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I Forge Iron

Borntoolate

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Belmont, NC
  • Interests
    Pool, Woodworking, Fishing, Not being in traffic, not hearing or seeing commercials, a good novel, a good book that helps me learn how to do whatever it is I am trying to do next

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  1. Just google "drop forge". Then click videos as well and poke around for about 3 minutes and you will.
  2. I did not read the whole thread so hopefully this is not a repeat. From a purely engineering stand point a forged item has generally superior mechanical properties (Strength, no casting defects, weldability and others...). So this is looking at the "forging" aspect as opposed to "blacksmithing". Blacksmithing IS forging metal. But forging goes way beyond blacksmithing. If you want to open up the argument or discussion to include "forging" in general then I think you also have a great many modern day forging applications and positive aspects to consider. Forging as opposed to blacksmithing is an extremely common worldwide process that is done 24/7. I am not a metallurgist but I have known several of them and have interacted with them on technical issues at work frequently. Thus I am not going to attempt to say anything outside of my area of expertise. I would suggest doing some research on: Properties of Forged steel vs Castings. Weldability of the same... That research will probably lead you to other areas if that is what you are after. Have you ever heard that tools like wrenches were Drop Forged?
  3. Nice. I think I spent as much time looking at the Guitar as I did the conglomeration of treasures piled above it!
  4. A major pro for me is that I can rather quickly make many things that I need quite readily. Especially things that are a bit non-standard. I am in the process of making a swing set for my grand daughter. There are some hardware pieces that I can easily go and purchase. They are a bit pricey. Or I can just make them. I will choose to take some of my scrap metal and/or re-purpose some hardware that would otherwise be wasted. Most likely I will only need to modify some metal that I have laying about. Naturally I will make sure that the metal is structurally sound enough to be used safely on the swing set. As a Mechanical Engineer I assure you I have the qualifications to make this assessment. So blacksmithing is practical, economical, conservational (might not actually be a word), and personally rewarding. What's not to like! The rewarding part is when you are able to put a bit of yourself into a project that makes it both unique and functional and that will be used and enjoyed by others for years to come. Finally, this craft requires a bit of physical activity which is more exercise than just writing checks or slotting your card.
  5. I sorted through all of my boxes, jars, tiny bags, multi drawered "organizers", shelves full of... etc etc etc of "stuff" and re-organized it all and got rid of a bunch of junk. My shop will be bigger now and less cluttered! There was no blacksmithing... Now am not talking "EVERYTHING"... this was focused on mostly small items, fasteners, electrical and plumbing pieces etc.... All that little stuff that accumulates. All that stuff we save for when we will want it later... One thing I made big change on. I have been having a lot of nails in my fastener drawer for quite some time. I find I rarely nail much of anything anymore. At least not by hand that is. At my current rate of nail useage vs nail supply I will need to live to be about 1000 years old. I did not get rid of my all too numerous nail collection but it has been relegated away from prime storage areas in the shop. That is what I did today. It was a good day!
  6. I love that! A wooden handled bottle opener. Knife makers have another weapon to handle now. But grinding out a bottle opener might be a challenge! On the flip side no quench and temper issues...
  7. You can buy long handled needle nose or long handled vice grips to use as early tongs. 12-16" long. BTW looks great for a first hook and your critical analysis of your own work sounded right on. Have fun and just keep doing.
  8. It's hard to see but the hook is about 20 degrees or so rotated from the business end. It allows a natural hand hold that puts the fire end at a nice angle or more straight up and down. For me that differentiates a lefty from a righty.
  9. My pokers are maybe a bit more on the long side . more for outside fires. Meant to be able to poke pull and push while standing with little bending. I think I may have screwed up this post. More meant to be functional than aesthetic.. This is my first one that has turned into several requests for others due to function. The forge weld on the business end makes this a challenge for me still.
  10. well getting back to it... still... Slowly. This is originally very distressed metal from a piece of grating that I banged and pried apart producing numerous 1" wide by about 3/16" thick strips with crisscrossed weldments. Then went through the 2016 flood. It functions. And you can hang it off your belt if you wanted to. I always thought bartenders would pay money for such if made just right.
  11. I think one thing to consider is that overheating and managing that is no time for having a "manly" ego. We flooded in August of 2016 in southern Louisiana. There was a lot of work just after that getting things back and cleaning up etc. I was a bit stressed and it was xxxxxxx hot. Between the two of those things I found myself getting overheated more than the other Man friends around helping me. It hurt just a little to say it but at one point I just told them that I am not doing well to continue. I need a rest. They understood and supported. Don't let ego ruin yourself for the long haul. LIFE IS TOO LONG TO GO THROUGH IT WITH PERMANENT AND AVOIDABLE DAMAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  12. Does everyone know what a cold shut is? I suspect some do not. In my business a cold shut is basically a piece of metal that has been folded over by hammering in this case. It is folded over below welding temperature so it will look like a crack. The metal is not fused together. And unless you actually fix this by removal or forge welding then this crack will extend through your work as you hammer and elongate or form within the piece that has the cold shut. It basically adds a crack like defect into your piece that propagates as you hammer and will make your creation structurally compromised. And a bit ugly... Hiker correct me if I am wrong in my explanation or anyone else.
  13. With all these bottle openers I felt it was worth a bit of a safety message. I have made a few that work just fine most of the time to remove caps from bottles. But if you make the opening just a little too big you can actually open the bottle by tearing the top of the bottle cap / glass and all off. This would make a not so attentive bottle opener user susceptible to drinking from a glass shard bottle top. Kinda ruins the party ehh? And considering what is in the bottle that most of us are referencing one could see how the state of mind and/or physical control one might progress to that it could at some point actually promote this potential. Put more succinctly - one who is drinking alcohol might tend to do this and not notice it until it was too late! So take care when testing your openers for this potential. Does anyone have a dimension they stick too or some sort of go/no go test they use to avoid this???
  14. THAT will probably work. This fan has become very stubborn. There is just no good or obvious way to hold the shaft without some sort of potentially distructive modification or special tools, nuts etc... More than once I was heading towards "You are coming off even if you break!" mentality. But so far I have avoided it. I'll need to get a bigger socket than what I have.
  15. sounds like air flow may be greatly reduced from the 400. I'll know next week. thanks
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