Bentiron1946

I have done casting for years and have used "bronze" in jewelry for awhile now. When I first started out casting I used scrap brass, plumbing fixtures, cartridge brass, etc. and whatever else came along, the results were not always pretty. I next tried mixing my own alloy by purchasing pewter mugs from second hand thrift stores(98% tin) and using electrical wire(99%copper) making my own bronze, better results but still not as good as what one gets from using a good quality silicon bronze, really nice stuff. I haven't had any complaints from folk wearing jewelry made from it next to the skin and it doesn't seem to leave a green stain on the skin either like brass, copper or traditional tin/copper bronze either, I suppose it all has to do with the silicon. If you want good quality pours you need good quality metals and this is especially true if you are working in your backyard and want to avoid problems. One tool that I have never regretted spending the money on was my immersion pyrometer to gauge the correct temperature of my molten metal. It has been an indispensable tool.

Congratulations to you Frank, I remember seeing you at demo in Tucson a way back in the seventies.We were all so young then.

Congratulations to you Frank, I remember seeing you at demo in Tucson a way back in the seventies.We were all so young then.

I'll be praying for you both during the surgery and recovery period. May God be you both. Jerry

Nice looking "oak" tree, well done!

Some say hardie and some say hardy and some just say that there square hole in the anvil but no matter what you call it it sure is a handy thing to have and I thank the man that came up with the idea, he done good when he put it there to hold my tooling.

If anyone in the Phoenix Metro Area is looking for a section of rail I have a section of trolly rail that is available for free. Local pick up only, of course you have to pick it up as my back will not allow me to do that kind of lifting any more. It is big enough for two RR anvils. This rail is from the old Phoenix trolly system that was dismantled after WWII. Send me a PM and I will give you directions.

I have a 300# Fisher 1945, military surplus, with lugs, wonderful anvil to work on. The guy I bought it from got in San Francisco off of a barge that was covered with Fishers for sale at prices that ranged fro $25 to $75 and he paid $50 for it. This was in the mid 1950s when he was in art school in the bay area.

Harold, How is that LG 25# coming along? Are you getting this homemade hammer for yourself or someone else? Sure looks stoutly built.

Thanks for posting this although I still think my sons would be better off at the anvil than at the computer playing the danged game. Time at the anvil is well spent time in the game not so much.

I've been at an iron pour all week and I come home to this! Well I will be praying for a speedy recovery and continued health for smithing. May you recovery be to the glory of God and peace and healing be yours. Keeps us up to date on your status. Jerry

I can neither confirm nor deny but why not just put a piece in your forge and see what happens when it comes up to temperature and you whack it, could be fun to do.

This page is one of the great things about this site, the sharing of burdens, prayer is powerful when it is multiplied.

From what I've read the huge cauldrons were not tinned and most were not in every day usage but for feast days and other special occasions. And yes, it is a precaution against corrosion, if you are cooking with food stuffs that are continually eating away the copper you are ingesting that and copper builds up in you body. That is what does the damage to your kidneys, liver, heart and central nervous system. There are some processes where copper is used on a regular basis without tinning, fermentation/distillation of alcoholic beverages, potable water distribution, cooking, these are non-acidic in nature and do not leach the copper into the item being consumed. The old saying of what you don't know can't hurt you sure doesn't apply to metals, it can and does, copper toxicity can be quite dangerous to the body.

Maybe he got it from a 200 year old tree? <_< That hilt reminds me of some ancient bronze blades from the middle east, was that an influence for you? Beautiful work! B)

The concrete will release it's moisture as steam and that will cause the metal to splatter and spray all over the place, Boy is that ever fun!! Not really but it sure gets you moving fast. Be sure to were leather boots, use duct tape on the laces of your boots(helps keep tiny splatters out of the laces), full leathers, face shield, cap and cotton clothing(it doesn't melt only burns). I have watched the video a time or two with them pouring the copper into the water on to a piece of fabric and it is amazing and so is the video on them making brass blanks for cymbals by pouring the metal into cast iron moulds filled with water. I tell you that it looked like molten brass should have sprayed the room but it didn't, just really hot water and steam. I do everything possible to keep moisture away from my molten metal but here these Turks are just pouring away without a care in the world and just about in street clothes only.

thanks for the photos, it's nice to see the various progress shots, thanks again!

A dollar and a quarter a pound for a Vulcan in good condition ain't bad but when it was at $2.50/# that was awful! Go ahead and get it, who knows where getting it will lead you. If the edges have not been relieved just put a slight radius on the edges as it will help prevent chipping in the future. Good forging ^_^

The tinning prevents the uptake of excess copper into the body. Yet, for the best meringue pure copper bowls are the best. Acidic foods leach the copper out and into the body affecting the liver, kidneys, heart and even the central nervous system. I have wondered who the first person was that discovered tinning of cookware was, he did good.

What is that corrugated tube made out of? It has been years since I have done a charcoal melt but it takes a goodly amount of the stuff to do that depending on the size of the crucible, if it one that holds a couple of pounds not that much but say 10 pounds and that's a lot of charcoal. You have propane bottles there so why not make a propane burner, get a shop vac and use the discharge side for an air supply and then you can do a really decent sized melt of brass, bronze or aluminum. If it were me I'd just trade my scrap copper for some new stuff that is already milled to the size I want. Now if you are just messing around to experiment have a good time but please be careful molten metal will scar you for life and the burns from it take a really long time to heal. It doesn't just burn the skin, it goes bone deep when it burns. It only quenches in blood and muscle.

All it needs is wings! That is a fantastic looking monkey, you done good! B)

Neighbors can be a problem for sure. When I moved into my current house I had problems, first it was the smoke, nobody liked the smell of a coal fire, then when I switched to charcoal they were afraid I was going to set the desert on fire, then when I switched to propane it was the noise. I didn't think my hammering was any worse than the cabinet makers saws, routers and air compressor going all day but I suppose I was mistaken. I would have the county inspector drop by to check me out even when I wasn't doing anything at all because of my neighbors complaints. Turned out there is almost always one super righteous nosy person in every neighborhood and I had one on my tail and she didn't like me, no way no how. Every time she would hear a hammer blow on anything she would call in and complain about me "pounding on that anvil" and to get an inspector or the sheriff out there to stop it. When she finally was put in a care home by her children I got peace but she about drove me and the county nuts. Sometimes you just can't win with your neighbors but you still need to try.

I have made several burnout ovens(kilns) over the years for my bronze casting that have use natural gas or propane as a fuel. The first one used ordinary fire place fire brick and I sold it to a potter and he loved that thing. It could get up to 2,200F but was much easier to control to just about any temperature you wanted because I had four rows of burners under it. For my burnouts I would light off the two rows with four burners each and this would melt out the wax and start taking the water out. The potter I sold it to would use this as his first firing step. My next step would be when I removed the pan of melted wax so I could reuse it and then fire off the other two rows of six burners with these I could get a steady 1500F for 24 hours to eliminate all traces of wax and the potter would use this for his final firing temp for his works of art. My burn out oven was made out of angle steel to support the fire brick, burners and a 24" square tile for the bottom where I stacked my flasks and the potter his works. You can buy this bottom tile at pottery supply store along with atmospheric burner, my burners were not atmospheric but more like one would find in a furnace, I cast them myself. I have used loose stacked fire brick and ceramic fiber lined 33 garbage cans, similar to raku, with a single propane burner but didn't like the burnout results as much, here I guess potters aren't as picky as founders but it did in a pinch.

That's some kinda gig for sure! You could gig a much bigger fish with that as well as some really big bull frogs, WOW!! Maybe you should go down in the South and go after some Alligator Gar, some of them are pretty good sized fish. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alligator_Gar_6_Feet_129_lbs_Brazos_River_8_Nov_04a.jpg

I agree with Dillon, I too had a couple of tons of yard art before I got to where I was making sales but I still had a lot of left overs, so make lots of stuff it helps you get there quicker. I like the piece but the more you make the freer they will look and have that less contrived look you mentioned not liking so much. Just remember you don't need to be the one that is really happy with your work but just the customer or in this case the judges. It never ceases to amaze me what wins the prizes or what gets bought. I sometimes think to myself, "So, someone actually bought that" or " THAT got first place!OMG!!". Don't go around saying things like that out loud unless you are real good friends with the artist or the patron it can get in a heap of trouble.