mashin' metal

I have no answer other than whats been mentioned, but holy moly you got some serious heat abilities thar' !

job well done!

excellent!!

this is an awesome thread!

hole saw and be done with it in a blink.
use oil, sounds like you definitely have a dull one, I cut 5/8 with a bi metal holesaw even.
oil and a sharp holesaw is your friend

Ahem..... I have to say you are waaaaaaay incorrect mr. frosty on your Powder coating information.
I happen to have first hand knowledge here as its what I do for a living.
There are a xxxx ton of weather durable powders available, there are mixes specifically for durability and UV degradation etc etc.
I was going to recommend to the OP that he have the guy enlist the services of a good knowledgeable powder coater.
There is no way I would choose "paint" over "powder" if I had the option, especially wouldnt choose krylon, even the worst of powder is better that spray bomb.
Please visit my web , as I guess its my resume for ya to look at so, you might get the idea I speak from experience.
pluuuus, I came here to learn smithing and I have learned tons and tons, so I get to pay back with knowledge of what I do in this instance.

 

On 9/22/2010 at 9:40 PM, Frosty said:

Most powder coating doesn't hold up well outdoors but it's getting better.

For durable I like self priming epoxy paint, you can get spray cans and not mess with two part. Of course there's nothing wrong with Krylon. Besides you wanted to build that tumbler anyway didn't you?

Before you invest too much "educating" him consider losing the emotional investment in the pieces. Nobody pays for your emotional investment, they want what they want and the key to success is many fold but two are near the top. #1 Give the customers what they want at competitive prices. #2 If you can't make a profit drop the item.

Oh yeah, educate who? Wrought iron has been getting painted since paint was invented, since Rome, maybe earlier.

Frosty the Lucky.

xxxx! thats an awesome find, thanks!

not much of a blacksmith yet, but full beard

hahahahaha awesome!

I get that too, but I'm 48 and the girlfriend is 26

cool!
no wait...red hot!

Hello
I am planning on starting my forge hopefully in the spring, but I have zero ability to be able to go to a school to learn blacksmithing. Are there any resources that could be recommended for someone who really has no option but to learn from home?

Many Thanks.

very nice! The leaf work is pimp.
and frosty, I like the pig tail too.

will ok then :D

I would jump all over that if I was closer. xxxx fine deal indeed.
if you decide to hassle with the shipping I'm game. it would go to a good home :-)

very cool indeed.
you sir a veritable wealth of knowledge and I for one appreciate all of your input and such. I'm a noob here but have learned to read and watch your threads and posts already.

I love this forum :-)

I saw this Youtube link on the NWBA site. A little something from the rythm section.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUkhpOB40GM&feature=player_embedded#!

Hope it comes through.

Frosty the Lucky.

I had an old racing motorcycle that had a sodium filled exhaust valve. I had a couple of spares, but they were as rare as hen's teeth and I certainly wouldn't have cut them up to make punches, etc. The theory was that at high temperature the sodium became liquified and circulated within the stem, thus transferring some of the heat at the head of the valve into the valve guide and into whatever medium the other end of the stem was in. In my case this was air, but more usually it was cooled by oil in the cam or rocker box.

The first video was made at Tom Clark's blacksmithing school/shop. I saw Tom and Tsur strike together several times and I wouldn't call it master/apprentice but rather team striking where the person utilizing the hand hammer is directing the heavier blows of the two-handed hammerer. Notice where Tsur strikes the anvil which signals Tom to stop hitting the piece while Tsur inspects the work and moves it on the anvil face. As Tom explained it to me when I was there, the striker(s) hit where the small hammers hits and hits with a similar blow, that is soft follows soft and hard follows hard. Tsur sliding his hammer at the end was the signal that the striker, Tom, should stop hammering. This then allowed Tsur to make corrections to the piece as he deemed necessary. Before the beginning of the video, Tsur would strike the anvil once and Tom would answer with an anvil strike, sort of a "are you ready?" and a "yes" answer.

neato info, thanks for sharing!

avoid the valves, I've heard bad things can happen. as for casting for a knife, not a good idea IMO to use cast metal for a knife. round or bar stock makes a good blade though. if you have access to a mechanics shop for their leftovers, then I would suggest looking for leaf springs for blades.

others may offer more suggestions on how you might uses cast metal for a blade though

This is the Uri Hofi style of striking. The "master" is the young guy; he's calling the shots. He stands by the side of the anvil heel. The striker stands to one side of the horn, so that he can touch the horn with his sledge when needed in order to start and preserve the rhythm. The rhythm is metronomic, not iambic. Tsur Sadan told me that it took him quite a while to catch on to this striking method. To fully understand the signaling, you would probably need to take a workshop that would explain everything.

I don't use that method in my school, but there are many striking/signaling methods.

http://www.turleyforge.com Granddaddy of Blacksmith Schools

those shipwright videos, I only have one word to say. humbling. to think those huge anchors were hand forged, be it by many hands. what a task.

If you want to see some rythm check out the old timy footage from the old ship works. I don't have the links handy due to a recent crash but the one where they guys are forge welding an anchor ring is a hot steel ballet with IIRC a dozen smiths with double bit hammers.

As a general rule I'm not an anvil tapper, I can keep my rythm just fine but when working with a striker making sure everybody's in sync is important so you do whatever you need to.

What I didn't see in this video were signals, the master can signal for a strike type, change, etc. with the hammer. This isn't necessary if they can hear each other well enough but it isn't a surprising thing for a blacksmith to be hard of hearing.

Frosty the Lucky.