Randy

What is this fasination with titanium? Since this job I had a lady that wanted ti platform shoes with a 8" heel and 4" platform! I figured how I could do it, but the material would be about $500 and with my time about $2400 total. She went to a fabricator and they quoted $5000 plus a minimum. Her husband still said too much for now. Crazy!

Bernie, I heat treated it just like any other hammer. One end at a time and then temper drawn from the eye with hot mild steel eye drifts. The one I did for NESM they were going to etch to show the construction, handle it and put it on a board in the office, like they do with all of their instructor projects.

Phil, I know what you mean. I do the same thing, but leave the end a bit heavier than needed before punching. Then you can grind the excess off to the desired shape and size.

Usually when we're forging we're having a hard time not getting the piping action. Now we can use it!

Unfortunately nothing new. I ran into this in the '70's. Even the National shows practice this. So many potters, jewelers, weavers, but only a couple of smiths. It's due to their ignorance. They think we all do the same thing. Probably horseshoes. (Sorry for cussing.) Best thing is to talk with them and show them the variety of work that's being done. Explain you are helping to re-educate the public as to what's being done today. How exciting it is. Good luck!

I was turned down from one National show and then got to see the slides of those that got in. One smith got in with 5 slides of nothing but wall hooks! I went right to the director and complained. I was told that they needed that for their wholesalers. Fine I said then open up more spaces for smiths. You never know what you're dealing with. At least I learned not to take it personal if not accepted to a show, but you still have to make money.

No, it's the Anderson Blacksmith Shop and Public Armoury. Plus they're working on a tinsmith shop, too.

Snap! Oh... I got distracted by your avitar.... at least you did something to the weld. Many forget that the weld is metal and just leave it sitting there. As it is metal we can heat it and punch it, carve it or what ever. Good job.

Also for punching the flower, that can be done cold. Just have a good punch on top and a hole plate of close to the hole size that you want and just give it a good hit. Makes it easier to center the hole up, too.

Nicely done. Good to see a youtube video from other than a newbie. That will teach them a lot.

Only thing I would add is as soon as you're done cutting, get that hardie off of the anvil before any other hammer blows are done. Leaving the hardie on the anvil while hammering on the face is a good way to cut some fingers. Well, unless you're right handed and the hardie hole is to the left instead of the right.

Welcome! You'll learn alot here and we look forward to seeing your progress. So why the fighting Irish avitar from someone from Brazil?

Now you know why that bar in the front is sometimes called a cow catcher. Like on the old trains. Thank god you were okay.

Beth, I don't know what you mean by, "i made a mess of the inside of the flower"? It looks good to me. Very nice design and well executed. It has a lot of life to it. Nature isn't perfect either. You know what they say, we are our own worst critics.

Thought you might like to see the progress on the new Anderson Blacksmith Shop and Public Armoury in Colonial Williamsburg. http://whatsnew.history.org/topics/armoury/ There are also 2 webcams to see what's happening, too. Ken Schwarz, their master smith, has been doing a great job of researching and putting all the pieces together. What a project it has been! Looking forward to seeing it in action.

Thank you, Vladimir. Very interesting. It's been tough here, too. One does what he has to in order to keep hammering. Did you get your press yet or was the ash tray done with your air hammer?

Keep up the great work!

Randy

So were the Colonial Williamsburg ones also fagot welded billets with steel faces or just wrought or mild steel bars with steel faces?

Silicon bronze is one of the nicest to forge. Architectural brass/bronze is right up there, too, as well as Naval brass/bronze.

Let's start from the beginning. Cut off your piece of coil spring. Straighten it out. Stop! Inspect for cracks. If none proceed. I find it helps if you slightly square up the piece, leaving rounded corners.. This way it won't roll off the anvil and makes it stronger, especially in coils that are 3/8" round and less. Stop! Inspect for cracks again. If none, proceed. Hammer a very slight taper on the hitting end. Helps to center your hammer blows and makes it easier to clean up when it does mushroom. Leave that end hot and turn piece around to work on business end. Shape end to desired use. Turn the air off the coal forge or the gas off a gas forge. Put the piece back into the fire and heat up at least 3/4's of the tool. Rotate so it's an even heat and bring the heat up very slowly. When solid red or slightly hotter lay the tool on a fire brick. Make sure not to lay it on any metal as it will work as a heat sink and that can be a break point. Leave until cool. About an hour or so will work. I usually do this near the forge so there's not cold air blowing on it. So that's the normalizing. Check again for cracks. If none, proceed. Now you're ready to harden. Slowly heat up about 2" to 3" of the working end, rotating in the fire for a solid heat. Don't guess by color as that is different in each shop. Use a magnet and keep checking the flat of the tool end. When the magnet has no grip any more, that's critical temperature. Quickly cool off about 1-1/4" or so of the end by moving the piece through the water in a figure 8 and slightly up and down. When the end is cool quickly polish up the end on a brick or with sand paper to shiney. Hold tool with working end up. Heat rises. Watch for the colors. Straw will come first. For hot cutting tools I take the end to purple. If there isn't enough residual heat to run the color that far put the tool backwards in the fire and slowly heat and then check colors again. Once purple cool off just the polished end. As long as there is water on the end you aren't running any more colors. Once it's all air cooled check again for cracks. If none, proceed to use your new tool. The first time I use a new coil spring I cut off a short sample piece and forge to a chisel end and check for cracks. If the piece starts splitting I just throw the spring away. Only happened once. Then I harden the sample piece in water. If no cracks that's what I use for my tools. In almost 40 years of tool making and 35 of teaching tool making I have done this process and always use water for coil spings. I hope this helps.

I have to hand it to you, Mike, great job! How are you cutting it out before forming?

Here's my 2 cents worth. Hope it helps. It's so far up the piece, away from the hardening and tempering, I'd guess it wasn't normalized to take the hardness and stress out of all of the tool before heat treating it. If it was normalized and you hardened it that far up with out swishing it around to wash the air bubbles off that can create a break line, too.Then again, how cold was it in your shop in Alaska? A frozen tool isn't good either. I almost always quench coil spring tools in water and never have had a problem. Hey, it's an opportunity to make another tool!

Plus you can always charge more for shiney. It hipnotizes them. Ah, my precious.

Brian, I had a wood frame wall in my previous shop and it was faced with plywood. Never had any burning of the wall from the forge up. Only place was below the forge from falling coals so I took a piece of sheet metal and leaned it up against the wall so that if anything fell it rolled away from the wall.

Fabrication wise it's like Knots said, use channel and either tenon the uprights and peen over in the channel or plug weld to the channel. Then the top or cap rail can be welded to the channel either with holes in the channel and plug welded or along the edge of the channel as shown. The drawing is a side section. That should match your existing railing.

Plus there's almost as much underground as there is above!

http://files.asme.org/ASMEORG/Communities/History/Landmarks/5488.pdf

I've done it a couple of ways. One is to upset the end of a bar in the vise, then reheat and drop through a hole in a plate on the anvil and head to shape. Then cut off with hack saw.

The other way is with a tool like John B shows. Heat the end, clamp in tool clamp in vise and head it. Then cut to length with hack saw.

This works for round or square rivets.

Yes, the Summer Conference, June 8 - 10, in Pontiac, Illinois

Thanks! Amazing what they had to do and what we take for granted.

George are you a member of IVBA? I'll be the demonstrator for their Hammer-In in June. Looks like fun!

Brian, It's not dimensioned there but the back of the forge is 12" from the wall. I had plans on putting a door with an opening through the wall, but figured I'd wait and see if I needed it or not before cutting through concrete block. In over 9 years I have never needed it. For longer pieces that won't fit straight through the forge due to it's length I've been able to put it in diagonally with out a problem. Plus I have done some massive jobs using that forge. Big scrolls, railing top rails and the like. No problem and the option is still there for a door IF ever needed.