The Papa Challenge is a friendly challenge to fathers to spend time with their children.
Yesterday I posted the progress of a tool design . Then I went out to the forge with my 15 and 13 year old sons. We made the tools. It was a great time to work together and impart some of what I know about forge work. I cleaned them up and painted them yellow, so they would be harder to lose in the woods. I’m wondering now if the tool should be welded where it loops back toward itself, but testing will tell. Welding might interfere with the pressure concept expressed at the link. The larger one is tapered to a point, but only on two sides. It will be used along the grain of the wood, not against it. The smaller one was a tent stake I made years ago, but haven’t used. The workmanship is a bit rough, but so are our skills. While cleaning the forge, I noticed a lot of clinker/ash underneath, and remembered that I have a tail leading down to a shed; which is getting slick. So I took a box of the clinker and spread it on the trail. Works great. While stacking lumber earlier this week, I found this leaf skeleton, and thought it was beautiful.