Tag: blacksmith
Article: Classic Land Rover magazine
Forged Through Fire Classic Land Rover Magazine, August 2024 Words by Jan Hyrman with Dave Friesen, photos by Dave Friesen I think most if not all of this magazine’s readers will agree that metal can be shaped to create things that are by essence utilitarian but are beautiful to look at. Some, in our eyes…
Forging rovers
Rover steel knives are being crafted in conjunction with the artist-in-residence program at the museum this year––a tool for adventure made from a vehicle for adventure! Series spring steel has not changed spec since the first in 1948 and replacements today are even made with the same composition. The works in progress below are made…
Belting it out
A rattling noise that occurs at higher rpms near the top of each gear and may at first seem to be a dying mainshaft bearing or oil throwing wheel gone bad may in fact have a much simpler fix. Opening the bonnet whilst attempting to duplicate the behaviour reveals that the screeching sound seems to…
Blacksmith style jumpers
A simply-made d.i.y. set of heavy-duty jumper cables assembled from welding ground cables and clamps. Sturdy construction, highly flexible and wear-resistant, plenty of copper and a very strong bite for good connections. The negative clamps are differentiated by a coat of traditional tree-source urushi lacquer, normally used for Japanese sword scabbards. The two cables are…
Museum forge
One of the current projects at the Parksville Museum forge involves hand crafting knives from series rover leaf springs. Series spring steel has not changed spec since the first in 1948 and replacements today are even made with the same composition. The projects shown below are made from original 1965 series 2a steel by heating…
At the museum
Poppy is currently earning her keep hauling blacksmithing tools to and from the Parksville Museum. Generally on Saturdays from spring to late summer the forge is open and running knifemaking demonstrations in conjunction with the artist-in-residence program as the weather permits, which means a couple hundred lbs of tools need to be carted to the…
Spotted: a blacksmith’s 110
Roving reporters racking up bonus points for combining blacksmiths and land rovers! A mean looking cargo style 110 puma with galvanized roof rack and ladder, front winch bumper and recovery points, NAS rear step bumper, plenty of chequerplate on the bonnet and wings, stylish alloy wheels, offroad underbody protection, and custom graphics. Steve Hicks may…
Canvas Bonnet Strip
Series rovers originally had braided canvas cord filler strips along the front of the bonnet to cushion the closing or contact point and prevent unnecessary airflow or dust entry. At some point long ago this one had been replaced with a self-adhesive foam strip, which had subsequently degraded. Replacements in the original style are now…
Tool making
There is a specialized windscreen fillet tool in the Rover manual for installing the filler strip for the window seals, however they do not seem to be around anymore and even the vaguely similar replacements are very hard to locate. With a little blacksmithing a reasonable facsimile is possible to make. The main material in…
Urushi & tea leaves
The incredibly excessive atmospheric moisture of this winter overwhelmed the painted finish on the steering wheel and it started flaking off. Series rover steering wheels are notorious for breaking down after about 50 years. The coating on the outside wears off over time and the composite material leaves black sludge on your hands when the…
License to chill
A fun challenge creating a replica vintage Angolan license plate for a timeless look in photos. It was designed based on photos of examples from the time period, cut and formed from a rusty scrap of sheet steel using a few simple blacksmithing tools, and finished with traditional Japanese baked lacquer and tung oil. The…
Cat flap handle
The original rear “cat flap” door handle broke off one dark and rainy night (see first photo below), and was quickly fashioned into an interior handle while waiting for the exterior replacement to arrive. Once the replacement arrived a few blacksmithing skills made quick work of modifying and installing it. Under the collar of the…
The rivets have arrived
The long-awaited, hard-sought semi-tubular truss head rivets in a particular size and length for the roof to galvanized drip channel made their way across the pond at long last. First order of business was to remove all the bolts holding the roof to the windscreen and sides, then drill and punch out all of the…
Outside to the inside
The original rear “cat flap” door handle broke off one dark and rainy night, likely due to a long-time stress crack in the collar. The break traveled through the retaining pin hole and across the base of the lock, leaving the handle and most of the collar intact. Being some sort of “pot metal” alloy…
Forest and field
A few images from a photoshoot with QB Bookbinding for a limited edition hand crafted leather notebook project. Find out more about the project, the young craftsman, and check availability to support his work. “Each journal is carefully handcrafted from three materials: paper, leather, and sinew. The paper is given an organic patina by staining…