New toy...

  Well, I feel confident enough about the nails that I decided not to work on the forge today.  I opted to take care of some much needed yard work before a business trip.  I picked up a new chainsaw and my trees are trembling in fear...

Halfway there...

  I got about 15 nails done today.  Not as many as I wanted but between the windy conditions and me being tired, it was all I could get done.  Still, its nice to now be able to make the nails fairly reliably.  It really is one of those things that just takes patience and techique.  Still, I find repetive work like this very boring.

Temptation...

  So there are I am, pumping out nails in the incredibly high humidity(thanks Florida) when a box of Duncan Donuts appears...  Damn, foiled again.  The donuts were good but time to go back out to the forge.

Nailed it...

  Finally, I was able to make nails somewhat reliably but not all that quick.  I made 8 nails over the course of about an hour.  Tomorrow, I am going to try to do the nails I need for the project.  The nails today, I did not worry too much about the size of the nails but for tomorrow they will be the size I need.  I hope to make all the nails that I need tomorrow.  That will be about 30 nails plus a few extras to be safe.

  Also, worked a little more on the remake for the plate.  That involves a lot of heavy hammering.  I was making good progress until the rain chased me inside.

"It's not my fault!!!"  - Han Solo, et. al...

  So, I decided to take a step back today to work on the nails properly.  In order to make nails, you need a nail header(used to make, duh, the nail's head).  I've made a few but they were quickies just to test things out.  So, I decided to make a nice nail header.  Well, since I am doing a reproduction of the Mastermyr chest, I decided I should make the header that was found in the chest.  A drawing of the original is show below.  It is about 9" long.



Well, I had a piece of tool steel that was a good size for making this.  The tool steel was a little short but it was thick so I would be able to stretch it out.  The only problem was that I didn't have a pair of tongs that would work, so I decided to make them.

The tongs took me less than 90 minutes.  This is really amazing.  Before, it would have taken me a full day, if not longer, to make a set of tongs that would not have been as good.  So, I have a new pair of tongs.

I started work on the tool steel.  The steel was just a little under 5" and I needed to stretch it to 9".  The thickness is a little over 1 1/2".  When you strecth steel that thick, it is a lot of work, especially without having someone to swing a sledge hammer for you.  It is part of the reason that I will not do any sword making until I can afford a power hammer.  Anyway, I started to work the metal.

I got the steel from under 5" to well over 6".  At this point, it becomes thin enough that it is easier and easier to move the metal.  I was well on my way when I noticed the problem.  I had noticed a thin line on the metal when I started.  I thought this line was from where I had cut the steel from a larger piece well over a year ago.  However, after one heating the metal displayed a large stress fracture.  The piece is pictured below.



The fracture runs from the upper right to the lower left of the pic.  It is hard to see in the photo but the fracture runs the entire length.  Probably one or two more heatings and it should completely seperate.

There are various reasons that this can happen.  The fracture may have existed when I got the metal.  What is more likely since this is a piece of stock I've had around for a while is that when I cut it before, I cut it too cold.  If you work tool steel below an orange heat or let it cool rapidly, it can crack.  I don't think I did it today.  As I mentioned, I noticed the faint line when I first started but didn't think to look at it closer.  This is the first time I've had a fracture like this.  I know what to watch for in the future.

So, I will probably take this piece and finish the split.  The two halves are good sizes for punches or small chisels.  I need to make a steel run to pick up some tool steel and will look for a few pieces that will be a good size for a header.  Not sure when this will happen but will probably end up using a normal header to make the nails until then.

I really, really hate nails...  What should be one of the simpler aspects of this project is giving me the biggest trouble.  Will try again on Tuesday.

The Return of the Noodle Arm

  Started remaking the lock plate tonight.  This involves a lot of hammer work.  Nothing fine, just good 'ole hammer swinging.  Anyway, got about a quarter of it done.  Arm got too weak and tired.  It was dark anyway and difficult to see so I stopped for the night.  Hopefully I can do some work tomorrow.  Usually the day after I get back to hammering, my arm handles it better.