The Filing Vise

There is a drawing of a filing vise in the Blacksmith’s Journal on page 822, Volume 06, Feb 1996.  It is a contribution from Francis Whitaker.  I took a picture of it when I was at his shop in 1999.  I had recently acquired one for my shop.  I have never used the tool for an aid in filing.  I use it mostly for clamping things when I’m doing torch work.

I never really thought about it being an unusual tool until I did a web search and couldn’t find an image of another like it.  There are many images of other types especially for holding saw blades.

The hinge pin broke recently so I replaced it with another I made from a 60d nail.

Whitaker shop filing vise.

My filing vise with new hinge pin.

Forging Hot Collars

I did a web search for the Francis Whitaker hot collar formula.  It is illustrated in his “Blacksmith’s Cookbook” and I’me heard many people recite it.  It wasn’t so easy to find on the web so I decided to do some SketchUp illustrations and post them the the 3D Warehouse.  When I tried this morning I got the message that “The service is not available.  Try again later.”  So, I plan to do that.

In the meantime I’ll post images of some illustrations I drew.  The show the Whitaker formula and the sequence of steps in the forming process.

Bill Fugate published the formula in the Pittsburgh Area Artist-Blacksmith Association newsletter in July 2010.

http://paaba.net/Projects/BFCollar.pdf 

Carl Davidson published a nice article in the Northeast Blacksmith’s Association Spring 2012 newsletter showing how to modify and Engineer’s wrench into a neat adjustable collar making tool.  I couldn’t find a link to it just now.

Next time I’ll illustrate another way to make collars which I learned on a visit to Flicker Forge.

The Francis Whitaker Collar Formula 

Starting the collar forming after calculating the collar length and beveling the ends.  Francis suggested finding the CL then moving over one half the width of the waterfall to be collared to start the first bend.  This should get the lap pretty well centered.

A mockup of the workpiece can serve as a mandrel to be used with the vise. 

The collar can be finished on the mandrel and opened to fit or the final two bends closed over on the workpiece.

Sometimes is most efficient to form a batch of collars on a mandrel and open them up so they can later be fitted and closed on the workpiece with torch heat.

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/

Wet Coal or Dry Coal?

It was a tedious weekend having to do house repairs and recycling, however, there is a sliver lining in those clouds. A break in the heat wave is what permitted me to get these chores done. It also allowed firing up the coal forge and doing some forging on a larger scale than the little torch projects I’ve been doing for most of the past month.

Today we worked three jobs. One required upsetting some 1” bar stock ends one required punching some pockets where lag screws will seat and the third involved bending some 3/4” round stock to 1” and 1.5” radius 180’s. All easy enough but much easier (and less expensive) with coal fire heat than torch heat and it was something of a relief to make this little progress.

As we were working with the dry coal fire it occurred to me that we hadn’t used a wet coal fire in quite a while. I probably only manage the fire about 20% of the time and mostly leave that task to my assistant. I recall that when I was first forging I used wet coal a lot. I learned about it at CRMS watching Francis Whitaker and his assistants. It does a better job of making a “cave fire” which is great for forge welding and it probably is more effeceint in keeping the fire in a more confined space thus conserving fuel.

Most of my work does not involve forge welding and the fuel is relatively cheap compared to labor time so that has encouraged a “work very hot and quick with multiple pieces” tactical approach. Today I tried to focus on what we were actually doing and characterize it better. It was essentially a method of keeping the fire as hot as possible all the time - frequently pushing coke into the hollow - and shifting the work pieces to keep their heat at the desired orange-yellow incandescent color. It requires constant attention to avoid burning up the work and it possibly uses more fuel than when running the fire temperature up and down but it is the practice to which I’ve become accostomed. In an hour and a half or two hours a large clinker will form but that is when I quit anyway so no time was wasted dealing with it.

Now that all these thoughts have come back to me I think it would be interesting to spend more time working with the wet coal again. Then I remember, “Never trouble trouble, until trouble troubles you.” This has evolved into our style fire management and it works for us. Alas, I’ve got a lot of other things to think about that seem more urgent.

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost

http://www.persimmonforge.com/

Not a Tool Collector

When I was doing woodworking I collected a few tools which had more of a historic interest than a modern usefulness. In the days when they could be found in a flea market or antique shop for a modest price searching for them was fun.

By the time I became interested in blacksmithing the price of tools was going up a lot and the supply was getting picked over too. Now it has probably been over ten years since I was in an antique store.

About that same time I explored eBay and bought a few items. Within a year I had acquired all the tools I couldn't build myself and lost interest in following the auctions. Everything I bough I intended to use with one exception. In 1999 I bought a handled set tool for beading-grooving which Francis Whitaker had touchmarked. It came with a letter from Bill Gichner who owned and operated Iron Age Antiques. As I recall the head was made in 1944, the number is stamped on the head, and was later modified by Francis for a specific project.

These thoughts about tool collecting occurred to me recently as I was using a pair of scroll pliers made by M. Smyth Boone and bear the M.BOONE touchmark. See - http://www.booneshooks.com/boone.html

Mike sold them to me when I was at a conference in Carbondale. They had a wonderful feel and he assured me the tool steel was tempered perfectly. They are gracefully made and a real pleasure to use. Today they are still one of my favorite tools.

As I pondered the significance of the touchmarks I decided the significance is in the eye of the beholder. The makers placed their mark to identify and proudly claim it as their work. From my perspective I wouldn't have purchased the beading tool if it did not have the touchmark as I had no real use for it. On the other hand, I would have purchased the pliers even if there were no touchmark because of their masterful construction and utility. Still, it is nice to notice the touchmark from time to time and recall the times I've watched Smyth demonstrate and our conversations.

http://www.persimmonforge.com/

What Women Want

Perhaps the most legendary American artist blacksmith associated with the resurgence of interest in the field of blacksmithing was Francis Whitaker. He apprenticed under the great Philadelphia artist metalworker, Samuel Yellen, and, in Germany, with Julius Schramm.

He returned to the United States and executed his talent first in Carmel, California, where his friends and clients included many well-known figures, then relocated and established his mountain forge in Aspen, Colorado. In the final chapter he moved to Carbondale, Colorado, and made a living/working agreement with The Colorado Rocky Mountain School. They built a teaching smithy and his living quarters and he worked and taught there until the end of his life.

I have felt many times that I have benefited from extraordinarily good luck. My meeting with Francis Whitaker qualifies as one example.

In the very early phase of shifting my “retirement business” plans from woodworking to metalworking I learned of ABANA and subscribed to “The Anvil’s Ring”. I felt excited to learn of living-breathing-teaching artist blacksmiths and an upcoming conference offered by the Rocky Mountain Smiths at Carbondale in August, 1996. I eagerly mailed my registration.

The event gave me a great deal of stimulation and satisfaction. I had no idea at the time of the importance of Francis Whitaker or that this conference would stand as his last teaching event.

A noon break offered an opportunity to buy some of his books. I picked out his Beautiful Iron and The Blacksmith's Cookbook . Then I had the opportunity to sit down with Francis and visit while he autographed the books. He asked a few questions about my background then proceeded to do his autographs. He then rather pointedly asked if I knew about Cyril Colnik. Luckily, I recently watched a television documentary about Colnik, a German immigrant blacksmith who became locally famous in the Milwaukee area in the early 1900’s.

Francis seemed very pleased that I recognized his name and asked what I knew about him. I told him what I knew and he seemed impressed and became very affable. He went on to ask, “Son, do you plan to make any money doing this?” I replied, “Sure, I hope so.” Then he said, “Well then, you’d better make what women want because men will come to your shop and admire all your tools but the woman will say, ‘I’d like to buy one of those.’” I took his advise seriously, as I think he meant it, and and it has worked well for me. The preponderance of my most satisfying work comes from the requests of women.

http://www.persimmonforge.com/