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.