Jump to content
I Forge Iron

gazilla

Members
  • Posts

    38
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Gent, Flanders, Belgium, Europe, Earth, ...
  1. czech made, .30 C steel modern cast anvil - check http://www.branco.cz/anvils.htm, but dunno if these are the only manufacturers (looks the same mold though)
  2. I tried it at last. Stake anvil (top portion 550mm x 65mm) heated up to hardening temp, quenched in 100 litres used motor oil (stirred nor shaken). The thickest section remained relatively soft, the horns were hardened all right. Overall only 47 HRC after tempering. Fair enough for a first, but next time I'll be using water hardening steel and another means of quenching.
  3. No shipwrecking yards in the neighborhood? Even though they may not normally sell scrap to individuals, telling them what it's for (I call it "study") opens doors, sometimes.
  4. Are used anvils that hard to find in the UK?
  5. Some guys in France do a "grappage" to make tool steel out of mild: load small scrap in a fire with abundant charcoal, where it forms something like a bloom, that nees to be consolidated and refined to make decent steel. The same method was described by Evenstad in his treatise on iron production and was used by Japanese blacksmiths to make higher carbon steel out of lower grades. Evenstad also described a way of improving the "raw" iron produced in a first reduction step. You might try something similar, adding small scrap like nails, together with silicium, aluminium and iron oxides to a more oxidizing charcoal fire, in order to get a decarburized iron with oxides that have a low melting point (important if you want to actually forge this iron). Lee Saunders and Skip Williams (see Matt Bower's link) might be able to give you more information on this, they helped us a lot before we did our first bloomery experiment. What are you planning to do with the blooms you'll hopefully make?
  6. interesting work, thanks for sharing.
  7. Thanks for the link Phil. Bent, apparently it's a type of hoe used in vineyards, to work around the vine. Bernard Solon is (one of?) the last blacksmith(s) specialized in making edged tools (taillendier in French), so he embodies the knowledge and skill accumulated through generations past, which will disappear with him one day. I'm very fond of this type of work/work ethic etc, so I wanted to share this.
  8. nice approach. you may like this: http://www.stephanecompoint.com/11,419,fr_FR,FONDATION%20BETTENCOURT%20-%20PRIX%20DE%20L'INTELLIGENCE%20DE%20LA%20MAIN%202005%20-%20LE%20M%C9TAL.html
  9. Bryce, aren't you trying to learn too many things at the same time? I'd first try to correctly form scrolls someone else designed, and simpler pieces of work than those you imagined, before tackling a design of my own. Same thing would apply to the design, start simple. You show imagination and willingness to progress etc, maybe you're just trying to advance a bit too quickly? I found this learning process tedious and frustrating at times, guess that's because we've been brought up in a world where everything should go quickly and average is enough. Bob, I'm glad you like the piece but you're too kind. It's a candle holder, not art. It was a great learning experience though.
  10. interesting subject. a question for those who already made good/decent frizzens welded from mild and W1: how thick are the pieces before welding, how thick after forging, how thick when finished, did you thermocycle the piece a few times before hardening, was it water hardened and if yes do you often end up with deformed pieces, did you temper it a bit or not at all? mm ok a number of questions actually, sorry.
  11. I like your point of view Grant. This piece started out as a rough sketch, I made a few scale drawings on 1/10th and once satisfied a full scale drawing of one "wing". The feet were forged out of square 30mm steel, the other parts out of 25mm and 15mm round etc., with volumes calculated to obtain the size needed. I made a trial piece of every feature before making each part. All this to stay as closely as possible to the original drawing. But still, there's a moment you need to leave the design behind and thrust your eyes and hands. The most useful thing we learned in the few drawing lessons in blacksmithing school is to carry along a small sketchbook (100mm x 150mm, pocket size). I don't think there's a shortcut to learn drawing/design/forging, it takes practice and time. Examining work you like, at home and abroad, helps too.
  12. you're only visiting these cities, and going by plane in between, or have you got the time to make a few side trips?
×
×
  • Create New...