Quite the weekend

  This weekend was a bigger event for the SCA so I was doing my regular demoing.  I helped 4 different people try their hand at blacksmithing and they had varying degrees of success.  But still, they all had fun and reminded me while I do the demo stuff.

  I did have enough time to make a prototype for a gift for individuals within the SCA.  I have to make 5 items and I actually decided to make 5 pairs of sconces.  They are a fleur pattern.  The prototype looked pretty decent and will post a picture of that tomorrow.  I also managed to sneak a little bit of work in on the clock.  Very nice tight fitting joinery.

  Then the big surprise of the day.  I was elevated to the Order of Laurel.  For non-SCA types, its the highest level of honor they can give for the arts within the SCA.  So that was pretty cool and very humbling.  It feels very odd to have so many people congratulate you for something that you have received.  Still doesn't feel real...

  The other bit of really good news was old news that I was not aware of.  At last years Florida blacksmithing convention, I put my reproduction of the Mastermyr chest in the general gallery area.  I really put it in as an afterthought.  As a matter of fact, I didn't put it on display until halfway through the day.  I was really wowed by the items on display and felt a bit odd putting my piece out.  I had to attend a work related conference so I cut out a bit early.

  I just found out today that I actually won the "best of show" award.  I had been given a big hunk of real wrought iron but I thought the gentleman was giving it to me for another reason.  Apparently it was the prize.  So that really surprised me as well.

  So to wrap up, it was a very overwhelming weekend.  I'm still waiting for the alarm clock to go off...

Quick update

  Finally got a few hours on the forge today.  Mostly I just worked on reworking the frame.  Much happier with the results that the original.  The shoulders are formed much better and it should help the frame to be much more square.  Its all a matter of experience.

  For those long time readers on my blog, you will know that I frequently have to make the parts two or three times just because I still suck at this... :)  Actually, I'm sure that I will be making many of the parts several times as I learn how to make this clock.  I really can't see reworking the corner posts unless I damage them somehow so I am going to call them done.  (knock on virtual wood)

Wow, encouraging, humbling and sad... All from a gate...

So, I'm in Philadelphia and I go out for dinner.  I take a little side trip to a bookstore and walking home when something catches my eye.  It is a wrought iron gate and I recognize it right away from the book on Francis Whittaker (he worked for a time for Samuel Yellin and was one of the most respected smiths in the last half of the 20th century.)  Anyway, I found a picture on the Wikipedia site for Yellin and if this is not the same gate, it is very close to it.



In looking at this gate, I was very humbled.  The overal size was very impressive.  The work was top notch.  It made me realize what pro smiths with enough helpers can do.  On closer investigation there was something that made me feel really good and its tough to say this without sounding arrogant.

There was nothing on that gate that I couldn't do today.  Like most arts, its just a matter of learning the basics.  As impressive as the gate was, as well designed as it was, it was fairly basic shaping, welding, forming, etc...  Also, there were some basic mistakes in the piece.  Makes me wonder if I'm not too hard on myself sometimes...

Don't get me wrong, very nice piece, very impressive and it makes me humble to see something like that.

Oh, the sad part?  The building is up for sale.  I worry that the new owners might just remove the gate in favor of a more modern appearance.

Little progress

Just a note that over the next week will have little progress as I will be on the road.  However, I will be in Philadelphia and I'm going to try to take some pictures of wrought iron in the city.  Because of Samuel Yellin and his shop in the city, it has some of the best ironwork in the country.  So I will take my camera and sketchbook for ideas.  A long time back, I post some of Yellin's work on here.  I will try to post some more pics this time around.

I promise honey, I will clean the kitchen up...

Here are pictures of the treated posts.  Its amazing how much the flash of the camera and the oil highlight the surface imperfections...  :)  Under normal light, they are a very flat black.  I may try another photo out in daylight.

Smokin...

  Today, I finished filing the fourth post.  That means all of the shaping is done on the posts.  They aren't perfect but I'm looking at them with a very critical eye.  They are currently cooking in the oven with a layer of wax/oil mix.  Will post some pictures once they are done.

Posts almost done

Today, I was able to almost complete all four posts.  Three of the fours posts are filed, shaped and cleaned up.  The only thing left to do on them is to oil treat them to prevent rusting.  I would have gotten all four done but my hands started to cramp up.  Anyway, here is a picture of the four posts.  The one on the left is the one that is not done.  (Click to enlarge)



By the way, did you know files work pretty well on flesh as well as metal?

Steady Progress

  Was able to spend a few hours on the forge.  After the successful attempt at the motif on the one of the corner posts last week made it possible to go ahead and start the other posts.  So today I cut the posts on the top part to do the motif.  I then spent a few hours and managed to get through all but one of the posts.  All of the filing to form the pattern cramped my hands up otherwise I could have gotten them all done.  Anyway, here is a pic of the three completed posts.



  The "FR" on one posts means "Front Right".  I will try to get to the other post tomorrow.  Here is picture of the original clock showing the corner posts.  Oh, I still need to the pattern on the bottom part of the posts but happy with results so far.



  I also put new hinges on my stand for my leg vise.  The hinges are much bigger than my previous set so will hopefully make it easier to use my vise at events.

Bummer...

I just found out that my contact at the British Museum retired just a few months ago.  He gave me a lot of good information and I really have all that I need at this point.  However, if I do need additional info, I'm sure I can get someone else at the museum to help.  Still, when I complete this project, I may have to track him down just to let him know that I finished.

Good progress...

I love A2...  I really, really love A2.  I want A2 to have my children...

So today I decided to work on the decorative motifs on the corner posts.  To make the motif I needed a special sized chisel to cut some of the excess material away.  I picked up the A2 to give it another try.

Last night I went on www.anvilfire.com to ask for some advice on using A2.  I put that to work today.  I started with a very slow heating of the steel.  I laid the steel next to the fire but not directly in it while I played around with forging some minor stuff not related to the clock.  I continued with the very, very slow heating until the steel to nice even orange heat.  The other important thing about A2 is not to forge too hot, that is a yellow heat.

I formed a square cut chisel (the cut is flat on one side and tapered on the other).  As soon as the steel was no longer orange, it went back into the fire.  I always heated it back up slower than what I normally would do.  So, I formed the taper and brought the steel up to critical temp and then set to the side on the coal.  A2 is air hardened which means no quenching.

While that cooled, I took one of the posts and used the wooden template that I made a little while back and traced the pattern.  I then made minor chisel marks so that after I heated it up, I could tell where to cut.  I chiseled the metal away using the new chisel.  The chisel never deformed and even after extensive cutting, there was absolutely no sign of deforming.

All I can say is wow...  After using the A2, I don't know if I could ever go back to car spring steel.  The complete lack of deforming was so surprising.  It is much harder to work than the spring steel but the benefits are very high.  I may have to hit my friend for some more...  Although I do have a big pile of it in the garage.

Back to the post...  After cutting the excess material, I let the post cool slowly.  Even mild steel will harden to some degree if quenched.  If I am going to file a piece, I let it cool slowly.  The filing took about an hour and this is what it looks like.



Notice the slight bulge around the mortise.  This is from using the drift to open the hole up to size.  This is something that distinguishes a blacksmithing piece from something a metal fab shop produces.  Up until about the 18th century, the bulge was left on the piece.  Then the artistic tastes said that the sides should be nice and flat.  Just recently, people like to see the bulge again as it is a sign of a handmade piece.

This post is really looking like the pictures I have of the original.  I am very, very happy with how things are going.