Portraits at the Forge

It’s not uncommon to come across photographs of smiths standing beside their anvil.  However it is unusual to find a painting of the same type.  Paintings of a more general nature are the ones which show activities in and around the shop such as “Horse and Buggy Days by Paul Detlefsen.

http://www.barewalls.com/pv-488873_Horse-and-Buggy-Days.html

The portrait which fascinates me most is “Pat Lyon at the Forge” by John Neagle in 1829.  There is a fascinating story associated with its commissioning which you can read -  America’s First Bank Robbery

http://www.ushistory.org/carpentershall/history/robbery.htm  This, in my opinion, is a true portrait.

Jean Leon Gerome Ferris painted a lot of scenes depicting early American History.  His painting “The American Cincinnatus” purports to show George Washington forging.  I don’t know if this would actually qualify as a portrait as it wasn’t posed but rather imagined.

http://www.fineartprintsondemand.com/artists/ferris/american_cincinnatus.htm   George Washington was often compared to the Roman citizen-farmer leader.  http://www.mountvernon.org/educational-resources/encyclopedia/cincinnatus

A few years ago a friend of mine asked if he could come to the studio and photograph me at work.  He likes to capture a subject then make a painting similar to the image.  He has spent a good bit of his retirement time in that activity.  When finished, he gave me a print.  So now I can join that small group of smiths who can display a painting of them at work on the anvil although this smith will never be considered an American legend.

http://www.persimmonforge.com/

The Yellen Gate Project

This morning I came across some YouTube videos I thinks most blacksmiths will enjoy.  The are part of a series of films made to document the various crafts engaged in preservation and restoration.

There is a series of six videos of a workshop sponsored buy the Samuel Yellen Foundation and held in April 1986 at the Yellen shop in west Philadelphia shortly after Harvey Yellen’s death.  The journeyman blacksmiths attending worked with shop employees to build a memorial gate honoring Harvey Yellen who ran the shop for about 40 years after Samuel Yellen died.  The taping was directed by Jack Andrews.  The workshop was led by master blacksmith Francis Whitaker, Aspen, Colorado.

Workshop Participants are listed as:

 John Dabate, Providence, RI

 Glenn Horr, Berkeley Springs, WV

 Thomas Latane, Pepin, WI

 David Norrie, Ontario, Canada

 Randy Oberg, Cohasset, MN

 Patrick Porter, Tesuque, NM

 Pete Renzetti, West Chester, PA

 Matt Rutz, Des Moines, Iowa

 Jon Siegel, Andover, NH

 Durand Van Doren, Trumansburg, NY

 David Munn, Virginia

 Stanley Franklin, Virginia

“Ornamental Wrought Iron I”  was filmed in April 1986 by Preservation Techniques, Inc - Gersil N. Kay, Chairman.

 It explains the program was videotaped on Location Samuel Yellen Metalworkers Company and lists Mrs Harvey Z Yellen as President, Mr. Lou Buccanera as Manager, Mr. Fred Crist as Artist Blacksmith and Mr. Jack Andrews as Consultant Designer.

Ornamental Wrought Iron I Pt.1 of 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_IUu0t9su0

Introduction by Jack Andrews.  History of the Yellen shop.  Francis Whitaker with 64 years of blacksmithing experience had already led approximately 140 workshops all over the country since 1976.  Fred Crist, head blacksmith at the shop, describes the project, blacksmithing tools, modeling and safety.

Ornamental Wrought Iron I Pt.2 of 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB7H0xvQmhs

Fred continues describing some tools. David Norrie explains striking. Glenn Horr demonstrates stamping, wire brushing and straightening.  Pete Renzetti describes the gate project in more detail. 

Ornamental Wrought Iron I Pt.3 of 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0viHnqB0wW4

Pete describes traditional techniques. Matt Rutz describes punching holes.  Pete forges a tenon. Francis demonstrates forge welding a square corner.  Fred Crist describes the stock to be used.

Ornamental Wrought Iron I Pt.4 of 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPpGcVGhUzg

Fred Crist forge welding a fleur-de-lis.  Francis and Peter demonstrating keyed tenon joinery and twisting a bar.

Ornamental Wrought Iron I Pt.5 of 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPpGcVGhUzg

Francis Whitaker and Peter Renzetti continue the twisting of a decorative bar the assembly process.

Ornamental Wrought Iron I Pt.6 of 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYq5FXGdbMQ

This is the list of credits and some more images of the shop.

http://www.persimmonforge.com/

A Coal Bin Modification

This is not about something I’ve done.  It’s about something I’ve thought about doing.  It’s in the category of “If I get the time...” or “If I had it to do over...”.

As my coal bin has aged a few years and weathered, particularly on the west side, the top edge of the end plywood has bowed out about 3/4”.  It is just enough that rain can now get inside through that little opening that the lid no longer completely covers.

In retrospect I could have prevented this by adding some top edge reinforcement - perhaps with some 1/8” x 1.5” angle.  I made a SketchUp drawing to remind me of the idea if I ever get the time.  Which also reminds me that I’ll need to make a trip to get coal in a few weeks when the weather is nicer.

I posted the model to this Trimble.3D Warehouse.

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=33c85af378199860c17e7f250c5222bd&ct=mdsa&prevstart=0

http://www.persimmonforge.com/

The Hibernaculum

I’ll have to stretch my mind to figure out how this subject relates to blacksmithing, but here goes.  Northeast of my shop the terrain drops off abruptly and approaches the Neosho River.  About 100 feet from the shop is a hibernaculum.  I know, most people don’t know the word.  It is a snake den.  Apparently, about 4’ below ground level there is some sort of cavern  in which snakes can overwinter.  For many years, I’ve observed the appearance of an opening about the size of a golf ball in March or April.  For most of that time it has been a casual and irregular observation.  The only snakes I have seen coming and going are garter snakes.

I wouldn’t call myself a snake lover but I am a nature lover and generally believe in “live and let live.”  I’ll admit that I jump when startled by the sudden movement, or sighting, of a snake, particularly when it is a face-to-face encounter with a big blacksnake coiled up in the eye-level crotch of a tree I am mowing around.

The squeamish should avoid this link.  It shows several garter snakes emerging from a hibernaculum.

http://www.arkive.org/common-garter-snake/thamnophis-sirtalis/image-G83488.html

I’ve grown to like garter snakes and be protective of their habitat.  In the years we had cats they would capture them and proudly bring them into the kitchen for our inspection.  I would have to remove them to great outdoors.

There aren’t many images of hibernaculum openings on the web.  Here is that ids one almost identical to mine.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/linuxtuxguy/3473923623/

I think in other areas of the country the landforms are rocky and not soil matrix so the openings would look different.

In the recent years I recorded the exact coordinate at  which the snakes emerge.  It is the same in the past two years and I suspect it has been in the same spot for eons.

So, how does this connect with blacksmithing?  Well, it’s like this.  From time to time on beautiful weather days I like to step out of the shop and stretch and savor Nature’s wonder.  It is the subject of what I like to forge.  I didn’t create the objects of my interest - I just admire them and try to imitate them in my work. Each living thing is beautiful to it’s kind and has a history complicated beyond imagination.  It’s another stretch to try to capture that.

http://www.persimmonforge.com/

Treadle Torch Followup Number Two

Tonight I checked the mail and found my copy of ABANA’s Hammer’s Blow, Vol 21, #2, Spring 2013.  On page 12 is a very detailed article by H. Kent Hepworth showing how to assemble a Gasaver Treadle Torch Stand and it presents a lot of valuable technical details which I haven’t  included in my posts.  Check it out.

Breakaway Design

In August 1991, I traveled with friends to Dorrance, Kansas and met Tom Mahoney who was manufacturing a breakaway basketball goal which he invented. It was a neat idea and prevented a lot of glass shattering.  I suppose it impressed me enough that I regularly consider fail-safe points in the design phase of a lot of projects.

I was reminded of the subject when a friend was helping me close up the studio a few days ago.  We were preparing to run the tumbler for 20 minutes after we left.  When I turned on the machine there was a loud noise as it started to rotate so I shut it off.  My friend had forgotten to move away a support which I use to prop up the near-side door so it serves as a shelf for unloading.

When I built the support it occurred to me that exactly this sort of thing could happen.  If the support could not give something catastrophic might happen.  To provide the fail safe the top cross arm is attached only with four tack welds and the actual catch is only a flimsy piece of strip.  The design worked perfectly.  On the first revolution the hinge on the tumbler struck the cross arm and it bent down hinged on two of the tack welds to the point where it was clear of obstruction.   The next morning I repaired it.

There isn’t anyway to know for sure how strong a thing is other than breaking it but some pretty good guesses are possible.  In the final analysis it’s probably more useful to know that breakage will occur in a safe way than to know exactly how much force a thing can endure.

http://www.persimmonforge.com/

A Patina Experiment

I wanted to submit something to the members gallery at the ABANA conference in Richmond, Kentucky in July 2004.  In addition I wanted to experiment with using different metals to create a piece with a lot of color.

I decided to make a panel which would be a “painting in metal” of an autumn woodland. When I am creating a complicated piece I imagine a story which goes with it.  I think that technique helps a lot with design.  In this case I was inspired by the familiar Robert Frost poem, “The Road Not Taken” http://www.bartleby.com/119/1.html

and my memories of driving the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina with the golden leaves falling in a spectacular show.  

I used materials I already had on hand.  I assembled a textured mild steel frame and constructed the larger foreground trees from textured mild steel the added some background bronze trees.  The road was copper sheet, the sky brass sheet and the forest floor was several layers of mild steel sheet with different textures.  

It seemed to be a helpful learning experience although there were quite a few points where I felt the result was disappointing.  Achieving the illusion of depth was much harder than I imagined.  But I felt I had learned enough to be able to do it “better the next time” which is my usual goal with an experiment.

When I brought the panel back to the studio I hung in on the wall for a while and continued my critique.  Eventually, it occurred to me it might be interesting to weather it and see what would result.  After removing as much of the clear finish as I could do easily I sprayed it with muriatic acid and hydrogen peroxide to get the oxidation started then hung it up outside where it has remained for about eight years.  Last year I put on a coat of satin lacquer and hung it on our back porch.

While Mother Nature couldn’t take care of my technical inadequacies, she did improve the colors which made the piece more interesting overall.  The appearance changes a lot depending upon the lighting variations.

Not wanting to be an outright thief of Robert Frost’s theme, I titled the piece “Choices.”  During the construction I had to make a lot of them.  Some turned out better than others.  Isn’t that the way life always works?

http://www.persimmonforge.com/