My attempts to get started at forging iron

[mcb]

So a few months ago you guys help me gather some information on my Anvil.  Thanks for that.  In the interim my desire to have a go at doing some blacksmith projects has peeked.  I have done a lot of reading both here and elsewhere and learned a lot.  I built a super cheap and simple forge (you may make fun of it if you like) and have just started playing around.  My forge will need replaced soon.  After two sessions its showing signs of deterioration.  I did not expect it to last but it let me get started on small projects while I feel this hobby out.  I will have to buy or build something a bit more robust if I keep at this.  I would love to hear your feed back and suggestion on what I have done so far.

First my simple forge firing in earnest for the first time

The results of my first session at the anvil pounding on a simple piece of 1/4 x 2 inch mild steel.  Just messing around and see how hard or easy the steel would move when hot and to see what I could do.

So last night I got slightly serious and set out to make a simple pair of tongs.  Seemed like a good simple first project.  I found plans and watch a few videos of making tongs from flat stock and this seem something I could do.  First I wanted to make a bottom fuller but did not have a big enough piece of steel or tongs to get down in the forge to make a proper one so I made a quick and dirty one.

  

Just some 1/2 rod bent to drop into the hardy and let forge some 1/2" notches in the bar stock.

 

 

 

 

Using a pair of old channel locks as tongs (not very good tongs for sure) I started on my tongs.  I started with two piece of 1/4" x 1" mild steel cut to 9" long.  The fuller work well for the initial notches above and below the pivot boss on my simple tongs.  

Let me tell you after watching a bunch of YouTube video and then trying it myself, it was humbling.  Those guys made it look fast and easy with little physical effort.  The results below took me over an hour of hard work.  I watched guys punch the holes in one heating.  It took me at least three times to get the slugs to punch out correctly.  I still have a lot of work to do to draw out the reigns and get them straight and smooth.  I also need to do a bit more work finishing and adjusting the jaws.  But I am pleased with my start.

 

Any comments or feed back would be appreciated.  While finishing these tongs I am also researching forges.  My burner works pretty good  I had the steel to bright orange last night so building a new forge body using better materials is an option but part of me wants to just buy a ready made small forge so I can spend my time forging rather than building a forge.  Time vs money...

Thanks for reading

mcb

[Alan Evans]

Good start.

Takes a lathe to make a lathe...takes a pair of tongs to make a pair of tongs!

What you can do is have a double length bit of parent material, forge a leg on each end then cut in half. Even with a few pairs of tongs around I prefer to do that if practical... I prefer a solid handle than tongs especially when forging under the power hammer.

With tongs I was taught to start from square or round bar and forge the jaw flat and then turn through 90˚  and forge the hinge flat, then turn 90˚ again in the same direction and draw out a couple off inches and scarf for the rein and shut on a bit of round for the main handle...fire welding is your friend when you do not have a power hammer. Can save a lot of work and heat.

Alan

[mcb]

Thanks Alan, not sure my forge is getting hot enough to forge weld.  Even if it is I have never forge welded but its something I intend to learn.  But I should have though of leaving both bars attached to each other and forge both ends and cut it in half.  Last night as I cut the stock to length I was thinking that if I was using two pieces I could have one in the forge heating while I worked the other.

[ThomasPowers]

Forges can be built in very little time with very little equipment; I've built them not using a welder and riveting pieces on before as a "proof" because so many people told me they couldn't build one because they didn't have a welder.  A fast and simple one can be built using a "party helium tank"  often found discarded. Line with kaowool, coat kaowool and stick the burner in through the side. I've made burner holders by sawing a piece of blackpipe down a diameter a couple of inches with my hacksaw and then heating the end and bending them out and flattening them into tabls to fasten to the shell.  Used a 50 cent fleamarket hole saw to make the penetration.  Set it on a chunk of I beam on it's side as a cradle for it and get to forging.

  Wayne Coe, a nice fellow that sells refractories for blacksmiths has some good plans on his website too.

[Alan Evans]

11 minutes ago, mcb said:

Thanks Alan, not sure my forge is getting hot enough to forge weld.  Even if it is I have never forge welded but its something I intend to learn.  But I should have though of leaving both bars attached to each other and forge both ends and cut it in half.  Last night as I cut the stock to length I was thinking that if I was using two pieces I could have one in the forge heating while I worked the other.

Good enough reason.

Mind you, you can never have too many tools...have two double lengths and forge two pairs of tongs!

Alan

[ThomasPowers]

Or just start with 2 pieces long enough to forge without using tongs and cut off the excess and use it for a different project later.  Steel  is handy down into quite small pieces and I've even saved the scale for smelting!

[Charles R. Stevens]

Acualy one can forge a set of tongs with out a set of tongs. You need a peice of stock at least twice as long as you need. Forge the jaw and boss, draw out the reign, let cool, flip around and repeat, now cut in half and rivit. 

[mcb]

Another good thought.  I had two long pieces I could have used.  Still a lot to learn.  Thanks guys!

The one intimidating part of building my own forge is working with and then sealing the Koalwool.  Both from handling it safely (I have read the fibers are bad for your lungs) and then getting it seal and coated correctly so it will last in use.  At present I do not own a welder but I can get, with a little driving, access to one.  I liked the plans Wayne Coe shared, the idea of cutting the bottle in half and and lining it with the wool and putting it back together with hinges.  I could probably even do that without welding.

[mcb]

I was able to get some free time last night after work to finish my first pair of tongs.  Far from perfect but they should work well enough to be used on my next few projects.  Started out as 9-in bars and I was able to draw them out to a touch over 14 inches.

[Alan Evans]

Well done. Very gratifying. I still have every pair of tongs I made...my first pair (42-odd years on)  have been repaired and resurrected many times, and still have a special place in my universe!

Before you use them in earnest...smooth them out a bit more on the outside edge of the reins. The bit you actually touch and squeeze. They are not bad, but there is room for improvement, and it will transform their usability.

You can do this in many ways....Make a bottom swage and thump them in; use and angle grinder/ sander; refine them with your hand hammer; get them red hot and file them (very quick)...alternatively wear thick gloves (even quicker)   

It is amazing how one's favourite go-to tool is often the most comfortable to handle!

Consider Ergonomics and Anthropometrics....I remember a really good cartoon which showed a designer at his drawing board on a stool which was too low. In order to bring him up to the right height...on top of the stool was a thick volume entitled Ergonomics and on top of that, the book he actually sat on was Anthropometrics!

If you don't know...Ergonomics deals with the energy and efficiency of the tool...the balance and leverage of your tongs which is fine. The Anthropometrics is the immediate relationship to the body...in your tong case the bit your hand comes in contact with. A soft and broad surface enables you to put a lot of pressure on without discomfort. A series of chamfers/edges inhibits this and can cause blisters if you are using them for a protracted period.

Alan

 

[mcb]

Thanks Alan,  I am curious about filing steel hot.  I have used a lot of files in my time for a variety of jobs but I have never been tempted to file steel hot.  What is the advantage/reasons for doing it hot as opposed to cleaning up the handles with a file while cold?  Thanks

[ThomasPowers]

Hot filing with a coarse file---I use a horseshoer's rasp---is a heck of a lot  faster than cold filing.

[Alan Evans]

13 minutes ago, mcb said:

Thanks Alan,  I am curious about filing steel hot.  I have used a lot of files in my time for a variety of jobs but I have never been tempted to file steel hot.  What is the advantage/reasons for doing it hot as opposed to cleaning up the handles with a file while cold?  Thanks

Speed, pure and simple.

Use a good bastard cut file, don't dawdle and/or drag it back over the workpiece. You should always lift the file off for the back stroke even when filing cold metal.

It is an interesting finish to experiment with. The heat creates an oxide layer immediately so you are not left with a shiny silver area as you are filing or grinding cold.

Alan

7 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Hot filing with a coarse file---I use a horseshoer's rasp---is a heck of a lot  faster than cold filing.

Have you tried it with a dreadnought cut...the curved teeth files that are often used for Aluminium and plastics,Thomas?

Alan