Problem Solving

I was given a few old RR spikes that I'd like to make steak turners out of. They are still solid, but do have their share of surface rust. Think I should throw them in the electrolytic bath to remove all of the rust, or hit them with a wire brush to remove most of the surface rust, or just throw them in the forge and start hammering? Another question in general, I sometimes knock the rust off a piece of steel with a wire brush prior to forging and other times I do not, I can't really say that I've ever noticed a difference in the end product. Does the rust usually come of with the scale, or does it get hammered into the metal and cause potential issues? T…

last night I found a piece of pipe in my scrap pile and had been wanting to make candle holders. Using my spring fuller I tapered off the section to use as the "cup" for the candle and it went well. I then took it to the anvil horn to flare the top then taper off the lower part of the "cup" a bit and I noticed I'm twisting the part I fullered, and it's splitting. The last one I even tried to pay more attention and tried to go easier and watch to see how I was getting this twist but couldn't really see how. Looking at the tutorial that I hadn't looked at for a while I pretty much answered my own problem as they flared the cup before spring fullering the section. Stil…

i was making a hot cut today and needed once I finished the hardy shank I had to wait for my dad to come home so he could use the angle grinder and trim the steel so that I could make a shoulder then the cutting part. In the mean time I started my second leaf. I knew from the beginning I messed up the taper but I continued on. Now it is almost finished, but the lead is shaped oddly. Should I discard it is there something I can do to fix it. The stem is off center too. And the left side is thicker than the other. Thanks

I've got a customer that would like me to make some bracket plates for the edge of his brew pubs bar. He wants "forged black iron" to go with his western stagecoach theme. The two things that these brackets will encounter in their lifetimes are spilled beer, and customer bellies. Anybody out there want to weigh-in on finishes for this? The customer would really like something that looks like a traditional finish (like linseed oil and beeswax for example). I am concerned about finish durability (rust). I think that powder coating is out since I think that it would fill in desirable scale marks/details. Perhaps doing the work in stainless and then sending it out for blacken…

i build a metal arm gin pole to be installed at the rear of an agriculturar machine for uses as a crane what material do you suggest to use that tecnique h 12 feet p 2 ton

I started making leaves when I realized they take me a very long time to make. They take around 4 hours with me using a 3 pound sledge on 1/2in steel. I am using steel I got from my uncle, so I was told it might be high carbon. I did a spark test and I do not think it is HC. I will show the video below. It takes me a while to move the steel for some reason. Any suggestions besides me showing a video of me forging a leaf? Thanks Vid of the spark test won't work here's some pics: Damaged Video removed

Hi folks, I was working on an idea for joining 3 pieces of steel together in a gate with rivets when I realised it would be a very tight space because of an obstruction, meaning I wouldn't be able to get by body behind the rivet head in a way that would offer a decent amount of resistance. I've changed the overall design of the gate so the rivets are now redundant, but the curiosity of how to rivet in a confined space lingered. Do you have any special gizmos that you use in a confined space to offer resistance and maintain the rivet head shape? I doodled this idea this morning, I think it could work on small rivets (like 6mm or 8mm) that don't require much whacking, but I…

hey, Ive been working in the forge lately, but ive run into some problems: when i watch youtube videos, the guys there maintain heat for way longer than i do, and I'm not clear what's happening that allows that. this creates further problems, as by reheating i get more oxidation, which hurts like hell (i need a new brush) and pits the steel. if its the answer, im running propane, a 'magestic forge' two burner knife maker, wide open both ends. if i cover that with firebrick (i only can get the hard, uninsulating kind), will that solve my oxidation problems at least? of course it will boost efficiency which, what i hear, magestic forges really need.

I make a LOT of crosses, from Frederich's to very large crosses that I typically mount on wood. I'm sure this is an age-old question when working with wood, but I just don't know the solution..... When cutting a piece of wood that I intend to stain, after sanding and shaping and such when I go to stain it the ends (the exposed grain ends) absorb a stain more deeply, resulting in dark edges on the ends of the cross, significantly darker than the body of the cross. Sometimes that look is actually okay, other times I'd rather it be more in line with the body/face of the cross. I'm certain there's a solution for this problem, I just don't know what it is? Anyone out ther…

I have a client that wants a wall mounted rail. The design that we have talked about will use a decent amount of metal making it quite heavy. Normally I would just make sure that all the wall brackets are on the studs. However, this wall is brick with plaster and I have never mounted to that before. Would I use sleeve anchors in the brick to mount it?

Hi, hope this is ok for me to ask. I’m a writer, and don’t know anything about blacksmithing. Trying to find out how long it would take to cool molten steel to room temperature? The size would be a pool of it, roughly 1/2 an inch deep, 4 feet in diameter. Nothing being used to help speed the process, simply letting it sit. Hope you guys don’t mind helping me out! Thank you in advanced!

I am building a gate for a friend similar to the picture. My round bar is 5/8". Can this be bent cold? Should I jig or just try free hand? Has anyone tried something like this before?

I'm starting with blacksmithing , so i went to a junk yard and i bought a giant screw, so i was trying to do something, but when i put it on fire, it became somewhat green and it's fire was green. There is a chance that it has zinc, or something like that? And it's dangerous? Sorry about my english, i'm brazilian.

I use a LOT of old shifting spanners (wrenches) in my junk art work, and there comes a time when junk spanners are hard to find. I've just about exhausted my scrap pile supply. So I got onto some new ones - cheap and nasty Chinese made rubbish with loose adjusters and probably pretty poor metal. It goes against the grain to use new stuff for 'junk art' but these are not much good for anything else and are, well, ... junk. Anyway, the problem is they are quite heavily chrome plated and I am not keen on welding chrome - even with my new respirator. And I don't want them shiny. I need them to look like the old wrench in the photo. So the question is, how do you remove chrome…

I've scoured for answers and found one that seems reasonable, but I thought I would run it past you guys before committing to it. Long story short, I'm building a water wall to drown out the noise of loud neighbors. I made a newbie design error and need to fix things up. I figured that since most blacksmiths weld, but not all welders smith, this was the place to seek wise counsel: The contraption is made from 1x1x1/8" angle. Imagine a 24" deep x 24" tall x 8' wide planter/reservoir and then the wall runs up 7'-6" from the top of the planter. The wall section is three sections, roughly equal in width. The front and side panels of the planter and the middle section …

Hey folks, I have a commission for a long curved staircase railing. This means multiple sections and joined together on site. I don't want to have to weld together so I'm looking for a clever way to join the sections that results in a clean and elegant and reasonably seamless connection between the sections. What have you guys done to solve this? Ideally, would like to make the top handrail out of cold-textured (under power hammer) 1" round solid bar. What have you guys found works well for joining long sections of railings and handrail? Thanks, Randy One post, in one location is plenty , your other post has been removed.

im not sure if this really fits here, but im going to try. i broke my foot about a month ago and am going to be on crutches for a couple more months. i cant play around in the shop anymore. im looking for a small forge design i could sit next to or cold worked projects i might be able to do still. i was making jewelry before my injury and would like to keep working on stuff like that. and ideas would be great, im getting painfully bored lol

Hello, We got on old metal cutter and the motor is "burner". So we decited to re coil it. Problem is how to remove the motors stator? It is there pretty tight and can't see any method of attacment. In pic.2 are small gaps in outer ring ond you can actually see trough other side from those gaps.

A few posts recently have featured pineapple twists. There is probably a list of guidelines on how to make them somewhere but I can't find one. Nearest I can figure is (1) groove each side of square stock to length required. (2) Twist as normal. (3) That gives a tight twist but how do get the reverse groove to get the diamond shapes?

Been thinking of a gate for my mothers yard. And have been rolling many ideas around. Had a thought on incorporating a few lilies into it but was wondering about ice and water damage. Or am I just over thinking things. I would expect water and snow to accumulate inside the flower during winter and the resulting ice to open up the lily. Aside from ensuring that the flower is thick enough so it lasts what are others experiences in this matter.

I have a handrail that needs to be changed and installed for the neighbours. It needs a short 44" section that comes out perpendicular to the wall built. It's easy enough by itself but I'm trying to find stock for the handrail part. It's 1/4" th x 1 1/4" wide with a radiused top. Maybe a 4" radius on it. My google fu is weak today and not finding what I'm looking for or what to call it properly to find it. Planning a small steel order soon and was thinking easy enough to add to it if I knew what I was asking for. I'll try to get a picture or two up to help explain better in a bit

Hello everyone, I have an issue with a big door hinge that haven't done before before and i was wondering if someone has the know-how to solve this small issue for me. a couple of days ago i was invited to give an offer for a really big house being renovated in Larnaka, right in the center of town. i am very excited for this project and i hope i can get the job, but the only problem is that there is a hinge which is difficult to make, i was asked to make one of each piece needed at this job, in order to prove to the architect that i will be able to make everything he needs. he has his doughts because i am new in this line of work and a bit young. As seen in the image bel…

so ive been trying to figure out how to make my hook with a lag bolt thread any ideas ?

hello I should carry a rake or a tool to smooth and clean the sand of the beaches from waste and stones debris carried by storm surges would advice thanks

I have a gate to forge, 2 sections of 3' x 7'. The frame I think about would be 1/4" x 2-1/2" riveted. The top, bottom and center horizontal parts would also be the hinges turning on pintles. The open top and bottom spaces would be "covered" by a grille like this one I am examining. The grille (riveted and not bolted like the exercise appearing in the pic) would be riveted to the frame. The grille parts are 4" apart. Question : will such a set-up sag? Do I need diagonal brace or an "X"? I read the "Realy big gates" topic here on IFI where there is probably the answer I am looking for, but it is not realy clear to me. I enjoyed reading about the principles involved and h…