Blacksmithing
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Having been away from the server (again) for the past month or so, I thought I'd share with you all what I've been up to in that time.
On top of working a full-time job (50-55 hours/week) I began attending classes in January that now take up another 15.5 hours of my week (5 of them Saturday morning - early afternoon). As you can imagine I don't have much time for gaming these days, but I'm starting to find some over the weekends now that I'm settled into this new (exhausting) schedule.
As for what I'm studying, it's something I've dreamed of doing since I was very, very little:
Blacksmithing.
Right now I'm taking 3 classes, two of which are actual hammer and anvil instruction while the other focuses on creating art through welding. It's been a great experience. I love feeling the heat of the forge and hearing the ring of the anvil. So far it's everything I hoped. (It's also nice to be smithing by other means than smashing the "1" button).
Here's what I've made so far:
Nail
Journeyman Bracelet
Tong Clips
Towel Bar
Hook
I'll post more pics of projects as I complete them.
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I made this a few months ago and completely forgot to post it.
While it's definitely a hammer, it's referred to as a hand mallet, weighing in at 4lbs 5oz (1.95kg) (not accounting for the handle). It is not meant to be used consistently throughout work day (else you will suffer tendonitis in the long run), but super great for moving a lot of (thick) material quickly to reduce the number of heats used during a project.
For your viewing pleasure, papa hammer!
Hand Mallet
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posted here because i thought that the title is 'What You have been up to …'.
sorry for inconvenience, if there's any ...
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(EN) bought Chinese Food, telling 'Chinese Restaurant Owner' that it's for Shaolin, a Buddhist monastery, more or less …
http://itsecinreal.blogspot.com/2014/10/hayashis-journey.html .
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Well done Sir.
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This week marked the end of my first semester as a blacksmith. These are the projects I was able to finish.
Key Holder
A pretty simple project, it was designed to teach us how to bend flat stock into a square.
End Table
Just a frame, as you can see, but once I find some decent wood I'm going to create the top.
Photobombed by cat
And another shot with my adorable feline Athena, who felt the need to go from photobombing to striking a pose.
Ax Head
I've always pictured myself focusing in weaponsmithing, so I got pretty excited when my teacher said this was going to be our last project for the semester. It turned out pretty decent for a first attempt. It's been hardened (heated to an orange heat and quenched very quickly), tempered (heated again to a very low temperature to relieve the brittleness from the quench), and sharpened (I had to use a belt grinder as we didn't have a wet stone). I put it on a spare hammer handle and, with a half-assed swing, buried it half an inch into a wood block (my teacher was impressed!). I plan to carve a custom handle to fit it perfectly, so I'll post another picture once it is 100% functional.
Tool Rack/Towel Bar
While I was excited for the ax head, this tool rack/towel bar would have to be my favourite. It's probably the best project I hammered out this semester, and I'm very proud of it.
Another of my felines, Orion, felt the need to strike a majestic pose of his own.
I have a two week hiatus until I start my summer class so it will probably be close to a month before I forge something worth sharing. I hope you all have enjoyed seeing my projects. It's been a great experience creating them.
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hisses and recoils at the sight of a cross
I've been working night shift too long.
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This design is said to have been created by Christoff Friedrich back in the '80s (or at least the method I used to create this was of his doing). I do love it's appearance and already have ideas on how to embellish it even more. I'm hoping to find time over the summer to hammer those ideas out and share with you all.
Enjoy!
Friedrich Cross
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MW
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Honestly, no. I've been interested in blacksmithing for as long as I can remember. In fact, my brothers and I were interested enough that we got a hold of a tiny 15lb anvil back in the '90s but were never able to get the rest of the resources to put it to use (tools, heat source, etc.)
On another note, here's my newest completed project…
Hammer
The weight of the head is stamped on the top near the face (2 lbs 5 oz/1.05 kg) and my initials are stamped on the side.The handle is made of straight-grain hickory. It was carved by my teacher using a belt grinder, and once the head was fitted and set we applied a preservative which gave it the lovely colour you see in the picture.
I've used this hammer for two class periods now. I have to say, there's something very satisfying about using a tool that you forged yourself to create other pieces.
I've also added a link on the original post to a slideshow of all my projects so it's a bit more convenient to view them instead of scrolling through the entire thread.
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Be honest, did Narf inspire you to try blacksmithing?
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That's actually very cool.
Like the FB junkie that I am, I keep looking for the "Like" button when I see your stuff!
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Door Latch
My teacher wanted to take a break from our large projects and do a small, quick half-a-day piece. There's a specific name for this type of latch, but I can't remember (I think it originated in Spain).
I didn't like the area of blank stock between the eye and the lock so I quickly carved "WELCOME" in Anglo-Saxon runes. It's not pretty, but at least gives it more appeal.
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Thankfully you didn't have to mine the iron yourself.
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@a5c65435ca=yertleturtle67:
The thong clip looks unbelievably uncomfortable.
Fixed the typo. :lol:
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The thong clip looks unbelievably uncomfortable.
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Took us 3 weeks (15 class hours) to make these (yeah, that sounds like a lot of time, but my teacher just loves to talk so we really spent only 7-8 hours of actual work on this project).
Blacksmithing Tongs
These tongs were designed by my teacher himself sometime during his career, and they're absolutely wonderful. They're multi-functional in that they can hold onto square, round, and rectangular stock of various sizes, where as many smiths would have a separate pair for each type of stock giving themselves more tools to lug around. Needless to say, it's nice being able to rely on one pair to get the job done instead of multiple.
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My brother had a hand and a half sword personally made for him by a weaponsmith. It's length, characteristics and balance were designed for his stature and physique.
It's remarkably cool. I never asked him how much it cost.
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Just last week I watched a video of some current age professional blacksmithing company making video-game sword replicas with tempered steel and I was impressed.
There are quite a few videos from those guys, pretty nice to watch.
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Here's some more!
Ball Fullers
These are tools I made to punch the divots in the bottle opener below.
Bottle Opener (yes, it does work)
I should have a couple more projects done soon. More to follow!
