We began yesterday with our first attempt to make a hammer punch since we took a week-long workshop with Brian Brazeal. Kainon and I spent the better part of the day working out how best to accomplish our goal and managed to produce a fair tool. We weren’t satisfied with it in many respects so we went ahead and made a second with the help of our fellow Balcones Forge member, Tyler Simpson. We met Tyler out at Pioneer Farm and he has been working with us ever since. I thought today would be a good chance to see if Kainon and I were ready to teach someone all the techniques necessary to forge a billet into a top tool, such as the hammer punch. The steps required to finish this tool are applicable to any other of the tools we will make, including hammers. Tyler is also anxious to start learning to make his own tools and a hammer as well so he was very excited to participate.

I maintained the fire and managed the heats while Kainon directed and Tyler did the striking. Kainon and I also guided Tyler and made sure to explain every step thoroughly so that we all knew what we were doing and why we were doing it. I felt that we all had a good grasp on the goal and the work went very smoothly. As the work progressed, Kainon was able to improve his tong handling and Tyler made great strides in his striking technique. Kainon and I were both impressed with the force of his hits and his accuracy by the end of the day.

You can see how straight the hole is in the above shot as well as the tongs used to grip the billet while it is being worked. Kainon and I were lucky to have received the hammer tongs he is using from Lyle Wynn, Brian’s friend and striker. The way these tongs are designed allows the user to easily flip the billet and find the edges of the anvil when positioning the billet for work. You can also see the new system Kainon and I applied to the anvil to improve it’s stability. We had to take care of the issue of a loose anvil before we could even think of working on pieces like this hammer punch.

The punch has been driven through the billet and Kainon is now locating the shadow to finish the hole by driving the punch from the other side. They were able to shear the waste in short order and the finished hole was very clean. It sounds very simple but it is very difficult to master this technique and the guys did a stellar job, I was very impressed and proud of their work.

We felt we should separate the punch mass from the eye area because one of the issues we had on the first attempt was due to the large size of the only flatter we have. We fullered around the mass and then Kainon hand hammered the taper out on this attempt. It was successful but we are still not completely happy with this solution and we will be looking for alternatives on further attempts.

The final flattening of the taper to produce the punch was done with the aforementioned giant flatter. The main beef we have is this thing bottoms out very quickly on our anvil and makes getting a thin enough taper difficult. Kainon persevered and the punch turned out just great.

You can see the results in the photo above. This piece is straight and clean, the hole is near perfect and the cheeks are even. We would have liked to draw the cheeks out a bit more and we will do so going forward. I have just finished grinding the bevels and cleaning up the striking end and I will get a photo up soon after I get a good handle fitted.

This top view really shows how evenly the piece turned out. I am extremely happy with the work and the fact that Kainon and I were able to take someone who had never struck before through the whole process and give him a good understanding of all the techniques involved in tool making. Tyler said he had a great time and was very excited to continue learning more and eventually make his own tools for hammer making. I feel much more confident that Kainon and I will be able to master tool making and hammer making as well as teaching these skills to others.

I can highly recommend booking a class with Brian and Lyle to anyone who wants to improve their technique and learn new blacksmithing skills. Brian has a passion for the work that is unmatched (actually, Lyle is just as passionate in his quiet way) and has many years of experience to draw upon when teaching. His attention to the way metal works and the real science and hard facts of how metal reacts to the dies it is struck with will save you many hours of wasted hammering and sore muscles. I have made more progress in my work since the class than I would have thought possible, I now feel totally confident when I pull a piece out of the fire and set it on the anvil. I know where I am going and how to get there. I think that Brian is responsible for making that possible for me and I am very grateful for his help and friendship.

Thanks for dropping by and keep coming back for more blacksmithing adventures!!!

He is heading in for a quick bite to eat.

I walked out onto the back porch to be greeted by this scene. This guy has invaded the bird house and driven off the small sparrows dwelling there. Unfortunately, the babies in the nest were not able to escape and this fellow had an easy meal.

He is actually quite large, this is the biggest section I saw.

I think he really would like to make his getaway.

Just hanging around at this point, looking for a chance to flee the scene of the crime.

He poked his head out but must have realized once the flash went off things were still too risky to run.

Having a relaxing moment before heading out.

I was totally enthralled by the spectacle and really wanted to get a video of him, not enough light out on the porch though. I left him alone after shooting these photos and he made his escape unmolested. I wish I could have seen how large he actually was, he seems to have been at least three inches in diameter at the thickest point I saw. I guess I will have to move the bird house to a more strategic location given the ease with which he infiltrated and assassinated the poor little babies inside. I wish I would have seen him earlier, I could have thwarted his attack and saved the babies perhaps.

So I guess the circle of life is happening all around us, even on my back porch. Thanks for dropping by and keep an eye out for snakes, I know I will!!!

New flint striker design I came up with recently.

One of the small leaves I made for sale on Etsy.

Small leaf pendant with a burnished finish.

Here are a couple of the things I have been working on lately.  I thought of a new design for a flint striker that would wrap around the user’s hand to help keep knuckles from getting scraped when in use. I used some spring steel to make it and hardened it in water. It works really well, I have given it a try myself and the sparks it generates are amazing.

The other thing I decided to try was a super small leaf pendant. They turned out fine I think. I strung them on a deerskin thong and have put them in the Etsy shop. Here’s hoping someone will find them irresistible and buy them.

Thanks for stopping by and check out the Etsy shop at L R Wicker Design.

Kainon Baumer and Pete Lee at the Pioneer Museum Forge in Fredericksburg.

Kainon is tending the fire in the forge at the Pioneer Museum in Fredericksburg.

Pete took a few shots of me smacking some steel around at the Pioneer Museum Forge.

The forge group went out to Fredericksburg a couple weeks ago and put on demos during the Pioneer Museum Pioneer Days celebration. Pete Lee, Kainon Baumer and myself were there on Thursday and we had a good time banging around the small forge at the museum. The turnout was very good and many people were very surprised to see three smiths of various ages all working the forge. It seems that most folks think blacksmithing is a dying art. We assured them that smithing is making a comeback in a big way and the three of us were indicative of the wide appeal of the craft.

Kainon and I were also honored by the donation of $1000.00 to each of us to attend a week long workshop with Brian Brazeal in Brandon, Mississippi the week of April 15th. Elise Guerrero has been instrumental in getting Kainon and I introduced to Brian and Karen and setting up the week long class for us. She also lobbied the forge association Board members to provide the scholarship money for us. We are extremely grateful to her and all the Board members of the Balcones Forge Organization for making this trip possible. We will be taking photos, notes, and video in addition to providing live demos once we return. Both Kainon and I are excited to get to make hammers and other tools for our members to use at their own forges and at our group meetings.

I will also be posting about the workshop here as I get the information and photos organized. Thanks for dropping by and have fun!

This is the first set of Brian Brazeal style hammer tongs Kainon and I made.

Kainon and I finished the first set of Brian Brazeal style hammer tongs on Thursday at the Zilker Botanical Garden Forge. We are pretty happy with the results, Kainon did the majority of the striking and final shaping on these and I assisted as needed.  Kainon downloaded the specs and some photos of the tongs in various stages of completion, we puzzled out our first pair over the course of two days. We started mine after these were done and got them almost finished today. The second pair has gone much faster as we have made many adjustments to our technique and improved our efficiency dramatically.

The first side tapered, punched, and bent.

Kainon finishes the bend on the second rein.

You can see the printed photo instructions on the chest behind Kainon in the shot above. He and I spent quite a while discussing how we would proceed with the fabrication of the tongs. We got very focused and were able to really capitalize on our ability to work as team on this project.

Unfortunately we punched the first rein off-center, we decided to remake the entire thing after this point.

This is the replacement rein we made after punching.

We also discovered we did the punching out of sequence, we should have bent the reins and then done the slot punch. It really didn’t effect us too badly, the slots remained open and in the right orientation for drifting anyway.

The first slot has been drifted and the drift is visible under the rein.

You can see in the photo above we have finished the bends and rounded the ends of the tongs to Brian’s preferred shape. The first hole has been drifted for the rivet and we are ready to drift the second rein.

The finished tongs look and work great, we had a great time playing with them before starting on the second pair.

I will have to take photos of the riveting on the second pair. Kainon and I got in a hurry to finish these and stopped taking photos every few minutes. I took the last couple shots on the way out to the parking lot, that’s how focused we got. I promise I will post photos for the final steps involving riveting, final shaping and refinement, etc.

Thanks for having a look and have fun!

One of these things just doesn't belong....

I went for a walk the other day and shot a few pics of the forlorn iron bits I spotted. These spacers were in a large pile and I happened to notice the odd man out. I thought it made a nice composition.

Rusty rail plates in the hot, Texas sun.

I don’t know why I love the color of rust so much, but I can’t resist it. I love iron and working with metal so I guess it’s just part of the package.

The lamps at the picnic area by Ladybird Lake against the blue Texas sky.

Then there’s the endless blue sky to offset the rusty orange rails.

Thanks for dropping by, have fun!

Kainon looks as happy as I have ever seen him holding this nicely welded cable.

Kainon and I spent Saturday morning welding a large wire cable into billets for knife making. As you can see, Kainon is very happy with the work. I think we did very well to get about a foot of the cable welded solidly before we somehow managed to burn it off the main cable. We could hardly believe it, but that’s what happened. Once we fished to welded piece out and split it, we had about 4 or 5 inches of 1 1/2 thick billet apiece. Not too bad for our first welding attempt down at the Zilker Botanical Garden Swedish Forge. Next time we vow we will be more careful and get more welded. Then we can hammer the billet into flat stock which will be much easier to work once it’s cut free.

The heat for welding is very high, check out that white section in the cable that is ready to be welded.

The heated section of the cable is now completely welded solid.

The leaf pendant I finally managed to produce after multiple disasters.

I have made many attempts at producing one of the little guys and Saturday finally saw success. Kainon kept giving me pointers and pep talks, I was just about to give up at one point when I hammered the taper incorrectly. He said it really wouldn’t matter much and in the end he was right. This proved to be a very decent leaf, in spite of the difficulties! I have hung it on a thong and given it to Jene to wear, she loves it! I am going to keep working on these and get a few on the Etsy shop for key fobs or pendants so others can have little leaf of their own.

The finished leaf atop Kainon's rounding hammer from Big Blu.

Also in the photo is Kainon’s massive rounding hammer from Big Blu. He has been using this hammer almost exclusively since he got it and he can’t say enough about how much he loves it. I may have to get a smaller one myself, it does have a great range of edges to use when forging.

Thanks for stopping by!

My first double sided blade attempt.

My first attempt at a double edge is going fairly well. I am grinding the bevels at this point and so far I am happy with the outcome. I haven’t cut the long tang down at all, I will have to get the handle figured out first. Once I have the grip sorted I will cut it and thread it so I can screw on a pommel to finish it off. I think I will be using some of the same exotic wood that the Scandinavian style knives will be sporting for this as well. I also need to get a guard on this, possibly in brass, and it should match the pommel. So much more to do, I need to get busy!

The beginning stages of the flat grind on the dagger.

I will be working on a grip and sheath for this guy soon.

Thanks for dropping by!

The first stage of grinding on the longer hidden tang blade.

First stage of grinding on this short hidden tang style blade.

I got two new blades worked up to the point where I need to think about getting handles on them. I am thinking of going with a stacked wood, Scandinavian or Finnish style which will compliment the blade shapes nicely. I have a few scraps of quality hardwood that I can glue up in layers and then shape to add some extra interest and color to the final knife. I am also planning to use brass sheet in between some of the wood pieces and at the guard area for durability. After the knives are complete I will make a sheath for each as well, Finnish style also. I will of course post the final products.

Here a few more shots of the blades…

The smaller of the two hidden tang, Scandinavian style sheath knives I am building.

A long, straight blade I am working up into a Scandinavian style sheath knife.

The blade and tang area of the short hidden tang blade.

Close up of the longer blade.

As usual, thanks for stopping by and have fun!