I broke one of my garden hoes a couple of years ago and I found one these at a local thrift store for 3 bucks. We use it almost exclusively. Last night I got curious and went to my shed. Lo an behold it is hand forged and looks just like this one except it is bent a little past 90deg. My wife loves it. My big box hoe now just sits in the shed. I can't believe I did not even notice this sooner, I was just looking for a cheap hoe and 3 bucks fit that bill. Thanks for these great videos. It's like walking over to a buddies place. You are pretty cool.
Since the museum were i forge is closed due to the virus i've been watching alot of TH-cam smiths, thank you John for keeping me entertained, i also appreciate that you used woodworking tools and not a grinder to shape the handle, well done.
It feels like it took me 10 hours to watch this. I had to go to a Call Out. A large tree had fallen on an 8 yr old boy. The boy's going to be okay. A few broken bones and a concussion. I'm a Volunteer Firefighter in the Cfa Fire And Rescue in Victoria, Australia. #weworkasone #firerescue
@@BlackBearForge it felt like 10 hours. Sometimes on some jobs it feels longer than what it actually was, but with you being a former Firey, I guess you already know that.
I made a couple of videos lately to show a face to people I am chatting with on line. It is a ton of work to make a video. I am not even trying to teach, so I imagine that would be even more work. You are appreciated...
Completely agreed... it is so blinking difficult to make a good video. Even just being a teacher, not having an audience there is rough. It probably takes more effort to film than to do the project sometimes
I absolutely enjoy watching you work. Every video is a lesson. I aspire to have a workshop as extensive and a lifestyle as eclectic as you. Woodworking, metalworking, a garden. What don't you do?
We have invasive barberry, ailanthus (tree of heaven), Russian olive, and multiflora rose here, and I have been trying to design a tool robust enough to grub out the roots in the rocky soil. Your tool here is probably close to what we need. Thank you
Black Bear Forge you are correct, but your essential design here is probably how we are going to do it. I also liked how you put that little steel slug down into the narrow neck of the socket. I have not seen that before, and we will certainly emulate it. Thank you
John ,Sir I have Improve my garden hoe for years, But now that you have taught me something of Blacksmith work, My hoe is only 1.5" at tip ,Tapers back about 4.5" and the length of most garden hoes , and now after your teaching of Blacksmith work I make it out of spring steel about 1/8" thick .I sharpen both sides and the nose end much as a wood chisel and resharpen a few times a season. Adding a bent Half inch rod about eight inches to connect to the handle . When mount I give it a few degrees extra tilt so to hook the soil more Tilting to the sharp sides cuts weeds and dirt , the narrow " nose" and angle digs into my clay dirt of Ohio easily. Again Sir I thank you so much for the lessons.
Nice tool. I've visited several sawmills in the northwest. Those blades are 40 to 50 feet long and some have teeth on both sides so that can cut in two directions. You have given part of an old worn out blade new life. It looks like your wood workshop is a well equipped as your blacksmith shop. Thank you for sharing and please stay healthy.
Just as I'm thinking how well that thin material seems to be holding heat you say "This thin material cools off really fast". LOL! I guess you just work faster than I do. Thanks for another great video John.
Great design! I have to admit I wasn't sure how well you were going to do with that forge weld but, as always, I am impressed!!! Thanks for the video and congrats on your bonus carrot ;-)
That turned out very nicely especially since you'd never made 1 b4 and only had a picture in your mind to go from. Bravo Miestro bravo indeed. " Oh look a carrot " LMBO that was gold on top of a very good video. 🙏 Blessed be Mr John Crawford out ⚒️🧙♂️
On the day I'm unloading a yard of bulk garden soil into a raised bed you show making a garden tool. How appropriate. Older guys need raised bed gardens to keep from bending old backs so much!
Really cool project! I rather unexpectedly have made a career out of sharpening those big saw blades for a local sawmill. The steel is actually 15N20 while the big circular saw blades used to be L6. The L6 is a little less flexible and doesn't hold up as well for bandsaws. Also, beware of those sliver teeth on the back side of that blade. They will cut you faster than the sharpened teeth because you won't expect them to. Most of my work clothes are eventually ripped to shreds because of those things.
Let me correct myself here. My memory was out to lunch when I commented. To say that L6 was NOT used for bandsaws would be inaccurate. As I understand it, Sandvic made L6 and they did produce it for bandsaws. A sales rep tried to pass some of it off to me as 15N20 once. Those blades didn't last. Anyway, Udderholm bought Sandvic out and dumped the bandsaw steel on the market for cheep. There are other steels used for bandsaws, but 15N20 is tops in my opinion.
Great way to start my day. Thanks! I'm thinking this shape looks a lot like the full sized ones my brother in Kentucky praises highly, so I think I will try making a big one just for drill.
I'll bet your tool will hold up better than the cheapy ones we find at the DIY centers. They usually break at the bend long before we get the full use out of them.
Hello John That tool is very nice and sometimes it looks like a littlebit of Magic to see you working Out of some crap a new usefull Tool Began to grow under your Hands Thanks for sharing this with us. Stay healthy and save Yours Frank
This gives me an Idea on how to fix some tools. Most modern tools do not even have sockets anymore they are just pressed into a hole in the end of the handle, with a ferrule that looks like a socket. I am wondering if I can forge a socket and weld it onto the tool that pulled out then put a rivet through like you did. I probably have about 20 garden tool parts in the scrap behind the shop I may have to try it.
@@BlackBearForge Epoxy usually gets a few more uses out of them, but these are tools at a Boy Scout camp. Sometimes enthusiastic but unskilled users are more than epoxy can handle. I am hoping for a more permanent solution.
John, your videos keep giving me ideas! ;) I didn't realize that bandsaw blades were made that size -- that's impressive. I wonder if the "local" sawmill uses something like that on their pine logs....
Oh yes there is and I hope you all find this humorous. I had to think about how tell it succinctly, being dyslexic means I go on tiki tours. In the 1980s I was serving as a Regular Force soldier in the NZ Army. I came home on leave one time and mum had decided she wanted to change the layout and plants in her flower garden. I was used to vegetable gardens as mum and dad had a large property and we had a lot of fresh veggies each year. Anyway mum, dad and my 3 brothers had gone ot to get more plants for her garden. I decided that I would surprse her by doing some weeding I looked at the garden and saw a lot of weeds. With great gusto and enthusiasm I set to work ridding mum's garden of those pesky weeds. Some were a little different but I did not take much notice. I soon had weeded the area and emptied the wheelbarrow when mum,dad and the boys returned. As you may have already guessed some of the weeds, those ones that looked different were weeds but somewhere NZ$50 and NZ$100 worth of new plants. Mum did not raise her voice but patiently explained to me my mistake and banned from gardening. She suggested I could do wheelbarrow duty which I declined and went inside to make lunch which I can very well. I made pikelets and scones with the help of dad who like me was gardener. He whipped the cream tasted couple of scones and pikelets to make sure they were up to standard. He could cook and both him and mum had taught us t ocook sow iron clothes as well washing them. We also made a pot of tea and ghad hot water for coffee. I did redeem myself with lunch and later took mum to replace the plants I had destroyed. It's a true story and funny liek of these stories are.
This was brilliant start to end! I'm very interested in making my own hoes and I have most of the tools but I still struggle with sockets. Very jealous of your clean and tidy woodwork shop as well. My wood and metal tools are all mixed up and covered in grinding dust.
Nice work perhaps make a 3 finger claw for the other end ? My mom has an Alum one about 18 inches long that is shovel on one end and 3 finger claw on the other she loves it one tool to carry around and keep track of.
That's a nice looking tool. I wonder if the less-than-90° bend would be just right if you were working on soil that was at ground level rather than your raised greenhouse beds.
That turned out really good John may be i might have a go at making some garden tools .they wood be better than cheap brout ones . wish me some luck .cheers.
My dad had a long-handled hoe similar to this one. He used it to create small irrigation furrows in the garden and for weeding the banks of those furrows. Don't know what ever happened to it after he died.
Then they can only be used one way. I often use only one or place them in a different orientation that fits the material better or need to approach the work upside down. Adding a handle would greatly complicate their use
Great project for the garden. I was thinking when you bent it that it needed to be 90 degrees. How many tools have you made with that piece of band saw. That thing is awesome
I sure do appreciate your videos, I've had a lot of entertainment and gained a lot of knowledge from them. I really liked seeing your shave horse! Is it your design?
Its one I purchased, There was a link to a video all about the shave horse in the top corner of this video. It should show up at the time when I start using the shave horse
Good morning from Germany! I start to forge again. My question is, what a kind of gas-forge do you have? Did you build it yourself ? If yes, do you have some tips for me? Would be nice to hear somethig from your side. Best regards Bastian,
There was a link to a video all about the shave horse in the top corner of this video. It should show up at the time when I start using the shave horse
"For this tool I thought I'd start with a piece of bandsaw blade". Me: Is this going to be a Bonsai hoe? Then he proceeds to pull out a slice of steel sufficient to make every bandsaw blade I've ever used in the past decade. As an example! Doesn't even use that chunk to make the garden tool!
![เปิดคำทำนาย นอสตราดามุส - บาบา วานก้า ปี 2025 คนทั่วโลกต้องเจออะไรบ้าง? | แฉ 11 ธ.ค. 67 [2/3] |GMM25](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/xmTIKWJUMPM/mqdefault.jpg)
This is how old metal arrow heads were forged at one time. A craft no longer used today. Man how time has changed and evolved
Excellent! I'm going to make one of these for my 100 year old mother-in-law. She is still an avid gardener. Thanks John! Marita👍🙂
I broke one of my garden hoes a couple of years ago and I found one these at a local thrift store for 3 bucks. We use it almost exclusively. Last night I got curious and went to my shed. Lo an behold it is hand forged and looks just like this one except it is bent a little past 90deg. My wife loves it. My big box hoe now just sits in the shed. I can't believe I did not even notice this sooner, I was just looking for a cheap hoe and 3 bucks fit that bill.
Thanks for these great videos.
It's like walking over to a buddies place. You are pretty cool.
Since the museum were i forge is closed due to the virus i've been watching alot of TH-cam smiths, thank you John for keeping me entertained, i also appreciate that you used woodworking tools and not a grinder to shape the handle, well done.
It feels like it took me 10 hours to watch this. I had to go to a Call Out. A large tree had fallen on an 8 yr old boy. The boy's going to be okay. A few broken bones and a concussion. I'm a Volunteer Firefighter in the Cfa Fire And Rescue in Victoria, Australia. #weworkasone #firerescue
I am glad the boys OK. but the videos only been published for 4 hours. 🤔
@@BlackBearForge it felt like 10 hours. Sometimes on some jobs it feels longer than what it actually was, but with you being a former Firey, I guess you already know that.
Stay safe out there. Greetings from Oklahoma.
I made a couple of videos lately to show a face to people I am chatting with on line. It is a ton of work to make a video. I am not even trying to teach, so I imagine that would be even more work. You are appreciated...
Completely agreed... it is so blinking difficult to make a good video. Even just being a teacher, not having an audience there is rough. It probably takes more effort to film than to do the project sometimes
Holy crap that must of been a heck of a bandsaw !
No kidding!
Oh yeah. You should see the sawmills that use those blades. They run multiple saws that size.
@@clydebalcom8252 I'd like to see one in person, maybe even work at one for a while.
That will last longer than anything bought in the big box stores. ( i.e. lifetime) Nice job!
I absolutely enjoy watching you work. Every video is a lesson. I aspire to have a workshop as extensive and a lifestyle as eclectic as you. Woodworking, metalworking, a garden. What don't you do?
We have invasive barberry, ailanthus (tree of heaven), Russian olive, and multiflora rose here, and I have been trying to design a tool robust enough to grub out the roots in the rocky soil. Your tool here is probably close to what we need. Thank you
Sounds like yours may have to be much heavier.
Black Bear Forge you are correct, but your essential design here is probably how we are going to do it. I also liked how you put that little steel slug down into the narrow neck of the socket. I have not seen that before, and we will certainly emulate it. Thank you
John ,Sir I have Improve my garden hoe for years, But now that you have taught me something of Blacksmith work,
My hoe is only 1.5" at tip ,Tapers back about 4.5" and the length of most garden hoes , and now after your teaching of Blacksmith work I make it out of spring steel about 1/8" thick .I sharpen both sides and the nose end much as a wood chisel and resharpen a few times a season.
Adding a bent Half inch rod about eight inches to connect to the handle .
When mount I give it a few degrees extra tilt so to hook the soil more
Tilting to the sharp sides cuts weeds and dirt , the narrow " nose" and angle digs into my clay dirt of Ohio easily.
Again Sir I thank you so much for the lessons.
Sweet project done with your usual flair for improvisation. Utilitarian but, with style and graceful symmetry.
Nice tool. I've visited several sawmills in the northwest. Those blades are 40 to 50 feet long and some have teeth on both sides so that can cut in two directions. You have given part of an old worn out blade new life. It looks like your wood workshop is a well equipped as your blacksmith shop. Thank you for sharing and please stay healthy.
Glen Crandall
With motor and wheel on one floor, wheel on third floor, and sawing on middle floor?
Awesome build John!
Great Episode over breakfast thank you John!
Fun useful project! A day in the shop is good for the soul! Thanks John, have a blessed day!
Just as I'm thinking how well that thin material seems to be holding heat you say "This thin material cools off really fast". LOL! I guess you just work faster than I do. Thanks for another great video John.
It's awesome that you scored an industrial bandsaw blade.
What a fabulous little tool, compact, sized to the job, strong & useful, everything a tool should be! Thank you for sharing!
Very nice and very creative . Fun time at the forge. Stay healthy and safe to you and yours.
Awesome! I need to make a small hand shovel for my daughter so this works perfectly.
Great design! I have to admit I wasn't sure how well you were going to do with that forge weld but, as always, I am impressed!!! Thanks for the video and congrats on your bonus carrot ;-)
Very nice tool, something very handy especially when spring is here.
you needed it. You thunk it and then you made it. I thought the weld would give you problems but ya pulled it off!
That turned out very nicely especially since you'd never made 1 b4 and only had a picture in your mind to go from. Bravo Miestro
bravo indeed.
" Oh look a carrot "
LMBO that was gold on top of a very good video.
🙏 Blessed be Mr John
Crawford out ⚒️🧙♂️
That would be a nice little project to make I need me a new one to Great Video bud
GOOD WORK
Good work,sir. I enjoy the hook of the week series, and tool making the most!
On the day I'm unloading a yard of bulk garden soil into a raised bed you show making a garden tool. How appropriate. Older guys need raised bed gardens to keep from bending old backs so much!
My mother would love this! Gonna have to give it a go
John thanks again for the great content and lessons!! Awesome little project!
Really cool project! I rather unexpectedly have made a career out of sharpening those big saw blades for a local sawmill. The steel is actually 15N20 while the big circular saw blades used to be L6. The L6 is a little less flexible and doesn't hold up as well for bandsaws. Also, beware of those sliver teeth on the back side of that blade. They will cut you faster than the sharpened teeth because you won't expect them to. Most of my work clothes are eventually ripped to shreds because of those things.
Let me correct myself here. My memory was out to lunch when I commented. To say that L6 was NOT used for bandsaws would be inaccurate. As I understand it, Sandvic made L6 and they did produce it for bandsaws. A sales rep tried to pass some of it off to me as 15N20 once. Those blades didn't last. Anyway, Udderholm bought Sandvic out and dumped the bandsaw steel on the market for cheep. There are other steels used for bandsaws, but 15N20 is tops in my opinion.
Very nice John! Thanks for sharing and God Bless you sir!
Great way to start my day. Thanks! I'm thinking this shape looks a lot like the full sized ones my brother in Kentucky praises highly, so I think I will try making a big one just for drill.
Awesome video
I'll bet your tool will hold up better than the cheapy ones we find at the DIY centers. They usually break at the bend long before we get the full use out of them.
🙏 thanks for your video great tool to work in the garden you are amazing 😉
Hello John
That tool is very nice and sometimes it looks like a littlebit of Magic to see you working
Out of some crap a new usefull Tool
Began to grow under your Hands
Thanks for sharing this with us.
Stay healthy and save
Yours Frank
I have a gooseneck scuffle hoe. Nice tool to use.
Came out good John nice job.
Hi John
This gives me an Idea on how to fix some tools. Most modern tools do not even have sockets anymore they are just pressed into a hole in the end of the handle, with a ferrule that looks like a socket. I am wondering if I can forge a socket and weld it onto the tool that pulled out then put a rivet through like you did. I probably have about 20 garden tool parts in the scrap behind the shop I may have to try it.
Even a little epoxy would help the modern tools, but they never come that way.
@@BlackBearForge Epoxy usually gets a few more uses out of them, but these are tools at a Boy Scout camp. Sometimes enthusiastic but unskilled users are more than epoxy can handle. I am hoping for a more permanent solution.
Looks great. Thamks John. Admire your work
Good one John!
Nice job John :-)
John, your videos keep giving me ideas! ;) I didn't realize that bandsaw blades were made that size -- that's impressive. I wonder if the "local" sawmill uses something like that on their pine logs....
Great idea putting that piece of round bar in there on the bend....i think u found bens carrot!
Don't forget to make a hook to hang it in the tool shed!
Nice !!
Morning bud
I like the tool even though I do not garden, I was banned by my mum over 30 years ago. I cook though. Great job.
I bet theirs a story behind that statement
Oh yes there is and I hope you all find this humorous. I had to think about how tell it succinctly, being dyslexic means I go on tiki tours. In the 1980s I was serving as a Regular Force soldier in the NZ Army. I came home on leave one time and mum had decided she wanted to change the layout and plants in her flower garden. I was used to vegetable gardens as mum and dad had a large property and we had a lot of fresh veggies each year. Anyway mum, dad and my 3 brothers had gone ot to get more plants for her garden. I decided that I would surprse her by doing some weeding I looked at the garden and saw a lot of weeds. With great gusto and enthusiasm I set to work ridding mum's garden of those pesky weeds. Some were a little different but I did not take much notice. I soon had weeded the area and emptied the wheelbarrow when mum,dad and the boys returned. As you may have already guessed some of the weeds, those ones that looked different were weeds but somewhere NZ$50 and NZ$100 worth of new plants. Mum did not raise her voice but patiently explained to me my mistake and banned from gardening. She suggested I could do wheelbarrow duty which I declined and went inside to make lunch which I can very well. I made pikelets and scones with the help of dad who like me was gardener. He whipped the cream tasted couple of scones and pikelets to make sure they were up to standard. He could cook and both him and mum had taught us t ocook sow iron clothes as well washing them. We also made a pot of tea and ghad hot water for coffee. I did redeem myself with lunch and later took mum to replace the plants I had destroyed. It's a true story and funny liek of these stories are.
Bravooooooooooooooooo
This was brilliant start to end! I'm very interested in making my own hoes and I have most of the tools but I still struggle with sockets. Very jealous of your clean and tidy woodwork shop as well. My wood and metal tools are all mixed up and covered in grinding dust.
The tool reminds me of a Ho Mi, a traditional Korean tool commercially available. A hand forged model is so much cooler though.
Nice work perhaps make a 3 finger claw for the other end ? My mom has an Alum one about 18 inches long that is shovel on one end and 3 finger claw on the other she loves it one tool to carry around and keep track of.
forging the pointed
Thanks again for a great video!!! Can you tell me how you got that big chain link from a big ship anchor? It looks awesome!
That's a nice looking tool. I wonder if the less-than-90° bend would be just right if you were working on soil that was at ground level rather than your raised greenhouse beds.
That might be the case
IT musst be a pleshure to be such an able man.
fro wit you make your handle lol I always wanted to say that I hope it has some humor
That turned out really good John may be i might have a go at making some garden tools .they wood be better than cheap brout ones . wish me some luck .cheers.
Have fun
John, I really like your shaving horse. Any plans for that that you can share or point me to some plans?
www.plate11.com/
My dad had a long-handled hoe similar to this one. He used it to create small irrigation furrows in the garden and for weeding the banks of those furrows. Don't know what ever happened to it after he died.
Flashbacks of Roy Underhill lol
I"m surprised ya don't weld a little handle onto your touchmark stamps. Seems like it would make it a lot easier to use with the treadle hammer.
Then they can only be used one way. I often use only one or place them in a different orientation that fits the material better or need to approach the work upside down. Adding a handle would greatly complicate their use
Great project for the garden. I was thinking when you bent it that it needed to be 90 degrees. How many tools have you made with that piece of band saw. That thing is awesome
Haha-stick around for the conclusion....I saw what you did there
Could you do a video of making a draw knife?
th-cam.com/video/YRphE9QL3aY/w-d-xo.html
I wish I could just make the tools that I need.
It is one of the great advantages to having a blacksmith shop
I'm thinking my old sating type exercise bike is a half of my sawhorse build coming
I sure do appreciate your videos, I've had a lot of entertainment and gained a lot of knowledge from them. I really liked seeing your shave horse! Is it your design?
Its one I purchased, There was a link to a video all about the shave horse in the top corner of this video. It should show up at the time when I start using the shave horse
@@BlackBearForge thank you, sir
Railroad spikes any good for knives or a tool of any kind
Useable, yes. Good, not particularly
Have you ever made damascus with L6? It's pretty similar in nickel content to 15N20, and I wonder if it etches similarly.
I rarely make any damascus
If you oil-quench a piece, does that give it a similar finish to hot-waxing ?
Most of the oil cooks off during tempering. But you could quench again after tempering.
Kinda looks like a dragons tail before bending it 90°
Are you still going to build the ribbon burner forge ???????
Hopefully at some point
John can you tell us where you find old band saw blades like that? Are they at your local junkyard or did you find them online someplace?
I got these from a saw mill in the pacific northwest.
Good morning from Germany!
I start to forge again. My question is, what a kind of gas-forge do you have?
Did you build it yourself ? If yes, do you have some tips for me?
Would be nice to hear somethig from your side.
Best regards Bastian,
here is a link t my forge chileforge.com/forges_jalapeno_details.html
@@BlackBearForge OK, thanks a lot!
I like your shave horse, did you make it yourself?
No I bought it from Mark Hicks at Plate 11. www.plate11.com/
Any chance of getting an in depth look at your shaving horse? I have been wanting to make one, but am not totally satisfied with any I have seen.
There was a link to a video all about the shave horse in the top corner of this video. It should show up at the time when I start using the shave horse
"For this tool I thought I'd start with a piece of bandsaw blade". Me: Is this going to be a Bonsai hoe? Then he proceeds to pull out a slice of steel sufficient to make every bandsaw blade I've ever used in the past decade. As an example! Doesn't even use that chunk to make the garden tool!
The piece used was cut from that larger chunk
Haa
Nice job John, I tried yelling out to you to tighten up the bend, needs to be just less than 90 degrees.
21:23 Does this mean there is a shop cat?
Only in the basement shop. But not in the blacksmith shop
Are you Related to a Gary Pickens out of Jackson TN you look alot like him and your Voice is to close to say?