Valley Ridge Wood & Iron

Valley Ridge Wood & Iron Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Valley Ridge Wood & Iron, Burnsville, MN.

This was a striking (see note below) demonstration project during a basic blacksmith techniques class I helped teach ove...
02/16/2020

This was a striking (see note below) demonstration project during a basic blacksmith techniques class I helped teach over the last three Saturdays. One of the other instructors asked where he could buy a cutoff hardy tool? I said you don't need to buy one, we'll make it next week, and show our students another technique. A minute later our host found a jack-hammer bit for stock.

This was the first cutoff hardy tool I directed all the way through. Each tool we used I forged, fabricated, or assembled myself. It's a pretty cool experience to use tools you made to make other tools.

Note: two people a director holding the hot work piece and top tool, and a striker with a sledge hammer. This allows more/heavier work to be done with greater speed and accuracy. This project took just over 30 minutes including explanation to our students.

Finished forging the pack hatchet with my son today. He did most of the striking. I realized this was the first hatchet ...
05/11/2019

Finished forging the pack hatchet with my son today. He did most of the striking. I realized this was the first hatchet I have made from stock instead of modifying a hammer.

The first picture shows the fullerring to spread out the blade. The next is just a little blade profiling and wire cup brush to remove scale. The last is roughly ground blade, quenched and initial temper. Its currently in the toaster oven for final temper.

My son asked me if I had made a handle yet, and I said no, but it's right over there in a piece of wood (see my post from last summer). More updates to come.

My daughters (8) first 3/8" square bar to round taper. She swung the hammer for all but 3 hits. She wants to be a "Turqu...
05/04/2019

My daughters (8) first 3/8" square bar to round taper. She swung the hammer for all but 3 hits. She wants to be a "Turquoise Smith" because she likes that color more than black

My son and I are starting the process of making a small pack hatchet together. This is the drift that started as a bull ...
04/28/2019

My son and I are starting the process of making a small pack hatchet together. This is the drift that started as a bull pin (iron worker alignment tool). The idea for using this as a starting point is from Mark Aspery's book that has a section on hammer making. It saves a lot of forging time to get a round tappered object and modify it from there.

We started to make a fuller, but the neighbors had a group of people come out to the back yard that turned into a spur of the moment wedding. I decided that we should pack it up and be good neighbors 🙄. More progress pictures later in the week.

This is project I was asked to make for my day job Christmas party. It was a Flannels and Flapjacks theme. If you know m...
12/12/2018

This is project I was asked to make for my day job Christmas party. It was a Flannels and Flapjacks theme. If you know my love for flannel you know I had a good time, and there was bacon! 😁

Making some racks for the cider press after some inspiration from . The wood for the racks has been in storage since 20...
10/06/2018

Making some racks for the cider press after some inspiration from . The wood for the racks has been in storage since 2006 left over from a dresser build. I love it when I get to use up stock saved for... 😁

We wanted a higher yield from our pulp so we decided some modifications were in order. I changed how the acme screw was mounted and added a collar to keep it from wandering.

Can't wait to try it out on the next batch of apples.

@ Burnsville, Minnesota

Had a great time at the Guild of Metalsmiths pre-conference blacksmith class for the last two days. was an amazing inst...
09/15/2018

Had a great time at the Guild of Metalsmiths pre-conference blacksmith class for the last two days. was an amazing instructor. If you ever get a chance to take a class with him I highly recommend it. @ Hastings, Minnesota

Small bowls made from thornless honey locust. The wood came from some trees that were taken down at work. It is fairly s...
07/08/2018

Small bowls made from thornless honey locust. The wood came from some trees that were taken down at work. It is fairly stringy wood like oak, but closer grain and more dense. I really like the contrast of the sap wood and heart wood, but it tends to crack closer to the pith. Any advice in the comments would be appreciated as i am pretty new to greenwood bowls. As you can see from the stump the bowls are sitting on, I have a good supply of stock if I can get the process right.

Heat advisory and storms today. Seemed like a good idea to stay inside and turn a couple apple wood bowls.
07/04/2018

Heat advisory and storms today. Seemed like a good idea to stay inside and turn a couple apple wood bowls.

Address

Burnsville, MN
55306, 55337

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Valley Ridge Wood & Iron posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share