Problem Solving

Hi folks, I'd like to make a series of scrolls by bending flats the "hard" way (I'm an amateur). You see in the photo the first scroll (on the cardboard) came out ok. But I had a hard time getting it started, since the narrow tip kept slipping out of the initial backstop (yellow arrow in pic, don't know the formal name). This also happens when I bend rods and flats the normal way, but for those I've learned just to use scroll tongs or a vise grip to hold them in place. However, when bending in the "hard" orientation, tongs and vise grips don't have a lot to clamp to. Is there something I've never quite grasped for making scroll jigs and the backstop to hold …

Hello all. A member at our makerspace has what she called a bakers table with a sheet metal top. She has another table she's like to cover with the same material, if possible. She asked me what I thought the metal was, but I don't know. I'm guessing some kind of tin. It has a dull grey (perhaps with a slight green tint) patina, and IMO, doesn't feel as soft as lead would be. Any thoughts? Any chance this has a significant amount of lead to not use as a baking table any more? Thanks

Good afternoon. I have been practicing the ABANA taper lesson and wanted to change it up a bit so I figured I could go to octagon after I had my 3 inch square. When I start to forge the corners down, a twist is imparted. I am sure I am doing something wrong, but can’t find anything online saying why the twist is happening I even use the “site:iforgeiron.com” search string. I am heating up to a bright orange heat, using slot tongs to hold the 1/2 inch square bar. I am using a proper anvil and a Hofi style hammer. Any tips or ideas that you could give?

I've recently come across some hopeful scrap steel that COULD be good quality. But I've encountered an issue. Its all CARC coated. Everything I've found about it just says danger don't clean, don't cut, don't weld. Does anyone have any ideas for how to remove this stuff safely?

Hello all, Today I forged a Hardy, and as I was Flattening the top of it, fish lips formed on the top as each side folded over the middle. Now, my piece was evenly heated, to the best of my knowledge, as I let it soak in the heat for a bit in each heat. Besides this, what, if anything can be done about fish lips forming? Thanks, Ridgeway Forge

Posed a while back in the "It Followed Me Home" section that I saved some garage door hinges and springs from the alley. However, now that I look at them, they're of course a small diameter wire, so of limited use for punches, drifts, etc. What other uses are they well-suited for? Forge welding into billets for pattern-welded steel is the only thing that comes to mind.

I recommend repairing a roof with a DIY metal roof: Hi, I live and work in an old 1950s building. I have problems with rain infiltration, I have tried to repair it in a thousand ways with hot asphalt and bituminous sheaths. I'm considering making a shed, a metal shelter and putting press-bent galvanized iron panels on it, I should make the frame supporting the trusses in essence, could you kindly provide me with some suggestions and solutions, thanks larga 15 metri lunga 18 metri

I have a old Lincoln Tombstone welding machine and everytime I lay a bead, at the end of it is a big hole you could stick the tip of a ink pen in. I only use 6011 at the proper amperage and have been for years and never had this problem. Out of neccesity, I am running it off a Craftsman generator and wonder if for some wierd reason this is causing it. I ground out the bead and the hole goes all the way to the joint. It's driving me nuts. Also, I will include a photo of the project that I am working on. It is a flower I am making. You can see the glob welds where I tried chasing/covering the hole up on the leaf stems. While I'm at it, could those leaf stems be forg…

I started a couple cauldrons/cooking pots, the smaller one ended up a nice enough shape, just need to put a handle on it. The larger one didn't go so well, it went sorta Pringle shaped, and I had a hard time getting it to even out. After that I worked it to thin and split the bottom, oops. I also had a hard time bringing the edges in to get a more closed shape. I was using a ball peen and a piece of heavy wall pipe with the edge rounded over, about 2.5" or 3" diameter, to sink them. I started in the center and slowly spiraled my way out, making a little ridge and pushing that ridge to the outside edge. I was working cold, and relaxing the metal with a torc…

I thought I would post what I do for file handles. I do a lot of filing, so I therefore have LOTS of files. A file without a handle kinda sucks to use much. So Here is what I do. I go to my local re-store and buy several screwdrivers for 25 cents each. I don't care if they are broke or basically no good as a tool. I put them in a vice with the handle sticking up and a file standing with the tang sticking straight up. I made a wood block with a slot just for this. I then heat the steel of the screwdriver with a propane torch until the heat transfers up to where the handle is stuck on. I get it pretty hot so that the handle slides off pretty easy, then I pull the handle off…

Alohhhhhhhaaaaaa! I am working on a design for a single-swing aluminum gate, approximately 4" high by 13" ft long. The gate would be a plasma-cut sheet/plate of aluminum, framed out in aluminum rectangle tube; either 1.5"x3"x.125" or 2"x3"x.25". For design aesthetics, I want to avoid adding a vertical support tube right in the middle of the gate, and am trying to figure out what thickness I should use for the plasma-cut panel so that it adds structural support. The panel itself has a lot of negative space (white areas in picture) so its not all that heavy (150-250 pounds). The panel includes a sheet/plate border of ~3" inches on all sides, and will have to be do…

I have a request from a client to make a memorial to her brother who passed. The client wants me to use the barrel and slide from her brother's Glock 22 in the piece. My plan is to make a small bowl from a star shaped piece of metal and then use the barrel and slide to forge a ring around the outside similar to the Texas Ranger's Badge. My research shows that the barrel should just be steel with a special heat treat process. My question is has anyone tried to shape a gun barrel into something else or have any experience with this? I have access to a large power hammer so if it's just a matter of heat and force I won't have any issues but I don't want the metal to crack…

Hi all! I did a class a couple years ago and liked it enough to get a small forge off of craigslist and various homeownership realities prevented me from using it until now. Anyway, I've only worked with mild steel but I said screw it and just try (and fail) with higher carbon steel. I bought a splitting wedge from an antique store and I've read that they are hardened so I tried annealing it and halfway through it... Broke in half? I just kept heating them as I read (a nice bright orange for about 90 min) and they're currently cooling. Question is why would it split in half? How can I tell if its annealed correctly? There's so much info out there.…

I'm in the process of rebuilding my tire power hammer. I acquired several pieces of 3/4" thick steel, which I have fastened together using full perimeter welds. I now have a more or less solid chunk of steel to use for my anvil that is 5.5" x 5.25" x 29.5". I need to clean up the ends that will be the mating surfaces for welding to the steel plate on the bottom and support bottom dies at the top. I'm looking for suggestions to help me get flat surfaces on the ends that are square to the sides. I do not have any milling equipment or anything else that can handle a nearly 250 pound chunk of steel. Left to my own devices I'd probably end up using a 4.5" angle gri…

Hi there, wonderful community of metal-bashers! I have a problem and hope you can help: sometimes the tips of my tapers start to split, rather like split ends of hair. It's happened with both mild and tool steel. Can anyone shed light on what I might be doing wrong?

I don't have enough experience to know one way or the other. If a peice of steel has cracks ( that you cant otherwise see) , will they show up when you etch it?

I was wondering if anyone has ever tried to make a long Bow out if metal I'm thinking of taking a leaf spring and filing it down into a bow. What are your thoughts?

I need to remove the refractory from a cast forge pan in order to free up and remove the firebox. I don't want to use Muriatic acid to "eat" the concrete if I can avoid it. I have tried a chisel to break it but it is strong stuff and I am concerned about breaking the cast pan. Any knowledge/wisdom/advise from everyone with more experience and smarter than myself would be greatly appreciated.

Sometimes things happen where a blacksmith can no longer work as he once did. This is usually related to mobility. There are others that have physical problems that would like to start blacksmithing, but the tools are too tall, too heavy, or whatever. Let's start a discussion on ways and ideas to address these problems. To start, how would a blacksmith that could not walk easily or was limited to a wheel chair make changes so they could work in their blacksmith shop. Any suggestions?

A forklift at work got its tines replaced due to one of them getting the tip bent straight up. After getting permission, I scooped up the bent one when the contractor technician finished swapping them out. Anyway. I'm still very inexperienced at smithing. This tine weighs over 100#, thus is a decent score for someone such as myself who is lacking both experience & funds. I know it's got potential, but can't think of the ideal use(s) for it. I could just cut it down to more manageable pieces. Or it could be used/modified into tooling of some sort? Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Tranaparent Aluminium, aka ALON I know this is a bit out of the normal balliwick for forging, but since I am thinking about using it as a sight window in a forge build, I have a question to pose to the peanut gallery. We always want to be able to see into our forges, but every opening is just another heat loss. I am curious as to whether or not it would stand up, not only to the heat of the forge, but to the highly reactive atmosphere created from propane at those tempratures. supposedly resistant to 3600f or so, but at what point does that just become a glowing mass, vs a viewport. Normally I would just experiment myself, but unfortunatly only have ac…

I don't know about beam scales but I found one I am thinking about buying, but the bottom of it is buried under a bunch of scrap and junk and couldn't look at it. I could see metal casters but not much else. My question is, it has two beams, both marked 150 on the end. Does this mean it weighs up to 150 lbs.? The wood column is falling apart. Can these be rebuilt easily or are they a can of worms? Callibrated springs and all that, un calibrated from years of junk sitting on it? It's $50.

I’m working on a pair of railings for a short set of steps up to a porch. The steps themselves are a pre-cast concrete unit that appears to have mounting holes already cast into it. Those holes currently have some kind of cement-based filler, so I’ll have to drill that out before I mount the rails. My question is this: I’ve never mounted a railing to concrete before, so I’m not as familiar with anchor bolts as I am with, say, lag bolts in timber. Which of the bolts in the following photo would folks recommend, and why? Or is there something else that they’d recommend? Thanks in advance.

I have a project in mind that would require stretching the middle part of some OLD wrenches leaving the jaws intact and no hammer marks. I will be doing other sizes and materials as well if it works. In the case of the one in the photo I'd like to make it 2' or longer. If it was evenly heated, say with a rosebud, and pulled on by the business ends, would this even work? I've never heard of it before. Most are medium carbon steel from what I can tell. Some of it will be mild steel. I'll try it in any case, but was wondering... I wonder if it would destroy the cross section. It is 1/4" thick x 1" wide.