Randy

As was said coil springs and files are great. I also use titanium. Surprised me, but it works!

I get mine llaser cut out of 16 ga. steel sheet. Different sizes with a short stem for welding to bar stock stem. Saves a lot of time and gives more detain than I could get with bar stock.

David, what kind of background do you have in forging? Read any good books? Taken any classes? Joined www.msforgecouncil.com ? Find any nearby smiths that can share some info with you? The more of these sources you use the easier it will all be for you. This is a very helpful forum, but you need one on one, in person training to make it flow.

Thom, for setting the diamond I had a nice fitting recess for him and I recommended super glue. They have a special one that is a little thicker than the normal super glue that a lot of jewelers use. It's called Zap-A-Gap.

Thanks, Rick, but the whole purpose of this is for me to be able to make better pattern welded steel for my use. I have made it before, see cowboy hat, just want better contrast and bigger blocks.

Before it was a standard to wear safety glasses I got a piece of aluminum in my eye just by walking through the grind room at a company I worked for. Had to get it cut out. No fun. Wear glasses.

Thanks, Rick. Where do I find Rick Smith's vessels? Did a google and a search here with no luck. I highly agree with you about the pattern welding and sculpture. The first Dona Meilach books, Decorative and Sculptural Ironwork, had some beautiful pattern welded pieces. I met one guy years ago at a show that did it with 1/2" thick or more finished layers for sculptural pieces. Incredible!

Good info! Bob your point is well taken. If you notice my pedals are attached to a big piece of angle and that is higher than the pedals so anything that would fall lays on the angle not the pedals. I see more of a call for this in a shop with more people, but may just take a piece of sheet metal and cover it, just in case. Actually when working at the nearby vise I have more of a problem with pieces rolling under the pedals. I should make a guard for that! Also my on/off switch is right on the press in easy reach for quick turn off. A kill switch is a great idea. Safety, safety, safety!

Thanks everyone! I'm still open to other ideas. Really like to get as close to black and white as I can or brown and white. I'm currently bundling up some mild steel with some highly refined wrought iron and also some not refined wrought iron. I'll keep it simple so I can see which is which and then etch to see how it works. I'll photo it as I go. What's the best etch to use?

We spend years trying to educate the public as to what we do and one stupid ad kicks it to the curb. Hate their ignorance!

Maybe I'll try the wrought iron and mild steel. If you know of a better scrap material to work with that I can get in thick pieces please let me know. Hope it gives me a great contrast. What's the best etch to achieve this?

Super responses! Guess this should carry on to other safety issues. Let's start with other safety things for the press itself. Have a shelf on the front and back of the press. They are used to keep scale and hot metal from the cylinder and hoses. The front one doubles as a place to have tooling ready for a job. The one on the back should be quite a bit larger than the front one as you are protecting the hoses with this one. You may want to add a fence to it also. This will keep hot pieces from rolling towards your hoses. I also recommend using foot pedals instead of a hand lever that comes with the valve. At least give yourself the option of having both. It's hard to work with one hand on the metal and one on the operating lever. Foot pedals make both hand available for holding the metal or for tooling. And they are easy to make for your existing set up. Robert Eggerling came up with this setup. The one pedal is hinged in the back, so it pulls down. The other pedal hinges in the middle, so it pushes up. Simplicity itself. Easy to make and install. Make your whole construction bigger and more supported than is required. I'd rather have a press built extra strong than on the border of what will safely work. That includes all of the bolts, too. Safety in operation: Do not use hand held tools in the press! If that thing breaks or kicks sideways it can fly at you at what ever pressure your press is rated for. Also the longer the tool the more chance for disaster. A way around this is to have short handled tools. I wrap a piece of 1/4" round stock tightly around the tool twice, in the middle of the round stock and bring the two ends together to form the handle. You can use link tongs that wrap tightly all around the tool, but I prefer a totally enclosed handle better. Work hot. Once the piece you're working on gets cold that's when a number of things can happen to you. The piece can shatter or it can go sideways and fly out. Either way isn't good. Well, that's a start. Let's hear what you have to add to this.

Some how I don't see this. Guess I just dislike hoods so much. Why can't you do something so you can still use the side draft?

Thanks! I have a Nazel 1B and a 60 ton forging press. Does it make any difference welding in the gas compared to the coal forge for Ni? I have a blown Jymm Hoffman style gas forge so heat is not a problem either way.

Thanks! Wrought iron I have. What in the scrap yard will be pure nickel? And if that's not easy to work with, is it?, then what is the next best material?

First some information: I didn't put this in the knife section as I'm not looking at making any more knives, but some larger sculptural pieces. So the piece will not be heat treated. A finished product/billet of about 2" square by say a foot long when completed. Just a layered billet not mosaic damascus. I don't have any problem forge welding and I do it in the coal and gas forges. It's okay if the finished layers are 1/8" thick or more. So this is for looks, not function. I have done some damascus/pattern welding over the years so know something about the process. Question: What materials would give me the best contrast? I should add that I don't plan to order the material from a knife dealer but will just go to my scrap pile or scrap dealer. So info in that regard will be most helpful. I did hit the other posts and they were knife related, didn't really say much about contrast or if it was more along the art lines didn't say what the materials were. Any help and details are greatly appreciated.

Wow! You've come a long way! Looking good! Only thing I can add is if you are using your anvil as shown you may want to try turning it 90 degrees from the forge instead of the 180 you show now. When I started the old timer had it set up that way, too, and so I worked that way for a few years. Then I took Frank Turleys class and he set them up at 90's. What a difference! Instead of you turning 180 degrees from the forge to the anvil and back all day it's a simple side step between the anvil and forge. What a time saver and heat saver. A lot easier to get those tricky forge welds done with that set up. Ideally you should have a close triangle between the forge, anvil and vise/powerhammer. Keep in mind that any long pieces of metal should miss the other equipment when turning and working with it. I've attached my shop layout to see how I work. I hope this helps.

Beautiful! Funny, I saw a carpenters' tool box on American Pickers last night that the carpenter put pointy nubs coming out the top of the lid. He didn't want anyone sitting on it. Think what we could make for that purpose!

I have a couple of small ones that are solid, but my big one is between 4 and 5 feet tall is hollow with a solid top, about 1-3/4" diameter flat top. I've seen some that were a two piece cone. Had a hole in the top of the large one and a smaller cone fit into that and came to a point. I use the small ones more, but on occasion the big one is required. Like was said, it's a good investment. This is the only craft/business I know where you buy a tool, use it for 15 - 20 years and sell it for several times what you paid for it.

Brass tongs would do just the opposite of what steel tongs are used for. Brass would not give a strong grip of the metal you're holding, it's too soft, If it gets hot it would melt, steel won't. And heat transmitts up brass which would eventually burn your hand and steel doesn't do that. Not a good choice of material for tooling for this craft. You could have several pairs of steel tongs forged out before you got your molds set up and metal hot enough to pour. Plus the material is a lot more expensive.

Definitely have the vise mounted securely as well as the post. Mine is on ash and almost 3 feet into the ground. Think of it this way. if the vise moves when you hit it then that is energy going into moving the vise, not moving your metal, so it takes more work on your part to get the job done. This is true for the anvil, too. If the anvil wobbles or walks...

Looking good! That's a good talent to have, ironwork and woodwork. Keep us up to date on its progress.

Why do you want my wife?

Thanks for everyones input! I've learned a lot. Safety can't be expressed enough. From cylinders, to fittings, to hoses, to operation. As far as hoses go, I highly recommend getting protective sleeves for all of your high pressure hoses. They run from around $3 per foot for the type that slide over to around $10 per foot for the kind that velcrow on over existing hoses. They are made in nylon, kevlar and other materials. Check with your local supplier/hydraulic shop so you can talk to someone to recommend what will work best in your situation. I attached mine with zip ties. What the sleeves do is protect the hoses from rubbing and brief contact with something hot. Due to this it helps the life of the hoses. Plus if a hose would develope a pin hole leak it will be contained in the sleeve and not spraying you or becoming a flame thrower. Well worth the minimal investment.

The buggy axles I've had were all a higher carbon steel as the axle had to withstand the rubbing of the wheel hub. Spark test it to see if you have carbon or not. I've had some that the center square section was wrought, no carbon, and the axle spendles were high carbon. I've used a lot of axle spendles for anvil tools, hardies, bicks, etc., and they hardened well and have lasted many years. Plus the big collar makes a great stop in the hardie hole.