Problem Solving

Let me start by saying that I have learned more since joining this site than I had the rest of the time I have been at the forge. Thank you all! Now for the problems. I told a friend that I would do 40 tent stakes for him. (Oops) In the process I was having trouble with the square stock cracking when I bent the hook. (3/8 hot rolled) I have had occasional cracking problems before but never a lot or regularly. A machinist where I work said it was too cold and I was bending it too fast. So I got it bright orange before bending and bent it very slowly, which did cure the problem. But I haven't normally had to be that careful. Was it more a temp or speed issue? Al…

Can anyone tell me how you can make the tapered threads that you commonly find on screw in hooks/eyes etc. I can't seem to find a tapered die so hows it done? Thanks, Paul

I am new to the forum, I have been a certified professional welder for the past ten years, but my smithing knowledge is religated to heating square stock with an O/A rig and twisting it. My question is this, what would happen if I used Anthricyte Coal in place of Bit. Would this work for use in the forging process. My project is to manufacture some mortise chisels of various sizes. Would this type of coal leave any pit marks or any other impurities that I am not aware of? Any help would be greatfully received. Thanks, Archiphile

Hello every body! Recently I bought my first Champion 400 blower and a very nice leg vise for my future blacksmith shop. The blower puts out a good blast of air and for $40 I couldn

:confused: I just scored a gently used 1 hp drill press with a 5/8 inch chuck (a craftsman to be exact). I had my last shop class in Jr High. and I'm pushing 50 now. What kind of drills bits do i buy for drilling the mild steel we use for smithing? There are ones coated in cobalt or carbide or titanium. And what about the angle of the point 118 vs 134 degrees? I currently have a nice set of bullet point dewalt drills bits but they are specifically for wood. Any advice for what kind of set to purchase would be helpful. and any comments on the best cutting oil to use would be great too Thanks!

I have got a tree stump a little over a metre high. I am going to use it as the base for one of my new anvils and just wanted to know the best way to embed it so it won't move. I am just about to start work on the new shop floor. That will be concrete. I am going to break up the old slab where I shall be extending. At the same time I shall be digging out for the stump. I had thought about digging in a plastic dustbin so as to keep the foot of the stump dry. What does anybody think? Also, and this might be a stupid question, which way up does the stump go? Does this matter?? I have never had a stump embedded before but want this one seriously fixed as it will be where any …

How would you go about making a tapered reamer to ream the holes for tuning pegs for violins, dulcimers, etc? Thanks in advance...bart

I've read that putting clogged rusty files in acid will not only clean them but also sharpen them. Any fact there? I know I get some dandy sharp edges when etching damascaus blades. Thanks bruce

Hi all, I've got a question on the air requirement for burning charcoal. I've built myself a small forge out of an old temporary spare 'dummy' rim. I've lined it and placed an air tube in the bottom by cutting a 1-1/8" hole through the rim. I left this tube long (like about a foot outside the rim) for now until I get an idea of what the thing is going to need at the finish. I tried this little guy for about 10 mins tonight with about a half a tomato juice can full of charcoal that I "made" by scooping a couple small scoops of hot coals out of my woodstove and putting them into the tomato juice can and covering them with a piece of sheet steel. I did that a couple w…

ok so i wanted to make a tree, only 1' high, out of individual strips of flattened 12 gauge wire. the base stump was working well but im having trouble with going higher. i do not have my welding equipment yet but any suggestions would be appreciated. ok so i attached a rough sketch of what its going to look like each little "rectangle" on the tree is a strip of steel.

I searched the forum, got nothing, Googled, got nada again. Let me ask y'all here: Is there an easy way to lay out the triangular pattern (spacing of the legs) of a tripod? I'm working on three legged bowls and am having trouble getting the 120 degree dimension between adjacent legs even. What I'm looking for is a quick way to draw an equilateral (equiangular?) Y on the bottom of the bowl. Some sort of stiff-yet-flexible template maybe? :confused: Thanks in advance, John

anyone know how to tell the dif between fake and real damask just by appearance?

I spray painted some dresser drawers a few years ago and I really like how they turned out. I can't be certain but if I remember I believe it was a high humidity or rainy day. But I shot the dressers with flat black spray paint and when I saw them they had a white hazy, sort of ghostly look to them. Like all cool art at first I was startled because it was not my intention. Now I want to recreate that ghostly hazy flat black look. Any thoughts as to what caused this? Do I shoot the spray paint a certain way or at a certain temp? Any ideas appreciated.

Hello, I am new to this forum and figured that this might be the place to ask this question. I teach several manufacturing process classes at the University of North Dakota and am interested in adding a forging activity in one of my classes. We have a fully equipped machine shop and foundry, but our program has not done any blacksmithing in many years and I would like to bring this back in the form of a drop forging activity. I would like to make the process as safe as possible and space is also an issue, so would a 20 ton H-Frame hydraulic press and a suitable forming die be appropriate to demonstrate this method? We wouldn't be working with anything very large or comple…

Anyone ever gone there?? i'm looking for any additional info about Fairbanks/Dupont/United hammers that isn't commonly available. What limited mateerial out there has been gleaned from Doug Freunds book, info from Sid Sudemeir and a few other sources. Ther USNavy had probably hundreds of these hammers in shops and in shipboard workshops. I figger there has to be detailed records, specs, etc. somewhere in the archives. Any ideas?? Thanks bruce/birdogforge

Hello, I am new to this forum and figured that this might be the place to ask this question. I teach several manufacturing process classes at the University of North Dakota and am interested in adding a forging activity in one of my classes. We have a fully equipped machine shop and foundry, but our program has not done any blacksmithing in many years and I would like to bring this back in the form of a drop forging activity. I would like to make the process as safe as possible and space is also an issue, so would a 20 ton H-Frame hydraulic press and a suitable forming die be appropriate to demonstrate this method? We wouldn't be working with anything very large or comple…

today i was out of coal so resorted to using some charcoal just to finish a project so my hands were black obviously but before i washed up i wrapped a handle with some twine and gorilla glued it and of course my hands were sticky so i used some nail polish remover to get rid of the stickiness but now the black wont come off from most of both my hands but it doesnt leave a residue on anything and ive tried all kinds of soaps and oils etc but anyone know what i could do to get my hands clean?

Hi I`m new to this forum,and not sure how it all works,anyway i`m building a power hamer out of old junk i have lying around.works fine but i`m wondering if some one could help out,whats the best style of spring that sits on the top of a power hammer heavy truck or light trailer type. Thanks very much for your time and thoughts. Alastair

Hey guys, I have a 55 gal drum full of vinigar that I use to remove rust and scale from steel. I have a lid on it but this drum has several holes in it so I can lay rod to hang projects into the bath. I'm wondering if I keep this vented drum outside, under a roof, if the vinigar will loose any of it's rust removing properties? I don't see why it would but I thought I would put it out there. Thanks! IAF

Hi, I got this small vise for free and I don't know how to fix it to my bench. There is two square holes in the back piece to be mounted on a bench, but I don't know how its supposed to be fixed. I never saw this type. Also, there's no apparent mark that there was a leg before. Is it common for this type of vise? I would also like to know where it comes from. There is a stamped

Just to get some advice. I have an antique cast iron pot, about two gallons, with feet in a hemispherical shape that has a crack from the pour spout down to near the bottom. For many years my mother used it as a flower pot holder and refused to let me play at fixing it. Now, with it kicking around the floor and not part of my decorating scheme I'm wondering what the best way of fixing it will be. The metal is quite thin, on the order of 1/8 thick. This is not one of the Lodge cast iron pots. I'm wondering what the best way is to mend it. The crack is roughly 1/32 wide at the top and tapers down. It takes a litte pulling to spring it back together. I'm …

I have an International Harvester (I'm a God fearin hard workin...) number 37 twine baler that has bent knotters. I ordered new knotters but when I drove 1 hour, one way to get them, the parts guy said he ordered the wrong one! He ordered the wire knotter instead of the twine knotter. The wire knotter was a steep $113 a piece, but the twine knotters were a vertical $220 a piece! Is this something I can heat up and bend back to it's propper position/shape? Does anyone have one of these balers, and if so a picture of the knotters? I have the original owners manual, but there is only a sketch of the knotters! Any help appreciated! Thoughts??? Dave

Hi All, Hope the start of your week has been safe and productive!! I found an old Galv. Trash Can today beside my storage garage. It seems that it must have been left behind by the neighbor who recently died. It's going to make a nice looking slack tub - if it doesn't leak! It's got a decent bottom - rusted but not rotted - and a good lid, the sides are really good, but the seam on the one side looks 'stretched' - for lack of a better way to describe it. All the folds are still fully intact, and I plan to tap it back to flat and hope that it's still got a seal, and does not leak. If by chance it does not seal, has anyone tried sealing these seams with some sort of…

We are fabricating funiture frames with 1 1/2" steel tubing. We degrease with laquer thinner and sand metal with orbital before applying presto black by Birchwood Casey. We wipe off with wet rag and dry with another dry rag before spraying the metal with a two part catalysed polyurathane. THe problem we are having is that clear coat is lifting and taking the blackener with it, leaving the raw metal. I have photos as well. Any help is appreciated. Emmett. 303 507 5275

I've been poking about at blacksmithing for a bit now but I'm still working on the basics. I have seen some excellent tutorials on here but I'm having trouble putting some of the tips to use. Right now I'm working on learning to upset stock. The problem I am running into is getting it to upset where I want it to without warping elsewhere. The two contributing factors I'm fighting is (1) I'm using a gas forge and have trouble limiting the heated area of the stock and (2) most of what I do is with 1/4" or 5/16" (some 1/2") stock. Any tips on how to work around these would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Kendrick