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...