The Armour Archive

To add to all the instruction I have received so far I thought I would get the opinions of the experts here as well.

What do you think is the best method for preparing the stump.
Charcoal - yes/no? Etcetera....
Width/depth of dishing area?
Band the stump?

YIS,

Sir Seth

What I did with mine was saw it off parallel and then band it. I made three impressions in it something like a 4" diameter about 3/4" deep, a 3" somewhere around 1" deep and 1" about 1/4" deep.

You know, there are hundred (or a thousand) armorers on this board that are better than I am, but I have always prepared a dishing stump by just picking the spots I wanted, marking the circles with a sharpie or pencil, and whacking the snot out of the top of the stump with a ball peen.

I am positive that there are better ways to do it, but that way works.

f

The fist stump I ever used, I carved the indents in very carefully. The second I used a 4 1/2" grinder. The last, I just picked my spots and wailed on it a bit with a round hammer. They all worked.

Use the hardest stump you can find, though.

Not a wrong way to eat a reeses.

I found carefull chansaw then smoot out with hammer works the quickest.

Johannes wrote:The fist stump I ever used, I carved the indents in very carefully. The second I used a 4 1/2" grinder. The last, I just picked my spots and wailed on it a bit with a round hammer. They all worked.

Use the hardest stump you can find, though.

Right now due to location Cottonwood is what I have available.
But a trip back "home" will give me the options of hickory, oak, walnut and maple. Best choice..??

ssirseth67 wrote:

Johannes wrote:The fist stump I ever used, I carved the indents in very carefully. The second I used a 4 1/2" grinder. The last, I just picked my spots and wailed on it a bit with a round hammer. They all worked.

Use the hardest stump you can find, though.

Right now due to location Cottonwood is what I have available.
But a trip back "home" will give me the options of hickory, oak, walnut and maple. Best choice..??

all those would work, and depending on the type of maple i would rank them

Maple, hickory, walnut, oak.

My experience with walnut is that you should leave a wide margin around the dishes or you will get some cracking. The wood works ok but seems a bit brittle.

I used a chainsaw to carve the depressions, for what its worth, then smoothed em with a hammer.

Oak stumps seem rare around here, at least oak big enough. It gets cut too young. I have had to settle for poplar and birch, which isnt my favorite, but the perfect stump is, as yet, elusive.

Mine are walnut and I agree with Lorenzo...they do crack and check pretty easily.

Hickory would be nice, I think.

ssirseth67 wrote:

Johannes wrote:The fist stump I ever used, I carved the indents in very carefully. The second I used a 4 1/2" grinder. The last, I just picked my spots and wailed on it a bit with a round hammer. They all worked.

Use the hardest stump you can find, though.

Right now due to location Cottonwood is what I have available.
But a trip back "home" will give me the options of hickory, oak, walnut and maple. Best choice..??

I wonder about some of the tree species that have a twisted/gnarled rain like sweet gum, hedge, red oak, or Iron wood for dishing blocks.

Mine is maple. The bigger the stump the better. mine is almost 3 feet in diameter. All that mass means you can beat on it as much as you want and it won't fall over or wobble or walk around the room.

You only realy need one depression. Make the curve sharper then anything you're going to dish and make the diameter of the dish a little bigger then your biggest dishing hammer.

I make my depression by hammering it in.

Also you want to make a V running in from the edge. Make it about an inch deep and an inch wide. Use a chisel to do it. It's really really usefull.

Be sure to keep a flat spot on your stump. You can clean up wrinkles and lumps by hammering onto the flat of the stump.

Thanks to everyone for their input.
Now to find the stump..!!!

Note of caution....If it's not dry, keep an eye on it. I got one that was perfect height for me (I'm 6'4", and prefer to work standing), but it apparently still had some drying to do. The sap came up (it's pine, but I pound leather, so I can get away with softer wood...I think), and it actually molded on me. Yech.

So keep an eye out for that whole mold issue.

Christopher

I use the propane torch and hammer method. Just burn a spot with a torch till you get embers, then beat it down with the ball side of a ball-peen hammer. The burning, fire hardens the wood. Its so hard, metal squeaks as it rubs over it now.

http://hooftrimmingtools.net/mcart/inde ... de=3&cat=6

Attachment for your angel grinder. This is an amazing tool, there truly isn't much you cannot do with one.

-Justus

Oakley Forge Method:

Heat iron headache ball, giant ball bearing or solid shot (DO NOT USE THAT OLD CIVIL WAR SHELL FROM GRANDPA!) in fire or forge to black heat or no more than a nice dull red.

Apply to stump(s) where needed., let burn 1/2 to 3/4 to goal. Do not overdo it. It doesn't have to be that deep.

Remove iron globular structure and quench with water; hammer out loose charcoal.

Quick and dirty.

Cap'n Atli wrote:Oakley Forge Method:

Heat iron headache ball, giant ball bearing or solid shot (DO NOT USE THAT OLD CIVIL WAR SHELL FROM GRANDPA!) in fire or forge to black heat or no more than a nice dull red.

HA! Here is the raising stake from hell.

Domnall wrote:

Cap'n Atli wrote:Oakley Forge Method:

Heat iron headache ball, giant ball bearing or solid shot (DO NOT USE THAT OLD CIVIL WAR SHELL FROM GRANDPA!) in fire or forge to black heat or no more than a nice dull red.

HA! Here is the raising stake from hell.

Sacred excrement! You must really want to "deep dish" a shield boss!