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I Forge Iron

NN4N

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  1. I think I would go with timehole. Anyway they all look great! NN4N
  2. Hey Legg86 I believe the main problem is with your air flow. I'm not quite sure if the air matress pump will work as a forge blower, but the smiths of old (hope I'm not insulting anyone ) have used bellows for years. However, yours might be a bit small. Your tuyere (pipe that leads to the forge) is quite narrow. I've had a forge with a too small tuyere too and it performed poorly. I replaced it with a 2" pipe and the performance greatly improved. You can probably blow small bits of charcoal away, because you get enough pressure, but not enough volume. You say your firepot might be too steep, too me it seems the opposite, but maybe I can't see the actual pot because of the coal. Another possible problem might be with your fuel. I don't have a lot of experience with charcoal, but it seems to me like you are using some massive lumps. Smaller pieces can generate more heat. For coal I've always been told that pieces should be between the size of the top half of your thumb and your thumb nail. For charcoal you'll have to run the size by someone with more experience with that fuel, but to me some chunks seem very large. Also note that barbeque charcoal is a poor choice for forging. I've based my first 'real' forge on this guys specifications: link. Although you are probably not planning on welding a firepot you can use his drawings as a base for the size, depth and steepness of your pot. Also not that this guy uses a 3" air inlet. Additionally, just check out some forge designs on the internet (especially, fireclay forges and charcoal forges) and consider their strengths and weaknesses with a critical eye! The internet is also full of poor designs. Combine the best of all for your forge Hope this is any help to you NN4N
  3. I agree with monstermetal that it is possible but probably very hard to pedal and keep a steady hand while grinding. Another thing to keep in mind that you'll need a heavy flywheel in order for this to work. If you look at these types of grinders they used in the old day (google for sharpening wheel) you can see that its a large solid stone wheel. A large heavy wheel has a large moment of inertia, which allows it to basically store rotational energy. Therefore it won't stop as soon as you touch your metal to the wheel. If you get a decent wheel and a motor you can probably use the bearings and the chains from a bicycle as a starting point. But as mentioned by Scampbell, it'll probably take quite a bit of time and money, probably more expensive than buying something suitable. Just my thoughts, NN4N
  4. Hey, I've too had some interest in metal casting and think I can give you a few tips. You want to start with cast iron, this is both hard to cast and getting some materials is more difficult (crucible and furnace than can handle those temperatures). Maybe it's better to start with some other materials: Metals than can be cast very easily are tin and lead, but these metals are poisonous so I advice you not to use those. A material I found easy to cast is aluminium. You can make your own steel crucible easily (just weld a steel plate on a piece of pipe). Other materials that are relatively easy to cast are brass and bronze, but I have less experience with these. Furthermore I advice you to read some of the info on this site: backyard metal casting. This guy is somewhat of a hobby metal caster, but he gives a lot of interesting info (including on cast iron), as well as links to sites by guys similar to him. Hope this helps! NN4N
  5. Hey j.w.s. Normally I try to give constructive critisim, because I believe it's a good way to learn. I've run into a problem with this dagger of yours though: I can't come up with anything negative about this dagger. I love the damascus pattern, shape, rough forged guard and pommel and dark wooden handle! It seems like all pieces are meant to be together. I'd be interested in more pictures when you have em. Keep up the good work! NN4N
  6. NN4N

    New Guy

    Hey Aredee, I second Rich Hale's statement that knives are not a good starting point. I like the fact that you first want to read a bit on blacksmithing, a lot of people want to rush into something without thinking. However, blacksmithing is very practical so you can't learn it just from a book. Find the proper mix of the two! Personally I found 2 books extremely useful. Not too much information, not too little. I advice you to read them in this order, but hey who am I? Basic Blacksmithing: An Introduction to Toolmaking (amazon link). This book discusses the very basics; forging techniques, making certain tools step-by-step, heat treating, etc. The second is The Complete Bladesmith: Forging Your Way To Perfection (amazon link). In my opinion it is exactly that: the complete bladesmith. Enough said. Just my thoughts, NN4N
  7. Hey all, I like all kinds of blacksmithing, but recently I've taken more interest in knifemaking and after using mostly scrap steel I'm interested in buying some higher quality stock. Which brings me to the following question: does anyone know of a supplier of knife grade steel, specifically in the area Rotterdam-Den Haag. I know what you're thinking doesn't this guy know how to use a search engine? Well, yes I do, I did a very thorough search and came up with 2 possibilities (http://www.hersbach.nl/index2.html and http://www.wnlstaal.com/). However the choices are somewhat limited at these suppliers (I base my search of steels on those recommended in the Complete Bladesmith by J. Hrisoulas). But I've learned sometimes a search enginge can't beat expert knowledge, so I ask here. Additionally, if there are any Dutch blacksmithing guilds or something I would like to hear that too. Haven't found anything really satisfying on that either. Thanks in advance, NN4N
  8. In my search for a steel supplier in the Netherlands I came across this: table (it's a bit small, not my fault) It's a table specifying the effect of an element in an alloy on the material's properties (like hardness, tensile strength, etc). I figured it was pretty useful and it might be for more people around here. There's a problem though: it's currently in Dutch, however I'm willing to make a translated version if a couple of people are interested. Maybe there's an English version around already. Let me know if anyone's interested! NN4N
  9. Interesting question RLD, I didn't think my IT knowledge was gonna be of much use on IFI, but here we go. First it's important to specify what exactly you want to use it for. Since this is the blacksmithing forum I suppose that is what you want to use it for. When I read the comments on using a pencil or something similar it kinda makes me smile, I'm guessing these people are of the pre-PC generation and you could say they are not an answer to your question. HOWEVER they have an extremely well made point. Aren't you over-complicating things by using drawing software to draw stuff for blacksmithing? (don't get me wrong, I love fancy IT solutions, but I believe they should serve the proper purpose) What I like about blacksmithing is the kinda back-to-basic way of working; for most things you don't need an elaborate drawing. Most of the times I think things out and make the correct fit at the forge. So in my opinion a quick sketch is often preferred, drawing on the floor (in my case on concrete tiles; I forge outside) is useful when you need your piece to have a certain shape, because you can place your piece on the drawing to check its shape. But I still haven't answered your question. For sketches on the computer I often use MS Paint it can't do much, but it often does the trick. For decent 2D drawings you could look into photoshop, but it's quite expensive. 3D software (my personal favorite) is an awesome tool, especially for those complicated designs. I started with 3DS Max which is a high-end 3D developing enviroment mostly used for videogames and movies, it's almost infinitely powerful, but it's more of a 'freehand' 3D tool in addition it's extremely expensive 3,500USD or something and takes a lot of time to master. For technical designs I love Solidworks, it's fairly easy to use with beginners experience and can create very complicated designs. It can even do strength tests en motion simulations of your designs, but again it's expensive. On the cheap side (read free) are tools like google sketchup, which was already mentioned, and Blender. I have no experience with sketchup, but I've heard it's fairly easy to use. Blender is a good 3D design application, capable of handling a lot of things 3ds max can too. I hope all this is of any use to you. If you're a bit more specific about what you want to do with the software I might be able to offer some extra tips! NN4N
  10. Looks nice antigoth! I believe in constructive criticism, so I'll point out the things I think are good and the things I think could be improved on. Please don't take them offensively, I can't make a sword like this (yet), just trying to help you improve! I love how you took the time to pay attention to detail: the runes and braid, the twisted guard and decorated pommel; these things really make a sword special and personal! I also like the shape of the sword, but I guess that's rather personal. Improvement points in my opinion: on the first pic the edge looks rather wavy, maybe it's just the pic cause I see it much less in other pics. I'm not sure if you plan on grinding/polishing or prefer the rough look? That might smooth it out more. The edge near the guard looks kinda asymtrical, I saw this trick to fix this nicely in an instructional blacksmithing video called "The birth of a sword". You make 2 grooves in the guard in the same shape as the blade (not all the way through maybe 1/2cm deep), this way the blade and guard fit nicely together. I never tried it myself, but it seemed like a smart technique to me. In conclusion: I think you did a fantastic job for your first sword! Thanks for posting, I would love to do a sword, but gonna have to get some more experience. Keep it up and keep us posted! NN4N
  11. Bentiron thank you for your comment. I kinda made that choice for myself before I made my first post here, however I like the reassurance from experienced guys. Sorry to hear about the illness Frosty, but I can appreciate the time you took to give me some advice. I was planning on building some racks in the near future (as I am planning to build some bigger tongs as well once I can get my hands on some material). Usually I plan ahead these kind of steps so I can gather information about it so I can get to building right whenever the need arises. Your comments fit in really well there I think I'll be looking into rack designs and think about a practical way to attach a rim. I'm not really a metalworker (my background is mostly in computer science ), but I just love to make things with my hands. Now is good time to stop talking, I don't wanna fill up the whole page again. Talk to you all later! Allard
  12. Thanks for your comments Frosty! I was thinking about a rim on the able at first, but I wanted to test everything first and so far I've had little trouble with coal falling off. Anyway it might be something to consider. Thank you for your advice on the anvil since I have no experience in that field. I knew that it was possible that the face was thin however. I was thinking of using something called 'vlaklamellenschijf' in dutch I'm not sure what it's called in english () which you use on an angle grinder. When you take one that is pretty worn they clean off rust really well. I used the same on my RR rail anvil. But after your advice I think I will go with wirebrushing. As for what I am planning to forge I'm not sure yet. First I'm gonna get my own tools sorted, after that I'll see what I like. Allard
  13. Ive already spent quite some time reading the vast amounts of information on IFI, so I figured it would be a good time to introduce myself. On the internet I go by the nickname NN4N, my real name is Allard and you can call me by either. In my 'normal' life I'm a student at Erasmus University Rotterdam (The Netherlands) at which I study Economics & Informatics. I got interested in blacksmithing a while ago, so I built a most basic forge, because I didnt want to waste time building a forge and finding out I didnt like blacksmithing much after all. I don't have a picture of it (I found out you guys really like those), but I do have a picture of my first project. My first project was a hot set of which the design was taken from "Basic Blacksmithing with locally available materials". A picture can be found under attachments. So I was hooked and i built a new forge. Spent a few days gathering up as much information as I could and started working. You can see my welded firepot (made from 10mm plate steel, which is slightly larger than 3/8"), my table in progress and my finished table with forge and blower in the pics. My brother worked in a metro tunnel for a few weeks and he set me up with a piece of 38cm ~ 15" railroad which weighs around 18 kilo's. That's the anvil done. I quickly found out this forge was much better and a lot hotter than my previous forge. Finding out as in burning a few pieces of metal . So I made myself a fire poker and rake from the bars they use to reinforce concrete. I lacked a pair of tongs, so I made 'em from an old handsaw for iron, which have a wide U looking piece of iron in which the sawblade is mounted (http://www.2college.nl/tech/toets1p1/ijzerzaag.JPG). They came out pretty ugly and are quite small, but work very well. Also pics below. After that I started working on a knife made from a piece of coil spring. I based the design largely on the M4 Bajonet (http://www.fulton-armory.com/WWII-M4s_50.jpg). I like the design with 2 cutting edges. It's hardened and tempered, still needs polishing and a handle though. My latest project is a diagonal peen hammer which I made from a vehicle half shaft. It came out quite a lot lighter than I had planned (weighs close to 300grams) and I had a hard time drifting the eye. You can see the hammer both in rough&drilled and ground&drifted below. Finally (you can almost stop reading don't worry) I'm in the market for a nice anvil. I looked at a Mannesmann anvil of 50kg ~ 110lbs(I need an anvil I can carry, because I carry my entire 'shop' outside to work). So 50kg is about the maximum. After contacting the store I found out the anvil wasn't or hardly hardened, so I think it would be a bad choice (your opinions are welcome). At this point I'm looking at an anvil of 45kg~100lbs from 1882 (don't know the brand, again your expertise is welcome) which is 10cm ~ 4" wide and 52,5cm ~ 21" long (to the tip of the horn). I think with a little grinding and polishing it can look great again. I attached pics of the anvil as well. I hope all this text doesn't scare potential readers off Thanks for reading! Any comments on anything are welcome! Constructive criticism is great in my opinion, so don't just point out the good parts in my work also let me know what I did wrong or could do better! Talk to you all in the near future! NN4N
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