Retirement Projects
Replies
-
d_thomas02 wrote: »Made it back into the smithy Saturday, if only for a couple of hours.
Woefully out of practice.
Who was laughing at the end? Your missus?0 -
d_thomas02 wrote: »Made it back into the smithy Saturday, if only for a couple of hours.
Woefully out of practice.
Who was laughing at the end? Your missus?
Yup. She snuck in while I was playing.2 -
Black Friday! Whoo-hoo!!
No I'm not going shopping. I'm going to light my forge and spend the day in the smithy!!3 -
Had plans to get out to the smithy yesterday and light my forge... but it isn't often that I get the chance to just laze around watching movies with the family all day.
I'll light that forge today for sure.2 -
Glad you got the fire lit in your heart from the family. You can fire up the forge any time you want. And I bet you will.... Stay warm
2 -
So-so day in the smithy yesterday. Was working on a commission and it was coming along nicely. And then... I don't know. Maybe I overworked it. Anyway, I finally stopped mangling the poor thing and put it down.
Going to look at it with fresh eyes this morning. Thinking I'll need to light the oxy-propane torch and start slowly fiddling with it and see if I can't salvage something out of it.
I'll get some before and after photos posted later.1 -
Hey @d_thomas02 -- You haven't been at the forge for quite a while. Didn't you just build it last year? It's kind of a reawakening. It may take you a few tries to get back in the swing of things -- like that hammer. I had a yoga instructor years ago that told us that our first asana was like the first pancake. You know how the first pancake usually doesn't turn out right? Yeah. Like that. But the rest of them might be really good.
Good luck with your pancakes!3 -
The joy of being an artisan... It's never perfect but one keeps trying...1
-
After putting it down yesterday.
90 minutes of fiddling later.
That'll do.5 -
I would say you've nailed it, so to speak. Well done!!1
-
Yeah @d_thomas02 -- I guess your heart just wasn't in it the other day
1 -
been working on several projects since I was last here. updates tomorrow.
4 -
Roads have been covered with frozen rain the last two days and I have absolutely no reason to get out in that. So stayed in the house and have been working on the planing stages of a little long term project with my adult son.
A little something for the smithy. A home built Clay Spencer Treadle Hammer. (Like the old style treadle sewing machines, this hammer is only powered by your foot. No electrical juice.)
Currently working on building a working (animated) 3D CAD model using AutoDesk's Fusion 360.
Its a great way to get intimate knowledge of building the real thing without wasting material. Workout all the design details missing in the plans before a single real piece gets cut.
Once the model is done, it'll probably take a year to do the build (working on it only on Saturdays). Planning on a road trip to Independence MO after Christmas to pick up the heavy steel at a recycle center that will become the anvil, hammer, and base. The rest of the material I should be able to scrounge locally.
This is going to be fun!3 -
-
d_thomas02 wrote: »After putting it down yesterday.
90 minutes of fiddling later.
That'll do.
Wow lovely!2 -
I'm in awe of all of your work in this thread, everyone! 💖1
-
Final draft on my modeling of Clay Spencer's in-line treadle hammer in Autodesk's Fusion 360.
Heading to KC on Friday to pick up the heavy steel. Probably be welding on Saturday.
https://youtu.be/53ci9nOaZDw 3 -
Quick update on the treadle hammer.
Picked up heavy steel in KC, not quite what I was wanting but I'll make it work. Almost have all the other steel gathered. Biggest piece left to acquire is the base plate.
1/2" x 16" x 32". 3/8" plate would work too. Thought I had it yesterday in the form of an old bank vault door. 6 ft x 2.5 ft weighing 300-400 pounds. Would have been perfect, but the face was two 1/4" plates, not one 1/2" plate. Bought the door anyway as it was $30 US. (Scrap price for the steel in it would be about $150 US.)
Another blacksmith, also working on this style of hammer, gave me the tip and I'll be splitting the door with him (3 ft x 2.5 ft). It'll make a good welding table top is it doesn't work out for the base of the hammer.
Yes, there might be some history in that door as it is early 1900 vintage made by the Mosler Safe Co and was installed in a bank in Hominy, OK. But the bank is gone and this door has been sitting in the woods, slowly rusting on a pallet for years, maybe decades. I'll be putting my half back to work.3 -
It's going to make your work so much easier.1
-
My latest project:
Christmas gifts I made for my daughter and grands:
Skull Scarf for my daughter
Stuffed animals for the kids
5 -
My latest project:
Christmas gifts I made for my daughter and grands:
Skull Scarf for my daughter
Stuffed animals for the kids
Skull crochet lace? I love it, especially in that colorway. Did you find the pattern somewhere, or invent it?
And puppet (?) and amigurumi: So cute!
Nice work!1 -
Baby Yoda! How cool!!2
-
Thanks!Skull crochet lace? I love it, especially in that colorway. Did you find the pattern somewhere, or invent it?
And puppet (?) and amigurumi: So cute!
Nice work!
I modified this pattern to make the skull scarf: https://ravelry.com/patterns/library/lost-souls-skull-shawl
I used one skein of "Shawl in a Cake" yarn which I found at Joann's.
All the others are amigurumi. I have a love/ hate relationship with each one.
0 -
Thanks!Skull crochet lace? I love it, especially in that colorway. Did you find the pattern somewhere, or invent it?
And puppet (?) and amigurumi: So cute!
Nice work!
I modified this pattern to make the skull scarf: https://ravelry.com/patterns/library/lost-souls-skull-shawl
I used one skein of "Shawl in a Cake" yarn which I found at Joann's.
All the others are amigurumi. I have a love/ hate relationship with each one.
LOL! I probably shouldn't say it but: I almost feel that way about that adorable rainbow unicorn, and I didn't even spend hours making it (clean hands! clean hands!). Normal amigurumi side effect, maybe, for well-adjusted makers.
And thanks for the pattern link!1 -
My latest project:
Christmas gifts I made for my daughter and grands:
Skull Scarf for my daughter
Stuffed animals for the kids
Skull crochet lace? I love it, especially in that colorway. Did you find the pattern somewhere, or invent it?
And puppet (?) and amigurumi: So cute!
Nice work!
Lovely1 -
Not spending as much time in the smithy as I would like this winter. Here is one reason why.
My basement shop:Before
After
- All benches are now wired for power.
- My downstairs refrigerator (not pictured) now is running on its own circuit rather than that 30 ft drop cord across the shop floor that I've been stepping on for 30 years.
- New shelving waiting to be filled with assorted nuts, bolts, screws, and nails currently in large unsorted boxes on the floor under the benches. (Waiting on a bunch of peanut butter and mayonnaise jars to be emptied.)
- Floor is swept (!!).
- Tools organized so I can find them.
It's a brand new world. 😲3 -
That is awesome and how!! I'm jealous!!1
-
My third try at this. A bottle opener with a dragon tail twist.
2 -
That's very cool! Is it a commission or just something you thought up for fun?
1
https://youtu.be/qhiebks7RBA
