I think I heard to become a full-fledged Blacksmith from an Apprentice, you need to craft ALL your blacksmith tools and they need to be working with proper dimensions or you were fucked.
Believe it or not this is just some decent work, you can get beyond fancy with cube twists, crocodile twists, wheat twists, wizard heads, spiral handles and such
My late Father was a 'Smith', and if he needed a tool, he would make one. His workshop had a tensioned wire, from one wall to the other. Hanging on that wire? Lots and lots of handmade 'one off' tools
The thought of that wired just randomly snapping for an unknown reason would have me in a constant state of anxiety thinking that I would have to pick up all of my tools and reorganize them. I'm also six and a half feet tall so that wire would have to be pretty high or on a wall.
My Dad and I do that too! Usually they only take a few minutes to make but save a ton of time. I should mention that these tools are usually made from whatever we have lying around and it's usually wood or some weird bit of plastic
So, I apprenticed under an old German machinist who grew up in the late ‘30’s. He had an extensive set of different calipers, even some homemade ones. He taught me that a person can feel a difference of .001” with training and experience. Nobody gets that anymore. The skills are going away.
People develop new skills for the time they live in. Humans simply dont need to know that anymore with all the smart measuring tools and computers. But i agree we should conservate these skills so we dont forget them and can use them if we need them once again.
@@dominikborno4133finally a person who isn’t all “back in the old days”. While those skills were and still are important, most people nowadays have no need for them because of new technology.
@@dominikborno4133 100% agree. these skills are beautiful and should be preserved, but are also obsolete and have little to no practical use anymore, which is why I hate it when old people shame younger people for not knowing how to use old technology and stuff like that
I had a teacher who was a carpenter for most of his life and he was able to tell distance within a 16th of any object, he could even tell if we had cut something wrong in the job site by just looking at it- he would just call us out and tell us to check it and he was always right lmao
You are a Fucking massive improvement to the smithing community brother, there are a lot of amurature smiths out there that need information like this.
What you made is called a caliper. I know the terms "divider" & "caliper" often get used interchangeably, but a divider is a layout tool (looking like a compass) and a caliper is a measuring tool. Not a big deal. I'm just a pedant and I can't help myself sometimes. Great work BTW.
@@erkawhaleful Yeah that's his point, dividers AND calipers are different, they aren't interchangeable. In the video saying they are 'dividers, or calipers-" makes it sound like they're the same thing
A version of this exists to this day in mass manufacturing settings. They're called "Go No-Go" Gages. One gage is set to the maximum allowable tolerance, the other to the minimum, and it allows even unskilled workers to quickly and efficiently check to see if parts are in spec.
The blacksmith is the genuine great-great grand father of all handymen. The blacksmith was the tool maker for all the other trades from farmers to barbers and surgeons.
He's not wrong. After 4ish years of working logistics, and about 3 years removed from that, I can still eye ball space dimensions. Meaning, I can pretty much see whether or not a box or item can fit in a specific space
Made a few of these myself at work Looks like classic GO or NO-GO calipers or simply gauges when you use them for rough-out production. This set appears to have variable OD's or an optional extra large ID, nice craftsmanship.
You are really good at smithing. Its always nice to watch someone blacksmithing who doesnt just make roughly the shapes on anvil, and then grind most of the tool out. Its like watching really skilled knife smiths very little grinding is needed to finish the blade when smith is skilled
I'm a woodworker and do some smithing..have become able to lock in any measurement even fractional within about 1/8 of an inch or so. Most of my builds don't require super precise measurements so I rarely use a tape or ruler etc
Oh, my mother has this built into her anatomy! She measures everything between her thumb and one of her fingers on the same hand and is always millimetre perfect!
I like your design. I have a small forge that is waiting on me to heal up some before I start my Blacksmithing journey. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time.
Ah, the good old "if you need a tool, build a tool" that any industry that's been around throughout our civilization uses. Saw a comment saying it as a blacksmiths motto, but as a Cabinet Maker I can say that we say the same. Sometimes we need help from the blacksmiths (since we can't exactly cut wood with wood), but it still holds true.
It’s so cool to see what calipers used to be like. I use extremely precise calipers and micrometers everyday at work and school. It’s crazy how much more accurate things have gotten. We still use reference calipers and micrometers, just not as often. Thank you for sharing this, you are a great craftsman
Pythagoras actually invented music to the rhythm of a blacksmith he heard forging in Egypt and without him turning music into numbers we wouldn’t have Mozart. So thanks to the art of blacksmithing we have music. As a producer myself I wanna get into forging since it looks so rhythmic such an art 👌
The best measurement is the transfer of distance. Tape measures get you close. Jigs, fixtures, story sticks, calipers, etc., bring reality to the piece being worked.
I can't believe I never realized how good calipers can be for measurements. My brain goes "what does this matter if I can just get the length", but the calipers are technically more accurate. It's also just a tool to do what we naturally do for sizing, where we put our arms out to measure something and try to not move them as we move to the destination.
amazing! so much knowledge and talent. where in North nj?NJ?. little do people know how much we will need blacksmiths in our near future. Hating numbers is not stupid. It means you figured out ways around them, which requires intelligence
Seems to me like another reason why numbered measuring tools might be inferior to something like this is how much the metal expands when heated and contracts when cooled. It makes sense to me that a tool that measures by proportions and/ or in reference to the piece itself could be more accurate for this type of work. Most of what I've seen in blacksmithing videos is that the parts of what you make usually only have to be accurate to other parts of the same larger work, and that any part of it that needs to fit tightly together with something else can be dialed in after the fact with filing/ machining. Like, the cross guard for a knife or sword needs to have a super tight fit. You can get the general form done working it hot, and the only part that needs to have a tight fit and finish is the hole where the slides through. And that hole fitness, AFAIK, is always done with filing after everything is cold. I _think_ I've seen some smiths punch a hole through when it's still hot, but it's always just a starter hole that's intentionally too small so it can be taken out slowly with a file, and it's not meant to be the final hole size or shape. No experience with blacksmithing, just watched a lot of videos. Are my assumptions correct or am I a crazy person making Stupids?
Fun fact! For most of mathematical history, Geometry used no numbers at all! Instead, Geometers relied on calipers, compasses, and rods of identical length to seek out the holy Grail of "Squaring the Circle," where they sought to understand how many more points were required to make a circle instead of a square.
Those are calipers. Outside ones, to be precise. (If someone wants one of these, just google it by that name. They exist in all sorts of sizes and materials.)
I can't do metal work right now because im to young plus no materials, this will be usefull for my school or self projects where i cut cardboard things like houses, weapons, armor, boats, and more.
“If you’re stupid like me and hate numbers” Nah boo, this is actually really smart. It’s what’s called “establishing a bijection” between two quantities, and it’s how we check if things like infinite sets have the same size. (Btw, there’s different sizes of infinite, it’s pretty cool)
Woah, I love when more math-savy people like you can understand and assign mathematical concepts to what I’m doing as a metalsmith. Makes me wish I had more teachers like you in school.
You have got some Mad Skills!! Iam a Diesel Mechanic for 30 years and love making things with metal! Black Smith's, are dying Breed, Keep it alive!! Because kids today dont want to do anything if there's no touch screen involved!!
I trust the old way over the modern way cause you know you're getting something good when it's made with traditional means like when people strike the red hot metal and switch off to hit the anvil for a bad strike cause it felt a bit off
I really like the tool you made. even though im not a blacksmith i think you could improve your self made tool adding something to meassure "inner distances" like a bernier do. it uses 2 pieces curved in the opposite direction.
Yes very cool, your vids should blow up, you have a magnificent talent that allows you to make things with your hands. In the world we live in today with everything prefab, be proud of yourself
I do these things too but with different materials, as I'm not a blacksmith I crochet, knit, sew, sculpt, paint and draw I do not use any official measurements for all of these, except sewing I count rows, stitches, and for those which don't have rows or stitches I just adjust until the vibe is correct
I’ve been doing metal and wood work based on this idea for a long time. You end up getting wicked good at gauging distances by hand. Sometimes down to the 16th. I always say that it’s god guiding my hand.
Oh those are sick. That's amazing, and I want to do this. I've always had an interest in blacksmithing, but alas it will have to wait until I retire, but man I will do it all the time.
Very cool Sir your a Master for sure! As a Master Carpenter & GC who makes MUCH MORE with different materials, my eyes & hands I concur it's amazing what you can see & feel! I won a bet of $100 back in 2005 as the GC was watching my apprentice & I install the final pieces of crown molding & said "Your crowns off" This is at 25'-30' up! I explained "No it's the top piece of marble on the fireplace that's 5/16" off plumb & I can either adjust my miter OR you can have the marble guys fix it." He called BS (partly because I was only 20 & running the crew) & asked "Why not 1/4" or 3/8" & you sure it's not your cut?!" I said "NOPE it's 5/16" off." My apprentice didn't measure it yet so he bet me it was MORE or LESS & NOT THE MARBLE, 😂 my apprentice just smiled at me while the GC climbed up the scaffolding with his own tape & about shit! He goes "Ok Eagle Eye you're right! HTF can you see that?!" As he let a $100 bill float down. He hasn't questioned my work again. In fact he called my boss & asked I do all the punch out & anything else I could do instead of having the other trades come back out. I've done 5 homes trim & more for him & we're still friends. DON'T SECOND GUESS A PROFESSIONAL... And yes of course 99% of the time, if doing finish carpentry it's us that have to make all the others work look good at the end.
Need the inside diameter of a hole? Make a pair of tines that face outward and can scissor across one another and have the tips facing down into the hole. :-)
