Shop time!

With all the Holiday time off I finally got to spend some time in the workshop!

 

 

 Beautiful slabs of cherry that I picked up at an estate sale. Decided to make a small bench for my brother for Christmas.

 Figured I would mortise and tenon on some rustic legs made from branches. Here I began chiseling

out the mortise.

 Merde!

 New plan, drill out some 1-1/2" round mortises. Here is leg #1.

 Legs on, wedges in, glue dry.

 Busted out my mini forge to heat some steel to make decorative stretchers.



About 20 coats of beeswax later. Feels like slate, its so smooth. And smells great too!

 Next I decided to work on finishing my small file knife.

 Busted out my new Christmas gift bench grinder (thanks Santa!) and started to shape my blade.

Hmmm that was really hard. Oh yeah! Forgot to anneal the file!

 Off to a nice long bath in my lil forge.

And then ill bee spending my next few days off using file and stone to finish the blade.

 Oh, speaking of forges, picked up this old cast iron Hibachi camp grill, ground out the inside divider, and I think it might make a nice fire pot for a coal forge. Time will tell.

Cheers!

 

A possibility

I'm meeting with the owner of this awesome Homestead museum sometime this week to see about volunteering and possibly working in his blacksmith shop! If all else fails I'll get to do a little historic preservation work, something I've always been interested in.


 http://www.ohiofarmmuseum.com/



On a sadder note, I had a 200 year old Mousehole anvil slip through my fingers last week. 

Exactly like this one!

 

A gentleman was selling his Great Granfather's  152lbs M&H Armitage mousehole anvil from the 1820's for a dollar a pound. I called him up, we made a deal at $150, and as I was driving up there he called me to say he got a better offer. I matched it at $175, and continued on my way, the he calls again. It seems my competitor has a smithing museum in Arizona, and wants this anvil for his collection due to a small repair to the face that he thinks was done pre 1850's. $200 and no chance to match, even after I called this guy and gave him my "I'm too broke for an anvil and I just wanna craft some metal" sob story. Phoooey on them. We had a deal, TWICE! It should be In my garage right now. Oh well. The search continues.



 

Zoar Village Smithy

The Smithy at Zoar Village.

 

 

The old Bellows Forge

Portable hand cranked forge

 

Wrought iron and steel 150lbs anvil

My next "must have tool", hand cranked drill press. This bad boy went through steel like it was butter. (ps. that's one of my pieces being drilled)

 

Some of the fruits of my labor, top to bottom, nail, leaf, candle flame hook, kettle hook.

the nail was by far the hardest, the candle flame thing is my least favorite, the leaf turned out awesome.

 

 

 

Signing up for a blacksmithing class in Zoar Ohio!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 1807–1882

59. The Village Blacksmith

UNDER a spreading chestnut tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms	5
Are strong as iron bands.
His hair is crisp, and black, and long,
His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
He earns whate'er he can,	10
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man.
Week in, week out, from morn till night,
You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge	15
With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
When the evening sun is low.
And children coming home from school
Look in at the open door;	20
They love to see the flaming forge,
And hear the bellows roar,
And watch the burning sparks that fly
Like chaff from a threshing-floor.
He goes on Sunday to the church,	25
And sits among his boys;
He hears the parson pray and preach,
He hears his daughter's voice,
Singing in the village choir,
And it makes his heart rejoice.	30
It sounds to him like her mother's voice,
Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more,
How in the grave she lies;
And with his hard, rough hand he wipes	35
A tear out of his eyes.
Toiling,—rejoicing,—sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
Each evening sees it close;	40
Something attempted, something done,
Has earned a night's repose.
Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life	45
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought!

Plumb Hatchet pt.2

The Hatchet in original form.

Sanded and filed.  (unfortunately I used a grinding attachment on my dremel and it left nasty marks all over the blade which I will have to sand off.)

Sharpened with a whetstone, and stropped to a keen edge! Then it was time to test for sharpness.

  Yup.

Also sanded all that nasty red stain off the handle and gave it a dip in some linseed oil.



Next!

New project! Found a kid sister for my double bit plumb axe (thank you again, Keith). A plumb victory hatchet. With original handle and leather mask!

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

And better than ever!

 

 

New Project

 

Ka-Bar/Becker BK-2 "Campanion" Knife

1. I removed the Abrasive black coating on the blade, using "Klean-rite" paint stripper

     2.  Put a "convex" edge on the blade. This makes it a sturdier "chopper"

Sharpening

 

As a side note, I took the knife to Ithaca and Keith and I put it to the test, chopping and splitting wood. It worked very well!

 

   3. Picked up some Ash from Woodcraft to make new scales

 

 Cut out a rough blank with my scroll saw

And hand carved with my new Mora

 

 

Next I polished the blade until it was almost mirror bright, but it kept rusting on me, so I did a little research and came up with "forced patinas".

 

I soaked the blade in a vinegar damp rag for a few hours and the mottled the blade by smearing it with ketchup, letting it sit for 1/2 hour.

 Cleaned with soap and water, and a quick rub with #0000 steel wool and this is the end result.

 

Just about done. Handle still needs sealed.

 

 

So, Whadda ya think? Not bad for a novice!