Palm Sculpture and Spring Delights

Today I worked on a coconut palm sculpture most of the day.  The clients who commissioned it visited the studio in the afternoon and we discussed the progress.  They gave me the go-ahead to finish it along the line I am heading.  This has been a very interesting and challenging project for me and I feel I have learned a lot and there are still a few experiments I want to do.  I don’t charge clients for my learning time.  I got that notion from Francis Whitaker.  He said something like this.  “A person comes to you and requests a job.  That person expects you to know you business.  If you need to study and figure out how to do it that cost is on your time - not their time.”

It was cloudy, cool, windy and we got a little bit of rain today.  Spring arrives it “fits and starts” - whatever that means.  We might yet get a dusting of snow, but the march to summer is inevitable.  Is that why we call it March?  Oh well.

Behind Fall I favor Spring most.  I think that I watch every detail of the arrival of the new signs of life and growth.  The first green buds.  The first bloom of this and that.  Now baby squirrels are scampering throughout the tree branches,  Baby bunnies are bounding around the garden border.

I have seen the house wrens this week and orioles and a wood thrush.  The turkey vultures came back a couple of weeks ago.  But, the two snake hibernaculums I watch are still closed.

Betty is cutting fresh asparagus every day and it is delicious.  This bed is only a few years old but it looks like it will be a really good one.  Two previous attempts in other locations didn’t work well.  The peas are growing but the spinach is similar to the Kansas wheat crop - spotty.

A robin pair has nested on the east end of my studio north porch on the east side in a 100 pound roll of 12 gauge wire.  Momma flew off when I approached but I took a photo of her three eggs,

American Robins are thrushes and abundant in most of the US.  Several pair nest on my property each year and some overwinter down by the river.  They seem almost social.  I can be watering and a worm-stalking robin will come up within a few feet of me.

All my cognizant life I have known robin eggs were blue.  I could pick that blue out of a lineup.  But when I heard Francis Whitaker say “quench it when the color is robin’s egg blue” that color took on a different meaning in my mind.  My long time love of nature had one more link to my love of the blacksmithing craft. 

This morning we leave early to attend the BAM conference in Sedalia, Missouri.  We will begin the four-day adventure with a day trip with dear friends to a site which is significant in the history of my Father's relatives.

Friends, Crawfish and Shrimp

So, how is this going to relate to blacksmithing?  Well, If I hadn’t been a blacksmith and put some pieces into the PrairiePasttimes Gallery these people would likely never have found me and become my friends.

A couple from the gulf area drives to a rural central Kansas town a couple of times a year to visit friends, relax and hunt.  They have purchased a number of the things I make for the gallery and commissioned several botanical sculpture pieces.

One of the annual events they host is the Crawfish Broil.  This year, Betty and I were invited.  On Sunday afternoon we drove a couple of hours west to a small town I had never heard of until I became acquainted with these friends.  Actually, the site is a quarter mile east of the town cemetery on a rock road, north side.

The owners of the property are lovely smart, professional people, now retired, still vigorous and charming. Their homestead is a testimony to something like a frontier mentality of carving out a paradise from the prairie.  They live in a beautiful limestone home (stone they set themselves), have manicured gardens and host a colony of martins.

The couple who provides the gulf food feast of crawfish and shrimp are my clients.  They too are smart, charming professional people. They brought a monumental supply of the seafood with the equipment to broil and season and serve.  Tables were lined up on the drive covered with newspaper and stocked with melted butter and shrimp sauce.  Everyone brought their own brand of beer and their were many sides and deserts including home made ice cream and a special chocolate treat from New Orleans.  I think it was called Doberge cake. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doberge_cake

There were some thunderstorms in the morning bringing less rain than we hoped for but the afternoon was sunny, warm and breezy.  Betty and I met almost every one of the 30 or so guests for the first time and found them to be a very convivial group.

The event was one of those social treasures.  A friend once advised me, “If you ever have to pick between justice and grace, always choose grace.”  I don’t know if we justly deserved an invitation but we gracefully accepted it and will remember it fondly.

I have been working on a botanical sculpture for these clients and intended to have it finished for them to take home this week.  I could list the excuses for why I might fail this deadline by a few days but that would waste our time.  All the elements are finished but there is the assembly and tweaking and finish details that remain.  These things can’t be rushed.  This is a piece of work I want be proud of it.

On the other hand, the client might find it is not what they want.  That is OK with me.  In fact, I believe the most important thing is that the client gets what they want. Delivering that satisfaction is what establishes a successful business.  Even more important, delivering what clients want could make them friends.  We’re especially lucky if those friends know where to procure great seafood.

Crawfish & Shrimp broil.

Palm trunk test piece.

Preheating Welds

I’m assembling a 6’ tall coconut palm sculpture and the assembly is done with MIG welding but I’m trying to make those joints nearly invisible.

When I first started welding, I bought a MIG welding setup and started welding.  I didn’t own a torch and never had any lessons.  I turned out some pretty ugly welds but I got a shop going.  It was some time before I caught on to the advantages of preheating welds.

Today I seem to divide my MIG welding into two general categories - welding which is part of a product and welding which part of a jig or other shop fixture.  In the products I do preheat because the weld metal flows so smoothly and blends with the base metal to hide the weld.  In the jigs I usually don’t preheat.  The welds don’t have to look good and they are easier to cut apart when disassembling the jig.

I keep a small cutting tip on my torch setup most of the time.  When I’m assembling sculptural elements (usually no thicker than 1/4”) I use the torch with a neutral flame to preheat to just about a welding heat then put in the MIG bead.  If the weld needs a little more dressing I turn the torch to a reducing flame and melt the bead and let it flow more.  It takes practice to not overdo it.

There is a lot more to good welding technique which I don’t know and don’t need in the type of work I do.

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us/support/process-and-theory/pages/preheat-detail.aspx

How to Draw a Volute or Acanthus Scroll

This is not something I have ever needed or used but I collected a few references - just in case.  

How to Draw a Volute or Acanthus Scroll

http://surfacefragments.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-draw-volute-or-acanthus-scroll.html

http://www.thisiscarpentry.com/2009/07/15/drawing-a-volute/

http://chestofbooks.com/crafts/metal/Metal-Pattern/The-Volute.html#.Uw3iJ3lEBpo

Scroll Maker - 2D with SketchUp Scroll Maker

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mES14SnIAP8

Scroll Maker - 3D with SketchUp Scroll Maker

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxXdXy9Gdes

http://www.classicaladdiction.com/2013/08/the-classic-acanthus/

The Portable Hole

I have a half a dozen Tiki lamps which I place around our deck area in the summer to discourage mosquitos and provide a little night lighting.  The ground is so hard they are difficult to set up by digging holes so I forged an alternative which I call the portable hole.

It is stake with two aligned loops which can be driven into the ground or pushed in with foot pressure.  The base of the Tiki lamp pole easily slides into the loops.

The stakes also serve as hose guards protecting the small shrubs planted around the deck.

I used 1/2” round stock only because I have a lot of it.  3/8” or 7/16” would probably work as well.

This is my list of instructions:

1. Cut 48” (or more) of 1/2” round. The length determines the height of the handle.

2. Draw tapers on both ends.  Scroll the top end for a safety finial.

3. Coil around a 1.25” mandrel about a foot from the ground spike end. 

 and make another loop in the same plane so there is an interval of 10” or so between them.  For aesthetic reasons it’s probably best to wrap both loops in the same way and align by either CCW or CW bending and not a combination.

4. Lock the ring in vise and torch heat the shaft on each side and bend 90º on each side in opposite directions to align the hole at 90º orientation.  Do the same with the second loop and check alignment.

5. Bend the top end to form a teardrop crook handle.  

It’s a handy garden device and could be used in other circumstances.  I’d make a jig if I were going to do a bunch of them.

A short version of the lamp holder/hose guard. Natural rust finish.

Portable hole sketch.

When bending the hole to the perpendicular the shaft can be aligned by bending CCW or CW to match.

Farm Mechanics

A couple of deadline projects have me pinned so there is no time to think about writing.  I did stumble across one interesting old time reference.

This is a free online book. The first chapter relates to blacksmithing and woodworking and has a lot of nice line drawn tool illustrations.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/39791/39791-h/39791-h.htm

Pipe Texturing Dies

I often make hollow formed branches in various things i make such as table legs.  In most cases I begin with either 12 or 14 gauge sheet about 4” wide and 3’ in length.  I put on the bark texture then roll the sheet into tube.  Most of the work results in limb-like stock less than three or four inches in diameter.

However, I sometimes start with pipe or tube when I’m making 1/2” to 1” diameter elements.  I have made some dies to create the texture without creating excessive collapse deformity.

I begin with two mild steel blanks about 5/8” x 2” x 3”.  I chose a round bar mandrel slight smaller that the tube to be textured.  I position the two die block blanks to allow easy insertion of that mandrel and hold them in place with a couple of small pieces of welded flat bar scrap and add a porter bar handle.

The assembly is heated evenly to a high forging heat and placed in the hydraulic press.  Usually one squeeze finishes the set if the heat was right.

The finish work shaping is done with the angle and die grinders.  The hyperboloid cavity shape is a type of complex surface that I really can’t illustrate well with SketchUp 8.  Probably the Pro version would do it better.

The final step is to run several long MIG beads longitudinally.  These are the ridges which do the texturing. The dies can then be joined is some facing to keep them reasonably well aligned.  In this particular type of die the alignment is not really very critical.

Because the die working face is only a couple of inches in length the tube can be textured, tapered and bent all in a single process.

I’ll add some images of the dies later.

Canceling ABANA

We registered early for the ABANA conference in Delaware but recently cancelled our reservations because there just seemed to be too many conflicting events.  Our refund check arrived yesterday.  Unfortunately, I had to miss the last conference too.  I’m still looking forward to going to the BAM conference in about a week. I hope it is warmer this year.  

I’ve never been to the Quadstate Roundup so I’m looking at trying to get to it this year.  The SOFA event is near the end of September in Troy, Ohio.  It’s only an 11 hour drive for us.  Their website doesn’t have the full schedule posted yet but I’ll keep checking.

Gig References

One project I’ve wanted to do is make a gig just for the experience.  I’ve never gotten around to actually doing it but I’ve collected some references.  Bernie Tappel brought a nice display to a BAM meeting and I took a few photos.  You can see more gig examples here.

http://osagebluffquilter.blogspot.com/2008/03/blacksmith-association-of-missiuri.html and more about Bernie here http://osagebluffblacksmith.blogspot.com

Bowin' An' Spikin' in th' Jillikins

http://thelibrary.org/lochist/periodicals/ozarkswatch/ow50319.htm

Building boats and gigging in the Ozarks:

http://mofolkarts.missouri.edu/docs/ozark.pdf

http://blogs.basspro.com/blog/outdoorsite-library/fish-gigging-an-ozark-tradition

http://www.ruralmissouri.org/08pages/08DecOldeTymeGiggin.html

http://www.nighthawkpublications.com/journal/journal170-3.htm

Bending/Twisting Tools

Proper naming of tools avoids confusion but there may not be universal agreement on what is the proper name.  Or, sometimes, I carelessly use the wrong name.  A common example is saying bending fork when I actually mean a bending wrench.

Usually, when I say “bending fork” I am imagining a U-shaped tool which fits in the vise or hardy hole.  Often I also call a bar with a U on the end a bending fork.  Is that right?  Or, is it a bending wrench or scrolling wrench?

I think of a twisting wrench as a bar-type tool with a U or multiple U slots near the middle.  It might actually be an adjustable wrench with a second handle welded on the side opposite the original handle and aligned with it.

One such device is the Simonian Twisting Wrench.  I got one years ago and forged out the handles for greater mechanical leverage.  The wrench comes with four different size slots 1/4″, 3/8″, 1/2″, and 5/8″.

http://msmw.com/blacksmith-wp/?page_id=30&shopp_pid=57

A similar tool is shown being made here - the double ended bending wrench by purgatory ironworks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0YstuTDPso

This is an elegant forging demonstration by Mark Aspery.  The ABANA National Curriculum Scrolling Wrench

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrG6MBZFCag

Other nice examples:

http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/28674-dog-wrench/

A Rough Week & Chess

I’m on a pretty tight schedule trying to finish two projects before the end of he month so it wasn't any help when I came down with a miserable 3-day intestinal something or other.  To top that Ken took a bad fall, broke six ribs and partially collapsed a lung so he won’t be able to help me for a while.

Fortunately, such weeks are the exception and not the rule.  I wrote about this sort of thing three years ago.  Funny, it seems like just a few months ago.

http://persimmonforge.blogspot.com/2011/04/hidden-bummer-factor.html

I try to put a positive spin on experiences like this.  If I didn’t have some bad times I might not recognize the good ones.

When I did not feel up to going to the shop I did get some cleanup work done of the computer and I played a little chess with my four year old granddaughter in California on a platform at ChessKid. http://www.chesskid.com/home/

She has gotten pretty good at a game called Arimaa.  She plays it with Betty over Skype.  I’ve only looked at it briefly and it looked something like chess, which I once played, but I just didn’t want to take the trouble to learn another game.  However, after she found she could whack nearly everyone at Arimaa she decided to take up chess.  Keith helped her set up the ChessKid account and get me registered as a player too.  Now we can play slow chess at our leisure.  I generally check the computer a couple of times a day to see if it is my move.  Sometimes she sends me a message on my iPhone that says it is my move.

You’d think this was an unfair setup from the get go - a seventy-year-old with previous experience playing a four-year-old beginner.  Apparently not so.  From the start her competition has been stubborn and clever.  It’s only a matter of time.

My father taught me to play chess and cribbage in the late 1940’s as we were getting settled after getting out of service in the army in WWII.  I never really liked cribbage but the chess took hold.  I played it a lot during grade school, some in high school, less in college and only a handful of times between then and now.

I’m really enjoying playing again.  Probably the Granddad/Granddaughter thing makes it especially satisfying.

I’m feeling pretty well tonight and think I can go to the shop in he morning and put in a good lick.

Clinker Breaker Modification

This is an example of a design flaw which I just adapted to and didn’t bother fixing for years.  In order to keep the clinker breaker in proper orientation for best air flow into the firepot I made a catch which would keep it in place.  Unfortunately it was a bit flimsy and often when lifting out clinker it got dislodged and rotated out of place.  I’ve just gotten used to refastening the catch when ever I do that.  Recently, I decided to admit I was tolerating a kludge and decided to try any make an improvement.

It only took a few minutes.  I sorted through my assortment of springs in the hardware carousel and found a suitable one but it was a bit too long so I shortened it and attached one end to a ring which would slip over the handle to the clinker breaker and still allow it to freely rotate.  The other end attached to the catch arm which pivots to lock and unlock.   Bingo!

The pivot catch attached to a strut which supports a hand crank blower located at the south edge of the forge indoors.  Another electric blower is located outdoors on the north porch and brings air into the opposite side of the tuyere.  There is a screw valve on the electric side and a blast gate on the hand crank side.  I mostly use the electric power and keep it running all the time and adjust the fire by opening and closing the blast gate.  This allows the air to be forced up into the fire or bypass below it.

Handle rotating.

Handle locked

Detail of catch showing pivot bolt.

Making Hinged Dies

I’m always looking for another idea to experiment with.  After working out the modular bolted die scheme I started looking for a simpler way too accomplish some of the same things.

A hinge articulation seemed appealing.  The top leaf could swing open for redressing or revision.  However, it wouldn’t have any intrinsic spring action.  Gravity would close the die but something else would have to open it.

What is the function of spring in a traditional spring die anyway?   One function is to open the die enough the workpiece can be inserted and to open the die between strikes so the workpiece can change position.  The other important role is to keep the die faces aligned.

The idea of the hinge is that it serves primarily for alignment.  It doesn’t constrain alignment as precisely as the bolted design but in most cases it is close enough.

I tested two versions of the hinge barrel which is welded to the end of the top leaf.

1. The tight fit - I cut some small pipe sections about 2” in length to serve as the barrel of the hinges.  A 3/8” bolt could not be inserted but was close to fitting.  I slit the pipe longitudinally and drove in a of 3/8” round coil spring mandrel and hammered the pipe to open it slightly and the 3/8” bolt then fit perfectly.  

2. The looser fit - A quicker alternative is to use 5/16” bolts which have a slightly sloppy fit.  

The short pieces of flat bar which carry the bolt axel serve to help control the alignment so the difference in the play of the bolts in the barrels didn’t seem to make much difference in performance.

As in the bolted box die design, a box serves as the spacer.  I welded a 9” piece of 1/8” x 1/2” flat bar to the top of the box to provide the spring action.  This can easily be bent to the desired angle to achieve the best opening.

In the testing phase I was working with three old traditional spring dies which needed revision to work properly.  The top and bottom dies were salvaged and the remainder of the frames were scrapped.  It is a little tricky to get the die cavities aligned when welding everything together.  Two dies worked nicely but the third is a bit off and will need more work.  After a die tests well I'll tack weld the nut to the flat bar carrier.

At this point, I’m thinking this is going to be my preferred method of initial closed die construction.  If tighter constraint is needed it is easy to convert this design to the bolted design.

The Welded Nut Mechanism

I have mentioned several times that I like this simple technique.  It isn’t elegant craftsmanship like drilling and tapping and wouldn’t be acceptable in finished products but it is quick and effective for making jigs and other shop tools.  I use it today mostly when making dies.  

It is important that the hole through which the bold will pass is oversize so that there is no chance of obstruction and no chance the welding current will pass through the treads and create a contact point gall.  I use both the drill press and the torch to make the holes and don’t see much advantage with either one.

I like to screw the bolt in all the way and lock it in place on the opposite side of the hole with another temporary nut.  This assures the perpendicular orientation and can lock the bolt in the centered position protecting the threads.

The outside nut is secured with MIG beads.  I may just tack the nut and remove the bolt before adding more weld.  Finally, I apply anti-seize and insert the bolt again.

As, I said before, these are usually 7/16” bolts.  I’ve twisted off some smaller thread stock but not 7/16” that I recall.

Forging press die saddle with locking bolt.

Drill over-size hole.

Lock in position to weld with temporary nut.

Remove positioning nut, apply anti-seize and chase threads

Temporary Fixation

I’m making some hollow form branch legs for a table in collaboration with another artist.  The top is a large redwood slab 3” thick and cut into two pieces.  The two sections will be joined by three round bars which span a 2” gap.  In order to get an accurate fit I prefer to have the bars securely in place during the construction but I don’t want to burn any bridges in case the design needs modification later.

The original plan was that the other artist would finish the wood top, including epoxy fixation or the bars, and add a lower shelf.  The epoxy fixation would make any future modification very difficult if not impossible.  I felt like I could achieve the temporary fixation I needed but still reversible if I used Great Stuff foam.  It fills spaces well, has some adhesive property, good rigidity but could be broken up and removed and replaced by epoxy later.

To be more certain about the feasibility of my plan I designed a simple experiment.  I got four clear plastic bottles out of our recycling bin and cut them approximately in half.  I cut four pieces of 5/8” round which is size of the actual joining bars and L welded a 60d nail transversely across one end so I could hang and center the rods.

One rod was left naturally bare.  One rod was lightly coated with linoleic acid grease.  One rod was wrapped in one layer of paper taped to itself and not to the rod.  The last rod was sprayed with WD-40.  I placed all four in holes in the acorn table and sprayed in the Great Stuff space filling foam.

The next day I used a zip disc to cut into the outer plastic so the foam could cure more and later removed the plastic completely.  The rod wrapped paper and the greased rod were held rigidly but slipped out easily.  The other two rods were tightly bonded to the foam.  It was possible to remove them by wiggling them around to break up the foam a bit.

In actual practice any of these treatments probably would work but my plan is to lightly grease the rods and wrap them with one layer of paper taped to itself.  

Rods in plastic bottle sections hung in acorn table pockets and filled with foam.

After the rods were worked loose and the plastic removed.

Cable Clamp Safety

Some time back I added a couple of pulleys to my acorn table overhead frame to aid moving the electric hoist from one end of the track to the other.  After looking through my assortment of wire rope scrap I selected some small diameter pieces long enough to do the job.  No clamps were found so before I went to the hardware store I decided to check the internet and see if anything new was available.  It wasn’t surprised to find that the “U”-bolt-with-saddle still seemed to be the standard but I was surprised to find an illustration of how the the clamps should be fastened.  Apparently along the line I missed those instructions.

The terminal loop of the cable system is created by bending a loop and clamping the cable.   Apparently, if serious pulling force is to be applied two or three clamps are required.  Moreover, each must be oriented so that the “U” bolt side captures the short (dead) length of cable and the saddle captures the live (long) end and the minimum length of the turned back segment is specified.   Who would have thought?

I read on and learned more and more.  I seldom get myself into a predicament where I have to get out the chain or a come along and infrequent practice is probably the most dangerous state of preparation.  I didn’t know until a few years ago that the safety chains on the trailer tongue had to be crossed under the hitch.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/towing/equipment/protective-towing/towing-safety-cables1.htm

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-parts/towing/equipment/protective-towing/towing-safety-cables1.htm

I think this link offers about everything most of us will need to know about pulling on something safely. http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Recovery/

http://www.pirate4x4.com/tech/billavista/Recovery/

Unfortunately, empirical proof is the only way to find out the ultimate strength of a system.  It also concurrently defines the weakest link in the system.  But breaking the system usually isn’t of practical value and instead we try to design in some safety factor and maybe even a fail-safe path.  Like most engineering it’s part science and part intuition or luck.  A fellow once said to me as we were ready to execute his plan, “If that’s not strong enough, I’ll always think it should have been.”

The Creative Process

I am in the midst of three fairly complicated sculptural projects and it is involving figuring out a lot of new techniques and designs.  It’s is fun but also hard work.  It is making me think a lot about the creative process.  I came across a related reference I had saved, “Jerry Hoffmann: Hammering Out Design From Conception to Finished Product”, by Gabrielle Pullen and Published in the August 2001 Issue of Anvil Magazine.

The article describes his creative process of design and implementation from start to finish consists of seven sometimes overlapping phases:

1. conception of an idea

2. making a drawing

3. modeling

4. estimating measurements

5. creating a test piece,

6. forging the piece

7. putting it all together. 

http://www.anvilmag.com/smith/108f5.htm

I think that pretty well says it for me too.  

Another aspect of design which I like to constantly revisit is novelty.  How to keep exploring new directions.  I always liked studying Jerry’s “variations” pages in his Blacksmith’s Journal.  At every step of the design process decision making tree I make some choice.  Usually there is an obvious option based on past experience.  If I picked that every time I would stay on the same path and not grow.  There is an “exploring novelty game” or “pick a modifier” game which is sometimes helpful.  It goes like this.

Think, “the obvious way is ____________, is there a ______________ way.” In the first blank goes my standard method what ever that is in the particular case.  In the second blank goes any modifier I happen to think of, such as:

better

new

more elegant

easier

simpler

unusual

quicker

less expensive

mysterious

organic

modular

Art Nouveau, etc.

It’s sort of a hokey tool, but it has led me to some interesting places.

More Engine Valve Chasing Tools

I wrote a little bit about making chasing tools from engine valves on August 2011

http://persimmonforge.blogspot.com/2011/08/engine-valve-tools.html

After making four larger curved chisels I decided to make a miniature set too.  

I keep an assortment of partially prepared tool blanks of various tool steel origin and can quickly select a size and shape I need.  In this case I chose envying valve stems.  I’d already cut off the flare end with a Zip disc.  I’m not sure of the alloy but think it may be EV-8 stainless steel  http://www.motor.com/article.asp?article_ID=1792

http://www.enginetech.com/rebuilder-valves.php There may be a difference in alloy between intake and exhaust valves.

At a near lemon heat this steel is still difficult to forge.  It seems to be air hardening and usually does not need any other heat treatment.  I forged the tips in four different radius swage gutters to establish the outside radius and did the finishing with grinding tools.  The cutting edge has a low angle to keep the tip strong.  For the job I have in mind (carving a die face) a shallow depth cut will be fine.

It’s about an 80/20 or higher chance the edge will be hard enough without some heat treatment.  If, after a quick test the edge is blunting, I polish it again and torch heat the 1/4” adjacent to the tip and oil quench.  That process has a nearly 100% success rate.