yves

Nicely done. Keep going.

I thought you had ment wooden barrels from Molson. Still jealous !

Salut, In fact wooden barrels are easy to find in my area. The probem is with the through heaters for animals. They have wires. I just can see myself dunking a piece of hot steel on a wire and cutting it. Sometimes I think of the next step in the work. That is not, how shall I say … conducive to me using a contraption with a wire immersed in the tub. You got me thinking. I could install some plumbing in the side of the wooden barrel and use the block heater in that plumbing. As for Molson, they have been, for a long time, brewing beer in vats large enough to go canoeing in. And if there were any wooden barrels from the old, very old days, they would be a collector's item around here.

Thank you for the quick answer. My water drum beside the forge is steel. I had installed (too mechanicaly chalendged to do it myself …) a block heater. Took me years to think about it and the village mechanic. No more winter long emptying a (too) small water bucket and carrying a new supply every morning. It was the emptying that got to me the most ! This block heater idea might be possible for you as a solution for the colder periods. I have mine on a timer. It heats the water drum (November to April more or less) for 1/2 hour every hour and 1/2. Since I do not like my steel drum and would prefer a wooden cask, I'll have to see if a block heater can be installed on this. I'll ask the village mechanic who is mechanicaly gifted …

What do you call the "bosh", please?

Alexandr, Congratulations on another beautifull work. I know you cannot send me, somehow, your very enviable skills. However, could we come to some agreement with regards to your boots ? This morning was -27 Cº over here.

Biggundoctor, Here is the jig I used. I put the end of the 1/8"x3/8" flat in the stopper in the first heat and bend as far as I could. In the second heat I moved the end of the bar to the side and bend (with a third heat at times) under the end of the flat. Then I cut the ring with a chisel.

There was no need to weld the ends together. The ends met perfectly or almost and the line where they meet is hidden behind a collar. I thank you for making clear how and why the jig is used. I found out by myself and was wondering if there was a better way, barring the use of a (cold) bender.

Thanks. No, the collars are a tight fit. They are 1/4" half round. This material is not available here. I forged about 40 feet of 1/4" square cold rolled steel in a swage block to make the collars. I bent them with a torch after having seen what happened to the example /study I had forged when I installed the collars hot from the forge. As you can see in the pic below, the half round has disappeared under the hammer and an unsightly flat appeared instead. As you can see in the pics of the first post, there are no flats on the collars of the gril in front. Since the back is not seen, the gril being installed on a wall, it did not matter that there would be flats in the back of the gril. No machine. I thought I was very smart when I came up with a jig to bend them. It appeared to work. Of course the steel tried to come back on the easy side but it was easiy controlled with a light hammer. When I checked in a jig (square of 4-5/16" sides), none, I repeat, none of the rings fit perfectly. I put them back in the forge and adjusted them to fit. I guess after all that the jig is OK and that it is normal that things would happen that way. The jig gets you close to your diameter and you finish by forging. I would repeat the process if I had to make another run of these. Unless you would offer a better way … I'll take a picture of the jig and post it later.

I checked my notes. I put in some 175 hours.

I will get back to you on this. Irondragon, very happy you liked it. Dimensions : height 49-1/16". The height was not crucial. Width, 39-1/16". I could not be more than 40" and less than 38". Daswulf and JHCC, thanks. Your appreciations are welcome.

Just finished and (finaly, at last !) installed this on 31 December 2018.

Ted Ewert, I'm looking for the like button Nice, clean jig and 4140 seems much better than the mild steel I use. And one jig for three sizes … I'm taking notes. Thanks.

Kilroy1221, Nice and simple. if I might suggest : the next time you go at your mother's, you might change the screws for black ones such as can be had at Lee Valley's for instance. Then it would be perfect.

MotoMike, Since they are to be found all over Paris (more than 150 stairs I believe), such public commissions cannot be filled by blacksmithing. They are all welding and fabrication. No anvil and hammer here at all. Mine is a blacksmith's work : the cubes are forge welded, so are the collars and the plates that make the base and the rivets that bind the three layers of the handrails proper together. all coponents of the arms that bear the handrails are of course forged. All bolts and nuts were forged and hand tapped (is that the word ?) Mister Miller was also involved : the curved structures (the larger arms) were migged to the posts and the posts themselves were welded (tubing) together. The posts were welded to the base. The caps on the wedge anchors are temporary. I will change these for forged caps (still have to draw them. The client does not know that I will make that change. I will not charge of course.) I also use boiled linseed oil, alone. I always try to talk clients out of the idea of painting the things I forge. Instead I offer the following : I brush the steel, let it rust for some time and wipe off the loose rust with a rag. Then I apply a coat of linseed oil. After a year I will (all my clients do it themselves) go and wipe off the loose rust and oil in the same manner. And then it's a couple of years later. And then it's almost never. I learned this form John Little a blacksmith in Nova Scotia. He has had large hinges for forty some years now has always treated them that way and they are perfect. Here is a pic of a balustrade I made a couple of years ago : This is the colour you get. I could not hot oil such large objects hot in my shop : I forge in a silo (diameter 14'0"). Thank you for your reply.