Whoops...

  Just noticed that I accidentally overlayed some of my old pictures.  Will try to restore them when I get home tonight.

Woohoo!!

  So, today I spent working on the key and the lock.  This was by far the most complicated thing that I have had to do to date.  It requires a high level of precision, work on very small items, lotsa filing, etc...  And the good news is that I was able to do exactly what I wanted to do.

  My first goal was to get the ward plate on the slide.  The ward plate is actually part of what "locks".  A spring pushes up against the ward plate to keep the slide from moving.  I was able to get that done.  My next goal was to punch two holes.  These two holes(which are very small) are in the slide and the key passes thru these holes to push the spring above the ward plate.  This unlocks the lock.  I was able to get this done.  Next major goal was to cut the key to preliminary size.  The key must lock into the slide(using a small hole) and the rotate with two small pins going into the small holes mentioned above.  This sounds simple but it involves a lot of filing.  The goal is a very snug fit.  If you make the holes too big then the lock is easy to pick.  This part was the most time intensive work today.  The pictures below show the key in the slide.

  This picture shows the key in the slide.  In the sequence of unlocking, this would be the key just being pushed into the lock.

This picture is of the key rotated and the pins going into the holes.



The final picture is the backside of the slide (in reality, this is the top of the slide).  The pins are pushing up.  The goal is that they must be at least as high as the ward plate.  The ward plate is the small piece of metal riveted on the slide.



I really did a lot today.  I am very happy with the results.  The last difficult thing that I need to do is to incorporate the 3 cross shaped wards into the lock.  The will be riveted to the slide.  This will block the key from working.  In order for the key to work, I will have to put 3 cross shaped holes in the key.  This prevents someone elses key being able to open your lock.  Exactly the same concept of different keys today.

  If things go well, I hope to have the chest done by the end of February.  It would be sooner but I have to travel several times for work over the next few weeks.

No such thing as scrap metal...

  Started work on the key today.  Most blacksmiths will almost never throw away a piece of metal of any real size.  Well, when I went to make the key I used a piece that I had experimented on with the clock probably about a year ago.  The key still needs some cutting and filing but I'm happy with the progress.  These pictures show how I split the metal in order to make the handle.

Update...

  I did something I usually don't do and that is work after sundown.  I had too much of the smithing bug tonight.  Anyway, did a little more work on the lock.  It still needs some work before I start preping it for adding parts to it but wanted to save that until I could see better.  Here is an updated photo.  The center has been widened and a bend put on one edge.  Notice the "L" bend on the one edge of the middle.  This is used to help place the key and is a partial lock picking prevention.

Rain delay...

  Just got back in town and I was anxious to get back on the forge.  Due to rain, I was not able to get started until mid afternoon and I was only able to work about an hour and a half before rain chased me back in.  Still, I was able to get a significan start on the lock plate for the chest.  The rods out to either side will engage in eyes on hinges to form part of the lock.  I was working on the right side when the rain hit.  The center piece is the heart of the lock.  The 3 wards that I made will eventually be riveted on to it.  It is also where the key will engage when complete.



This is a line drawing of a typical viking lock to give an idea of what it will look like...



The piece that I am working on is the one with the little hole that the key tip is resting inside of.

Possible future projects...

  Here are some photos I took for potential projects.  Unfortunately because I could not use a flash or a tripod, there is some fuzziness to the photos.  The first one is a frame for a folding chair.  I did a similar chair before but out of wood.  Until I saw this, I did not realize that metal versions of this style existed.  Obviously the seat is missing from the chair.  It was probably cloth or leather.  A brazier is just to the right of the chair.



This next one is neat candle sconce.  The text says "Ave Maria G"



This next image is one of many candlelabras.  I would try to make it a little more upright...  :)



  I am still doing the clock and it is still my primary goal.  But as I work on these projects, I am learning valuable skills and techniques I need to do the clock.  After I finish the viking chest, I think I'm going to do a little more work on the clock frame.  I have to say, everything with the blacksmithing has been a very rewarding experience.  I really feel like I am crossing that threshold from randomly bending things to becoming a true blacksmith.

  Finally, something on the more inspirational side.  The office building that I worked in this week is located just 2 miles from ground zero in New York.  Several of my students were actually working in the building adjacent to the towers when they were hit.  The picture below is from the classroom looking towards ground zero.  On the right side of the photo you can just make out the Statue of Liberty.  In the center of picture you can see one of the skyscrapers being rebuilt.  One of my students said this is the replacement for one of the adjacent office buildings taken out by the resulting fires.  I believe he said it was 7 World Trade Center.

suprised even myself...

  Last night I was in the chatroom on the www.anvilfire.com website.  Over the past two years I have frequently gone there when I've had any questions.  Last night it was because I was bored(although happy because I had scored tickets to David Letterman).  Well, one guy was bragging about using round stock and hammering it flat to make swords.  Not authentic but just to have the look.  Well, I told him that its not advisable to hammer round stock that way because it can cause seperation and weakness in the metal, especially in the center.  Another guy was asking about welding and I gave him about half a dozen tips on how to weld.  After a little small talk one of the guys thanked me for the tips and said it was nice to get some advice from a real blacksmith...  lol...  excuse me?

More blacksmithing coolness...

  Found myself at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.  They had some good wrought iron stuff as well but nearly as much as the Cloisters.  Still, probably the best museum I've been in since the British Museum.  The Greek and Egyptian areas were great but unfortunately the Roman exhibit was closed for renovations.

Unicorn?  What unicorn?

  So, I'm in New York this week and my first stop was the Cloisters.  If you are not familiar with the Cloisters, it is a decent collection of medieval items.  The most famous of which is the collection of the Unicorn Tapestries.  Well, when I got there, my attention was focused squarely on the wrought iron stuff on display.  A humorous incident happend in the tapestry room.  I was so intently studying and photographing some iron items by a fireplace that one of the guards jokingly asked me if I had noticed the tapestries on the wall...



  Well, there were a lot of iron work items in the museum.  Unfortunately, a large number of them had no description or a very minimal description.  I particularly liked the metal folding chair and the brazier.  Lots of candlelabras as well.  I think I may do some candlelabras after the chest.  They should be much quicker than the chest.

Three little soldiers...

  Almost finished with 3rd ward.  It just needs to be a little smaller.  It only took me about 2 hours but I don't think I could really produce them any faster than that.

Overly optimistic....

  I made a second ward tonight.  It took me about 3 hours(unlike the a 1 or 2 hours I had guessed it would.)  There is really no way to speed up the process without resorting to modern tools.  I'd rather be doing it with the files then ruin the experience by "cheating".

Curiously smaller...

  So, double checked the original chest and I decided that size of about 1/4" for the ward was the size I should shoot for.  The ward as it was last night was about 3/8".  So did some more filing and it now looks like this...

  I think in the future it should take me no more than 2 hours to make a ward, maybe even less.  I need three for the chest but I may go ahead and make a few test ones just to make sure I can attach them properly.  I won't need to worry about the cross detail on the test wards, just need to make sure that I can attach them properly.

Proof of concept...

  So I decided to try and make one of the wards to see if I could get what I wanted.  I started with a piece of 3/8" square stock.  I then filed the middle portion to about half that thickness.  With the metal removed, it was possible to use a file to create the cross shape.  Here is a picture of the ward.



The ruled is centimeters at the top and inches at the bottom.  I am very happy with how things turned out.  I might want to make it smaller once I double check the size of the original but I'm confident of being able to make the wards now...   whew...

Bored at work...

  So, sitting at work when my mind wonders back to the viking chest.  I have to make a part of the lock mechanism soon.  The lock of another reproduction is shown below along with the key.  The cross(or cruciform) shaped bumps are wards.  These prevent keys other than the proper one from opening the chest.  Well, these bumps are only a little over 1/4" wide.  A little too small to be made at the forge so it will require a lot of filing.  I think I figured out how to file these.  The tough part was figuring out how to get down inside the corners...  I think I will try it out tonight when I get home.  I also need to stop by the hardware store on the way home and see what the smallest round peen hammer I can get.  I will need it to secure the wards.  Never enough hammers....  :)

This is the key that fits the lock...



  Oh, I don't usually "name names" in here but I really should credit the excellant smith that made the other chest.  His name is Steve Smith and lives(I believe) in the northeast.

Grrr....

  I hate nails.  Enough said...

Smokin!

  Finally done with holiday parties...  Back to the forge.

  Well, the time off from the forge gave me time to reevaluate the way I did part of the hinges.  I used a weld to create part of the hinge.  Although the weld itself was very solid, it left the metal too thin at a critical point and I was worried that the metal would fatigue and break.  So, took a different approach...  Very happy with the results.

  I used a simple technique to taper part of the hinge down to get the metal to make a loop.  Much easier than my previous technique and much more reliable.  When will I learn to try the simple way first?  Oh well, it was still a valuable lesson.  Here is a pic of making one set of hinges.  I make both parts of the hinge from the same piece of metal.  This just makes it easier to hold the hinges while working on them.  This pic shows just before I cut the hinge into two seperate pieces.  Notice the chalk lines on the side of the anvil.  These are marks I used to punch the holes in the hinge.



The next pic here shows a completed hinge just after being covered with oil while still hot.  This is done to protect it from rust and it also gives the piece the black appearance most people are used to.  As you can see in the pic, the piece is still smoking.



Finally, two pictures of the completed hinges.  Very happy with the results.  The ruler helps to give a sense of scale.  I should mention that half of a hinge I posted a few weeks ago was actually tossed out due to the concern about the metal fatigue.





  The hinges are complete other than putting a curve in part of the hinge to match the chest.  They are very solid and should last my lifetime.  They have a 270 degree range of movement.  This allows the chest to go from closed to the lid hanging off the back of the chest.  I also have to say that I was able to work very rapidly today.  If I had a reason to, I could make 4-5 sets of hinges in one day.  This compares to one set in one day from a month ago.  Experience is the best teacher...