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What would you guys like to see in a build along?
mullet:
I would have been happy with the 1700's knife but I think you are close to finishing it. ::)
Handforged:
--- Quote from: mullet on March 31, 2020, 05:21:57 pm ---I would have been happy with the 1700's knife but I think you are close to finishing it. ::)
--- End quote ---
HA! yeah and I didn't take any pictures of the forge work. I was too busy a-doing it.
Handforged:
--- Quote from: Mr. Woolery on March 30, 2020, 01:53:03 pm ---I’ll tell you a tool I’d like to see. A handle broach. I’ve made a couple, but I’m not thrilled with either. I’d love to see how others approach the same sort of thing.
My favorite element to Gene Chapman’s booklets has always been his homemade tooling. When one person finds a way to make a task a little easier, it can spark new ideas and open up avenues for making things that were not feasible without the tool. So really, any shop-built tooling is interesting to me.
Patrick
--- End quote ---
Well I was trying to make it something others could follow along and do. The issue with forging broaches is that most blacksmiths ( me included ) use a series of broaches. Each a larger, more shapely piece than the first. I cheat if I am looking to punch eyes, I usually drill a 1/2" hole in the piece to start with. Then punch it round, then angular or square depending on the need.
Mr. Woolery:
My bad! I’m so knife-centric I was unclear. In this case, I’m talking about a tool to remove wood from a handle to make a slot for a tang. A different one may be needed for each tang thickness, but you are talking about the more common use of the word. Except I forge smaller items (if I can claim a specialty, it is smallish wood carving blades, though puukkos are a strong interest, as well), so I was just thinking of trying to make a task I find annoying just a bit easier. You work larger than I do, as well. Your tooling will reflect that, so this was probably a poor suggestion.
In that case, something that has interested me since I first started even thinking about smithing is the concept of portable tooling. Whether something like the Madtermyr find or more recent, such as Wayne Goddard outlines in one of his books. If you were to set up a five gallon bucket with all the tools you would use to be the modern version of a journeyman (carrying your tools with you, setting up wherever you can put the anvil, etc), what would your setup look like? What assumptions would you make about any potential work sites?
Of course, this may be of interest to nobody but me, so take it only as a thought.
Patrick
Handforged:
--- Quote from: Mr. Woolery on April 01, 2020, 05:14:28 am ---My bad! I’m so knife-centric I was unclear. In this case, I’m talking about a tool to remove wood from a handle to make a slot for a tang. A different one may be needed for each tang thickness, but you are talking about the more common use of the word. Except I forge smaller items (if I can claim a specialty, it is smallish wood carving blades, though puukkos are a strong interest, as well), so I was just thinking of trying to make a task I find annoying just a bit easier. You work larger than I do, as well. Your tooling will reflect that, so this was probably a poor suggestion.
In that case, something that has interested me since I first started even thinking about smithing is the concept of portable tooling. Whether something like the Madtermyr find or more recent, such as Wayne Goddard outlines in one of his books. If you were to set up a five gallon bucket with all the tools you would use to be the modern version of a journeyman (carrying your tools with you, setting up wherever you can put the anvil, etc), what would your setup look like? What assumptions would you make about any potential work sites?
Of course, this may be of interest to nobody but me, so take it only as a thought.
Patrick
--- End quote ---
That's actually interesting as I teach classes and seminars every season. I don't bring an anvil or forge, as they are expected to provide one. I have a VERY old farriers box that I use. It's about 36"x12"x 10" with a heavy carry handle, open topped. Honestly all I ever carry is a few hammers that I made for specific tasks, a couple of specialized hardy tools for various things and my leather apron. This is all depending on what I am doing and teaching but it varies very little. I learned the methods of blacksmiths 100 years ago. I can work most everything with 5-6 tools and do! What I also find amusing is traveling to a forge to do these classes to find a very well appointed forge with all sorts of tools that the owner has NO IDEA how to use. This last season I had a class in Az, the owner of the forge we were working in had every tool imaginable. All were brand new and he had no CLUE what most were even for. I went through and discussed them as he labeled some of them. Then again I visited an architectural blacksmith friend that has about 10 tools in his forge TOTAL... from those he does some amazing architectural steel. He like me, learned to work with what he had available and made the tools he needed to do a specific job. My typical kit is Flat, box and wolf jaw tongs. Larger ball peen, angle peen and cross peen hammers plus a large sharp peen /flatter. Two or three large chisels and a stepped punch. On a side note: students use my tools quite often when I teach so I came up with a little method to control how they used the tools. Hammers that are meant to be swung to move steel have long handles on them. If they require less force they have a shorter handle and finally my angle peen and flatter have about a 12" handle on them. It's hard to build any force with them unless you swing it over your head or something. This teaches them to use the right tool for the right job. Thus decreasing the amount of force needed to do it correctly.
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