Current Projects

Here is where I will show off some of my projects. I hope you enjoy them.

December 24th, 2006

Here is the last Christmas gift for the year. This is going to my sister. I am pretty sure she will like it.

December 23rd, 2006

It's crunch time on the gift making front. 3 done today, and I have one left to do tomorrow morning, then I'm on easy street. Today I tried something new and it came out great. I will definitely be making more of these. The directions for doing this came from the anvilfire.com iForge demo page. It's #150.

The braided section is 7 1/2" long, and the overall length is almost 10".	Here is how I finished the ends. The two short ones were just wrapped over and welded together, and the longer ones made into a loop.	Here is the end where it is started. Because of the way I welded the ends together into a loop, it almost looks like there is no beginning or end.

December 21, 2006

I finished up a couple of gifts today and delivered them. One I am really proud of was a plant holder for a co-worker. It came out really nice, and she loved it.

I made this from 3/8" round rod mostly. The holder is 1/2" square, and the 4 arms with the twist in the center are 1/4" square. It was sprayed with a clear finish so it won't rust for quite some time. It spins freely on the rivet pin I made.

December 16, 2006

Here is a sort of small meat cleaver I have been making for a friend who has a meat cleaver collection. I think he will like it a lot. The blade is made from 1 1/8" crane cable forge welded into a solid piece. I cut a groove down the center of the spike, and silver soldered it into the handle. It seems like it took real well for my first ever silver solder job.

You can see that it still needs some work, and it needs to be acid etched to bring out the pattern in the cable, but I am really please with how it is coming along.

Update December 21, 2006

Here it is all done. In the close up on the right you can see the pattern pretty well. After etching it, I went over the whole knife with a power wire brush to get it all shiny. I think Randy is going to love it.

December 12, 2006

Here is a Bowie Style Knife I am working on.

Here is one of the plow blades I made this out of, and the picture that was the inspiration for the blade style. It's about 19" overall with a 13" blade just over 3/16" thick right now.		Here I am standing with my new baby. Notice the forge to the left of my head; it had been off for about a half hour when this was taken, and still red inside.
Here you can see the thickness of the blade. It is just over 3/16" now. It started off 3/8" thick.		Here is a belt buckle I made for my boss after I played with the blade. I am also making a belt to go with it. He just lost a lot of weight and I thought this would be a good Christmas present. The one on the right is after it is all done, with the belt attached.

December 10, 06

Here is a menorah made of 3/8" rod I just did for a friend at work. It's the first one I have ever done. It didn't turn out as nice as I wanted, but I think he will like it.

You can see how I used a series of S bends to make the different legs.	Here is a view looking down so you can see it is 4 layers deep.

May 28, 2006: I recently received a commission by the Malki Museum on the Morongo Indian Reservation to build a stand for a slab of sandstone that had been painted years ago with the tribe's symbol, which is a local bug. They wanted to display it in front of the museum Here are a few pictures of what I came up with.

Here is the stand ready alone. It is a pretty simple design, but there were some challenges because of the odd shape of the stone. Although it looks square, each tab is set at a different height.	This is a close up of the tabs used to hold the stone in place. I wanted to put something on them, but didn't want to take away from the main art. I think this simple design does it well.	Here is the stone installed in the stand. The museum folks were very pleased with it.
Here are 3 different shots of it. The one in the middle was right after I finished installing it. The other two are after they put the rest of the display back in place.

March 13th, 2006: I'm starting in early this year on Christmas gifts. I plan to do many more than I did last year. I have started on a pattern welded knife made from some band saw blade I got from my steel suppliers scrap bin. I welded it into a billet with alternating layers of the blade material and some low carbon metal banding I got from the same bin. So far I think it is welding up ok. We'll see when it's over. Here are some pics of it in process. In these pics I have just cut the billet in half and stacked it back on itself to re-weld it. I didn't do the layers right originally, so instead of having hi-carbon to hi-carbon, and a double thick layer in the middle, I have taken another piece of the banding material and placed it in between the two pieces. Once I weld it all together it should look ok. (I hope)

This edge shows where the teeth of the band saw blade were. I didn't bother to grind them off because I was just fooling around with this billet to see if I could make one.	Here is the other side of it. You can see the extra piece pretty clearly in this one.	Here it is on one side.
Here is the other side.	This is a close up of the rough edge from the teeth. If it stays like this through the entire welding process I may try to incorporate it into the spine of the blade. If not, I will just grind it off while shaping the blade.
		These two pics above show where it's at now. (5-17-07) I ended up drawing it out a little too thin, but it is not too bad for my first pattern welded knife. I still have to do a handle and guard.

January 8th, 2006: I did a few Christmas presents for some friends and family this year. I'm pretty proud of this fireplace set I am making for my sister. The heart shape on the top matches the design that is on the shield in front of her fireplace.

This is the first fireplace set I have ever done, so I am pretty proud of it.		Here is a close up of the handles. The heart design matches her fireplace screen. The basket twists were O/A welded, but then I forge welded the basket to the twisted handle.	Here is just the stand. The front hook is forge welded to the main stem, which was a big deal for me. After doing this project I am much more confident in my welds.	This is the bottom of the stand. It's pretty plain, but I was kind of running out of ideas by this point. Next time I think I will do much larger scrolls at the bottom for the feet.
Here is the shovel pan. I just bought the pan because I already had about 60 hours in this, and I can't imagine how long it would have taken to do the pan as well.		Here is the back of it. I had planned to do the heart design, but I screwed up the hot cut, so I just did this instead.	Here is the poker. The tip is bent over and forge welded, then drawn back out. I was very pleased with how it turned out.	Although I like the look of this, it is not very practical. I made the back point way too thin, and it will get red hot and bend easily. Fortunately my sister doesn't really use her fireplace much since we live in So Cal.

Here is a candle holder I made for a couple of people. I came up with this design after doing the basket twist for the fireplace set above, then thought it looked pretty nice, and maybe I could do some other stuff with it. The wrap at the bottom is pretty much a whole length of silicon bronze welding rod. That was actually the hardest part of the whole project.

Here is a bud vase I made for my wife for Christmas. I gave her the crystal rose on Christmas day, but didn't think about the vase until afterwards, so it was late, but she still loves it. She had been complaining that I made all this cool stuff for everyone else, but I didn't make her anything. I definitely had to remedy that situation.

Here is the vase alone. I am very pleased with how it turned out. I think I will end up making more of these.	Here is the vase with the rose bud in it. I think it really looks great, and the better half loves it.	Here is another one I gave to a friend for her 40th birthday. It was Deb's idea to add the ribbon. I think I like it.

October 2005. This is my friend Mac who wanted to go to the local Halloween costume party dressed as Freddy Krugger, but didn't want the el cheapo plastic glove available at the costume shop. So, he talked me into making a Freddy claw glove for him. He was a real hit at the party, and won best costume. I was very pleased with how it turned out.

March 1, 2005 I picked up a second post vise off eBay a couple weeks ago and am in the process of rebuilding it. This one is pretty interesting. It is not actually a post vice like my other one, but was specially made to clamp onto the tongue of a wagon to be used while traveling. It has seen some very rough use. It was rusted nearly tight, and the screw box had been broken off. It was also missing the spring, and had marks where it had been welded to a table then cut off with a torch.

As you can see from these pics it was very rusty. The pipe sticking out the back with the little nub on it should be about 2 inches longer and have some type of ring so it will pull the vice closed.	The piece clamped on the back leg looks like it would allow it to be used in the hardy hole. According to the ad on eBay it was designed to be clamped to a wagon.	I took this piece off since I am trying to convert it to being a post vice. I've probably ruined any collector value already since I've welded onto the screw box, and wire brushed all the rust off.

So far I have cleaned it up and freed it up so that it moves easily. Sunday I made a leg for it from some heavy solid bar I had laying around. Tonight I welded on a new screw box made out of a piece of 1 1/4" pipe and a bell reducer and a steel ball. It actually turned out looking pretty good. Tomorrow I will start working on a spring and a mount so it can be mounted to a table.

It actually looks like it goes with the vice. I'm pretty pleased with how it came out since what I had in mind originally didn't look nearly this nice.		The jaws have been damaged by a torch and a drill. I am thinking of filling it in with my O/A welder. I am afraid to Arc weld on it since it is wrought iron.
I'll probably add some kind of set screw in the side of this just to sturdy it up some.	Here is a wider shot of it. I'll be building a base plate later once I am ready to mount it to the table.	I built up the nub on the screw box so it engaged with the body better. It looks ugly, but it doesn't show, and made a big difference.

Sunday, March 6th, 2005 Yesterday I made a spring and the wedges to hold it on. I am pretty happy with how it is coming together. Today I had a couple of friends over and I drafted them as strikers. I made the part to hold it to the table from a bar of 1" by 1 1/2" cold rolled I had laying around. Last night I had cut a slot in it for the wedges, & marked it for cutting. Today we cut it to length, gave it a half twist, then hot cut it down the center for about 4 inches. I then drew out the two pieces and drilled holes in them to mount it to the table. Other than it being a lot of work it turned out pretty good. I wish I had marked it better before we tried to cut it though. I didn't get the cut dead center, and it really made a difference.

Here's the flat spring I made. Today I hardened & tempered it, and it made it work much better.	Here is the strap that will hold it all together. It's made from a concrete forming stake that used to hold my anvil from twisting.	Here is one of the wedges I made. The other one doesn't have the hook on the end.
Here is the spring & strap clamped on just so I could test it to make sure I was on the right track.	Today we made the cut in the large bar. I drafted Thomas to help hold, and our friend Pete to be a striker. I'm holding the hot cut.	Her's a closer shot of us doing the cut. This is the largest hot cut I have ever done.
Here's what it looked like when we cut it. Obviously not my best work, but it worked. Next to it is a piece of cable we threw in the forge while we waited. We were able to get the end to weld. Not bad with no borax & running out of propane.	Here it is in my forge while I'm drawing out the two legs. My son acted as striker on this part. It was the first time he has really shown any interest in my blacksmithing, and he said he had fun. Hopefully he will want to do more.	Here is the piece finished with the forging, and about to go under the grinder for clean up. Compared to where I started it turned out ok.
Here is the final product. I cleaned it up with a grinder & a file, then drilled 3/8" holes in the ends to mount it to my table.	In this shot you can see the slot real well. Then was interesting to make. I drilled a hole at each end then cut the center out with my O/A torch.	Here it is mounted in the vice. I think the twist makes it look very unique.
Here is another shot of it mounted in the vice. The screw is out because I just broke the weld on my new screw box.	Unfortunately, when I tried tightening down the vice to test it I heard a loud crack. I thought I had pulled the threads out of the screw, but it was just my weld breaking.	Here you can see the two pieces. I'm not sure how to fix it. It's wrought iron being welded to mild steel. I don't know it it will work at all. I'm going to try again though.

This is an update to the above project. I just realized I never put up any of the pics of the finished vice, or of the repairs I made to the cracked screw box. The vice has been working for many months now on my traveling table. I use it instead of my heavy 100lb vice. It bolts directly to the large picnic table I made to be the front display of my booth. This way I can display items and keep people several feet away from the hot stuff. I do a lot of twists during my demos, and people love it right there in front.

Here is the screw box right after brazing it.	Here it is all cleaned up. The brazing has worked so far, and made it through a 2 day faire being used constantly.	Here is what it looked like right after finishing it.
Here is the completed vice as I use it mounted to the table. It's not painted in the pics, but I painted it brown so it wouldn't rust, and to hide the silver color of the pipe fittings I used to make the screw box. Since the faire season is over until April, I am using the table and this vice as an extra just outside my shop when I need more room around the vice.

(September 04) Since moving into the new house over the July 4th weekend of 2004 I haven't been doing much actual blacksmithing. Like a dumb ass, I bought a house with no garage. What the heck was I thinking? I am in the process of building a large shed right now to use as storage because the 20ft sea container I have will be leaving in another month or so. I just rented it for 6 months to help with the move. I had planned on building a large steel building, but then found out how much that actually costs. It's going to be a while.

Here's the shop in process.	Here's how it is looking now. I need to do a little trim work and finish the electrical, but it's basically done.

It's 12ft X 24ft with 10ft peak. I also bought a power hammer and am in the process of rebuilding it. Once the shed is done I will be be using it for storage, and then I will be building a building over the power hammer that will be my shop.

(Feb 04) Time to build another forge. Check out the construction of my new freon tank propane forge. This has been my main project for the last week or so.

As you can see it's coming right along. I should have it fired up in another couple of days.

(Jan 04) Some friends came over on Sat and we ended up putting together a little project for him. Oscar works as a chef and had purchased a meat tenderizer head to make into a war hammer. It looks pretty ferocious, but being hollow aluminum it won't split the skull of whoever he fights with it. It turned out pretty nice for something we threw together in a couple of hours. The ball in the end of the handle is free floating. I twisted together 4 pieces of 1/4" rod to make the handle and drew them out to bend around the ball. Most of this project we pretty much made it up as we went along.

(Dec/Jan 03/04) Here's what I've been working on lately. It's a steel rack. Currently all my steel stock is sitting around in piles on various sets of saw horses. It seems they are always in the way, or in the wrong place, or just a pain in the arose. So, I decided to do something about it. Here are a few pics of it almost done. I am still adding a few finishing touches on it, but it's getting close. I'll add up a few more when it's done.

I've added some tabs to the ends of the arms to keep steel from rolling off. I'm also in the process of adding some 1/2" expanded steel wire to the base and down the center of the A frame. I plan to store scrap pieces in the middle. Update: Since moving to the new house with sand for for soil this thing has not moved since coming off the trailer. The wheels have all sunk completely into the ground. It was a great idea for the hard packed ground at the last place. The soil here just won't handle it though.

(Nov 03) This is the last project. My friend Mac and I made a cage of sorts to go around a journal he plans to keep for the next year documenting his 25th year. These pictures are just of the bottom laid out. We haven't welded it or anything yet, but you will get the idea. It should be very interesting when we are done. I hope I am privileged to read it some day. Maybe I'll find out what an ass hole he thinks I really am. :)

This is the base. It will be welded & riveted later.	Here it is with the journal in it.

Here is the Journal cover finished. Mac wants to keep that plain steel look, so we are not going to paint it or anything.

It turned out really nice, but it is pretty heavy. It weighs 4lb12oz with the padlock on it.

(Feb 03) This is the first knife I ever made. It started as a rail road spike. It's not chromed, I just sanded and polished the hell out of it. I had it engraved on the end with a B and gave it to my wife as a first anniversary gift. Her game name is Brenya. Now I need to make a sheath for it. She likes it very much and has informed me that I am now required to make her a different knife for every anniversary. I guess I'm really lucky actually. She could be demanding diamonds.

	Go here to check out my first knife with the new propane forge.

(Sept 03) Here is another RR Spike knife. This one was started at the Ojai Pirate Faire. Actually, the guy that ordered it started it. He did the basic shape then his arm gave out. I didn't start on it until Sunday afternoon, so my arm was pretty shot out as well, so I just brought it home to finish up.

Here it is after I pounded it out a little more. After looking at pictures of it the customer wanted the blade shape changed a little.	Here it is after I modified the blade shape and twisted the handle.	Here it is next to an unmodified spike. You can see that it was drawn out several inches.
		I will probably do a little more forge work on it tomorrow to straighten it out, then I will put an edge on it and ship it. The customer will be doing the real finishing on it.
Here is a close up of the handle.	Here is a close up of the blade. I went over the whole thing with a wire wheel so it is pretty shiny.

(Aug 03) I also did another little project tonight. I got the plans for this off of Anvilfire.com It is my first try at this. I used 3/8" stock instead of the 1/2" it called for just so I could see how it would work. I'm glad I did, because I had to redo it several times, but I will try it again soon with the 1/2".

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