Problem Solving

Hey all, so long story short I told a friend I'd make him something if he gave me a pile of scrap metal. He said he would be interested in a grapple hook. Initially I thought, SWEET! Now before I start I have some conflicting theories in my head. I'm thinking spring steel because I'm scared mild might snap or bend uselessly if he ever used it for anything. So then I'm thinking harden it, but where to temper it so it doesn't break? The arch of the hooks? Should the arches have a round cross section or should there be a rib on the top for support? HAS ANYONE ACTUALLY MADE ONE TO USE BEFORE? the shape cosmetically I'm confident I can produce, but I'm wo…

I'm building a rose trellis and want to add scroll work to the inside of the frame. Trouble is, with a double scroll from 3/8" round I'm getting about 9 1/2" width, and I need 10 1/2" It's a 4-1 scroll, I've done a couple of patterns in 3-1 but no dice. Surely there is a formula or method for doing scrolls inside fixed rails. I could do a large and small scroll, but I'm wanting the scroll work as reinforcement as well. Basic design is two uprights, C shaped footprint vs complete square, with a double arch between them. Thanks

I'm getting ready to make a hearth fire wood rack and I'd like to finish the top of the vertical supports similar to an old tool set I bought years ago. I'll be using 3/4" square bar stock for the four vertical supports and would like to finish the tops with something close to the diamond shaped finial shown below. I'm going to have to do this by hand (no power hammer) and was looking for some input on how others would attempt this. My initial thought would be to fuller the tops of the bars about 1-1/2" from the top and then hold the bars on the edge of the anvil almost vertical at the fullered notch and form the lower and upper angled portion of the four sides. Not sure…

I have just been given the thumbs up from my client for a gate design, 3rd hinge discussion ongoing. Picure of sample piece & designs attached. (Hex head bolts to be re-forged to square & more fixing points on round hinge plates). Steels to be used: 30 x 20mm back stile, 30 x 10mm curves, 2mm sheet panels, 20 x 3mm riveted edge softening strips. Total weight approx 75kg. Back stile weight approx 10kg, remaining gate weight approx 65kg. Think the 3rd central hinge is needed to prevent the back stile bowing? No young children, infrequent grandchildren visits to use it as a swing.

I'm working INDOORS this summer, on a remodel project - making a big walk in closet. I want to forge a couple Valet Hooks for the closet. I can find examples of them online easily enough, prefab stuff but haven't seen any hand-forged. I'm just trying to get my creative juices going on one, wondered if any of you have by chance forged one? For anybody who doesn't know, it's a protruding hook, typically about 8-12 inches long with indentations in it to accept hangers. It hangs on the trim of a wardrobe so you have a place to put, for instance, whatever you just ironed and are wearing tomorrow. Sometimes they are made as retractable or collapsible (hinged) devices so …

Up until today I have been hammering on leaf springs, coils springs, etc. Today I started playing with known metals (wrought iron and O-1 steel). They both cracked on me during hammering. 1. I took a wrought iron rod, flattened it into a flat strip about 3/16" thick, and tried to bend it around a 2-inch diameter pipe with some gentle taps. It cracked. What did I do wrong? Did the iron cool too quickly while in contact with the pipe? 2. I bought some O-1 steel (3/8" x 1" rectangular bar). It cracked just hammering to thin it (see photo). The piece in the photo is still 1/4" thick. Was I working it too hot or too cold?

Hi All, I know there have been various discussions about scale in the past, I've had a look and they have been helpful. My problem is with the making of ladle bowls and the buildup of scale within the bowl. As the bowl takes shape (I hammer it into a home made former) the scale becomes harder and harder to remove by brush due to the shape of the bowl (can't get my brush in there). In the time take to forge the bowl, the scale builds up and becomes very hard (no doubt due to hammering). I've tried vinegar as apickle but I find it relatively slow and even after a couple days hasn't always loosened up the really hard embedded scale. I'd rather not use anyth…

Hi I'm trying to bend round rings out of 5/16 inch round stock. I'm making trellises for a garden. The sizes would be from 8 inch to 30 inch. I tried my roller for flat stock. The kind that has 3 rolls and groves in the ends of the rolls. It made the rings but is destroying my roller. A friend has a wagon wheel roller but I haven't gone to get it yet. Does anyone have any suggestions. All the rollers I see only do up to 1/4 inch. I would like to make more then a few these. Thanks Chris

I picked up an old Walworth 24" wrench that needs some rehab - it's a great piece that cost me just about nothing so worth some time. One of the tension springs is missing I've forged and tempered a piece of spring steel to the right size but I can't figure out how to attach to the neck of the wrench - looks like the intact original side was riveted but I'm at a loss as to how to place a rivet that will hold in solid steel. Seems that w nothing to grab onto in the hole the rivet will fall out. I've tried spot welding but 2 tries have cracked the spring since the heat of the weld loses the temper and cracks right above the weld after just a bit of flexing. I'm …

We are building a fountain . What would be the best finish / coating for the water pool and the sculptor its self.

Here's a couple snap shots of an arched curtain rail made to my client's specification. It's shaped to match the arched door it's going above, a heavy curtain will be permenantly tied to it to reduce heat loss through the gaps in the door. I felt there were 3 options of how to punch the holes & bend the bar (16mm square). In which order would you have done things?

I have a customer who had a gate built with rising hinges built by someone else. It is a double gate spanning 17'. The gate opens inward onto a uphill sloping driveway. the rise is 12'' up at the full open swing of one gate (103"). The customer is unhappy with the look of the gates when open, he says they appear broken. Has any one solved this problem before? I was thinking about fabricating a self rising butt hinge but thought the weight would make it difficult to open and wear out sooner since these are manually opened. Then I was brainstorming and thought that if I built hinges that floated up on the pin I could put a wheel touching the ground near the hinge that would…

the peices tend to bend when they are produced by drop forging under hammers after the ends are heated. any way the bending can be avoided ?

Do you have days when nothing goes right? I thought I would try making a bottle opener from a truck wheel stud. Almost had it drifted to size and it broke out. Hard metal too. Then I had this really nice piece of wrought iron bolt with a nut seized on the end. Figured it would make a unique bottle opener with the nut as a handle. Thought I would try making the hole in the middle of the bolt to avoid the splitting out on the end, as usually happens. So it splits at the side. I don't know why I persist with wrought iron, but I do like the grainy effect and the lustre it has. Fortunately these did not occur in demo time ... I was just giving it a try before w…

Hi folks, I am looking for ideas on how to attach a couple of door handles for a customer. These are for a church. One of the church members built some beautiful double doors using two types of wood. When the doors are closed the two contrasting woods form the image of the cross. What they want me to do, is make a couple of door pulls in the shape of the nails used to crucify Jesus. Nothing too hard so far, but here is the rub; they don't want to use any kind of through bolts, so I will have to use some kind of stud in the door. The only thing I can think of, is to weld a small tube of some sort onto the handle, slide it over the stud, and use set screws…

I have been collecting from my work various Cessna fixed landing gear springs that have been scrapped due to damage beyond acceptable limits (dings, scratches or corrosion). I know from the tech specifications it is 6150 alloy. The biggest problem is that it is all tubular (from 5/8" to 1/4" wall thickness) and usually tapered to minimize weight which will make cutting and shaping it into usable pieces difficult. What I dont know is how much more difficult the Vanadium will make it to forge and will the added "toughness" help this medium carbon steel be suitable for punches or drifts and could it be chisel material?

Ever since I started blacksmithing (a little over a year ago) occasionally when I would shoulder down a piece of 1/2 in. Mild steel round stock, and then taper it down to a little over 1/8 of an inch to make a stem for a leaf it would break of where the leaf meets the stem.Also it has happened when I was attempting to make a nail header, and also when trying to make tenons on the edge of my anvil. Does this happen to anyone else? And/or does anyone know how to prevent this? Thanks, …

I have many failed attempts as forging a wrought iron bottle opener. Sometimes I barely get past the first punching before the iron splits and cracks, even at sparky heat. Today I finally managed to get a bottle opener to completion that actually works. Made from a 7/8" bar, it's scruffy at best, and you can see where it almost gave way in the loop. But it's as close as I can get. I really want to forge a good one for two reasons: I've come to like the rough, laminated, wood grain lustre of the wrought, and secondly, I have truck loads of the stuff. Any ideas on how to forge a better looking loop? (Using side blast charcoal forge)

Hi, I made an opener today and used a block brush for the first time. However, I have found the block brush left scratches in my piece. Is this becuase it is new or did I brush too hard or long? Thanks

hay folks I need some in put Ideas i mite ? have a job that requires me to bend 1/2" sq tube thin wall 095 or so tc -- @ 90 degs with a inside raidus of 1" x 100 bends + the finish unit is 3' x 3' sq that will be a cage frame I have a hosfeild bender also a dicro bender no sq tube dies to do this YET will have to machine them any Idea on how to do this project ?? another way ?? I also have a H beam press 65 ton no tooling for this But ? can make THANKS a lot ! Steve's welding

There is a 50+ foot run of 1/2" black pipe from the compressor to the shop with a second inline 80 gallon tank at the shop. The line is above ground. The set up leaks down and the compressor kicks in at night which is inconsiderate of my neighbors. I have "soaped" every part of the lines and compressor repeatedly and still can't find the leak. I've considered freon dye but have no idea what bad things that could cause. I fully realize that I could simply close the valve at the compressor but that would require my arthritic mind to remember to close said valve. It ain't going to happen. Any thoughts?

I've been cleaning out the shop - used to be my grandfathers, an autobody - and today I cleared out allllllll of the 30+ year old junk weld rod. Some of it looked ok still, I use it here and there (MIG is more convenient than stick, don't use the arc welder much). The grand majority of it, however - all 100 pounds of it - is sitting in a five gallon bucket. 7018, 6013, 6022 mostly, but if you name it it's probably there. I was thinking of scrapping it, but scrap prices are so low right now. I read somewhere steel is down to $220 a ton or something, which is $0.11/pound. Last year I could sell for $0.30 around here. Good time to buy stock, anyway. Is the flux worth scra…

Maybe my frustration is blinding me to something obvious, but I've about reached the end of the rope and thought I'd reach out to the collective wisdom of IFI. One of my signature pieces is what I call the 'big nail wall hook', and as the name might hint, it's a hook made from a big nail. The problem I'm having is getting the leg of the nail such that it will come off the wall at 90º. My tooling is basic, no fly press or power hammer, so I'm spending an inordinate about of time with the hooks in the vise, tweaking them with the turning forks. I have a form made and can hot-bend the hooks for consistency, but getting the dimples for the screws is a horse of a different …

I have a bench grinder that I'm trying to mount/bolt to the right-front corner of my workbench. The bolt pattern is a 2 1/4" wide x 5" deep/long rectangle. Due to the diameter of the wire wheels, cotton buffers, stones, etc. they don't all fit --or some just barely fit. I'd like to raise the grinder up the width of a 2x4 or 2x6. (Raise it up 1.5".) This thing has been in the family a long time so I want to preserve it as well as use it. What is the best way to raise it up off the deck of the workbench? Should I buy longer bolts and use a spacer or should I bolt the grinder (using counter sunk T-nuts or lag screws) to an 8" section of 2x6 and then bolt that pie…

Not talking about the problems ladies have with their hair but my problem when I am forging fine points on mild steel. Seems I cannot keep them from fraying when I get down to the very point. Is thie the nature of the mild steel or something else I am missing?