Workbench mostly complete and post vise mounted.

  The new central workbench in my shop is mostly complete.  I've got tools piled on top of it to help the glue set.  Today I spent some time mounting the post vise to the corner.  As a reminder, a post vise is a type of vise used by blacksmiths.  It has a leg to absorb the shock of hammering into the floor rather than the axle of the vise.  I got the vise mounted and it appears to be rock solid.  This will be the first time I've ever had a post vise mounted this way.  In the past I've always had to make due with portable stands that rocked and really could not take that much twisting.

  What I have still left to do...

1. Attach a small stand at one end for the shears I got a few weeks ago.


2. Attach heavy duty power strips to the sides of the table.  Will give me 20 more outlets in the shop.


3. Mount a smaller vise but that will be quick.

The shop is coming together and it will be great to get back to smithing.

Camping gear

  Pulled out my new setup for the forge today.  First thing I did was to add the hose between the blower and the forge.  I had to take it for a test drive so I started by adding a new tong rack on the back of the new cart.  After that, I worked some on a camp set I promised someone 2 years ago now.  I wasn't able to work too long as my arm is out of shape but it was good to be swinging the hammer again.

  Tomorrow I am going to be working on a new work bench.  When complete, I will be attaching the post vise to the bench.  Looking forward to finally having the post vise setup properly.  Will make working on the clock so much nicer.

New Stand

  Spent the day putting together the new stand for forge work.  It was made from some scrap pine as well as two wheels I bought earlier in the week.  Anyway, fairly basic construction.  I removed the legs from the forge and blower and put them on the stand.  Here is a picture of how it looks at the moment.

I still need to pick up new vent work for the blower to forge connection.  I will be adding a bit more to it but the form is pretty much done.

So, I took it for a test drive and its very cool.  It is very easy to move around to where I need it.  Also, I added some height to the forge so I'm not bending over anymore.  The blower is also much more stable.  I'm very happy with the results.

My only concern is possible burn damage to certain spots that are close to the fire pot.  If it becomes an issue, I can add a bit of insulation.

Overall I am very happy with it and look forward to using it.

 

Making more steps...

My enthusiasm for getting back to working on the clock keeps building.  I'm really thinking that when I get going this time, its not stopping until its done.

Spent last weekend at the annual convention for the Florida Artists Blacksmithing.  Got to see a lot of cool things and left from the event with 600 pounds of coal and a new pair of shears for cutting stock down to a more manageable size.  The only thing I plan to use it on for the clock is when I have a piece of 10 foot steel to get it down to something that I can move around.

The piece of great news that I have is that I have signed up for a class in January at the John C. Campbell Folk School.  The class is on how to build early padlocks from the 10th - 19th century.  I am really looking forward to this.  Not only will I get to make a cool item but I will should learn some techniques that will be very helpful with making the clock.  It will be a week long and includes things like forge brazing which I've actually done but would like to know the right way to do it.  :)

This weekend I have 3 things that I want to accomplish.  The first is simple.  I want add more light to my shop so I am picking up two new fluorescent lights for the middle part of the shop.  I already have the wiring, electrical boxes, etc... that I need.   I hope to get those up tonight.

The next project is a cart for my forge and blower.  As part of my effort to make it very easy to setup to do smithing (and cut down on my excuses for not doing it) I will be building a cart that I can easily move in and out of the garage without pulling out my back.  The cart needs to be nice and sturdy but easy to move.

The final thing I would like to get to is do actually do some blacksmithing.  Haven't done any in months and I'm sure I'm out of shape for it.  This may not happen because I will be at the Buccaneers game on Sunday.  Since I have to show up at 9:30 to prepare for the pre-game show, that pretty much takes away my whole Sunday.

Bit of a pleasant surprise

Yeah I know, sick of hearing about cleaning shop...

Anyway, I made hopefully the last run to the dump for a while.  Also visited the scrap yard and got a decent amount of cash for the steel.  I was surprised to find that they deal a lot in copper and brass scrap.  I asked and they do sell it.  The reason this is important to me is that one of the last things I would like to do for the clock is to cast my own bell for it.  So I now have a local supplier of other raw material if I need it.  This was a surprise because the location used to deal with just autos and steel but it has switched over to being a true metal scrap yard.  Woot!

Its kindda sad the things blacksmiths get excited about. 

Like an archaelogical dig...

Dug out more of the garage today.  Its getting there.  I hope by the end of this weekend, it will be clean.  Then I can start on making some new workbenches and getting the post vise mounted.