ladysmith

Wow, your just up the road from me! Welcome! Pam PS. Check your private message. I have a question for you.

Aaron, It looks like a metal bending break. You'd attach the screw clamp to something solid, put the piece of sheet metal in the trough, tighten down the top, and bend it to the angle you need.. But then it might just be a piece of junk, that I'd be happy to take off your hands. Pam

Mark, Wow! I wish I were well enough to have stuff for the show. Too many ideas, not enough time, or arm strength....yet. I'll definately be there in July, and if you want, I can bring the treadle hammer down for the hammer-in. Pam

Woody, I'll be pulling for her and and your entire family. Pam

Hi Mrs. Irn, I'm so glad you decided to join this crazy bunch. There are only a few of us gals here so you're more than welcome to speak up when ever you feel the need. Have you ever thought of making stuff out of sheet copper? Generally very little strength is needed, and I'm figuring out how to make it even less. (Next to no smelly fumes either.) Anyway welcome to the fun, Pam

If all else fails use drywall as a top. The paper will char, but the drywall itself won't burn. You can't clamp anything to it, so it has very limited uses, but it's better than nothing. Pam

I have never heard it called leaded copper, but if you mean the copper they put on roofs then, yeah, I have a great deal of experience with it. Take a look at my gallery for some of the stuff I've made. You can buy it at any roofing store far cheaper than at any of the home improvement box stores (ie. Lowes). As far as I know it is pure coppper (at least it melts like it). It comes in various size sheets. I think my current sheet is 3' x 8'. It's probably around 20 or 22 guage, which is just a bit thicker than the stuff you buy as flashing at Lowes. It doesn't come dead soft, but it's easy enough to work without annealing. It works cold very easily, and I rarely bother annealing unless it's something that I have to stretch or hammer a lot. If you're worried it hasn't work hadened enough, you can toss the piece in your car and ride around with it for a couple of days. The vibration will work harden it. I've only soldered with it, but it's suppose to braze fairly easily. I've used a bunch of different solders with it, but I like silver solder best. I also like a liquid flux made for the silver solder. It seems easier to clean up. You can then buy a patina from a stained glass supply that will turn it to a copper color, thus hiding the solder joint. I want to try brazing it with a phos-copper rod. The color is suppose to be a great match. Brazing will also make a much stronger joint. You should be able to get plenty of scraps for free or very cheaply by calling around to the roofing supply and fabrication places in your area. What else do you want to know? Pam

Hi John, I am Ladysmith. I use to go to a couple of festivals growing up that had blacksmiths. I would stand there totally lost in the forge fire, and entranced by what could be made. My first real experience blacksmithing was around 1995, and I have been blacksmithing off and on since. I am the demo blacksmith at Caledonia State Park near Gettysburg, PA. (and yeah, I still get totally lost in the fire.) Last year, due to an injury at my day job, I chipped my elbow, which caused a lot of nerve and tendon damage. Two surgeries later, and these guys are right, the current hammer I use weighs 165 lbs. You can search the archive for the story, or find me in chat, and I'll be glad to show you a picture of it. I am by no means the only female blacksmith in this group. Honestly most of them know more than I do, and produce some amazing artwork. Do a search of the gallery for some of the pictures. Pam

Jerry, I'll see if I can get my hands on a copy. Thanks! Pam

Very cool! Actually the roofing copper I have should melt fine. I know for a fact that copper ground wire from Lowes melts easily (whether I want it to or not.) Pam

Thanks to all who responded. It gives me a real handle on how I want to accomplish my idea. Just for reference for those that look here for similar information, Bill Epps also suggested treating the area to be brazed like a "penny weld". An old penny is copper and can be used to forge braze by fluxing the area to be brazed, heating again, and melting a penny into the joint. The penny melts at a lower temperature than steel, so brazes the area (rather than welding). He said I should be able to just treat the area I want to inlay copper (or bronze) the same as if I were "penny welding" it. (ie. heat, flux, reheat, and melt the copper into the fluxed area.) The flux should burn off or float to the top. So normal cleanup should minimize flux corrosion. Good ideas all around. Thanks again, Pam

One_Rod, That's really cool! That gives me some other decorating ideas. Annealed copper would be soft enough to pound/press other patterns into. Makes me wonder if some old leather stamps would work. Otherwise it would be easy enough to make some simple stamps. ...more design ideas filling my head.... Pam

Glenn, That gives me some even wilder ideas! I could keep some of the curved dimension to the pipe. This is for a tribal style wall hanging. Thanks!!! Still need smilies to match my mood.... Pam

Marc, Thanks, that might work, but this would be 1/2 to 1 inch stripes about 8" to 10" long. (should have mentioned that before), so that would be a lot of pounding. I have the hammer to do that, but I'm not sure I have wide and thick enough non-ferrous stock. Hmmm....more searching to do... Pam

I have an idea for an art project running wild in my head. (Where are the cool smilies when I need them?) The idea involves creating copper and bronze stripes on a piece of steel. I know I can inlay glass by melting it into a depression in a piece of steel. Is it possible to do the same to copper and bronze? Could I just grind a groove in the steel and melt some wire or strips of thin sheet into the grooves? What about brazing the stripes in with copper and bronze rods? What kind of flux (if any) would I need? Do I have to worry about corrosion from the dissimilar metals if I put it outside? Is there any way to minimize or stop the corrosion? Any help would be appreciated. Pam

Hey Sam, Those are really cute! Great idea!!! Pam

A pie safe is to keep pies, breads, and other baked goods safe from flies, and other pests, (and childrens' little hands). Because the kitchen's source of cooking was a wood stove, they were often hot places to work. I suspect that a glassed-in pie safe would quickly create too much moisture, thus ventilation was important. The decorative tin panels do both very well.