What a busy past month it has been in the shop. Didn't really forget about the blog, but with all the projects and people coming through, it has been tough to keep this up. Hopefully I can get everyone caught up on the past few weeks on all the tools forged, classes and more here in the shop.
Eric and his first knife he made in the shop. Did a fantastic job and it was a great day of laughing and learning.
Rich and I working on the "Emergency Room" hammer. Keep those top tools dressed! 3.5lb rounder out of 1045.
The pepper plants are coming along. Hoping for a good harvest this summer!
First tray of seeds are also beginning to show signs of life.
Randy and the hand tools he made in the course of a morning.
The "ER" hammer is done and off to a life of creating awesome for a customer in Wisconsin. I love making tools, knowing that instead of sitting somewhere on a mantle or hanging on a wall, that these will get used to make more amazing things. Hammers are made to order and offered in a few sizes, more to come, but check the link below to get your own!
https://www.jgknives.com/collections/all/hammer
The flat die.
The round die.
With all the forging thats been happening, I almost forgot I was originally a knifemaker for a bit. Might have to get this going one of these days.
Hooray, shop friends! I love the setting the shop, as it allows me to see a pretty diverse amount of wildlife throughout the work day.
Stupid striking anvil. Always laying down on the job. In all seriousness, this has been an amazing tool, but the mounting feet we first used are a bit small.
I am by no means a welder, but here I go. Adding some 5x5" pads to the feet of the striking anvil. Hopefully this will keep it from moving from here on out.
The joys of the forge running and steel about to become something new!
Bottle openers are made! I sometimes forget how to make somethings, so I spent the day making some openers I learned a while back. I was shown the bulldog from Lyle Wynn during Tools to Make Tools, it took me a bit to figure it out again. The owl I saw in Lyle's shop but later learned it was a McGee design, somehow I managed to figure it out without watching the tutorial he has online when I first made them a year or so ago. .
Shop bottle openers here:
https://www.jgknives.com/collections/all/bottle-opener
William, heating steel as he attempts to figure punching a hole out.
And there he goes! Another good day of passing on some of the knowledge to someone else beginning their journey.
Special order hardy hot cut for a 1.25" hole. Made from a piece of 1.5" round stock. These are made to order in both the 1" and now larger 1.25" size.
https://www.jgknives.com/products/jg-blacksmith-hardy-hot-cut
The chickens are ramping up the eggs already. Now I just need an olive egger and I'll have all the colors.
Steve and his knife from our day long class. He did an amazing job.
Steve's knife. It's no easy task to make a first knife, especially in under 8 hours. A lot of things have to go right the first time.
I have been spending much more time on tooling. After reforging all of my own punches I decided to add more of them to the available list for other smiths. Below is the range of all the types I currently offer both individually or in two different sets.
12pc. set; Includes 10 hand tools and two blanks.
https://www.jgknives.com/products/jg-knives-blacksmith-punch-chisel-set-12pcs
6pc. set.
https://www.jgknives.com/products/jg-knives-blacksmith-6pcs-punch-chisel-set
Ryan and his first knife made in the 1-day knife making class I offer.
The peppers are coming along.
Forged the first lil' skulls in a LONG time. Perfect for a worry stone, but I've seen a number of people modding them into beads.
https://www.jgknives.com/products/lil-skull
Blacksmith problems. Those gloves for the left hand, get trashed at a much faster rate than the other.
Keep an eye out for more and as always, thanks for the support and following along.
-JG