutting at a bad angle or cutting too deep.  Then, I realized a technique on the posts would be perfect here.  I created a template for the posts then I clampled the template and the new post together.  I could then use the hacksaw through the template to get an exact copy on the new post of the cuts.  I can do the same thing for the gears.

  What I realized was that I can create one template that has two gear teeth and the cuts for the opening between the teeth.  Then, for each tooth on the gear, I can clamp the template onto the gear and perform the cuts.  This, in theory, should give me nearly identical teeth around the whole gear.

  The other bad part of thinking?  I realized that for some of the larger gears, I will essentially be cutting about 6-8 feet of 1/2 inch steel using the hacksaw just because of the number of teeth involved.

2 down, 2 to go...

  Well, somewhat.  I removed the excess material from the second post and created the thin post for the finial on the end.  I've decided against doing any more decorative work on any of the posts until most of the hot work is done.  That way, I don't accidentally screw up the decorative work.

  The second post went much quicker and much cleaner.  After I removed the excess material, the cleanup hammer work only took me about 20 minutes.  I think the very first post (which I've since rejected) took me about 2 hours of cleanup work. 

  I'm glad I decided to go ahead and start working on the clock.  Even though I have a lot to learn, I'm one of those types that learns much better if I'm working on a major project instead of a bunch of little ones.  I don't mind having to throw away and retry stuff over and over again.

Steady progress

  Not much to report except that I am working on the second post on removing the excess material.  I was making good progress until the evening rain hit.

A new post about new posts

  I was able to get some time in.  The past few days have been too rainy to do any work.  I was able to start the 3rd and the 4th posts after the rain finally stopped today.  This included cutting them to length and cutting the hacksaw lines shown in previous pics.  It will be nice having these posts cut because I can work on the filing and cutting of the decorative portions of the posts if it is too rainy to start up the forge.  I hope to have all four posts done (mostly done) by the end of the month.  My goal is to have the frame complete by the end of August.  As a work comparison, the wooden frame only took me one or two days.

Filing working well...

  I put the decorative work on one end of the corner post.  Not looking too bad.  Also, I noticed today that the hammer work had stretched the post by about one inch.  That's why I made the template piece.  If I do the initial cuts for each piece in the same spots, then the followup hammerwork should result in the pieces all being close to the same size.  The other end of the post I am not going to do the decorative work yet.  If the pieces don't quite stretch the same, there is enough spare material on the end of the post to compensate for that.

Much better...

  Did the cleanup hammerwork on the post.  At this point, the hammerwork is done.  Next, I will be putting the decorative work on the post.  That involves hacksaw and files.  After that, I will be punching holes in the top and bottom to attach it to the frame.  The final working step will be to add the finial to the top.  After all the shaping is done, I am planning on triple coating it with oil to rust protect it.

  As a note here, I have now used about 1000 pounds of coal over the past year and half.  I'm just keeping a running total for my own records.

Going good...

  Today, I resumed work on the corner posts.  I'm including a pic of partway through the progress.  On the left is the first post I made a few weeks back.  I stopped partway through this post when I realized there where a few things I could do better.  On the right is the newer post.  At the time the photo was taken, I was about a third of the way through splitting off the excess material that will give the middle part of the post a thinner look.  Also in the photo is my hot set(or hot chisel) that is used to actually split the metal off.  The chisel is not used like a hammer.  It is placed on the hot metal and struck with a hammer.  It is not swung.


  If you look carefully, you will see the newer post(the one on the right) has a slight curve to the left.  That will be cleaned up once the excess material is chiseled away.

  The next pic is the other end of the posts.  You will see the older one on the left shows where I did some test filing and cutting to see if I could put the patter in the steel.  The long skinny piece on the end will be curved and capped with a finial.  I did not go all the way, just enough to make sure it would work.  The decorative pattern is based on a common motif on clocks from the 15th century.  The newer post on the right shows some prep cuts that makes it easier to chisel pieces out.



  I was able to completely remove the excess material today.  Tomorrow, I should be able to start the cleanup and maybe have enough time to start the decorative work.  I hope to have the post done by this weekend.  That includes the decorative work and quenching the steel in oil to rust protect it.  I will not be putting the finial on the post or punching holes in the post for the cross members until later.  I want to be done with all four posts before I do that.

  Finally, if you are still with me, something for the cute factor.  I have a new kitty in the house and he is already getting along with the resident cat.  Spectre the male(the kitten) and Phantom is the 5 year old female.

Lousy weather...

  Yesterday, I went to a blacksmithing meeting in Barberville (north of Orlando) with two fellow blacksmiths from the Tampa area.  Saw some good stuff including a class by Dan Tull from Georgia.  We pretty much closed down the meeting, spending most of the day at the meeting.
  Today I restarted the posts.  I started two of them.  I wanted one of them as a template and the other one as the one to actual work on and try out some variations of work.  I cut slits in the metal using a hacksaw then I began to use the hot set to cut between the two slits.  Then, the weather stopped me again.
  Well, I didn't get as far as I wanted but I will say that things are looking much better that the first one. 

Nice work...

  Spent a fair amount of my time in Philadelphia this week looking at gates, fences, decorative iron work, etc...  Its really amazing to see some of the work.  I wish I would have brought my camera.  Makes me want to get back to my own forge.

Weather washed me out again today.  I was about to start when weather began to roll in.  So, I quickly made a bird feeder holder then shut down the forge.  My last real chance to work is tomorrow.  I head out to Philadelphia on Monday.

Grrr...

  I have not been able to do anything meaniful at the forge for the past several days due to weather.  I'm hoping to do some work tomorrow.

A fresh start...

  So, laying in bed last night as I drifted off to sleep I came to the realization that I should start over on the corner post.  This is not an artistic "it's not good enough", this is a practical "it's not good enough".  I really do think that I have what it takes to make these corner posts now.  I just had to make the most recent one to find the final mistakes I was making.

  Hopefully tonight but more likely Thursday or Friday I will be starting over.  This time, instead of doing one, I will do all four.  This will help me to keep them all uniform.  Second mistake I will correct is with my hot set.  The current one does not give me the clean edge that I want so I have to do a lot of hammer work to correct it.  That hammerwork changes the size of the post.  If I do all four at once and I need to do cleanup hammerwork, the should all be about the same amount of size difference...

Not the sharpest spoon...

  Who would have thought it?  I was doing some of the decorative work on the corner post which involves using a hacksaw and files.  I was killing myself with the hacksaw as it was very difficult to get any work done.  Then, I remembered it still had the original blade and that I had bought some replacement blades when I first bought the saw.  I put in a new blade and suddenly I was able to cut with very little effort.  I really have to think more but it hurts so much...

On schedule...

  Just as I hoped, I finished the forge work on the first corner post.  I am annealing one end now in preperation for doing filing and cutting for the decorative work.  I hope to pick up some better files and some new hacksaw blades tomorrow.

  Also, purchased a swage block yesterday.  A swage is like an anvil with a major exception.  An anvil is essentially a flat hard piece of metal to hammer against.  A swage block has shapes cut into it allow different shaping for metal such as cylinders, dishing, spoons, etc...

Things going well...

  Spent some more time working on the corner post.  It has some decorative elements so I imagine it will take some time.  I hope to finish the corner post by the end of next week.  The actual forge work will be done by Sunday night.  After that, I have to some filing and cutting for the decorative parts.

  Also, learned something important with the hot set.  I did not leave enough material between the eye for the handle and the striking surface.  I think I started with about an inch but it is already compressing a fair amount.  With future tools of this nature, I will have to remember to leave a bit more material.  Also, I did not put enough of an hourglass shape to the inside of the eye.  This means the handle doesn't have as good of a grip as it should.  Not a real problem with this tool but other tools I will need to be better about it.

  Brian Price's armor book arrived in the mail today.  I also picked up an angle grinder for general metal working.  The grinder will not be used on the clock but I may use it for some general tool production.

Success!!!

  I have finally found a workable way to do the corner posts of the clock.  As mentioned in a previous post, I decided to try to chisel away the excess material as opposed to doing a lot of hammering...  Well, it worked.

  This evening I used my new hot set to work on the corner post.  I had to stop early due to an oncoming storm but I did manage to cut about half the distance down.  It did take some work and time but it worked pretty well.  I will have to do some cleanup but that should be basic blacksmithing.

"Oh yes...  you will be mine..."  - Wayne Campbell

Not yet but soon...   Shipping would be about $200.  But this is a company in Mississippi so I can wait until next spring when I should be in the area to pick it up.

Wrapped a few things up...

  I was able to complete the drift this morning after sometime on the grinder.  Then I turned my attention back to the hot set.  I had mostly completed the hot set last night including all the shaping and some initial cleanup grinding(as I get better, I will have to do less grinding).  I even started the hole for the handle.  To do the hole for the handle, a chisel is used to start the hole from either side and hopefully you meet somewhere in the middle.  Then I used the newly finished drift to finish off the tool.  I added a pre-made handle from Home Depot and the tool is finished.

Get my drift?

  Today I worked mostly on a "hot set".  Essentially a chisel with a handle that looks like a hammer with a pointy face.  I shaped the tool and started the hole for the handle.  In order to make the hole the proper size I needed to make a drift.  A drift is a tool that is hammered through a hole.  The drift has a particular shape that the hole takes on after the drift has been hammered through.  So, after making the set, I started the drift.  My arm got a little tired so I'm currently taking a break.  I'm probably going to go back out for just a little while to see if I can finish the drift before sundown.

  Then, its off to see Dodgeball...

Game, Set, Match...

  So today I picked up 50 pounds of tool steel.  Specifically the S-7 steel mentioned in a previous post.  I decided to try and make a set hammer.  A set hammer is a tool used to square up the inside of corners.  It is placed in a corner and struck with another hammer.  Well, I ran into a problem for about the first half hour.  I had trouble heating the steel.  At first I just throught it was because I was using a different alloy of steel and the thickness of the metal.  Then, once my stupidty had faded a bit, I realized that I had not closed the ash dump.  Most of the air was not going into the first but out of the bottom of the forge.

  I didn't allow myself enough metal when I started the hammer so I stopped about halfway through.  So, I picked out a piece of metal for a hot set (essentially a big chisel with a handle used to cut metal) and tossed it in the fire to remove any stress that might have been introduced at manufactoring.

Posting, part deux...

  Due to a techincal problem, my posting yesterday is now resting six feet under.  I had a nice typed out posting when I got a non responsive server so from here on out, will copy the post before I actually post.  Safety lesson for all you boys and girls...

  Anyway, it is time to revisit the clock.  Last week and I was in San Angelo Texas.  Nice little city(or big town...).  While I was there, one of my students hooked me up with an older gentleman who does armor.  Although the armor wasn't all that impressive, it was impressive in the sense that the guy was pretty much self taught.  Also, he has no affiliation with the SCA or any other medieval organization.  He just does it for the fun of it.  I was also impressed with how much he was able to do in a small space.  The final bit, which made it all worth it, was he showed me somes book that I do not own.  The first is http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1581600984/qid=1087392524/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-6918663-5595210?v=glance&s=books  This book is by a guy that I've chatted with a few times a few years back.  He runs the www.chronique.com website.  I have to say the illustrations in the book make it worth the purchase.  I've read some reviews that maybe he takes some shortcuts that he shouldn't but he definitely has some very good tips and ideas in the book.  I'm not looking to make armor(yet) but a lot of his information is good general metal working info.  The other books that he showed I had seen years ago but had completely forgotten about.  The first is a book on western crusader era armor.  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1853673471/ref=pd_bxgy_text_1/002-6918663-5595210?v=glance&s=books&st=*  The second book in the series is on eastern and Islamic armor.  Now, these are definitely acadamia books but the line drawings in it are invaluable.  It was funny because I actually found several line drawings of the axe that I made a few weeks earlier.  So, time to spend some money on some books.

  Back to the clock, and this time I mean it.  When I learn something new I like to have a major project in mind as my ultimate goal.  To me, it is easier to learn something if I am working towards a very complex project.  The main reason is that while I'm doing very repetitive simple stuff(like making tent stakes) is that I can think about how this simple method can be used on the big project.  It is a way that I keep myself from getting bored to tears...  My first wooden clock was actually one of my first woodworking projects.

  As a result of this mindset, I have many times that I have to step back and look at a problem again.  For example, when I first was looking into doing the clock I was CONVINCED (note huge letters to emphasis my arrogance when I think I know something) that the gears for the clock were made from cast metal (pouring liquid iron into molds).  After I started actually researching (reading makes Mongo's brain hurt...) the clocks of the middle ages, I found a few references that all pointed to the fact that the gears are forged (heated and hammered into shape.)  The final straw was the information I received from the British Musuem that send all evidence indicates that clock gears were always forged.  So, after sitting on my self made altar for a few years I had to humbly climb down and starting building a new one...

  Will you just shut and make your point?  Allright, so that brings us to the present day.  Between my trip to San Angelo and the sucky weather recently, I have had a chance to rethink the first parts I am making for the clock.  Specifically, the clock's corner posts on the frame.  For those joining this program already in progress, here is a photo of one of the clocks that I am using as inspiration for mine.  It should be noted that I am not making and exact replica of any particular clock.  But I like the corner posts on this one.  This is the Cassiobury Park Clock located in the British Museum and its the clock that got me started.



  Now, the corner posts are not easily seen in this photo but you might be able to make out that on the ends it is wider than in the middle.  In the past I have tried two techniques to achieve this.  The first was to use lots of hammer work to thin out the middle part.  Since I work alone that is a lot of hammering...  The second method was to fold the steel back on itself on the ends, weld it together then use that extra thickness to spread out the width.  This also involved a lot of hammering.

  I think I have decided to try a third method.  Simply to use a chisel to cut away the material in the middle part of the stock.  Rather than hammer for hours, I'm thinking that I can just chisel the middle part away.  For those who don't do blacksmithing, it is very common to chisel hot metal.  As a matter of fact, one of the most common motifs the Fleur, is created partly by using a chisel.  I will essentially heat up a portion of the bar, use the chisel and cut down the length.  After I have cut away the excess, what little is left should be easy to finish up with the hammer.

  Finally, I am going to take a tip from one of the guys on www.anvilfire.com.  I have been having some problems with my made tools in that I was getting inconsistant results.  Not surprising since I've been using scrap metal.  He recommded picking up some S7 stock(a grade of tool steel)  This steel has several important qualities to the smith.  The first and biggest is that it remains hard until it gets very hot.  Most steels will begin to soften significantly at around 550 degrees.  S7 remains hard at a much higher temp.  Since I don't have a helper, it is more difficult for me to insure that I don't heat up the tools too much while I'm working.  Also, S7 is air hardened which means if I do let it get to hot I simply set it aside and it will reharden.  Most metals you have to go through a process to reharden them.  Its not a medieval grade steel but its my concession because I don't have a helper in the shop.  I don't have someone I can turn to to hold the metal while I cool the tool or juggle with the hammer.  So I hope to hit the metal store either this week or next.

I need to axe you a question...

  This past weekend I set up the forge and put in some time letting others try out blacksmithing.  Between letting others work, I decided to try making an axe head.  To make an axe, you start with long piece of metal.  In this case, I was using stock metal about 2" wide, 1/4" thick and about 16 long.  The axe head is shaped on both ends of the stock.  Then, the metal is bent at the center leaving an eye open in the axe for the handle.  The two ends are brought together and welded.  The final step is to slip in a piece of high grade tool steel at the business end of the axe.  Most the axe is mild steel and that would not hold an edge when sharpened.

  Anyway, I made my first axe head.  I was not able to do the final step as I had not brought any tool steel with me.  However, I was surprised when I made the axe head in under two hours.  Not only was it easier then I expected but when I brought the two sides of the axe head together, they matched within about 1/32" of each other.  Considering that I had shaped these pieces by eye, that's pretty good...  I am definitely no longer a beginner blacksmith.  I still have a lot to learn but its nice now that anything basic comes to me with little effort.

Not quite old enough...

  Yesterday, I was at the Smithsonian Musuem of American History.  There is one particular area that I love to visit.  It includes the history of steam engines, electrical engines and the early stages of the industrial revolution.  Now, the reason that I like this area is that I have a natural curiosity for mechanical inventions.

  I spent time looking at some early steam locomotives(including a John Bull, one of the first true locomotives).  I like to actually trace the pipes, valves, etc... and try to figure out the basic mechanical principles.  I don't know why, just something I have always enjoyed.

  Well, they have a lot of clocks on display as well.  One of their clocks is later 17th century.  Aside from it using a pendulum and a slightly different layout, all of the principles of the clock are the same as mine.  After looking at it, I think I am going to go for a slightly thicker metal for the frame.  The main reason, quite frankly, is that I just like the look.  It gives it a more solid "feel"

  The original medieval clocks had frames with a thickness of 1/4" to just over 1/2".  I was originally going to go with 3/8" but I think I will go with the 1/2".  This has an added value in that it will be the same thickness as the gears giving it a more uniform look...

It just needs a little oil...

  Good day today.  I spent about 4-5 hours on the forge.  Worked on hinges for the first time.  I have to say, starting to feel like I'm understanding this blacksmithing stuff...  Anyway, I am making a strap hinge.  I was able to roll the part of the hinge that holds the pin.  On one half of the hinge I was able to thin it out and I started to put the decorative end on the hinge.  Unfortunately, my eternal foe the sun decided to set...

  I think the hinges are coming out nicely.  I have to say much better than I expected.  I don't have any plans for the hinge, but I do have some future projects in mind that need hinges.  So, I decided to give hinge making a try.  I will try to post a picture of the hinge when I am done.

A sable fleur, slightly misshappen...

  Today I finished off a chisel tool I had made earlier.  Specifically I had already annealed(removed stress cracks in the tool by slowly cooling it) the chisel but had not yet harded(rapidly cooling the tool to make it hard) which I did today.  Then, to remove the brittleness of the tool, I tempered it(heating the tool up to about 500 then cooling it rapidly.)  This softens the steel enough to get rid of the brittleness.

  After I did the chisel I decided to make a fleur.  This involves both hammer work and chisel work to make the leaves.  I have to say, for my first effort, it came out pretty good.  It had a few problems but much better than I expected.

  Finally, I started on making some items for gifts for the end of the month.  I hope to make some wall hooks then maybe some camping supplies.

I sit corrected...

Just watched a special on Discovery or History, can't remember which.  By the time of Agincourt, armor was getting strong enough that it would block bodkin arrows.  The priciple reason is that armor began to have steel in it while the bodkin was just iron.  For those that don't know, steel is just and alloy of iron and carbon but it is much harder.  So, although bodkin's were still used, they were no gurantee of penetrating armor.  It definitely had penetrating capabilities but was not a gurantee.  Why didn't they use steel on the arrows?  Mass production of steel was still in its early days so steel was saved for things that it was truly needed for such as blades, tools, etc... 

Its spring and the forge is blooming...  (bad blacksmithing pun...)

  Dragged out the forge for the first time in a few weeks.  I started by making a bodkin arrow head.  This is a type of arrow designed to penetrate medieval armor.  Next, practiced some welding for the hell of it.  Finally, started to make a twisting fork.  Unfortunately, I was using my oxy/acetylene to make it and I ran out of oxygen.

  Point of trivia.  When I pay to have the oxygen tank refilled, there is a small surcharge that I have to pay...  What is surcharge for?  To pay for the environmental damage of accidentally releasing oxygen in the atmosphere...  I kid you not...

All quiet on the forge front...

  Due to house refinancing and new insurance haven't been doing much with the blacksmithing recently.  I didn't want to have the forge going when anyone came to check out the house.  Tomorrow will be the first time I fire up in over two weeks...

Quick update...

  New set of box tongs are done...  I received some RR spikes but most of them were so corroded I couldn't use them for tools.  I annealed the ones that weren't too far gone.  On Sunday I made a new hot set (type of chisel )  It needs to be hardened and tempered yet but will get to that during the week.

Trying to get better...

  Last Friday, I decided to take a break from house work and head out to the forge.  My goal was a pair of box tongs.  I have one pair of box tongs sized for the hardie hole of my smaller anvil.  I need a pair of box tongs to fit the hardie hole of my larger anvil.  The smaller anvil is about 7/8" while the larger is 1 1/4".  Just as a reminder, a hardie hole is a square hole on the anvil face designed to hold tools.

  In the past, whenever I made handles for the tongs they were simply the same stock metal used for the head of the tongs.  In other words, I didn't have to attach the handles to the "business end" of the tongs.  Well, for these tongs I wanted a lot more metal so I decided to use 3/4" stock for the tong heads and 1/2 round for the handles.  Now, I've tried forge welding the handles to the heads of the tongs but it is fairly difficult when working by yourself.  So, this time I cheated.  I pulled out the oxy/actelyne and welded the tong heads to the handles that way.  After some clean up work on the anvil, you can't tell that they were ever two seperate pieces.

  I made one half of the box tongs.  Usually when you make tongs, you make both halves at the same time.  The reason is just because the half to be essentially duplicates of each other.  But, I wanted to really concentrate on techinique this time so I just worked on one half.  It came out pretty good(after a few bad tries...)

  While I was typing this entry, I realized what I may have been doing wrong with my previous attempts at forge welding the handles to the head.  I think the day I tried it, I had already formed the tong head which would have made it difficult to have it sit even on the anvil...  Hmmm...  will try again at a later date.  By the way, the techinque used to forge the handle to the head is called "Drop tongs".  The reason for this is part of the welding process actually involves droping a pair of tongs in order to pick up a hammer.

All day fun...

  Spent this past Saturday doing a demo all day.  I started at about 10 in the morning and went until Sundown with only a few breaks.  I managed to make a few more chain parts.  Then, moved onto making more stuff for the camp.  I made a spiral viking iron and a large meat fork.  I also spent some time making a nail header which did not turn out as nicely as I had hoped but not too bad for first effort.  In addition, I was given a larger (about 12") grinding wheel.  I'm going to build a foot pedaled stand for it so I can do grinding at demos without using power tools.  I was able to smith all day with my arm only getting weak in the last half hour or so.  In most cases, I'm able to do what I want with the smithing so I've made a lot of progress considering its just been over a year since I got my first real forge.

Required entry...

  Allright, I haven't put an entry in for a few days so thought I would just throw this out there.  Haven't done much recently but packing up tomorrow to go do an all day demo.  Should be fun, full day of smithing...

You are the weakest link...  Goodbye!!!

  Today spent some time making chain.  This means actually take straight metal, curving it into shape and welding it closed.  If you have never done forge welding, you cannot appreciate what a precise art this is.  Out of the 10 or so links I made, about half I ended up pitching...  This is no big deal, whenever I do something new, I end up throwing a lot of it out as I'm learning.

Still no fire...

  I made some more camp equipment today.  I made a grill to go over the fire.  No pics of it yet, I will see if I can upload them tomorrow.

  Definitely getting better at this...

Dinner anyone?

  Over the past few days, felt like I need to produce something real so I decided on some camp equipment.  The items are pictured below.  Notice that the cook stand can also be used as a tripod.  There are some additional pieces I want to make but this is a good start.

  Now, I just need some food, some pots to cook it in, and someone to cook it for me... 

Forge 1 : Mr. Planters 0

  In the first competition of its kind anywhere, Mr. Planters took on my forge.  The forge won...

  I was using the container to hold borax.  Borax is used as a fluxing agent when doing forge welding.  Well, when I pulled out a piece to weld, I hadn't noticed that a piece of coke had rolled near the container.  When I turned back, I saw what you see now.  I've moved the borax to a new container.

  I decided to take a break and make something quick and easy so I started to make some camp cooking items.  I made the actually cooking stand and crossbar.  This is convertable into a tripod.  I will try to put pics of that up soon.  I plan to make some 'S' hooks to go with the camp gear today.  I might go back and try to do some more work with the clock.

  And on a final note, thanks once again to the guys at www.anvilfire.com  I frequently visit the slacktub pub for advice...

Maybe double folded?

I decided today that I need to try to do actual work on the clock as opposed to just trying stuff to see if it will work.  So, I went back to working on the frame for the clock.  The frame legs are one inch wide with the exception of the ends which needs to be about 1 1/2 inches wide.  So, to get the extra width, I did a fagot weld (folding the steel back on itself) then spread it out.  That worked...  almost...

After thining the metal back out, the total width was just shy of 1 1/2 inches.  So, I'm going to try tomorrow to fold the steel back on itself again.  Hopefully, that will work.

The pile of humility...

Today I spent cleaning up the garage (its been needing it for a long time...)  It's actually the first time that I cleaned the garage since I started blacksmithing.  Anyway, there was a pile of metal in one corner.  This pile is where I threw pieces that didn't work out or pieces that I used to practice techniques.

 I sorted through the pile for pieces large enough to keep for reuse in other projects and those that were too small or too distorted to keep.  It was actually fun because I could actually identify and remember a lot of the pieces and my early frustration...

I have a lot to learn yet but there is finally a good amount behind me.

Right tool for the right job...

  Last week I made an attempt at a hardie tool.  It came out fairly well but still had problems.  The main reason it had problems was that I had difficulty properly holding it with the tongs on hand.  So, I went back to something I remember reading in one of my blacksmith books.  The author stated that if you run into a situation where you can't properly hold a piece of metal, its time to stop and make a pair of tongs that will hold the metal like you want.  So, I decided to go back to the hardie today.  But first, I need new tongs.

  Rather than make new tongs, I decided to modify a pair that I had made early.  This pair of tongs where a bit too heavy to be practical for what they were meant for.  So, I altered the jaws on the tongs, cleaned up the handles, put in a new rivet...  The jaws are now a box shape designed to hold the shaft of any tool that will fit in my anvil's hardie hole.

  The new tongs worked perfectly.  I was able to do cleanup on the hardie tool and it is in much better shape now(Honestly, near perfect.)  At this point, the only way I could really make the hardie better would be if I owned a belt grinder to polish it up.  I own a belt sander but that is not effective enough...  So, I learned the lesson of always have the right pair of tongs.

  I started on a nail header but my arm gave out...  Reluctantly, I had to stop for the day.

 

Saturday was a kick ass day.  It started by going to a local meeting of blacksmiths.  I got kind of impatient to go home and work on my own forge so I left at lunch time.

The first thing I did was to make a prototype piece for a brazier.  That looked good but I need more steel before I start so I went on to my next project.

I took an old monkey wrench and welded a piece of 1/2 inch barstock on it.  The purpose of this was to make the monkey wrench into a tool called a twisting bar.

Finally, to end the day, I took some tool steel and made a hardie tool (a tool that sits in the hole on the top of the anvil).  It didn't turn out real great but immensely better than my attempts almost a year ago.

All in all, a productive, rewarding day.

In Dallas this week...  Decided to take a trip to a local flea market(bad idea) and then went to the Old City Park(better idea...)  The park did have two blacksmiths working.  I did my usually thing of hanging out for the afternoon and seeing what I could learn from them...  I'm no longer going to turn my nose up at railroad spikes as a source for quick tools.

Good day on the forge.  I finished the bootscrapers that I'm giving away as gifts.  Definitely not the greatest work in the world but I'm still learning.  Anyway, I made five of them.  I needed to get them done before Tuesday.  I leave for a business trip for about 8 days.  Going to Dallas, not one of my favorite places to go.  However, I did find a historical museum that has a blacksmithing shop so I'm hoping to check it out.

Rain drove me inside today so not much progress to report but I did pick up a pair of inner calipers at the flea market to help make the circles close to perfect...

Tonight I was on www.anvilfire.com.  I decided to go and get some advice on how to do the hub and spokes for the clock gears.  The part I need to teach myself to make next can be seen below...

The weld points of the spokes to the wheel can be clearly seen.  However, where the spokes meet the hub shows no sign of welding.  Even when looking at the X-ray, there is no evidence of welds.  I had a theory that a single piece of bar material could be used to make the hub and spokes.  My thought was to split the bar from either ends.  Where the bar was split would become the spokes.  The only problem I had was that it would leave a lot of material to thin out.

So I went on Anvilfire and asked for advice.  The solution was so simple that I'm embarrased that I didn't think of it.  I was very close.  I'm going to try starting with a single bar.  About 2 1/4" x 1/2" x 16".  Instead of just splitting the material to form the spokes, I am going to remove about a 1" wide strip down the length of either end.  So, before I begin the real shaping, it will essentially look like a tall, skinny "H".

I will take that "H" and spread the arms to make the "X" shape.  Hopefully it will work!!!

Smoke, smoke, everywhere...

  Allright, I don't actually have a real shop.  My woodworking and blacksmithing is done out of my garage.  To do blacksmithing, I pull the stuff out of the garage, set it up in the driveway and get to work.  Occasionally, I have a problem like I had last night.

  When I shut down for the night, I put some water on the fire but not too much.  If the fire is cooled too rapidly, the forge may potentially crack from the sudden temperature change.  So when I put the forge back into the garage, it is still pretty hot.  Usually, without a good flow of air, the fire will go out on its own.

  Last night I'm sitting in the house several hours after closing down the forge when I begin to notice the familiar smell of sulphur drifting through the house.  I go out to the garage and find the upper half of the garage to be very smoky.

  The fire in the forge was not completely out so the coal slowly burned over those hours.  Since it is in the forge, there is no real danger(allright, almost no danger) but it is annoying.

  Today, I picked up a smoke detector for the garage...  Hopefully won't be a problem in the future.

 

So, what are they?

A)  New symbol for the Special Olympics?

B)  Sauron's first attempts at making the One Ring?

C)  My first attempts at clock gears?

  The answer is of course C...  The ring at the bottom is the first ring I was able to complete and weld closed.  It is about 6-7 inches across.  The ring on the upper left is from Sunday.  Its closing weld can be seen in the 1:00 position.  The ring in the upper right is from today.  Its closing weld can be seen in the 10:00 position.  Although it can't be told from the photos, the weld from today is much cleaner than the one from Sunday.  Also, it would have been a much better circle but I was running out of light and I had to rush the last little bit.  I think before I do the spokes of the gears, I am going to practice more circles...  Its boring but necessary.

Occam's (or Ockham's) Razor or the law of parsimony. A problem should be stated in its basic and simplest terms. In science, the simplest theory that fits the facts of a problem is the one that should be selected.  (from http://www.2think.org/occams_razor.shtml)

In other words, the simplest explanation is probably the correct one.

Scott's Razor...

1) A semi-dull instrument that I cut my face with.

2) The simplest way to do something in blacksmithing is probably the method I will try last.

  Well, I decided tonight when I went to clean up from working earlier to try and make a wheel using the bending bar I described in a previous entry.  After two hours I have a completed circle welded closed.  It is close to a perfect circle, about 12 inches across with a diameter varience of probably no more than 1/4".  I did a little cleanup but not an extensive amount. 

  Only two hours to do pretty much a complete circle...  I will get faster at it as I go.  I'm going to clean up the circle a bit more.  Sometime this week, hopefully I will be able to try and add the spokes.  If that goes okay, truing up the circle and gear cutting come next.  I don't plan on using this particular gear in the clock.  This is simply a proof of concept.

  After this evening, I have no doubts that I will eventually be able to make the clock.  I hope for about a year from now.  Realistically, more like 18 months to 2 years.

Too many irons in the fire...  Its more than just an expression...

  I was working on the bootscrapers today and things were going well.  At one point I became briefly distracted but it was a long enough of a period of time.  I ended up burning two pieces of iron.  For those not familiar with blacksmithing, it is possible to actually completely vaporisize the steel if you are not careful...  Other than destorying the two pieces, most the rest of the forge work went pretty well.

  Didn't do much towards the clock today but the day still has a few hours in it.  Also, I got a bit of metal in my eye and I need to go dig it out.  :)

  Today was a good day.  I spent about 3 hours on the forge.  My arm did much better today than it did on Sunday.  Anyway, after doing some yard work, I decided to fire up the forge.  I spent the first hour doing some more work on the bootscrapers.  While I was working, my mind kept coming back to a show I had seen on the History or Discovery.

  The show was talking about cannons through the middle ages.  The earlier cannons were interesting but a cannon from the later middle ages interested me more.  The cannon in question was one from the Mary Rose(a later middle ages English warship).  www.maryrose.org

  Now, I have a soft spot for the Mary Rose.  I've visited the Mary Rose museum in Portsmouth 3 times in my life.  There is something about that ship which has always interested me.  Anyway, the show was talking about the cannons recovered from the Mary Rose.

  The show detailed the reconstruction of one of these cannons.  The cannon comes from an extremely complex construction process.  It starts with long iron staves layed side by side to form a cylinder.  Very similar to how you make a wine barrel.  Once the cylinder is formed from the staves, you need someway to hold them together just like the metal bands on a wine barrel.  The way this is done on the cannon is by forming metal rings very similar to the rings you wear on a finger except on a much larger scale.  These rings are heated, placed over the cylinder, then cooled.  During the cooling process, the rings shrink forming a tight band around the staves holding them tight together.  From what I could tell, these rings were down the hold length of the barrel.

  Anyway, during the show, they showed the blacksmiths making the gun.  The part that caught my attention the most was the forming of the rings.  The smith was using a bending bar to form the rings.  A bending bar is like a long two prong fork with the tines pointing out to the side.  It is placed over a hot bar and the leverage of the handle makes it easy to bend the bar. 

  When I had tried to form circles in the past, I had always done it by hammering the metal over the edge of the anvil's horn.  While this worked it has several drawbacks(especially to a new smith like me.)  It tends to create bulges on the edge of the metal where it is struck and it is difficult to make that near perfect circle.

  So, today I decided to make a bending bar and give it a try on my metal.  Now, this idea had occurred to me before I saw the show but I had assumed that the metal was too thick to bend this way.  Well I made the bending bar, heated up some 1 1/4" x 3/8" bar stock, put it in the vice and bent it...

  Damn, it was so easy and so easy to control compared to the hammering.  One of the most common misconceptions by non blacksmiths is that blacksmithing is almost all hammering.  In reality, only about 25-50% of blacksmithing time is hammering at the anvil.

  This also reminded me of one my great weaknesses that I am trying to get rid of.  I have a bad habit of forming theories on how things should be done even when my level of experience is not that great...  Well, I proved myself wrong(I think).  The bending bar will probably be the way that I will form the circles for the clock gears.

Things that suck...

  Well, been a little bit since I've posted.  I've been doing work around the house which was suddenly halted when my pickup's transmission started acting up.  Anyway, I'm making some gifts that need to be done in a few weeks(bootscrapers) and today was the first day that I've gotten forge time in weeks.  Its amazing how difficult it was after not having lifted a hammer for a month.  I made good progress and there should be no problem getting the gifts done but my arm feels like a noodle now...

  I hope to pick up some larger oxy/acetylene cylinders this week.  I already own a pair but they are very small and are usually empty after about an hours worth of work or less if I'm doing cutting.  I'm not going to use modern welding on any of my period items but I will be using it for tools that are difficult to make(usually because I don't have a helper to hold things while I'm working...)