This afternoon actually. Had been fighting a computer all day trying to get XP reinstalled without having to wipe and reformat and by about 4:30 pm decided I had had more than enough.

Since the rain had stopped quite a while earlier decided to walk to the barn and try to do a bit on making a fuller. Found the cut off piece of the railroad rail I planned to use, started a fire in the forge, and started heating it. Upset and squared the bottom end on the first and second heats to fit the hardy hole then went to work on the top edge. The piece was about 7/8s of an inch thick and I wanted a 3/8 to 1/2 max outside rim, so started beating it down to size.

Really needed to have the leg vice on a stand but got most of the reshaping done on the anvil (shaped object). Bill came up from a walk and cranked the blower for me while I heated and beat the piece. Guess it took about 35 to 40 minutes to get it to where I could no longer see well enough to call it a night.

Took it into the barn and used the grinder and then the belt sander and cleaned it up and sanded it down. Not bad looking and I think it will do the job as well as being a shaped piece that I can use to form on.

Planning on using it to make a pair of tongs tomorrow. Will see how well it works and try to get some pix of it and the tongs. Did heat the ends of the steel bar I am gonna use and cut the threaded ends off using my hot cut for the first time. Neat stuff, cutting red hot iron. Almost as much fun as reforming it into something else… 😉