ianinsa

Spears, The snake effect is 'bril' I hope you do'nt mind if we 'steal with our eyes' To get similar on the copper sheet tack a small ball bearing(we sometimes use fancy ie. tamperproof cordless screwdriver bits) on the face of a light hammer and beat on a piece of conveyor belt. Make yourself a 'padle' 3" wide 15"(longer if you have large pieces of copper) long from a piece of plank reduce one end to a handle(like an old fashioned kiddy-whaker as my boys put it) every now and then you turn the sheet back side up and whack it flat, turn back over and continue texturing. Once you get the knack you'll be surprised as the how fast and easy it is to texture copper sheeting. Copper work hardens quite quickly, just heat and quench to aneal! Ian

No toxic waste? the chromium/nickel/copper plate the anode, the acid stays relatively clean for re-use. After use responsible chaps neutralise with lime and do'nt just pop it in the drain. Ian

Sam, Lead stays 'soft' for the most part, as we use 'scrap' lead you sometimes get impurities from solder etc. wich make it a bit firmer but very little effect. Sometimes age(years) seems to make it 'cristaline',Hence no need to pre-heat. The machine that I saw used the knurled wheels. You know great minds think alike.....and fools do'nt seem to differ. Ian

No need to grind. just reverse the plating process, immerse in muratic/hydrocloric acid and conect to your battery charger or to a spare car battery much like rust removal but using acid instead of washing soda! Ian

Another method of leading glass is to wrap the edge with thin copper foil then soldering together. This is what is refered to as Tiffany style! I had forgotten about the silicone. Thanks

Hi Phil, Thanks once again for the reply . I had responded butit seemed to get swallowed up in the ether! We have done lote of lead casting, the largest of wich was old world style lead planter pots 150kg/each for a hotel in Zambia on the banks of the Zambezi river(they were stolen and sold for scrap within the first week) I cast aluminium slabs and mill out shapes as moulds. it works really well for things like fishing sinkers etc. I also cast S7 solder in thin bars for some radiator guys and we also use those thin solder sticks when doing copper rooves. However I am dubious about casting a 1meter long H profile 5mm in size. I'm still keen to make up a tool to fit on a jenny to 'roll' a 5mm rod into a came, I recon it's doable any i'm just trying to copy/knock off a proven/working design rether than reinvent the wheel, I've also thought about extruding it, but ............................I know from nuttin about that! Ian

Dodge, that's a good call. should have thought of that................Duh Ian

Smashing toy that, Those 'extras' are a big bonus. Ian

Well what can we say exept congratulations on a job well done! As I said before sometimes 'cheap' jobs bring good referals. When Frosty was working for $75.00/hour 20 years ago some of that probably was'nt even all for blacksmithing... some of it was probably for thinking . I often contemplate on prices like would ....(a wealthy mate/client/aquaintance) pay $xxx for that? If the answer is yes then your price is within what the market can stand and go with that price. If your answer is he would probably pay more then your estimate is too low. David, this is a dying art, but an art none the less. If you are providing the 'real' thing you need to be rewarded apropriately. $50.00/hour aint bad but it ain't gona get you no BMW X5 and you need an X5.(read Audi Q7/S class Merc whatever)and start pricing yourself acordingly. If and when people balk,then and only then lower the price somewhat. People believe that you get what you pay for! Ask yourself if you wanted an artist to do a mural for you and you asked 2 guys for a quote - one chap says "it will take me 2 days and cost you $600" the other says "it will take me 2 days and cost you $8000" Subconsiosly you will ask yourself 'is the second guy using better paint? is he a better artist? Did the first guy lose the plot? Will he duff it? if he is so cheap could he be any good? (none of wich may be the case) You might then try to negotiate the second guy down to say $7000 or $6000, but you will have dismissed the first guy because he was too cheap. Alternatively you might just exploit the guy, after all he set his price! Try not be the first guy. Ian

Hi Peter, Try this http://www.ironmongeryhardware.com/door_LeverHandle.htm Ian

Some years ago One of our clients wanted us to stamp some of his goods and we found a cheap & cheerful solution(I often favour cheap & cheerful). Get your local lasercutter to cut out the logo from a piece of toughenable steel 3mm thick, a small slice off the end of a crankshaft(inexpensive and you can get a lot out of one scrap crankshaft) works well. Then off-set the male and female by 1mm and weld up the back with a 304L rod this will shrink and heat treat in one go, now braze on a piece of bar to form the handle. The brazing will temper the punch and Violla cheap & cheerful punch. If you do'nt have a brazing set up then place the disk on a piece of aluminium standing in a dish of water(heat sink) and weld with 6013(mild steel rod) Afterwards trim up your stamp with a s/s cutting disc remembering a flat side(paralell to the picture/logo) for the base. I hope this is of help! Ian

That stuff looks good, I agree with Mike on the 'step-up' but if time is in short suply and you need a quick fix then at the very least punch(you can do it cole with a small lever machine or press if you have one and 'secret weld' from the back. Also your goods look 'new' you should try to get an 'older' look. I'm not sure what finish you are using try quenching some pieces in old motor oil and put them on the table next time to see the customer responce. We have done quite a bit of wrought aluminium work and some wrought stainless steel and still the bulk of my costomers wanted an oldie worldie look, this is posibly that most people think "if the blacksmith made it then it should look 100 years old" Ian P.S. I mean this in a constructive maner, what you have put on that table looks good. people on this site apreciate the effort involved and with some minor tweaking you should become star for the general public. :)

Hi Jason, Thanks for all those pics. I wish I owned those machines! Did you get to see Frosty's place while you were in Alaska? I recon his place has gotta be worth a good decco. Despite of the risk of 'harmfull trees' and dangerous looking slippers Ian

There's still a lotta pleasure livin in them thar hammers! That place must just ooze with old energy! Ian

I too have really enjoyed following this thread, I recon one of the greatest leaps in blacksmithing came with the ability of 'the blacksmith' to read. Many of us have equipment that metal workers of old would recognise. However say they were given an induction heater in the box with instructions, chinglish or otherwise. Those that could read would probably figure it out much quicker that those that could not. The ability to read should not be underestimated. I recently retired one of our workers that could neither read nor write this guy was a skilled and capable worker but his 'handicap' really added a burden to his life, it severely stunted his ability to 'grow'.Sadly I think that about 30 years ago he believed/decided that he was too old to learn and thereafter despite encouragement he just would/could not learn to read. Fortunately due to globalisation equipment now comes with symbols ie. rabbit and tortoise but if the numeric didgits are indecipherable life is tricky to say the least.Just my $0.02 worth. Ian

Sam, Thanks on that, The honest truth is that after thinking about it I would really like to make/copy the machine firstly it would probably be fun(I get a kick out of producing a 'new' machine) and secondly I need work for my team. We are doing our damdest to find work for the shop. I thought that if I make 'good stuff' I could aproach local hobby shops with a viable alternative to imported came. I'd make my mates came at virtual cost and try to make a modest profit on the rest. Phil, I had thought of casting, as we would be casting the 'strip stock' however I thought casting small H sections 1meter long without centrifugal casting kit might just be a mission! Thanks for the input so far. Ian

Hi Peter, We have a 'cheat' that seems to work. Despite the fact that my wife is an interior designer and that we have a large library of relevant books, We go to our municipal library and look in architectural books. We take with a digital camera, when you find a picture with a suitable profile you take a snap of it-zoomed to get the 'bit' you want. If the picture is detailed you simply pay for a photocopy but usualy you only want a small piece so your camera helps. Then at home you can enhance and manipulate with photoshop and coraldraw(old versions are virtually free and work just fine if you don't have it.) I then print out the profile, cut out the shape with a stanley knife, lay the 'skeleton' on my metal and 'dust' it with arosol engine enamel(it resists burn-off). Now when you flame/plasma cut it you just follow the outline of paint.The 'skeleton' can be re-used a number of times too. Good luck on this Ian.

I always thought that a blacksmith would be lost if he did'nt have at least one good vice Regards Ian Grant, That piece by Darryl has no place on the back of a vice, it belongs in a gallery! it's a beaut.Do you currently own it? Ian

Those heads are real cute! On a lighter note I believe the Vandals or somesuch used to heat up their sword blades and pop them in Pam, or Vickey or Sven or whatever slave was handy to assist with the temper.They believed it gave the blade a 'life'.Grapeseed oil works a treat. Ian

Southshoresmith, I can't see much wrong with that U-bolt! Maybe chirps like'What`s that old saying about fast,cheap and easy?' sounds like some of the best dates I ever had. Clinton, That 'traditional fix' certainly is just the biscut, well done! Ian

Hi All, I'm thanking you in advance(in antisipation) for help. One of my mates would lide to have a bash at making up some real stained glass panels for his farm's chapel! This is to replace some windows that were damaged and replaced with tiffany style 'leaded' windows. I have managerd to source him glass from a mate of mine in Kuwait. The lead came(sort of 'H' section) is where the difficulty comes in. He does'nt want hobby shop strips as this chapel is on his Olive farm in Bloemfontien and could date back to the Anglo-Boer war. Last year when I was in Kings Chapel in Cambridge I saw a tool/machine to roll came in a display case. This case is in the vestibule(sanctuary) to the left of the entrance at the rear of the church. I remember looking at it with great interest as I'm facinated by tools and machinery. At the time I did not think that I would have need nor use for this, I neglected to take notes and photos. I have thought of asking my mother who lives just outside of London to take a trip there, and photograph the item for me, sadly I'm afraid that what I need to copy the tool might be lost on her and I will end up frustrated/dissapointed and she might then deem me an ungrateful so and so(wich is not the case). So in conclusion if anyone has info/a tool/a drawing or lives close to Camebridge and could help I would be most gratefull. Ian

Now here's a couple of artisans in the making, when they have qualified as metal workers they will move on to be plumbers! I don't know how to create a link but just google"A Polish plumbers work in a house in Cork" maybe some kind soul will add the link for me? Thanks. Ian

Hi Fe, Nice die, these balls look like those old fasioned toilet cistern floats, Going into the potty Buisness? Hang on, you do Blacksmithing a buisness that has recently gone somewhat to potty. They would look great as a base for a weather vane!Stunning job, thanks for sharing. Ian

Hi John, As an ex gunner I can tell you that the 'brass monkey' refered to is/was a lipped brass tray fixed to the gundeck designed/gauged to hold the base of a piramid of cannon balls i.e. 5 x 5 balls the lip extending just over half the hieght of a ball. This lip was intended to be a tight fit to prevent the piramid collasping due to wave motion. The thermal shink co-eficient of the brass was greater than the iron and thus in the colder climates the tray shrunk and popped out the balls, hence the term 'froze the balls off a brass monkey'. Ian

Hi,I do'nt mean to be a kill-joy, but I have an old H frame press(home made) that we picked up at an auction some years ago! Somebody spent a lot of time and effort to make that one. They wasted their time, it just does not compare our fly presses even with similar threads etc. We now just use it as a glue press. Please rather save for the right thing rather that 'waste' it on something that might or might not work. Incidentally when we bought it we thought that it looked functional and well made, wich it is despite not living up to its looks. Ian