Some pics of the final chest...

Here is a pic of the quatrefoil I did this weekend.



Here are some medieval examples from the Philadelphia museum of art.  The focus problems on the pics are from not being able to use a flash.  I like the design of the first one.

Not too often blacksmiths get in the news...

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/30/army.farrier/index.html

First decent blacksmithing in a few weeks...

  Over the holiday weekend I was able to set up the forge for the first time in several weeks.  This was at an SCA event and I spent most of the first day just doing minor stuff and teaching a little.  The big thing that I wanted was to try a quatrefoil.  I tried one on Saturday but because I was teaching and working with others at the same time, it didn't turn out so good.

  On Sunday I tried the quatrefoil again and it came out pretty good.  I wasn't worried about the decorative elements of the quatrefoil, just the structure.  It involves multiple welds including a somewhat difficult final weld.  I am thinking about doing a spanish style window covering as a project.  I wouldn't have to learn too much new to do it but it would allow me to focus on the artistic side of the blacksmithing.

  Below is one page of an article I found on http://www.newenglandblacksmiths.org/tipsandtricks.htm.  This is part of the article that I used to make the quatrefoil.  The quatrefoil is the clover shaped item in the frame.



  Also, the gentleman who helped me get started in blacksmithing was nice enough to give me a large bag of charcoal.  I've never smithed with charcoal before so it should be an interesting experience.

 

Loading up the truck...

  The back has finally recovered.  I was able to do yard work today without a problem.  Tomorrow, loading up the smithing stuff for an SCA event.  I have several things I would like to play around with this weekend but haven't decided which ones to do yet.  List of projects include...

Portable holes for an SCA group...  I have to get started on these soon, may do some of them this weekend.
New punches and chisels.  When I was doing the chest, I was constantly reshaping my punch for what I needed.  This took some time.  It would be better to have a variety of punches and chisels so I wouldn't have to do that.
Brazier.  I was originally going to make a larger one.  I think I will start with a small one to see how it comes out.
Hardie tools (cutters that fit anvil).  I would like to make one but I don't think I have the right tool stock for that right now.
Draw knife.  I want to start making my own tool handles in a period way so I would like to make a draw knife to do that.

anyway, other projects bouncing around in my head but its bed time.

Nothing to blog about...

  Just a quick update.  Still some residual back pain so haven't been out on the forge.  That's okay because work has suddenly become very busy.  In a little over a week, I get to go to a large blacksmithing convention in Grapevine, TX (near Dallas.)  Hopefully, this bachache will be gone soon.

Interesting...

  Watching the show "Worst Jobs in History" hosted by Tony Robinson (Baldric of Black Adder).  One of the jobs they just showed was something that I was interested in trying sometime.  They were showing the historical method of creating charcoal.  Charcoal, to give a more precise definition, is wood that has had moisture cooked out of it without actually burning the wood.  Charcoal burns much hotter and cleaner than wood.  Charcoal was the primary fuel for blacksmiths until fairly recent history.
  For economic reasons, most smiths today use either coal (which converts to coke in the forge) or propane.  I would like to try charcoal someday just to say that I have tried it.  A pet project somewhere down the road would actually be to make some charcoal.
  The process is fairly simple but it takes about 100 hours of constant attention.  Wood is stacked on end in a circle.  The circle is about 10-20 feet in diameter and about 5 feet high.  This pile of wood is covered with sod.  The center of the pile is lit on fire and allowed to slowly burn.  Very high degree of care must be taken to not allow the fire through the sod.  When a hole breaks through on the sod, it is immediately covered to keep the fire from getting enough air.  At the end of the process, there is a big pile of charcoal in the center.
  Another job on the show was guys that looked for bog iron.  Bog iron is a source of iron ore that can be smelted to extract the iron.  The way it is found is that you wade through a bog.  You take a thin, long stick and poke into the bog.  When you hit something, you dig and pull out a grapefruit sized lump of the bog iron.

Glad it didn't happen last week...

  I fired up the forge for the first time since finishing the chest(other than a quick demo I did on Saturday.)  Work has kept me busy and I expect to have very little free time next week.  Anyway, I was just messing around on the forge and threw out my back.  I have a spot which routinely has some problems but its a little worse than normal.  I actually had difficulty cleaning up because my back was so bad.

  I think I will take somewhat of a break to give my back a chance to rest.  Besides, like I said, I expect to be very busy because of work this week.  I think the next thing that I want to do is make a stand for my swage block.  The swage block (pronounced swedge) is a big hunk of metal with different shapes in it.  It is used to shape metal into things like spoons...  I've had to use the swage on the ground.  My bad back today reminded me that its not a good way to work.

RIP Paw Paw Wilson...  I didn't really know you but you were always helpful.

Tic, tic, tic...

  So, I've been mulling over in my head what project to do next.  I have a few small projects that I need to take care of.  I need to make 20 to 30 portable holes.  Fairly simple other than the number required.  I also need to make a brazier (an iron container for campfires.)

  Well, I think I may push for the clock again.  I know that I still have a lot to learn but the chest taught me that if I try something enough times, I can get it.  I may have to end up making parts 3, 4 or more times but I figure its one of the best ways that I learn.  I am not real good about trying simple stuff over and over.  I prefer to just jump into the fire and learn.

  So this weekend I am going to look at the few frame pieces I made last year.  If they are acceptable, I may keep them.  I'm expecting that after the experience with the chest that my expectations of quality have been elevated.

Chest pic...

  I will have to take a few more pics but this gives a frontal view of the mastermyr chest.

Tired, sore but happy...

  I completed the chest at about 8pm on Friday and spent the rest of the evening finishing my documentation on the chest.  I'm pretty happy with the results but will probably remake the wooden part of the chest down the road.  There are several reasons for this.  The first, primary reason is that during the attachment of some of the hardware, I accidentally opened up some of the joinery and this caused some parts to end up a little off.  The next reason is that the part of the chest I am least happy with is the nails.  I made two primary mistakes with them.  The heads are not as nicely domed as I would like.  Also, I should have softened the nails a bit before putting them in the wood.  Because of not softening the nails, I was not able to cleat them properly.  Finally, I found a technique for the pegs that should make the chest significantly stronger.

  Overall, the chest was pretty well received and it was nice seeing the reactions of the people who knew of the original chest.  It actually did amaze me how many people knew of the Mastermyr chest and recognized my reproduction of it.

  I will post a final picture of my reproduction when I get home.  Since I'm at work, I don't have access to any of my pictures.

  Now, whatever shall I do for my next project???

Getting damn close...

  I started out the day attaching all of the pieces of the lock together.  Up till now, everything has just been sitting in place but not attached.  This took me much longer than expected due to a problem I had getting one of the parts properly secured.  By the time I got all of the parts on the lock, it had started to rain.  So, I decided to go ahead and oil some of the parts as that is pretty easy to do.

  When the rain finally let up, I started to fit the lock to the front of the chest.  This involved cutting out some wood where it would interfere with the lock.  So, after cutting the wood I drilled the holes for the nails.  If I had attempted to just drive the nails, the oak would have split.  Oak is very prone to splitting anyway and these nails are fairly thick.  So, I was able to get the lock into the front panel.  The nails are cleated (bent over).



  I decided to go ahead and do the glue up of the chest.  This is done using woodworker's glue, mortise and tenon, and wooden pegs.  I was thinking of using hide glue but because of my lack of experience with it, I didn't want to learn to use it on this project.  Here is a pic of the chest as it looks now.  Tomorrow, I will clean it up, get the lid to sit smooth, attach the hinges and the front clasps, oil and be done...

Finally,

  Tonight, the lock is pretty much done.  It took 3 attempts at the spring to get it right.  The main thing that I was doing wrong was simply not making the spring long enough and thin enough.  Until I made it longer, there was not enough flexibility.  Tomorrow, I will clean up the lock, mainly removing some minor surface rust, put it together and oil it to rust protect it.  This is a view of the lock with the spring held in place by vice grips.



The spring is at the top.  Towards the right side, the spring comes in contact with a piece of metal on top of the slide.  When the key is inserted and rotated, it pushes the spring out of the way allowing the slide to move.  This is a view from the bottom of the slide showing the holes where the key pushes through.  The spring is visible as the shiny metal through the holes.



So, a complete rundown of what's left...

Parts permanently attached to lock plate.  About 1 1/2 hours.
Fitting lock to chest, 1 hour. (this involves fine tuning of the hole cut for the lock on front of chest)
Glue up of chest, 1 hour.
Completion of clasps on front of chest, another 1 1/2 hours.
Placing hinges and clasps on chest, 1 hour. (not actually attached.)
Multiple coats of oil to chest, 1 hour.
Cooking oil onto all hardware, 1 1/2 hours.
Attaching of all hardware. 2 hours.
Touch up of chest finish.  1/2 hour.

I may have to make some more nails but I can do those pretty quickly now.

So, tomorrow is the hard push for completion.  I do not want to plan on going to Friday.  I want Friday as an "in case" day.  The chest should be ready for judging on Saturday.

Only few days left to finish...

  Attempted to remake the spring today. I'm going about it a more systematic way so I left the spring to cool slowly in some wood ash.  Tomorrow, I will first harden it then temper it a small amount to hopefully get to that springy tension I need.

  I also started fitting the hinges to the chest.  This went a little better than I expected.  I was thinking it might take me a few hours.  But after only one heating of the steel, this is what one of the hinges looks like on the lid.  Notice how the hinge is shaped to the lid.

"Nobody makes me bleed my own blood...  Nobody!!!" - White Goodman

Ah, the joys of woodworking.  One of the little "perks" I had forgot about is how torn up your hands can get from woodworking.  Now, you might be thinking that blacksmithing is rough on the hands and it is.  But its not nearly as hard for bleeding as woodworking.  This little story might help to explain why...

  About five years ago, I attended my first woodworking convention.  At a demonstration of tool sharpening techniques, the instructor passed around a chisel with the warning, "Be careful, this is surgically sharp."  Not razor sharp, surgically sharp.  While feeling the blade, I did not cut myself enough to bleed, it was very capable of slicing off thin layers of skin.  I taught myself how to sharpen properly and now my chisels are often that sharp.  Put 3 or 4 chisels, a draw knife and other tools on a table and watch me grabbing for them...  Explains the blood.

  As a comparison, you very rarely want sharp tools in blacksmithing.  The thin edge of the blade would simple be destroyed the moment it came in contact with hot metal.  Most blacksmithing chisels could only cut skin if they were struck with a 2 pound hammer.  Then again, a butter knife could cut skin if hit hard enough.

  Well, last night I managed to finish the woodworking on the chest other than the glue up.  The last part for the lock is a spring mechanism.  I could not get the tool steel I have to become very springy despite using a technique described by a smith from Williamsburg.  I'm sure I'm doing it wrong.  So, will give it another try this evening.  I just have to say, that part of the process involves molten lead.  No, nothing bad can happen when playing with molten lead.

 

In the home stretch...

  More sawdust and the wooden part of the chest is nearly complete.  I finished the bottom today and worked on the lid.  The lid is taking a fair amount of work as it is hollowed out on the inside and domed on the outside.  Tomorrow, I hope to begin attaching hardware and finishing the last of the blacksmithing.  Here is a pic of the chest.  It is not pinned or glued together yet so there are some gaps.  Also, the hole in the front is where the lock goes.  I will trim that up when I'm sure how everything fits.