Author: Tom

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Back in business (sort of)

Life has a way of giving you challenges, but from challenge comes learning and improvement. Last fall, I had a fire in my garage, which is also my part time workshop. It was mostly smoke damage but it required a reset to the space. Everything was stripped down to the studs, and we now have the space finished. I am taking the time to reflect on the space and how I use it. I want to make it a functional shop space, with a nod to the wife and her desire to actually park her car in my shop. šŸ˜‰

It felt invigorating this week as I fired up the forge, and powered up the pneumatic hammer to test it out and see what needs fixed. I have put a microcomputer in the shop to search the internet, and wired network for a TV. My plan is to shoot video and blog more with tutorials and share media about the projects and activities I am working on.

I invite you to check out my blog and FB posts in the coming months, I will share some updates to the 1812 Travelling Forge, and a new project for the Old Northwest Military History Association (Ft Meigs).

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Workin’ on the chain, gang!

The first part of the chain with a forged hook.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of demonstrating at a Scouts BSA Camporee called Thunderbase. It was like a mini jamboree and I was asked to share my skills of blacksmithing to the scouts and leaders. After I set up my forge and display, I looked at my stock and could no decide what I would work on the next day.

Now my normal go to for demo is an S hook or a fire steel. Fire always draws a crowd, and I can make a stellar striker in a little more than five minutes. But this time, I was looking for a fun challenge. I don’t know why it popped into my head, but I decided that I would try forge Welding again. It was not my first attempt, and it has eluded my skill set for a few years. My goal is to get a good skill and comfort level with forge Welding so I can make tomahawks and axe heads.

That’s when I popped on my phone and didn’t quick search for the finer tips and trunks. I knew the basics, but I wanted to see if there was an easy way to get a solid skill down. And that’s when I found a video that suggested that chain is a good way to learn to weld. It s a small single piece of iron, and the two ends are easy to bring together and make into a link.

The first three links

The first few links we a little mushed and mangled as I worked to get the hang of the process. I also did not find the exact temperature for the weld on the first try. I saw a few sparks, and the metal was white and looked sticky but I don’t think I knew the exact way to work it. Experience is the best teacher and I kept at it. I made two links, then joined them with a third. Two more links, and then joined those with a third. A seventh link joined the two sets of three, and I had a chain of seven links. Wow, I started having fun.

Yep, them are links.

Now at this point I hung those links on an S hook, stepped back, admired the work and wondered what to demonstrate next. But the crowd liked that cool show. Those sparks and hot metal looked cool. Sometimes an air bubble got trapped in the metal because the gap was a little more open, and that really caused the sparks to show. That is what people think of when they see a blacksmith. So I decided to find more iron and keep making welds and lengthen that chain. As I added more links, the process got easier, the welds were better, as well as my knowledge of the process.

In the end, I finished a chain of four feet in length, and added two hooks, making a fairly useful work chain. With this little learning project, I think I can apply this to other projects and add some welds to my iron work.

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Making your own tools

It has been a busy two weeks as I prepped for my first event of this year. It is exciting to be able to go to sun event after so many were cancelled last year. My wife and I have been spending some weekends from time to time at the antique malls looking for a bargain. We found a good little kettle, but it lacked a lid. Seems like an easy fix for a blacksmith.

The first task was to figure out how to make a dome lid. One method of dishing metal was to use an iron form, but I don’t have any that are the size needed for his kettle. But I did have a spare log lying around. I pulled that out and made several cuts with a saw then built a small fire šŸ”„ on the top. It took a few hours of stoking and chipping, but the log took shape. The lid was a bit of a challenge, not with the dome, but I wanted a lip to keep it on the kettle. My forge welding is not good, so I had to cheat a little and weld a ring around the edge.

Making my dishing form.

It is satisfying to be able to make things for myself, and it is getting easier with each skill I add to my set. Being a blacksmith has it’s rewards like this, and I feel like I am prepared for an apocalypse, should we have that uprising of zombies.

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FIRE!

My wife and I just finished a weekend of historical demonstration at Put in Bay for Perry’s Victory. This was the second time we’ve done this event and we really enjoy the opportunity to meet with people. She spent time sitting and working on sewing, tatting, and sharing games. I was at the forge, and as always, made fire.

I try to make as many flint strikers when I an at an event. For one reason, I need them to put kits together. But they are easy to show some basic forge skills, and most people are able to follow the process and see something from beginning to end. A fire steel takes about eight to ten minutes.

The real trick is not the shape, it is the final process of heat treating. Shape has nothing to do with the function of the steel, although there are some shapes that are useful in different ways, but I will save that for another post.

The timing of the quench is the secret, and I won’t hide it. I bring the steel to a dark cherry red, then quench in oil. Why? Oil does two things, quench at a different rate and give the steel a coating to protect it. A wire brushing and a little bit of file on the striking edge and it is time for a test.

With a spark, the steel goes into a pile for use. No spark, and it means it goes back to the fire and another heat treating. It is not hard, but it does take some experience and patience to make it work.

If you want to get your own fire making kit, click on the link above or email me.

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Back to my projects.

It can be tough sometimes to keep up with social media sometimes, and life has a way of moving fast. I often think about a good idea to post, and share a skill, but it is difficult to get to a computer and update the blog. I didn’t think about using a phone. It would surprise some to know that I am a technology teacher, and some forms of tech still eludes me. I never used social media so it is hard to break into that routine.

I now have an app for my phone to update the blog whenever I get an idea. This will be great when I am at an event or working on a project.

Last month, I spent some time at the World Scout Jamboree, sharing history of the fur trade. I brought my forge and shared a lot of skills. We opened up a new activity to our area and taught fire with flint and steel. This skill facinates people and really challenges skill levels. I taught some others how to forge a steel striker, and shared the significance of for steels to the time period.

In the coming days, I will attend an historic weekend, and demonstrate my blacksmithing and pewter smith skills. Stay tuned for pictures and new posts.

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The Never Ending Project

I feel like I am stuck in project limbo. I bet we all have been there. Start a project, the excitement is there, then you get distracted, or pulled in another direction. Months later, there it sits, waiting for you to finish it. That was me. I started a foot treadle lathe for my son to use. He has been turning wood projects for a couple of years now, and he was sitting around at events wanting something to do. After the last event we attended, which was just a couple of weeks ago, I worked feverishly to finish the project to use this weekend.

Now I have reached what I would call the end, but of course with most of us, we find that something is never really done, and I am sure that I will make changes on this lathe. But I am sticking a fork in this roast, and calling it done. (drop the mic) So why the title? Over-dramatic? Maybe. But sometimes the projects take on a life of their own, and this lathe has been fun and challenging. From the repeated trips to three different hardware stores to finding dry ice to shrink the shaft to fit into the bearings, this has really been a learning process.

I would not recommend taking on an elaborate project with only a two-week window to finish. I am seeing that historic work needs that time to fiddle, tinker, and learn how to do stuff the old ways. How did I get this done in the short amount of time while starting back to school? I won’t lie. I cheated. Yep. Power tools. I still try to use them less on projects, but some things need a more conventional tool. I ask for your forgiveness on this, I have a full time job so it is difficult to build large scale projects with only hand tools. But the process is really not much different, just sped up for the mundane tasks (drilling, sanding, and sawing).

Here is the start of the project. First task was making the flywheel. The main element of this tool. I have been asked why a flywheel, and not a spring pole. I have always disliked the spring pole lathe because the work material twists back and forth.Ā  The treadle flywheel moves the work-piece in a constant rotation. More like a modern lathe. The flywheel is three layers of wood, glued and secured with dowels and a few hidden screws.

I have decided that some of the work I do will have modern hardware, if it is hidden or buried in the layers. I do this for a more solid build, and often the work will be used a few times a year, and I don’t have the luxury of maintaining or fixing an item on a regular basis. This extra element of glue or screws can help keep a project in better shape or last longer.

I mounted the flywheel and it rotated well, but as this come together with both the legs, the alignment looked a little out of whack. Thus I had to spend more time tweaking and adjusting the placement of the shaft and the bearings. A friend gave some great advice when I shared that the shaft was not sliding into the bearing easily and the solution was the scientific one: dry ice. A little cold on the shaft helped shrink it enough to fit into the bearing.

The feet and legs were done back at the same time as the flywheel, so I pulled them off the shelf and mounted them up. I also fit cross pieces to the legs. I made these parts from pine studs, so the soft wood was not going to be sturdy enough for the constant pressure of the tailstock and tool rest tightening. I decided to rip thin strips of some black walnut to laminate onto the pine. The harder wood will also allow the pieces to slide easily.

I bought some stain, and of course the wife scolded me for not using what I had, and honestly, I wish I had dug around more for something on hand. I bought a walnut stain, and I am not happy with it – way too dark, and of course it has a lot of grain showing because the wood is pine. I chose not to use a wood conditioner for the pine, mostly because the conditioner would not be something found 200 years ago.

All in all, I am satisfied with this project, and I will share in my next post how well it worked. We realized as we started packing it up that it needed a tool rest, so the son and I fabricated one (very crude style) that functions, and we plan to update and fix after the weekend. We are headed off for an Early Ohio Event for the weekend, and will try this out.

Keep your chisels sharp, and your fingers clear.

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Learning from Mistakes

The old adage about learning from your mistakes can be a tough pill to swallow, but often times that is the best sort of medicine to do the best learning. I have made my share of mistakes, as i am sure that everyone can relate. But it is how we look at those mistakes that becomes the most important tool for learning.

I have had several history events in the past few weeks, and of course, it is a mad dash sometimes to get those last projects done in time. Last week, we headed to Canada for a reenactment – our first actually. most of the events we have done, we would consider living history. But the type of event is not at hand here really, it is the fact that I have been working on several projects over the last few weeks.

What I found is that when I am frantically trying to build a project or hammer out a forged item, I don’t think through all the steps, or I end up just running around in circles without a clue where to go next. And often that is where we see the mistakes. I know I had at least three now on two different projects.

The one that freaked me out the most was that I nicked my finger with a drill bit while trying to adjust the work-piece.

It wasn’t bad, but it is on my index finger, so I have trouble using that hand with the band aid on it.

It happens, as accidents are part of working around tools, but it did make my attitude change around fast spinning sharp things.

Another error I made is that I measured wrong on my cool new spirit box. Now before you think me crazy for believing in ghosts (they are real by the way) , I am talking about the kind of spirits you drink.

This box was meticulously measured and planned, but somehow I still managed to have the top of the box off by a quarter of an inch.

Still, it looks really nice. And is really functional, too. It holds two glasses, and two bottles of the fave liquids. Whiskey for the lady, and rum for me.

But alas, as I spoke of this at our event, I was told that it looked great and I should sell it, even with the slight flaw. So, now I am working on number two.

Mistakes are fine, it is the best way we learn. I am a much better woodworker now for all the great mistakes I have made. I think of them as trophies of learning. I also have a lot of other trophies – tools that I would not take for anything. I shared with a friend today some thoughts on that. I see tools as something that can really transform your ideas into art. And having good quality tools is a real important element to the craft of creating.

When I first started building things on my own, I never thought about chisels, but they are really becoming an important part of my projects now. especially the historic builds. They are great, but I made the mistake of buying a few from that cheap freight store, and they just don’t have the edge that is needed for fine woodworking. My lesson from those poor choices, much like that lid to my box, check it carefully before you make the final move, or you may end up doing it all over again.

Stay safe, and buy good tools.

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A new blog about old skills

Welcome to my new blog. My goal is to share what I am working on and help you learn about life in the early days of the American Frontier.

I have always worked with my hands to make stuff. Several years ago, I became interested in living history and blacksmithing. It wasn’t long before the two hobbies merged, and now I travel to different events to show the public what an artificer (skilled tradesman for the military) life and work is like. One of the most common questions I get when I am demonstrating is how I got interested and started blacksmithing, so I thought that I would share that for my first post.

I am an Eagle Scout – I have been involved in Boy ScoutsĀ  since I was seven years old, and one skill that I would say I am a master of is firemaking. Wilderness survival introduced me to flint & steel fire starting at a young age. In the many times camping, I always notice that one skill many people struggle to master is building a fire. I can remember my first summer camp, not yet eleven years old, and sitting at the side of a gravel road assembling the twigs and branches to start my first fire. We were given instructions and two matches. I was meticulous, and gathered a lot of fine twigs and built the teepeeĀ  and set the match ablaze. Of course it burned out quickly, and I realized that I didn’t have everything ready to feed it. I learned. Today, it is a rare occurrence thatĀ  a fire dies on my watch.

Now, I consider myself a master at building a fire, and whether it starts with a match, a butane lighter, or my forged steel and flint, I still love the skill and ability it takes to start a fire. It is an essential skill for survival, and one part of wilderness survival merit badge was the catalyst to start my path to being a blacksmith. I worked at a summer camp several years ago, sharing a frontier program based on the history of the fur trade, and one skill we taught was forging simple camp items. We made S hooks and flint strikers mostly. But it was there that I mastered my first (and best) fire steel. In fact, I still carry and demonstrate with it over eight years later. I spent many days a week honing the basic blacksmith skills. The fire was ignited and I was hooked.

A few years of playing around and I converted my forge into a more portable setup. I built my leather bellows to replace the crank blower to reflect the early 1800s style. And now I have become involved with a 1812 military group, portraying an artificer – the blacksmith who travels with the unit as a contractor, serving the needs of the unit. I share the history of the trades and the skills of the craft. I dispel myths and instill an interest in the art of beating hot iron into useful shapes.

And I make fire. A lot! Just asking me what I am making often spurs the conversation towards how fire was started in the 18th century. Usually I pull out the tools and start up a fire while describing each step in detail followed by example. Most are surprised to see it happen so quickly (my record is 17 seconds). Of course, I say that I am a professional at it, and they laugh. But I am. So, if you see me at an event, be sure to ask about making fire, and I will gladly show you the steps, and my kits, and you will surely walk away with the history and the basics of building a fire.