As a fellow youtuber I completely understand the camera struggle. LOVE ALL YOUR WORK!

Your comment about the toothpick reminded me of the preacher that put a cough drop in his mouth at the beginning of each sermon so when that was dissolved, he knew he preached long enough. That worked well until one time he did that and kept preaching on, and on, and on. He finally discovered he had put a button in his mouth by mistake.

HAHAHA thumbs down? THANKS! Nice one... Nice video, sir.

the dragon is coming along well!!! great job John!!!

Thanks for all your movies

I love it. He tossed the broken horns and said that will probably be nails to hold it on. Waste not, want not. Way to go.

Great pt.1 video. Thank you for not editing the breaking of the horns out. It truly shows that even an experienced blacksmith can have problems witth metal. This is one of the reason why I like watching your videos. It's a learning experience for both you and your audience. Take care.

Serious question. Who/what kind of person thumbs down any of John's videos? Thanks for all your content John!

I'm learning ornamental and practical blacksmithing and wanted to thank you for your videos. They are very easy to follow along to and look forward to seeing more.

Things don't always go the way we plan, but it is part of the fun of knowing how it needs to be done differently. At least for me I could learn from where it went wrong for you too. So I appreciate you leaving it in and your relaxed attitude. It will still come out looking great and being functional. Looks like that toothpick is the way to go.

I do use the toothpick quite often, a big hit with my young men that come by my shop to make their projects

Great job John !

To fix a small blow out like the hole take a small piece of wrought the same size width as your parent bar stock and approximately 1/3 the parent bar thickness Scarf both ends and weld on the side that has the crack.. Same with the horns you can scarf them and weld back on with a little additional material. Did a great job John! Remember to keep those heats high and put it back in the fire before Orange to bright red temperature.. This Dragon is going to be awesome!

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

The thought of welding in a patch at the hole after the head began to take shape seemed like a good way to trash the whole piece. High heat is definitely an issue, it cools of quickly in the vise. then there is time lost starting and stopping the camera. But i think in the long run it will be a success. I will probably do a second one from mild steel just to compare.

To me it’s still magic to see a chunk of yellow / White hot steel grow into a piece of art, keep up the good work. You know all of us here on youtube are the big winners good job. Be well and be safe.

Super maestro bravooooo bravooooo

I'm really enjoying this and I'm admiring how -- when things went a bit wrong a couple times -- you just adapted to the difficulty and made things go your way. Very smoothly done.

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

Thats one advantage of not having to meet specific design requirements.

Just excellent. Thanks so much for this video, John. Showing the pros and cons to working with wrought iron was extremely helpful, and your project is just phenomenal,

Thank you for sharing. You are a gifted teacher.

I liked the toothpick video and the many different angles you show us of the world of blacksmithing. Thank you!

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

you are welcome

this guy makes me chuckle

Great video John! Learning what to do when things don't quite go as planned is priceless!

Thank you for a great learning session. Even with a set back the way you handle it shows you are a master at what you do. Nice job.

I'm a beginner blacksmith and I really enjoy your videos so thank you. This is the type of project that I inspire to try soon.

Listening to you draw out the body on the horn was like Listening to a metronome. It was very relaxing. 😄

Terrible though it sounds...it gives me hope that it's not just me that these things happen to!!, I can't wait to see the finished dragon

A lot of blacksmiths like using wrought iron, not me. Terrible stuff to deal with compared to quality steel. They dont make wrought iron any more for a very good reason :)

Thanks for sharing your successes and failures John, it is nice to know that even a pro like yourself makes the occasional error, gives a beginner like myself some hope. Looking forward to amazing series. I plan on using the dragon head as a door handle for my dads workshop.

Great Project , I will have to keep my eyes and ears open on everything to attempt this One !

I love the intro. You have a wonderful sense of humor.

Great work...great video as always. Can't wait to see part II

Love to see the transitions in many ways. The material is really behaving itself under your eye. Great progress my friend.

que hermoso. maestro gracias por compartir

Excellent stuff! Looking forward to the next instalment!

great video. really interesting to see the dragon come to life. thanks for the video.

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

Glad you're enjoying it

Looking good. Can’t wait to see more. Thanks friend.

Loved the video and the toothpick!

Pretty cool project. Good on ya.

Fantastic job!!

Very nice work

Wow, so cool!!!

That is very awesome I'm definitely going to try to make one of them when I get all my stuff for blacksmithing great video thanks for sharing that and the tips and tricks

That's too bad about the cracking in the wrought-iron. I really like watching process. Coming along well

Seus trabalho cuteleiro show, facas tomahawk.

The broken horns could be iron toothpicks! lol. Not a toothpick I would want to use though. I'm looking forward to seeing how this goes.

A thought. Chamfer the edges of the eye sockets in and utilize Ruby colored glass. Would need to be done as the finishing process after all else is done. Very nice touch. Glass set @ about 1600-1675 F and 2 step annealing @ 1200 or so, followed by vermiculite cooling on both annealings. 🐲🐉

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

That would be interesting, but I doubt I will go that route with this project since the eyes are completed.

👍

I learned a lot about wrought iron today. I see you have a ship shirt on. Who are they? Thanks for my lunch time entertainment, an advantage of working from home.

@BlackBearForge

4 жыл бұрын

Its a shirt from a SCUBA trip to dive the RMS Rhone

You lost your tooth pick... :) Nice work John.

I don't want to sound rude but you are working the wrought quite cold. Quite a lot of the mass movement and quite savvier operations seemed to be worked down in to colder ranges which wrought hates! I'm sure you know this and Its just an observation. Cameras lie about heat all the time and you have way more experience than me when it comes to these things!! great video really enjoyed the angles i'm learning lots about filming from you John and i'm excited to see it finished?

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

Not rude. While I generally brought the piece to welding heat for any heavy forging, I am sure I let it get to cold a few times, particularly when punching the hole. I really work wrought iron very rarely, so it isn't something I have a lot of experience with.

A very clever design! Excellent video as always! If you explained it, I missed it. Why did you pick wrought iron for this piece in the first place? Seems like it was more trouble than it was worth.

Try the mint toothpicks. Or ,if you enjoy, the hot pepper ones. 🤒

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

I kind of like the greasy coal dust flavored ones. 😜

as often forge wrought (restoring) , i gasped for air when you split and round them. more heat! stop when its red! best regards from Germany

@cornhulio1740

6 жыл бұрын

bending small parts i always go for high heat. another good try is to reweld the end, fluxed by sand, before split or punch a hole. this stuff is delaminating the whole time it gets forged. in your case ther is also maybe a lot of phosphorus in what makes it even worse.

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

Having work mostly in mild steel for years, I can see where I need to develop new habits for wrought iron.

Loving seeing this again! Still, I love the toothpick idea personally! Thanks for sharing with people! Retrospectively, do you think doing a slit and drift would have been a good alternative for the dragon's hinge point, so as to work with the grain of the wrought iron? As opposed to punching, that is.

Don't you love your Bastas hammer! I have two, they're great! We are lucky to have William here in Central Texas.

@BlackBearForge

5 жыл бұрын

Yes I do

Love the videos. I'm think about getting into blacksmithing as a hobby and I'm looking to buy an anvil. I would love for you to do a video about some things to consider when buying an anvil. Thanks

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/nqh207SEe8WWf7Q.html

Seems to me that using wrought iron is just another way for making life harder.

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

In my case, that seems to be true. But people who use it regularly and understand its character seem to like it.

I think the tail should be parallel with the door instead of up and down

@weeesus420

5 ай бұрын

Just my picture of a dragon

Another good one John. Wow you really need to work that hot. I think your temp was a bit low when you where working the horns, and that’s maybe why one broke off same with the punch it’s hard to tell on video but the color wasn’t there like earlier but all in all it’s coming out awesome ok thx again and can’t wait for you to post another video. By the way I liked yesterday’s video so no worries. ....Paul ..

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

I definitely let it get a to cold punching the hole.

@xxxclampgodxxx5511

6 жыл бұрын

It’s ok you are allowed. Lol.

Do you have a video on the set punch use on the Dragon love your video too

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

I have made several discussing the various tools, but don't think made one just covering the making of that one tool.

what thickness is the starting stock?

Do you have any plans to etch the finished piece? I love the wood grain look etched wrought has.

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

I thought about it briefly, but I don't think I will bother with this piece. I have another finishing idea.

Yea, 485th!

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

You must have slept in

@gateway8833

6 жыл бұрын

Black Bear Forge Yes Sir I did. I can’t do that very often, it’s just like Whiskey and Cigars, I find I like them to much.

It appears you broke it. The horn that broke off has a bump on its side (stated for ID). When closing the horns together it looked as if you cracked it (you can see the red over yellow color crack). Then, while bending the horns over your hammer struck that same horn and broke off.

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

Yep, once cracked it was lost, just didn't see how bad it was when I filed the little crack out earlier.

Where did you get the metal ruler with the lip that you use?

@BlackBearForge

2 жыл бұрын

I make those kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZZOO08ODaZbKoMY.html

Would a set of guillotine dies with one punch pointing up and one punch pointing down have made the pivot hole easier?

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

Perhaps, although the problem was driving the tapered punch through at to low of a heat.

is it possible to use coper flux or paste?

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

I have no experience with either

I am interested in your "Animal Head Ramp" What size hardy shank are you using in your vice? Is it particular to the size of this project or adjustable? Is there no shank at all? Great vid, as always, Thank You William

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

There isn't a hardy shank. Instead it has a flat bat that runs down one side of the vise opening so that it clamps the angle block and work piece at the same time.

@williampratt4791

6 жыл бұрын

Oh kinda like the foot of an L.......Thank You

You doing this on the coal forge or the gas forge?

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

Coal. It allows for more controlled heats and it is easier to get to the higher welding heats that wrought iron requires. Also easier to burn off the little details if I'm not careful.

What was the size of the original stock?

@BlackBearForge

6 жыл бұрын

roughly 1 x 2 x 8 kzread.info/dash/bejne/nquf08ySl9e3o9Y.html

@SamAthanassov

6 жыл бұрын

Thank you!