Remaking This Tool From the 1920's - Part 1 

That's really fucking cool mate. Also not something everybody can say

That's really cool. European immigrant families Americanizing their last names is pretty common, and makes trying to do family history research frustrating.

The supreme Bike stealing device

I don’t think Damascus would be cool…. Everyone has seen the stereotypical meh that is Damascus… how about San mai if you want to get fancy? Great idea tho…

Id like just a simple Damascus (low count) on the jaws of these.

Using lock shackles as one of the two Damascus ingredients!

Yes

For most of the parts Alec makes, forging isn't the fastest or easiest way to do it. The amount of times i scream inside my head is very high because he never uses the lathe or mill when its convenient but that is because he is a blacksmith and not a machinist.... when you are working a lathe all day you feel like every problem has a rotational symmetrical solution. :D But seeing him come up with weird solutions to forge things is really cool.

Yes, I was also thinking why not use a solid blank and mill the slots, etc. it would, I think, make a stronger part at least

One advantage to not using a lathe is that youre not losing that much material. Lathes are more of a deletion process while forging and hammering is basically a modification process. (If you want to get really cool, but really expensive, you could do metal 3D printing... Which is probably the first properly "additive" process). Also, forging and bending this way may be slow initially, but it has the potential to be the fastest in the long run. The jigs he's making to pound out the sheet metal is really similar to the process needed to mass produce the item. If he wanted to get even quicker and less wasteful than the lathe, he'd get a couple of hydraulic presses, and set up a small factory line. Then heat and press the part into each jig quickly and with at least some automation using the presses instead of a hammer. And the jigs are reusable a certain number of times, so you could conceivably bang out a ton of tools in short order on the same jigs. I like watching his channel, because although I'm more interested in machining usually, his methods are much more scalable. I think all 3 processes have their place if you really want the full ability to prototype anything. I dont really see him "mass producing" a bog standard vice grip in his shop. But he is learning how to make one by this method. After that, he could make jigs for more custom ones that you just cant buy really. If I were him, I'd probably make a long handled vice grip, with easily replaceable teeth (so they could be changed out after wear and tear, or different kinds could be thrown on for different jobs). Using jigs, he could make enough of those to last his shop a lifetime, plus sell some to the small niche of people who'd like those.

I saw one that reminded me of giant forceps used by doctors. The handles were springy and flexible and latch together at the end.

@@Bob_Adkins It's pretty common to have slightly springy tong handles (it's even desirable, since they help deaden the impact from the hammer, reducing work strain on the tong hand), and a lot of smiths will make little rings that go around the handle ends to 'lock' them.

Pretty sure he made an adjustable wrench a while back

@@TheOrdinaryCarper Really? Thanks, I must have missed that one!