Taking long breaks has advantages and disadvantages...

  Finally got back to the clock after about 2 months of really doing nothing with it.  I looked at the pieces I made that are horizontal crossbars in the middle of the clock.  These pieces will ultimately hold uprights which in turn will hold the axles of the clock.  Anyway, I was a bit put off by the shape of the pieces.  They were too thick and too uneven.
  The main reason that they were poorly formed was that I made them part of the time while demoing at events.  When I do that, I tend to rush so that observers can see more "action."  Anyway, I took the time to clean up one of the two pieces this afternoon.  It looks much better now.  I started on the second piece but my arm has lost some of its endurance so I had to break after only about 2 hours worth of work.

Chest part deux...

The second chest is done.  One hinge was a little tight but overall happy with it.  Here are some pictures.  This version of the chest has no lock.  My understanding is that it will be part of a gift package to Ansteorra.

Something cooking in the oven...

I am finishing up a second reproduction of the Mastermyr chest.  As I type, I can smell the oil on the hinges that are cooking in the oven.  I've found that if I use the oven and cook the oil on them, it gives a really nice finish.  Tomorrow morning, I just need to put the hinges on and one more coat of oil and the chest goes off to Gulf Wars as a gift.

In the mean time a selection of photos from NY...  Most of the photos are presented smaller than actual.  Click on them to enlarge.

Medieval candelabra from the Cloisters:


This is a door in the cloisters.  With all of these images, there tends to be a blurriness due to not being allowed to use a flash.



Another canlelabra



Yet another door.



And now, some ceiling pics for Jim...  This is the timber framed ceiling in one of the exhibit rooms in the Cloisters.







More pictures to follow at a later date...

New York, NY

In New York City this week.  I've taken a lot of pictures of some medieval blacksmithing stuff.  And just for Jinx, took some pictures of some painted medieval timber framed roofs.  Very cool...

And on a non-blacksmithing note, saw Spamalot last night.  Very funny...

Low stress - high quality...

So I'm currently working on a 2nd copy of the Mastermyr chest that is going to be a gift handed out at Gulf Wars(SCA event for those non-SCAers).  The first chest had some joinery problems.  I attributed that to be rushed to finish the project.  This time around I am under a deadline but not nearly as tight.

Well the chest is turning out much better.  I am done with the front and side pieces.  Since the chest is trapazoidal in shape, it makes some of the joinery a bit tricky but not too bad.  Since I am able to take my time the joints are very tight with no gapping.  I just have to do some mortises and shape the lid(which actually is quite a bit of work...) and the woodworking will be done.

The only blacksmithing I am doing on this project are the hinges.  Those with a few nails should only take me a few hours.

Very humbling...

I went to a local meeting for FABA(Florida Artists Blacksmithing Association) today.  When I first got there, the presenter wasn't there yet so I ended up doing a demo of making fluers on the ends of hinges.  It was a quick and dirty demo but it seemed that they enjoyed it.

The demonstrator mainly showed different tools in his "tricks" box.  Most of them I had seen in different variations before but it was still interesting.  There was also some good discussion of tool steel alloys like A2,S7 and H13.  Its nice to finally be at a point with the blacksmithing where I know all the big stuff and most of time I'm just picking up a bit of new information.  We then broke for lunch.

After lunch I had a moment that took me by surprise.  I was busy looking at some tools while the guys were talking about making an auction item for the next FABA conference.  I wasn't really listening but the conversation suddenly got my attention.  "Did you see the chest from last year?  I wish we could do something like that..."  It took me some double checking to confirm they were talking about my Mastermyr chest that I presented at the conference last year.  I'm not really well known within the blacksmithing circles yet and they had not made the connection that that was my project.  They all seemed excited when they realized it was my chest.

It is always nice to receive compliments/awards within the SCA.  However, I have to admit this moment actually meant more to me then almost anything within the SCA.  To receive acknowledgement from people that share your craft means quite a bit to me.  I guess its because they understand the work/skills involved.  Pretty neat feeling...

Anyway, there is a good chance that I will be making another chest (sans lock) for the conference.  Kind of funny because I had already planned on stopping after the meeting to pick up wood for another copy of the chest I'm making as a gift for the SCA.  I did end up picking up some oak for another chest and hope to do a majority of the woodworking tomorrow.  Since I'm only making the lid hinges, the blacksmithing should be pretty straightforward.

Well, it is winter...

I'm going somewhat dormant over the next few months.  I will be on the road for work quite a bit.  Generally when I'm on the road a lot, I don't feel like smithing when I get home.  Too much other stuff to do so things will be slow on here for a bit.  Not to worry, I will get back to the clock soon...