Very nice workmanship! That is a very complicated form for forge welding with coal and wrought iron that most people will never truly appreciate the technical skills involved.
That's a fine bit of work, young fella, and an awesome fork--I've not seen anything so hefty before. Digging an acre or two would be truly 'character building', as the foreman used to say. Cheers and thank you from the Great Southern Land of Terror Australis, from Cootamundra Charlie.
That was really impressive on so many fronts. Great camera work and commentary, Bloody awesome welding skills and the finished tool is so cool. Love the power hammer, not seen one like that before. The tapping of the tines in the fire was something I've not seen but makes sense, well done and much respect to your skills!
By the colour it's glowing - for wrought iron you usually want it fairly close to welding heat (at leat with the low quality stuff that I've been able to get my hands on) so that means a light yellow colour when it comes out of the forge. Pop it back in when it gets down to orange colour (it always looks different on camera)
I love the solid workmanship of it. Tell, how do you keep your arm bones intact for the long haul? It looks like a trade with wear and tear. And +1 about the hammer!
There's nothing much you can do unfortunately, we can use powerhammers and hydraulic presses to help, but hammer work is hammer work and wear and tear will eventually get us all 😄
He’s got good hammer technique and it looks like he has his working surfaces set to the correct height. Good technique goes a long way to help prevent eventual wear and tear on the body. Power tools help as well.
@@oconnorblacksmith Taking small breaks and, if you can, switching jobs to give muscles a chance to rest are some small things that you can do :) You don't have someone pushing you to get the work done fast, so take the extra time for those pauses, and it will help (although it won't prevent the wear and tear entirely!) I'm not a blacksmith, but i've been learning about body mechanics and stuff as an electrician apprentice. Also, James, I hope you wear proper ear protection! I'm sure that any old blacksmith would cuff you for not using hearing protection when you have access to it!
Really Top Notch Video James. Well done. The video Creation, Editing, Audio etc ... is nearly as impressive as the Traditional Blacksmithing Skills on display! (and nobody gets to see the effort it takes on the video creations side) - Keep em coming. ; )
