Last month we started creating tools to make a small hammer head. Due to the threat of rain we had a truncated session. People were able to get started on making their slitting chisel. This month will be a continuation of that effort.
We have the materials to make the drift and the railroad spikes for the hammer heads. For more details see my previous post ABNC March 2017.
Enter your comments below. I require email address and name to fight spam. I do not use the information for anything else.
This month we will start on a project that will take two sessions to complete. We will be making a hammer. In March we will be making the tools needed. In April we will form the hammer head. The tools we will need to make are a slitting chisel and a drift. Continue reading ABNC March 2017
Below is a video on forging a set of BBQ tongs. It will take you through the major steps I took in making these tongs. I had not made a set of these before I started this video so it was a learning process for me as I forged them. This is reflected in the video. There were several false starts and changes of approach as I went through it. I had to heavily edit the final recording to get it down to about 30 minutes from the 1 hour and 20 minutes of the full video.
That said, the basic approach I took is sound and will work well. Some things to keep in mind as you watch this: Continue reading BBQ Tongs
On Saturday, 8/13, we will meet at ABNC for our usual 2nd Saturday skills building session. At that session we will be making some tongs. They will be patterned after instructions supplied by Sean Conner (AKA Whitesmith of Blackstone Forge). But we will have a slight change in our approach.
On Saturday, 4/9/16, HABA will be meeting at Armand Bayou Nature Center for the monthly skills building session. We will be making an icon of ranches and farms across the nation – a dinner bell. This is a triangular device that was used to call family, field workers and ranch hands to the dinner table when the food was ready for consumption.
It is simple to make and embodies several basic skills of the blacksmith – tapering, scrolling and bending. The basic formula for this was provided by EJ McCAnn of Three Nail Forge in Kinder, LA. He gives classes and uses this to introduce his students to the basics of blacksmithing as well as giving them something they can take home and put to use.
We start with two pieces of 3/8″ round stock, one 36″ long and other 12″ long. On the long piece we taper each end, put a rat tail on it and form a hook. We then mark it two places to divide it into thirds. The piece will then be bent at a 60 degree angle at each of the marks forming a triangle.
We then take the short piece and taper it on one end, give it a rat tail and then put a shepherds hook on that end. This will form the ringer that can be hung on the bell.
Below is a 15 minute video that demonstrates the process.