Randy

I used to see the old timers like Joel Voiltz do that at the ABANA Conferences. Pretty cool. Uh, don't do it with the hardie on the anvil,though.

Here are the pictures of the breast chain I referred to earlier. Each shot is of opposite ends. The open link and chain are untouched and you can see how it transcends into the full twist and flattened. The other end is where I untwisted it to see the chain in chain construction before twisting and flattening. Look closely and you may be able to see the forge welds.

The way I was taught and the one job I used it for went like this: First off it wasn't mixed in the paint. You sandblast or clean your metal to remove all scale and oils, Apply primer. Paint black or gray, it doesn't matter the color. Let dry well, whatever the product tells you to do. Then apply second coat. While still tacky, so you don't want a quick drying paint, apply the graphite. I bought an empty ketchup bottle container at the grocery store and filled it with graphite. Then you can simply squeeze a powder mist of graphite onto the tacky paint. Thoroughly coat it. Once the paint is dry you can use some old clean rags to buff it up. You must have a good protective finish under the grahite. If you put a clear coat on the grahite you might as well have just painted the item and not used the graphite. It totally destroys the look. Keep in mind that a graphite finish is not good for an item that is in the reach of someones hands as it will rub off onto ones hands. I used it on a number of awnings and it looked like raw steel.

These had a number of different designs. Dave is right in his explaination of those two chains. But there is another similar style that is much tighter. I have one hanging on a forged nail in my shop to show students what used to be done. It's known as a horse breast chain as it went across the chest of a horse when pulling something. The construction was done to help prevent the horses' hair from being pulled. The end of my chain was broken so I heated it up and un-twisted it. It is actually a chain within a chain. I tried to draw it for you but it's hard to show. After that it is then twisted and flattened. One must remember that these were done in specialty shops, not the normal blacksmith shop. Some shops only did tools, some long rifles, some chain, etc. My chain is made of 1/8" stock and is all forge welded. They actually had a station right on the forge to produce this chain. It included a small anvil, hardie and bick. It was on the forge in order to be faster to get it from the fire to an anvil for welding. That way heat wasn't lost turning and stepping to the large anvil. There was usually a measuring stop so all pieces were cut exactly the same length. Who ever made these did it all day long. That was their job. I have a small book on chain making in England and was surprised that they made chain there by hand until 1968. Also all chain from 3/8" stock and under were made by women.

I wrote to Hector and asked about the socket. He says they were overlapped but not welded. Just said it was too thin, and I would guess too time consuming for mass production. Still haven't heard a good answer about how the broadpoints were constructed. All that Hector said is that they were 2 parts and forge welded, but no description of how they went together. Just welded from one side? Split and the broadhead slid in and welded? Any knowledge about this?

Hello, Kevin! Welcome to IFI! Yes, some photos would be great. You say you're doing this full time? What kind of work are you doing?

Everyone has their own opinions, so brush it off and see what you can do to make a happy client. Insted of trying to please them by reworking the piece do a quick drawing for them to see if you are really having a meeting of the minds or not. Print out your photo of the item they want changed on regular copier paper and draw on that. Do some sketches of what you think they want before you meet with them. Communication is the key. Should this now be in the "critique" section? Design wise the candle cup roll ups look good up close, but adds bulk to the overall picture. Even makes it lopsided at the top. To achieve more flow think of the bottom third of your piece as the base and therefore should be heavier looking than the upper area. Just removing the candle cup roll ups and making the area directly under the candle cups smaller than the area that connects to your base plate will lighten up the whole piece and give it "flow". Turn the piece and look for any flats or bends. Your piece should have nice curves throughout. Just one bump, like the area below the "X" on the right leg is enough break the flow. This could be a dimple or a bump or a bend, or in attaching hardware it can be the direction of the slot in the screw. I know there's no hardware attachment here, but as an example, if you had square headed bolts running down a piece they need to be aligned properly. They should be turned on the diagonal so they are diamond shaped. This allows the eye of the viewer to flow down the piece. If even one is turned square the eye hits that flat line and stops. Same is true of slotted screws, the slots need to be aligned with the work, not across it. Also I like to clean up any welds. If anything do more weld than you need and then grind it down to a pleasant shape. Use an electric die grinder if need be. Then re-heat the whole area. This will make all of the piece the same color instead of the weld standing out. Even in the candle cup, it's hard to do any grinding there, but at least re-heat it so it doesn't stand out color wise. For the time it takes to do that you may want to simply make a tenon joint. Any time the owner picks it up to clean it they will see what your welds look like so it should look as good as the rest of your work. I like your design concept, your technique and your latest finish, but a little tweaking can make a big difference. I hope this helps.

Looks like a lot of these items are cast, but looks like a lot of hand work, too. http://heinztools.com/index.html I wish he had more information about his processes. The antique ones are interesting, too! It may awaken your creativity any way.

Great bowl! I love the texture. I forget to sign my stuff all the time and have to go back to do it. One thing I've done is to put my touchmark on a plate, in reverse, and when I squish an item on top of that plate I'm signing it at the same time. At least it helps with my pressed pieces. I also made a new shorty touchmark tool. It's only about 1-1/2" long and I welded a light, 1/4" round stock handle to it that's about 9" long. That way I can punch over a large hot piece on the anvil without burning my hand and it works great in the power hammer or press.

I just received a good question from another reader of IFI in regards to cylinder safety issues and I thought it would be good to post it here: "I know a couple of smiths that are using 6"+ diameter air cylinders in a hydraulic setup with a pump putting out 2500. From my understanding the air cylinders have a thinner wall and are not made for that kind of pressure. There is a rumor that this setup is dangerous and the cylinder can fail in the form of exploding, cracking and hydraulic fluid shooting out, etc. Though I am having a difficult time finding out any information about the kind of work loads these two cylinders can endure. Any suggestions or literature that I can read up on?" Here was my response: "I've never heard of such a thing. The ones I have the walls are over an inch thick, more than enough to handle that pressure. Maybe Batson's book has info about this issue, but I don't remember. Just asked a guy at work and he said that those are AIR cylinders, NOT a hydraulic cylinder. So you're right about the air clyinder, but hydraulic cylinders are made for that pressure. The air cylinder is used for the air hammers, but should never be used on presses. See, I learned something today, too." Any other input and where literature can be found regarding this issue is appreciated, too. Sure wish Grant was still around. I know we'd get a good, detailed response from him.

That's a beauty! Does the gentleman have his pinky raised in using it?

Good to see some others have been visting Robert, too. I was up for the day the Sunday before last. Did some squishing and jawing. The photo of the press by itself with the hoses hanging over it is for sale. Robert does a great job of designing and building them. That one is a 25 ton press. That's where I got mine from. He's a master at damascus and hydraulic forging presses. That's why he has all of those cylinders. :rolleyes:

It sure depends on what you're making. I have one forge that is designed from Jymm Hoffmans' design and it's a beauty. It's a blown design and you can melt stuff in it as it is so hot. Problem is the size is a propane tank so some items just won't fit in it. I'm thinking of cutting an opening in the side where I can put a brick in and remove it when needed. The other problem is that the piping is so large that it really sucks the propane. I also have a freon tank forge with a small single burner from Steve Genshiemer and it is super hot, can forge weld to a point, but again the size limitation. I always had a problem as I'd forge the beginning of say a scroll and then that was it. I couldn't get the next part in the forge as the opening was too small. So then I had to go to the coal forge. The other thing is that most of the time I only need a 3" long heat, not a 10"+ long heat. So I designed this forge. It raises up from the flat position to allow the metal to go under the box, plus it has a heat area of only about 5" x 6". The beauty of this setup is in pulling on the handle it raises up parralel from the floor. Only problem I ran into is that the burner doesn't adjust to the different volumes of air when opening or closing so it's a hassle adjusting it. I now have a Steve Genshiemer burner which doesn't react the same way on another forge I have so I want to try that in this format. Plus his atmostpheric burner is the hottest one I've ever used.

Thanks all! I made the bend by heating and putting a small pin in the hole which immediately sucked the heat out of that area, then used the pin to bend it to 90 degrees. Then I drove a punch, like a centerpunch shape, into the hole which spread it big enough for the diamond plus tightened up the bend. He thought about anodizing them, but in time it would probably wear off. I see it as a surface oxidation like tempering colors and they will rub off in time. Plus he was afraid the colors for these rings would look cheasy. Not a look one wants for their wedding bands.

I see the socket is overlapped. Was the socket then forge welded?

I’ve had what I thought were strange requests over the years, but this one is the strangest one yet. I’ve had to do fireplace tools with German short haired pointers on the handles, hood ornaments of a monster and one as a pointing hand, requests for chastity belts that always fell through, and even a 22” diameter Easter egg to list a few and then this one comes along. I received an email from a gentleman in Minnesota asking for my help. Here was his request: “I have been searching the internet for information about forging Titanium. I came across your video on YouTube and saw how you made a dragon handled knife (very cool by the way). In December 2010 I had two vertebrae fussed in my lower back, they implanted some Titanium then in September 2011 they removed it. I now have it. I want to turn it into an engagement ring for my girlfriend and possibly a wedding band for myself. I think you just may be the guy to help me.” He even included an x-ray of the pieces in his back! I thought I had some ideas on how I could achieve this for him so he flew to Pennsylvania and we spent a Saturday working on his project. That’s when I found out he had contacted several jewelers and even some smiths that said what he desired was impossible. Why would they tell him that? Anyway, he proceeds to pull out a little pouch and spread the parts out for me to examine. He said he got a hassle getting through airport security with that. His whole family knew about his project and were excited that he was getting it accomplished. I first tried a ring looking piece to see how the material would forge and they were already looking like a ring. The holes in them were so large that there wasn’t much material left on the sides and it tore through at those points before I could stretch it enough to get the size ring required. The threaded pins were the solution. Then he asks if there is some way that I can make a mounting for a diamond? Oh, boy. I saw there was a hole about 1/2" deep in the end of the stud. I bent the stud at a 90 degree and stretched the hole out to fit the diamond that he had brought along. He was prepared! Then I flattened the threads and shaped it into a ring to the required size. I made the second ring different by squaring and twisting and squaring again. I ended up making three rings total, an engagement ring and a wedding band for him and her. Unfortunately I do not have photos of all three. I wire wheeled them and he was going to buff them to shiny silver and attach the diamond. [ I found out that he had the pieces because his body rejected them. I told him I hoped his intended fiancé didn’t have the same reaction to them. He was thrilled with what I was able to do for him and I got an email right after New Year’s letting me know that she said “yes” and that she loved the rings. He has been having trouble downloading the video and photos he took in my shop and photos of her wearing the ring from his new camera phone, but if I get those I’ll include that later. All in all it was a good, but unusual challenge. I had a good guy to work with, who was very appreciative, and we had a fun day making several people very happy.

Good to see everyones' rides. Here's a couple of mine. The 1-1/2 ton is a '33 Ford. Bought it at a farm auction for $300 back in the late '70's. Flat head V-8. Did all new wiring, body work myself and got new upholstery and paint. Had the doors painted like back in the '30's. Tried to use it as my truck for shows. Even went up to New England with it, but it was so low geared that top speed was 50 plus it had mechanical brakes! Broke down once near Harrisburg and took 2 months just to get the parts. Had to let her go. Now I have a '95 Dodge Dakota. Good truck but rides like one. Now the clear coat is starting to come off on the hood and roof. It just turned over 125,000 miles. I drew up the sign on the back and had it laser cut out of stainless and then I glass beaded it.

Bryan and Jake and any others up in AK, how are you all doing weather wise? We hear there's a ton of snow hitting Alaska and even a Russian tanker is trapped in the ice and is getting help from a US ice breaker trying to get much needed fuel oil to you. Doesn't look like hammering weather. Hope you're okay.

Welcome to IFI! You'll find more and more uses for that press. It is very versatile for forging, punching, texturing, stamping, etc. Have fun!

Here's what I mean...

Okay, we've seen your shop, your anvil, your forge, but another important part of the craft is our truck. Or the car we use as a truck. Here's the progression I went through. (No photos to show at the moment.) '68 Chevy van, '81 Buick Skylark, '71 GMC Sprint (like an El Camino) and now a '95 Dodge Dakota 1/2 ton. So lets see what you are using to haul your goodies. Cars, trucks, business trucks with fancy paint jobs, things that make it special to you, etc. No, this isn't my truck, but amazing what's out there!

Most triangular klinker breakers you see have a 1/4" gap on either side when the flat side is up. Keep in mind that this forces the air towards the sides of your fire box and is good if you need a large fire. Turning it with the point up forces the air towards the center of the firebox for a smaller more controlled fire. It also increases the opening on either side of the klinker breaker to add more air.

Okay, most tools in the blacksmith shop have a name that makes sense. So why do they call it a monkey tool?

Like was mentioned, if the flue isn't big enough it won't draw for a forge fire. In brick terms it is 9" square. In pipe terms a minimum of 12" round. Also the height above the roof is important. See attached drawing. The center of your fire pot should be about 2" to 4" past the front of the chimney. This helps with access to the forge for heating various sizes and shapes of metal and in tire making allows you to lean the tire against the chimney front so you don't have to constantly hold it. Also if you have any bends in your chimney, especially any over 30 degress, you are restricting your flow by up to 60%. Now here's a strange set up: at Sturbridge Village they have a regular chimney, but the face is bricked up. All that is open is about a face of a brick opening up on the face of the wall. See photo. At first this made no sense to me. How could this possibly work? Then I figured out that it works like a crevice cleaner on your vacume cleaner. By having a smaller opening they actually increased the initial flow of air coming into the chimney. Hey, it works! Some side draft chimney designs have a smoke shelf in them. They say that helps with the flow of air by it circling around before it goes up. I know fireplaces have that system, but if your opening doesn't get wider than the chimney, like on a fireplace, you are making a "crevice cleaner" attachment for your forge chimney. I'm looking into adding a piece of 1/8" plate across the inside of my chimney leaving a few inch gap to see if it improves my draft. I expect it will.

Welcome to the family! Where are you located?