Weld practice and projects.

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I was cleaning up at the shop today and took a few picts of some of the stuff I did awhile back.I had been practicing trying to do some forge welds with mixed results. I'd like to do some door knocker projects or maybe some tie down rings for my friends barn. I need a better anvil with a narrower horn than the one I'm using right now.1st attempt. Looked OK at 1st , but I didn't get it fused all the way on the back side.2nd attempt. Better. Still having issues getting the back side to blend. Part of the issue is I don't think I'm getting good contact with the horn all the way around like I want because of the shape of my anvil. It did fuse all the way though even if there is a line on the back.Was also working on trying to build some bolt tongs. Results are fair at best. I did finally figure out why I was having so much trouble duplicating what my instructor did in class. He's left handed! When I'd go to rotate the tongs, I'd naturally roll my left hand in. This meant that I was doing everything backwards to the demo piece he made. So usually at some point I'd screw up and roll the piece the wrong way and F it all up. Once I realized this I had an "Ah ha" moment and it all finally made sense why I couldn't get this down. Still need to work a lot more on this, but now it all makes sense vs just trying to go thru motions I didn't understand well..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:On to horse shoes. I found a youtube vid of someone doing hearts from horse shoes. I had a few I picked up from the farrier, so I played a bit. 1st didn't come out as well as I'd like. 2nd was better. Again I'm fighting the blunt horn on the anvil a bit with these..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:A few heart hooks.As you can see I tried to wrap and forge weld this one with disappointing results. It's part of the reason I went back to the basics and worked on rings I showed in the 1st post..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Looks good. A couple summers ago I spent a week smithing at scout camp. I'm no blacksmith by any stretch but they were desperate.  On the last day and old timer stopped by to drop off some new gloves and other greatly needed supplies. While we were working and talking around the hearth be asked for my tongs, a great pair I'd grown fond of, he flipped them over and there was this touchmark from 30 or 40 years earlier when he ran the smith at the camp. The darn things looked dropped forged. I spent the new few hours being schooled on some techniques I'd never seen. Pretty cool.
Reply:Looks like you are coming right along DSW.Keep up the good work!ECAVE Still learnin'Lincoln AC225Lincoln 135SPHF ChopsawVictor O/ANumerous other items