Busy Summer

[Kyle241]

Good god man, you're making us look bad! I like the stone work. I'm planning on doing something similar for our garage however not sure where I plan to get the stone, most of ours are underground. Love the pizza/bread oven, that's another project I have on my list hopefully for next year!

 

[forgeblast]

I was just using some of the tools that I got in the mail.
Mora carving knife the sloyd style, love it. Great for power cuts and for small shaping moves highly recommend it.
curved spoon knife. This one took a little while getting used to. Now that I know how to use it I can highly recommend it. Great for making the bowl on the spoon.
I am waiting for my bruks carving ax to come in, found a dealer in england that with shipping was less then free shipping in the USA.
I did find by messing up a ton of spoons so far....
1. keep the handle thick until you get the spoon finished, otherwise you will crack the stem.
2. a spoon that you mess the bowl shape up can be made into a spatula.
3. from a carving site: to dry it slow if you worked green, put it into a plastic bag and turn the bag inside out every day. It will dry slow and it will be less likely to crack.
Now I am just tying to resharpen the tools, I going to have to buy some good stones or a work sharp system. The sandpaper mounted on plate glass that i use works but I would like something a bit more consistant, I also need to get a strop.
Look at "robin wood" on you tube for some great carving videos and springpole lathe demos. He has a blog too very well done. Robin Wood :: wooden bowls & plates :: traditional turning :: spoon carving :: countryside furniture

Kyle thanks. If I had to redo the bread oven I would look at a prefab one, It would have been a lot easier. We just didnt have the $$ to go that way. I am hoping to get the last arch and chimney on saturday, the hurricane and work have cut into trying to get that done.

 

[Lloyd_E]

forgeblast...

Give this a look. They are Canadian company but distribute many fine tools and hard to find tools. I bought my carving tools from them in the spring.

Lee Valley Tools - Home


lloyd

 

[tcreeley]

Saw a guy make a ladling spoon out of a piece of firewood on TV. So I grabbed a piece of split maple, roughed it out with a hatchet like he did and finished it up with my hoof knife and jack knife.
Still use it- great for stew- serving bowl size!
I made a fro out of a piece of leaf spring, but I never really started using it - too impatient. For handles I use an old horseshoe rasp - buddy farrier used to drop off an occasional worn rasp. Works well - When I discovered a drawknife I knew I had been missing a whole world of possibility! I used to stay with the forge getting ready for craft shows and fooling around, but my wife started to point out that the house needed work too, and with my job I started to drift away from the anvil.
Great tool site- you posted.

My best hammer was laying on the ground at the edge of a scrap pile without a handle. The aution was over and clean up was going on. I bent down and picked it up out of the junk - looked it over and walked away with it! 1800's handmade 3 lb crosspein. I always round the face - easier to push the steel I think, without edge marks from the hammer.

 

[forgeblast]

TC thats awesome, The hoof knife is used a lot instead of the bent knife, a lot of people use them because they can be easier to find.
Drawknife is a nice tool, I really do like them.
I saw where some guys were using masonary nails to make smaller hook knifes for bowls or spring pole lathes.
I had a sculpture teacher in college who did a lot of silver smithing/restoration work.
He would polish his hammer and anvil , or any forming tools he was going to use to make sure there were no stray marks. His personal tools would shine!!
The one newer forging hammer i bought from centaur forge has the edges rounded, I am sure for the same reason you are saying.

lloydE, That is a great site, I also bought some tools from Axes and Hatchets by Mueller and Oxhead and Knives by Mora.
If you look at the sloyd knife at the bottom of the page, That knife is awesome for carving/whittiling. I highly recommend it.

 

[tcreeley]

I like Centaur forge- good company!

 

[Mounted Madness]

Forgeblast...

Gotta say man, that you are one busy fella. After reading what you've accomplished this summer, I was so tired that I had to have a nap. Clearly your a wee bit younger then me, what with having a young daughter running about...and who will keep you young for a number of years yet. My two daughters are well into there 30's, with 3 grand kids for good measure...

Congrats on all of your summers accomplishments. Watched a program last night on crafters in the USA. This one fella was literally a brain surgeon, who needed a hobby to help himself to unwind. A patient got him started in pottery. Beautiful work and pretty much does that full time now, though from appearances I'd estimate him to be semi-retired and early 60's.

My point to this is that every man and woman who expresses their passions through their hands, from writing to masonry, painting to music, are artists in their own right. The artists whose sculptures are atop the buttresses of gothic churches, would be unknown had they not had a buttress to display their work. Artists AND artisans ARE one and the same. The constant is the ability to take a thought and create reality.

I like your comment about a $45 garden ornament being too much to buy, but easily fabricated if you have the skill, patience and desire to actually explore the attempt, let alone complete it.

Great work ... may you have many years to enjoy the exploration. :thumbsup:

 

[forgeblast]

Thank you very much for the kind words. I have to update the breadoven its almost done, I just need a 2' piece of chimney and then to clad it. The garden shed is almost done 1 more bag of mortar...I ran out.
I also last night was able to make my first pole lathe hooks, I was able to get the temper right also, it holds a nice edge.
Ill post some pics later this week.