mike-hr

Hello Lively, Seeing your knife reminded me of a letter opener I made for a friend last xmas. Made from chainsaw chain, I was pretty happy with it. Got it all welded up with no flux. I'm too scared to try it again.. Welcome to the forum!

I cut a bunch of pipe at an angle and welded to the forge hood. Most of the stuff i use a lot is at eye level now, and easier to spot.

What if you cut a block that fits just above the screw, so that when tightened against, the jaws are suspended with something like a 1/4 inch gap. Then heat the neck of the jaws with an oxy/fuel rosebud and hammer them untill they meet. It sort of looks like the jaws are sprung back, it might make sense to re-set them forward.

I reckon the first thing I'd do with them is see if they are heat treatable. Heat one end to non-magnetic, let it air cool. see if you can cut it with a file. Yes? heat to non-mag again, quench it in oil. Can you cut it with a file? Yes? Heat to non-mag again, and quench in lukewarm water. Does the file skate across and not cut so good? Then you have a warm water quenching steel. Next practice tempering. lay the piece on some hot blocks that just came out of the forge, and let the heat run up your test piece, untill the end just starts to turn brown/blue. quench in water to stop the tempering there. Sharpen the tempered end, and see what she'll take. pound it into a log, and see if you can wiggle it back out without it breaking. Didn't break? May be worth forging into a knife. Don't forge high carbon steel below a below a brite red, take another heat.. This is how I would approach an unknown steel, Lets see what others have to say.. Mike

I'm saddened by this news. My sympathies are with your family. I've met Ralph a couple times, we shared a memorable day at a hammer-in melting bits of glass into eyes for an animal head. I'm sorry he's gone. Mike Hricziscse

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j50/mike-hr/rack0002.jpg I scrounged 3 mobilehome hitch tounges from a contractor (2-1/2 x 10 inch I-beam). When they set up a triple-wide, they cut the hitches away for scrap. I disassembled them , welded 2 pieces lengthwise for shelves to make this rack for my 1-6 foot remnants. http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j50/mike-hr/rack0019.jpg For smaller than 12 inch pieces I use a shelf with dividers to store by thickness. These are great blocks and shims for fabricating.

Sketching-- I'm very un-gifted at designing things on paper. At a hammer-in this spring, John Emmerling and Tom Dudkowski brought a nifty easel that uses a roll of butcher paper that feeds over a piece of plywood. Tom said he tries to draw something every morning, a bird, flower, pair of tongs, whatever. He uses a lump of charcoal to draw with. I tried it, charcoal is awesome. You can sketch a half inch wide line or a thin detail and smudge a shadow with your thumb. Try it!

Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved. BP0245 Line Shaft Pulley by Mike-hr IForgeIron Blueprints Ironwood is almost ready to get his power hammer going, but needed to find one more flat belt pulley of a certain size to get his hits/minute to a workable range. Nobody had one that was close, so we made one. The smaller pipe fits the line shaft good, the larger pipe is the pulley diameter needed, and the flat plate will be the hubs. After cutting 2 squares from the plate, I found a hole saw that matched the size of the axle pipe. Next I cut the corners off the hubs, and trued up in the lathe. They are sized to just a bit larger than the inside diameter of the big pipe. Facing the large pipe, and cutting a step inside, so the hub fits in flush. I drilled and tapped some holes in the axle pipe for set screws. I also had to machine just a little for the axle to fit into the hole saw cut in the hubs.Everything was fit together and welded up. This picture shows the last step, setting the compound to one degree, and cutting a slight crown, so the belt rides in the center. Ready to spin. Additional Comments: When drilling stainless or aluminum drill thru a thick sponge first, then saturate with cutting fluid as you push down it self lubricates. On thick material touch with hole saw then drill 3 or 4 holes in the hole saw groove and the chips will fall out the other side thru the holes. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved. BP0241 Grab Rail by Mike-Hr The contractor approached me to make railings for the interior stairs of this residence that would draw attention to the 'picture wall' in the background. I reached into my backlog of descriptive adjectives and sputtered out something about an all forged product with texture, life, and different facets that catch and play with light. and how about nouveau organic hangers with curvy thin ends, that moves your eye up the railing, and onto the six foot square velvet portrait of Elvis in the background? The two builders stared at each other for a few seconds, and one of them asked for a sample. I came back the next day with a couple feet of what I had in mind, and got the job. This is what i ended up with. This BP will talk about its construction. Local codes call for a four inch minimum circumference on non-standard grab rails, so I started with 1 inch square stock. This picture shows the first move, forging a 1/4 inch flat on one diamond. Next I went to the other diamond, and power hammered until it was approximately 1-1/2 inches across the flat. It got challenging towards the center, pulling the piece from the forge and to the hammer before it slumped over. I did rough straightening after each heat with this U-shaped tool, and 3 pins in the table. My buddy Darryl found this straightening tool at a yard sale. It was well worth the five dollars he paid. I had the whole piece straight both ways within 1/8 inch in less than 15 minutes. Setting up the return-to-the-wall bend. The 3 marks on the left are locator marks, as the chalk mark on the right by the pin will burn away when heated. I had to make another piece of this and bend it several times to figure out the math of material loss in bends. The finished bend, made hot with the U-shaped tool next to it. The bends from level, up the stairs, and back to level were made the same way. Making the curvy hangers. I used 3/4 inch sq. and an incline die to point the end. I then used the same process as before to create the flattened hexagon look. The curves were started on the horn of the anvil, then fine tuned on the platen table. The offsets were made with my version of Jr. Strasil's multi-pin bender. It's a great tool, consider making one if you haven't.. I fixed the piece into position on the wall using adjustable pipe stands. After finding the studs behind the drywall, I chalked an outline of the hangers on the grab rail, then took them outside to tack weld. This was the hardest part. I need to get a portable TIG machine for doing this in place. I just can't see myself arc welding on a cherry floor that's worth more than I am. The finish is low sheen clear metal lacquer. Thanks to Mark Asprey for the flattened octagon idea. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved. BP0231Ear of Wheat by Mike-Hr This is a pile of tie wire i pulled from the dumpster at the steel yard. This pile had 1/4" and 5/16" pieces. It seems to be a very low carbon wire, really soft, forges easy, good for kids to learn on. It also forge welds real nice, and it's free! Here's 4 chunks of 1/4" wire, straightened and cut to about the same length. Heat up, and forge all ends to a point. Bend in half at the center. Take a good even heat. Stick the pointy ends in the vise about 1-1/2" and clamp. I used a gauge stick so I had the same amount sticking up on all four pieces. Twist the same number of times for all pieces. This one is 6 turns. Two pieces 6 turns to the right, and two pieces 6 turns to the left. Notice how one of these came out a lot longer than the others? That's because I forgot to twist to the left, and had to untwist, straighten, then re-twist. By alternating the twists, the pieces will 'nest' together. Clamp or wire them together, then forge weld the looped end. I got the end welded, and am working up the piece, forge welding up to the tassels. You don't need to get carried away when welding. Leave some definition to the kernels. I wire brushed it as it cooled. If you use a wire wheel on a bench grinder, be real careful around the tassel end. They like to grab the wire wheel and spit out all over the place. This is a piece Ironwood and I made at a hammer-in last month. A lot of folks were interested in the process, and it brought good money at the auction. View full article

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j50/mike-hr/DSCF0055.jpg Spin-0-Dex chisel holder

Leah, Sending happy thoughts to your family. Mike

I use 'bi-metal' blades on my metal cutting bandsaw. I've heard they have a good cutting edge and a lower carbon spine. Maybe somebody knows more about these. By the time you grind the teeth off, you may not have much good steel left. I haven't used any for laminate welding.

A chunk of cable-mascus cleft welded to a rr spike. I'm having trouble with the new forum wanting things resized, my computer only gives me one choice to size down, and it's apparently too large, so here's a link: mike

I have a concrete floor and love it. I have a thick textured 'welcome' mat in front of the mill, lathe, and forge. If I'm doing a repetative job for a couple days straight, I'll change boots at lunch. The different boots put different pressure on my feet for the second half of the day. Gel sole inserts in boots are a great thing also. My feet hurt a lot less than everything else.

Go to www.garygloyne.com and ask him. He has an 88# anyang and a 220?# also. They work their hammers hard, he will know what breaks.

Check the polarity, also. Where the ground cable goes into the machine, the ground should hook to the red lug for flux core. Opposite for solid wire with inert gas.

You do amazing work. Thank you for posting pictures of the things you make. Please keep posting pictures and don't ever leave us!

Cory, I can give a few thoughts, you can tell me if I'm on the page I should be on.. I've evolved from carpenter to fabricator/machinist to blacksmith and railing contractor over the last several years. I've been backed up over six months for over two years now. I have a yellowpage ad under welding and also iron work, that stresses blacksmithing and iron art. Ive found that folks go nuts over forged work, not perfect, some honest hammer marks, and swelled eyes with tennons and big rivet joinery. I'm a poor salesman, but am passionate about my trade. I show them a chunk of 1 inch square and then show them the caprail i make from it, tell them about how I restored a 1910 power hammer just like the one they've seen on the history channel, and why my product is honest and unlike the stuff at home depot. For almost every job, I'll make a couple feet long sample of product that fits their stairway or balcony. People need to see and feel this kind of work to understand the price you get. The sample also gives me a real time guide to pricing. Keep track of how long it takes to make an element, but remember that forging two feet of something isn't quite proportional to forging a ten foot long piece. If you are going to try for the higher end market, money's not a problem, personality is...design most of a railing and ask the homeowners for THEIR input on several elements. They now have a personal interest in your product and are thrilled to find out that it's no problem to make the bottom half of an S-scroll fatter than the top, per their instructions. I get a lot of my work from several concrete contractors and home builder contractors. If you don't have a network, make some product samples, and a run of nifty bottle openers. Cruise the high end building projects by the lake. Show the general your stuff and give him a bottle opener. He'll call you for his next house if not the one he's doing now. Remodel jobs are a lot nicer than new construction. By the time they are ready for you on a new house, things are a month behind and you can't get initial measurements until the piano is in the living room. They will get quite angry if you tell them you can't get the forge weld on the water leaf to take. It's okay to grab the mig gun and cheat in this instance. Most construction loans have a maturity date, running long is a mortal sin. I hope this is what you were asking for, it was kind of fun to vent for a minute...

I just read the tutorial. Very nice, thanks for taking the time to do it. Will you add a photo of how it looks finished? Thanks

I've been using Sherwin Williams OPEX clear metal laquer on a lot of stuff, including exterior work. The manager of your local store should be able to give you a sample if he has a bucket onsite. Thin with laquer thinner 50-50, spray on, load it up and install it 20 minutes later. The stuff is very shiny, The manager at my local store called the batch plant and had a bucket made up of low-sheen OPEX. The low sheen batch works very well for me, the iron looks like it has a light coat of oil. I've also brushed it on and had good results. I live in semi-arid country, don't know how long it would last in mostly humid areas.. Before I found OPEX, I was using catalyzed two part paint. It's nasty and uses cyanide as a catalyst. I found that mixing half black and half metallic chrome paint approximates the look of power wire-brushed steel pretty well, but touch-up painting with a brush on the jobsite doesn't lay in well with the sprayed rest of the work.

Sounds like a great set of soon-to-be historical literature.. I'm in! E-mail me please with an address.. mikecindyjon@peoplepc.com mike

I have a 5 1/2 inch slab, and I mounted my 80# hammer to the floor with no extra foundation. I put a layer of rubber belting on the floor, then a layer of two inch pine slabs on the belting. When I had the foot print figured out, I bought a handful of masonry blades that fit in my skilsaw and cut a joint in the concrete around the pine slabs. I figured that if the hammer was too much for the floor, maybe it would break up in a controlled area instead of shooting cracks across the floor. An odd thing I've noticed, I have a collection of old bottles on top of a shelving unit, less than two feet from the hammer. The bottles never rattle off the shelf, but things 30 feet away will occasionally settle while using the hammer. Must be a wavelength thing. It may be worth mentioning that there is a layer of hardpan under my shop that's at least six feet deep. I visited a smith in Eugene, OR who lives in the Alluvial soil of the river valley. He put a very sizable foundation under his 200# Beaudry, and it has sunk a noticeable amount.

I keep a lookout for big pine stumps in the woods, they are mostly pitch wood. I chop the pitch into pencil size sticks and keep in a sealed coffee can. Sometimes i pour a bit of turpentine into the can to fortify the pitch. Talk about a one match fire, a guy saw me start up the forge and called it solid propane..

Some friends used to take month long road trips in central America. They would put some clothes in a plastic 5 gallon bucket with soap and water,seal the lid, and as they drove down bumpy roads, the 'washboard' roads would create enough agitation to do a pretty good job. I've found that putting a can of pepsi in the wash helps take out greasy stains.