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2003
Board of Directors
Les Cook
11222 Sagewillow
Houston, TX 77089-4536
281-481-2457
Richard Boswell
281-356-5205
Dave Koenig
281-855-2869
Frank Walters
281-491-7328
James Porter
1925 Anchor Way Dickinson TX 77539
281-337-5384
Larry Hoff
281-890-8822
Tool Making Work Shop
with John Crouchet
The work shop will be 2 days.
The Tools:
- 2 chisels 1 for hot work and 1 for cold
- 2 "V" blocks 1 large and 1 small
- 1/2" fuller (upper and lower)
- Butcher (upper and lower)
- a removable tool holder (handle)
- For the flypress folks a bottom plate with a 1" hardie hole on the diamond 4 X 18 X 5/8 - mild steel
Example tools:
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| Cost: MEMBERS Treadle hammer $80.00 Treadle hammer/Flypress $120.00 |
Cost: NON-MEMBERS** Treadle hammer $90.00 Treadle hammer/Flypress$130.00 |
Treadle/Fly includes 5/8” hardy plate and stock needed to make the bender/straightner tool for the Flypress.
Everyone receives:
- 24” of ¾” S-7 round stock (tool steel)
- 24” of ¾” H-13 round stock(tool steel)
- 24” of ½” x 2” S-7 flat stock(tool steel)
You make 2 chisels and a butcher set with the tool steel & keep what is left over. The mild steel is part of the cost.
Cost includes BBQ and beverages
CONFIRMATION NEEDED BY APRIL 30.
Contact:
| Les Cook 11222 Sagewillow Houston, TX 77089-4536 281-481-2457 ANVIL@FLASH.NET |
James Porter 1925 Anchor Way Dickinson, TX 77539 281-337-5384 HOTARTMETAL@CS.COM |
Please send your check to James Porter no later than May 10.
Make checks payable to HABA (Houston Area Blacksmith Assoc.). Please make a note for May Tool Workshop.
When & Where :
Saturday & Sunday, May 24-25, 2003 :
Robert Killbuck's Shop in Magnolia : 10727 Crestwater Circle ; 281-252-6061
The schedule looks like this:
- Saturday 8:00 : Sign in and setup
- Sunday 9:00 : Continue and Complete
What to Bring
Chairs
Bring safety glasses with side shields. This is a requirement!
If you can bring a TIG and MIG welder please contact Les. Other tools may be needed also. Please bring small tools, small grinders, extension chords, work tables, vises, welding clamps.
If you do not have a forge and tools, please come anyway. There will be plenty of room at some forge during the workshop and someone to lend you a hand if you need it.
You do not have to be a member to attend our meetings! Bring a Guest!
ABOUT THE EVENT
A collection of articles form recent HABA Letters is available for download by clicking HABA FLYPRESS TOOLING WORKSHOP : May 2003 which is an Adobe 5.0 pdf file.
Some relevent on-line links for your viewing....
| Old World Anvils Flypress | Maneklal Exports | Fly Press Mounts |
| Reil's Fly Press Page | Jeff Fetty's Fly Press | Fly Press and Die Cutting |
| Treadle Hammer Dies | Clay Spenser's Vertical Motion Treadle Hammer | |
Directions to Work Shop
Robert Killbuck's Shop in Magnolia : 10727 Crestwater Circle ; 281-252-6061
In March 2002 HABA conducted a treadle hammer building workshop and successfully completed 30, Clay Spencer styled #80 hammers. A little over one year later HABA followed up on the that successful event with a 2-day workshop on tool making for treadle hammer (TH) and flypress (FP) at the shop of Robert Killbuck, outside Magnolia, Texas.
John Crouchet (Crew-Shay) was gracious enough to venture away from his comfortable ranch near Marble Falls, Texas to join and lead HABA members as they forged, welded and ground some 200 plus tools.
Crouchet began the workshop with general comments about the use, misuse and general misconceptions surrounding THs and FPs. He has a 30-year background in metals, specifically precious metals, having worked as a diamond expert and jewelry manufacturer in Austin. As FPs are commonly used in the making of jewelry, Crouchet has long been familiar with the finer points of using a FP.
In the late 70s Crouchet first saw blacksmithing done at the Texas Renaissance Festival while Joe Pohaska of Salado was set up forging hinges there. “I thought all hinges came from the hardware store,” he chuckled. He said he became intrigued but didn’t actually pick up a hammer until about six years ago when he enrolled in blacksmithing classes at Austin Community College, where he met his boss Larry Crawford. The teacher-student relationship developed and the 53-year-old Crouchet now puts in 3 to 4 days a week in Crawford’s Hammerfest Forge in Marble Falls.
Crawford, keep in mind, has several decades of forging experience and is a self-proclaimed traditionalist Crouchet noted. He would prefer to forge everything on the anvil if he had his choice and efficiency was not an object. But for a shop facing deadlines and labor constraints, efficiency is critical. And Crawford and Crouchet know using the right tool is a must to remain competitive.
But using a TH is not always the tool of choice Crouchet quickly added. For producing components such as leaves and tenons the FP is unrivaled in its ability to make a smith more efficient, he said. “I talk to people about FPs and they tell me FPs are expensive. But fact is, they are cheap. For what it does, its probably the cheapest thing in your shop.”
Crouchet is accustomed to long hours over a jeweler’s bench, and he has transferred that same work ethic into blacksmithing. Years of experience making a living grading and setting fine diamonds has made him keenly aware of productivity, as well as creativity. And he drives home his message about FPs.
Staring over bifocal classes, the salt and pepper-haired Crouchet made his point. “If you are doing professional work, the FP will pay for itself the first week,” he said. “The issue of FP over TH comes up all the time,” he added. Some smiths mistakenly believe that a treadle hammer is all they need to become efficient in their shop. He explained that a TH is not a substitute for a FP, and a FP is not a substitute for a TH. “They are not interchangeable and they do not replace each other,” he emphasized. Each of these tools is uniquely suited to execute certain forging functions with superiority over other options. Crouchet pointed out that a noticeable difference is that the FP has no percussion and that there are no double strikes. A FP will also drive a stamp deeper than a TH, he added.
Control of a treadle hammer is also an issue confronting every user. Crouchet gave the example of forging a seedpod on a TH versus forging it on a FP. “On a TH you will cut through a seedpod sooner or later,” forcing the smith to scrap that item and loose valuable time. “We never run a vein on a treadle,” he quipped. Another benefit to FP use is the skill requirement. The skill necessary to successfully complete work is less on a FP when compared to a TH. “A chimpanzee can do it on a flypress,” he grinned.
“Larry likes to do (veining and stamping) on a TH, so if he could find an excuse, he would,” Crouchet said with a laugh.” But again, using the right tool sometimes leads one to give up a favorite way in favor of the way that will put dollars in your pocket quicker. “If you are a little guy ( in a one or two-man shop) and you are not efficient, you are out of business. That is just how it is,” Crouchet stated.
Crouchet summed up his discussion of tools in one statement. “If you are trying to make a living at forging, the FP is the way to go.”
While Hammerfest Forge does primarily architectural items such as balconies, rails and courtyard gates, Crouchet manages to stick to smaller jobs in his own forge, with his trusty assistant Ruth.
To continue the FP over TH debate, or to get his full name so you can include him in your will, please contact John via email at jac@sycamorecreekranch.net or for those who can’t type while yelling, at 830-798-3710.
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