irnsrgn

Thank You Bruce, this will be for occassional use only doing small work, I have heard a lot about side blown forges so decided to try it. I plan on using ordinary bank clay mixed with sand to make the ducks nest out of with some hail screen in there somewhere to act as reinforcing wire to hold it together, my whole forge will be portable so the whole thing will not be over 2 ft square at the most setting on a seperate folding leg setup. I was going to set the pipe 2 inches off the bottom of the nest but will go with your recommendation of 4 inches. Again thanks for the insight into this. Irnsrgn

Jim, you can just send the pics to glenn and he will post or you can enter the picture in an image hosting website I use http://photobucket.com/ its a free hosting site. after you enter your picture in your album there will be 3 lines of addresses under the picture, URL, TAG, IMG, highlite the IMG one and copy it then just paste that in your text wherever you want it and when someone clicks on your post it will automatically bring it up from the hosting site and display it, as shown below. You cannot upload pictures directly into this site like you could the old one. irnsrgn

Ten there won't be a pot as such, just a hollow in the middle of some clay, I think its called a ducks nest because it resembles the nest a duck makes. It will be fairly deep with the pipe entering a couple of inches off the bottom, I have never really seen one of these forges so it will be trial and error for the building process. irnsrgn

keep the top of any 12 V vehicle battery clean, the moisture will mix with the dust and the resulting short will slowly drain the batter, and always put on wood .I even put thin plywood under them in the vehicle

HW, I just got the tuyere made, haven't started on the forge part yet, I have never operated a side blown before, going to be a new expierience for me. irnsrgn

These are some WALL Nozzles I made for our local fire dept several years ago. They are used to protect near by structures from damage by spraying a thin wall of water straight up or at an angle. I have built several of the small yellow ones for rural depts with a limited supply of water to keep propane tanks cool that are near a fire, if you tilt it a little it will envelope the tank in a shield of water on both sides. Photos can be found at this link - click here

These are pics of the tuyere for the side blown demo forge I am making for use with my bellows. The 1 inch sch 40 pipe is Stainless Steel, I got the idea from Bruce Wilcock's post in the old forum. I use a butterfly valve to control the air instead of making a whole bunch of little pumps on the bellows.

I never found a horse that would stand still enough for me too shave on quench, but just in case try this url http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=5284&highlight=shaving+horse or this one http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=8373&highlight=shaving+horse the plans for the first one http://www.countryworkshops.org/CWshavehorse.html

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0224 Hinge Barrel Eyes MY METHOD OF MAKING HINGE BARREL EYES by irnsrgn These are the guillotine dies I am going to use, a 3/8 top fuller and a bottom die I use for curving things. I will be using 1/8 by 2 flat iron and making a 3/8 eye on the end. The first stage, 3 different sets to bring the curve up just past 90 degrees. Working the curve in the very end with the hammer, its very hard to do later. The second heat and putting another curve in the piece farther back. Working the flat out between the bends by working with the hammer at an angle. Finishing the rolling so that the end touches the main body almost. A 5/8 inch bottom swage tool to refine the eye with. The third heat inserting a 3/8 drift punch in the eye prior to working in the swage. Refining the barrel eye in the swage. My multiple sized tool for refining half penny scroll ends. The fourth heat, using the tool to work the end of the barrel eye close into the drift. A final working of the barrel eye at a black heat to loosen the drift punch. Using the flat top of the halfpenny tool to straighten the body behind the barrel eye. The finished barrel eye. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0225 Unconventional Hinges by Irnsrgn My unconventional hinges. They are made of 1 x 1/8 strap and were to narrow to cut and hinge like normal hinges, so I just set them side by side and put a rivet thru them and bradded the ends a little. The front hasp part. It's just a 1/4 in deformed loop with the ends in a hinge loop that falls down over the loop part. The loop part has a sharp tapered end that goes thru the wood of the box instead of using 2 bolts and going to the trouble of welding or riveting a loop on. A close up of the loop. A close up of the loop with the flipper down over it. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved BP0223 Sharpening Drill Bits by Irnsrgn This shows the nomenclature of a drill bit, I drew this up back in the 60's when I was a lot younger, the only thing that is really critical is the lip relief angle and the combined angle of the point. 3 drill grinding (sharpening) gauges. The top one is a machinists 59º gauge mounted on a machinists 6 inch hook rule. The middle one is a freebie that has 118º included angle on one end and 135º included angle on the other end for harder and tougher material. The bottom one is another freebie that has 118º with suggested angles for wood, heat treated and hard-tough material along the outside. This shows the proper starting angle for the actual sharpening, the other hand is holding the shank of the drill. Of particular importance is that the cutting edge be 90º to the wheel rotation. Just hold the bit at a slight upward angle a little above the center of the wheel and either rotate the shank down or move the whole bit at the same angle upwards on the wheel. Gentle pressure is all that is needed, and don't let the bit get hot. A medium grit wheel (30-40 grit) that has a flat square face is best. A real fine wheel will burn the bit quickly and a coarse one will not give a smooth finish. I occasionally finish the bit on the side of the wheel for a smoother finish. The last picture had the hand farther back for showing the bit at the wheel, this is the actual position of the hand. Using the gauge to check the angle of the cutting edge. Both sides should be checked and the amount of distance from the outside edge to the center should be the same, grind a little at a time to get the center distance the same. This is a 1 1/32 morse taper shank bit as a bigger one is easier to see. What the cutting end looks like after sharpening by grinding. A view of the relief angle behind the cutting edge, I like to have a little more relief angle than the factory puts on them as it cuts much faster, to much relief angle and it will dig in and grab and then break the cutting edge off. This picture shows the correct way to position and hold the bit for prethinning the web. As a bit gets shorter the web gets thicker for strength, I just automatically thin the web because it makes it cut easier and faster, and narrows the little flat in the middle so you don't have to push so hard. The actual position of the hand for this operation. This is how the bit looks after prethinning, on a shorter bit it will be ground deeper. What the end looks like after prethinnning, compare it to the photo below. This is a different way of sharpening I use on smaller bits. The cutting edge is ground with one angle and the back part of the relief is ground at another angle, you may have seen this method on what are called split point bits. This bit will really hog thru material at a fast rate with little applied pressure. A side view of the relief angle and cutting edge. On small bits, just hold it out at almost arms length with a window as a background and look at it and your eye will be able to tell you if it is centered and if the angles are the same, and don't worry about the included angle, its not that important on small bits except for special applications. A close up of the bit end View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved. BP0216 Go or no-go gauge by Irnsrgn aka Jr. Strasil Photos by Glenn Conner A short piece of 3/8 thick flat stock about 4" long. Marked and center punched for drilling holes. Drilling. Holes drilled, 1/4" - 5/16" - 3/8" - 7/16" and 1/2" standard holes exact size. To use, when making round tenons, after swaging and when cool, slide onto tenon as far as it will go, rotate a little while pushing on, remove, look for the marks made by rotating and file off, keep doing this till it will slide on up to the shoulder. This process will give more of a round tenon for threading than just filing at random. also may be used to size material when looking for a specific size stock. Additional Comments: Drill an extra hole and put a lanyard in it so you can hang it. When your at the scrap yard it is easy to fish out of your pocket. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved. BP0214 Twisted Basket Unconventional by Irnsrgn aka Jr. Strasil The material used was the little piece of 3/8 or 1/2 inch wide angle iron that is cut out when shearing angle iron on an ironworker. It was not spread into a basket but just twisted some. It is a neat idea and I decided to make a basket using this technique for a different look. So here is my first try. At the BAM hammerin I went to, I happened to notice a strange handle on a fire poker in the forge that was not being used, and being an inquisitive person at heart, I picked it up and looked at it. It didn't take me long to figure out what it was made of, scrap that is normally thrown in the iron bin destined for the scrap yard. So I decided to try my own modified version of this neat idea. Shown are 4 - 1/2 inch wide pieces of 1/4 by 4 inch angle iron cut on the band saw and the edges and cut surfaces have been smoothed with a flap wheel on a 5 inch angle head hand grinder. The next one I try will be be either 1/4 or 3/8 wide pieces. Distort the pieces and make short flat spots on the very ends as shown. The ends are shown wire welded together on all four sides on both ends. At an almost welding heat I worked the very ends together with the ultimate goal of having a 1/2 square on both ends. Don't work the ends to cold or the mig welds will separate and forge welding is necessary to repair them. Notice the opening in the very end in the picture. The end almost completely closed, I should have used a welding heat for this stage. At a welding heat and with just a sprinkling of flux (in my opinion people use way too much flux, there should be just enough flux to prevent scaling (oxidization) of the weld area), I am finishing off the end in a set of triple squaring dies (1/4-3/8-1/2) in my guillotine and welding the split area at the same time. After both ends are completed and using a general heat I am preparing to twist the basket part. I am using a tap handle to twist the basket in this picture, I prefer to use this tool whenever possible as it gives a firm grip and with two hands straight across I get less distortion in the piece. The hammer does not show in this picture, but I am pounding on the top to open the twist some from the twisting procedure. Using 1/2 inch side set dies, I am necking down the very end in preparation for swaging to 3/8 inch round and then to 1/4 inch round which will be threaded for attachment. What it looks like after the necking operation, notice that the end has opened up at the welds. The next step will have to be done at a welding heat with a little flux to fuse the openings. Showing the completed swaging and welding operation to a 3/8 inch stub. Swaging down to 1/4 inch round tenon at an almost welding heat. The basket with all the forging operations complete, I could have used a lot less material to start with as seen. My intention is to use this as the riser on a multiple candle holder with colonial style feet. It sure gives a different look with the angle V at the center. I make my regular baskets the same way by prebending and then welding together. I get a more uniform open basket. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved. BP0213 Chain Sprocket Reconstruction by Irnsrgn This is a "How I Did It" Blueprint. It shows the success's and failures that occasionally happen when trying to salvage something that is no longer available and that you personally have never glimpsed the original parts. I have included the failure because it has worked in the past and will probably work in the future again. But, it shows that we should pay attention to the 6th sense we sometimes have that something is wrong and that we should not discount as just a stray notion. Part One - The Failure This is the worst of the two chain sprockets that drive the chain on a small PTO driven paddle scraper used to move soil from one location to another. This is the better of the two sprockets on the shaft. It is shown with the weld gouged out so that it can be removed. At some time in the past someone had cut the old sprockets off and then cut the center out of new sprockets and welded them back on. The original sprockets were of one piece and welded to the shaft. The person or persons who did the repair job evidently did not have access to a lathe, but they did a pretty fair job except that by looking at the two sprockets I believe that they did not have them lined up exactly when they welded them in place, thus the reason one is wore so much more than the other. A view of the other side showing the machined depression for the drive and bearing carrier to bolt into. The Sprocket removed and both sides ground smooth so that it will lay flat on a piece of cardboard so that I can trace around the supposedly good side, then flip it over and line up the points and trace around the good sides again and hopefully have the outline of good teeth with the proper spacing. This is a 9 tooth sprocket. The pattern generated by the tracings, and a 3/4 inch washer being used to fill in the line at the bottom of the gullet. At this point I did not have a section of chain as a reference, so everything looked like it was going to be a success. Using a compass to find the center by using the points of the teeth. As this was the only reference point that I had at the time that I thought was not worn very much. A circle made from the center point to check to see if it was really in the middle. The tooth with the circle is the one I picked as having the best form to duplicate. Using the tooth I had picked, I scribed an arc off its point and then an arc from each of the adjoining tooth points and marked lines from the center to get a segment size. Then using dividers (2 points) I set them to the segment marks on a circle I had scribed at the bottom of the gullets to see if the segment was actually 1/9 th of the circle. I went half way around each way from one segment line. Naturally it was not right, so I adjusted the dividers and did it again, several times till it came out right. I then used the a sharp pencil end on the dividers to hi-lite the right marks from the dividers, and then drew in the segment lines as shown. I then carefully cut around the selected tooth and using a piece of poster board underneath with a push pin thru the center mark and the poster board and both pieces clamped to the plywood I was using as a drawing board. I traced around the tooth and extended the segment lines as shown. Marking and moving the line back 1/8 inch to allow for the stylus on the pattern torch. The segment pattern cut out and positioned on all the segment lines, and the teeth drawn. Pattern laid on a piece of thin sheet and spray painted so I can cut around the pattern with the band saw. The pattern to be cut out. After I got the pattern cut out, the customer brought in a section of chain. After placing the pattern in the chain and rolling it, I knew that this was not going to work. Oh well back to the drawing board. I was frustrated at this point, having spent several hours making the first pattern to no avail. Part 2 The Layout and Design Now that I had a piece of chain, and knew the CHAIN PITCH, 3 1/16, I could generate a pattern using my math and layout skills. The center to center distance between the pins of the chain is the CHAIN PITCH, knowing this I could now layout the PITCH DIAMETER (distance from the center to the center of the chain pin. Dividing 360 degrees by 9 gives 40 degrees. I had geometry in high school and enjoyed it immensely, but I had no Trigonometry, so I have taught myself to use Tangents and Sine. I know that educated people and engineers will scoff at my method, but I use what I know how to use, to get the job done. For those not familiar with Tangent and Sine, this picture shows a right triangle, if you remember hypotenuse from school this is it. AB² + BC² = sq root of AC², I use this formula all the time in the shop, if you know the angle A and the dimension of AB you can take the tangent of A times the dimension AB and it will give you the dimension of BC which is the Tangent of angle A. If angle A is 20 degrees then the tangent is .36397 and if AB is 10 inches then BC is 3.6397. If we divide BC the tangent by AB we get .36397 and looking in a table of tangents we can find .36397 under the listing for 20 degrees. BC is called the TANGENT when figured off the line AB, but BC is also the SINE when figured off line AC. The SINE is what I used to find the PITCH DIAMETER OF THE SPROCKET. I now know that the PITCH of the chain is 3 1/16 and the angle between teeth is 40 degrees. Due to my limited knowledge of Trigonometry, I will cut the angle in half which is 20 degrees, and half of the PITCH of the chain which is 1.5325 inches. Looking in a table of tangents I find the SINE of 20 degrees is .34202, so dividing 1.5325 by .34202, I find the PITCH RADIUS to be 4.4807. This is very close to 4 1/2 inches so my PITCH DIAMETER IS 9 inches. Clear as mud so far , Right? On my layout poster board I scribe a 9 inch circle and then draw a line from the center to the edge of the circle. Then measure off 3 1/16 inches from that point to another point on the circle as shown, before going any farther I will use the dividers and make sure that I have 9 equal divisions of the circle. By actual measurement I find that the rollers in the chain are 1 1/4 inches in Diameter, so I draw them in on my layout poster board as shown. I now need to draw in the outside of the sprocket which should stick up above the roller just a little, as shown. now need to reduce the drawing lines by 1/8 inch to compensate for the stylus on my pattern torch as shown. I now need to draw in a relief to the tooth so that it will go into the chain on entry and also release on exit. To do this I scribe a circle just a little smaller than the PITCH DIAMETER and setting my compass point on where this circle crosses the segment line and on the PITCH DIAMETER LINE of the next tooth gullet, I draw an arc from each side as shown. The tooth form (shaded area) for the pattern to be cut out of 1/8 sheet for the magnetic stylus to travel around. The gullet must make contact with at least half of the roller. I cheated so to speak, as the pattern had a 1 1/2 inch gullet, I center punched the pattern and used a 1 1/2 inch hole saw to make the gullets. I also used the plasma cutter to cut the right sized circle out of the 1/8 plate to start with, and then just used the band saw to cut off the relief's. I finished the pattern with a half round file and rounded the corners of the teeth a little . What the paper pattern looks like. This is a trial sprocket cut out of 3/8" plate to make sure it would work and not mess up any 1 -1/4" plate. This is what the customer brought me for 1-1/4" plate to use, a short section of 36 inch I beam. The flange I cut off laying on my cutting table. My pattern torch attached to the table. The pattern attached to the torch arm. The Stylus is a 1/4 inch knurled stub that sticks up and is magnetized to hold against the pattern and rotates to move around the pattern, the speed and direction is controlled from the box above the pattern. The remnants of the I-beam web gouged away and ground down where the torch will cross it. Fourth of July show under the table. The torch is a Victor, #1 tip running 50 lbs of Oxygen and 12 lbs of Acetylene. I do not have the cutting valve all the way open, just cracked a little. A little over half way around. The finished cut. The cut is actually smooth enough for this slow speed application to not require any finish grinding except on the top edge. You will notice that I had the tip to close and the preheat to hot and it melted the top edge a little. I corrected these problems on the second one. Checking the sprocket to see if it rolls okay in the chain. It did! Checking to see if it wraps on the sprocket Ok. It did! Removing the residue of the web of the I-beam. I thought of gouging it off with the torch and then grinding, but that was a very time consuming way to do it. I also considered setting it up in the Bridgeport Mill and removing it that way, but that was a slow method also. So I uncovered my 1896 Shaper, I gave $30 dollars for, and was able to take off 3/16 inch per pass, It was very faster and that old machine runs so quiet you can hardly hear it run. This machine has no dials of any kind on it its so old. I don't use it much, but it sure is handy when I need it. A close up of the operation, it does have an adjustable automatic feed. Part 3 Machining and Assembly The first thing was too clean up the shaft and hubs with a grinder and turn the outsides to the same diameter (lost picture). While doing this I noticed that the mating surfaces for the bolt on bearing stub and gear box mounting were not true, so I faced these surfaces also. The shaft, 2 1/2 inch and hub assembly is heavy and needed to be turned between centers, luckily I have a pipe mounted Jib Crane over the big lathe and mill for just this type of job. I was not able to face clear to the center, so I made a small recess and ground what little was left off with a hand grinder. I unknowingly used a faulty floppy disc, so lost 4 pictures, this one will be short. The next order of business was to find the center of the sprockets and lay out a cut line for removing the centers. In the center on the left you will see where I drilled a 1/4 inch hole for starting the cut. The trick is to get the hole close, but not oversize. The flame cut is flame hardened so a carbide cutter is needed to turn the center. Too SMALL and you have a lot to turn out. To BIG and you need to put a weld every inch or so to make a good fit and then turn out to size. The Centers were cut out using a hand held torch and the circle cutter I used in the BP-0122 blueprint. I used a #2 Smith tip and cleaned it well before starting, so I had a nice narrow kerf and almost no slag on the bottom side. As this was a 9 tooth sprocket the self-centering 3 jaw chuck could be used, the jaws were reversed to accommodate the large size and clamp on the outside. As you can see the center did not clean up totally, but has enough spots to size to fit snuggly on the hub. It will be welded on, so gaps are not a problem. After the center was turned to size, the outsides were cleaned up and the edges of the teeth from the center line of the roller out were tapered to facilitate entering the chain. A chamfer was turned on one side for the weld on the end. As a center to center distance of 45 1/4 inches had to be maintained, I took some measurements and using 3 half inch bolts thru 3 of the 6 holes I used the heads sticking out as spacers and clamped a scrap piece of 1/4 plate to the hub for alignment (you can see one of the bolt heads at the top of the plate in the picture). I then clamped the sprocket to this plate and tack welded the back side in 3 places. The next problem was lining up the sprockets. To do this I set the main shaft in V blocks on risers and then clamped 2 small squares to the V blocks with the upright inside edge of the square touching the main shaft as shown. Using a short piece of 1 inch black pipe which fit the gullets well, I rotated the shaft and one tack welded sprocket and the loose sprocket till the pipe just touched both squares, clamped the loose sprocket and tack welded it in place. The squares were positioned the same distance in from the hub on both ends. One end welded up. As the lip on the hub for aligning the stub end was not very thick and damaged in some places from the removal process and I had the stub end, I sooted the outside of the stub and tapped it into place before welding. The soot is a thin insulating coating. I carefully put a root pass and a cap pass around the the stub in the weld groove and only welded to the stub in one place for a quarter inch. If you are careful and watch closely you can use the flux from the rod as a means to keep the weld from sticking to the stub, but it was easy to knock loose. I then touched this place with a small grinder to get a little relief space. A view of the inside weld. The sprocket stuck over the hub some, so all I needed was a good fillet weld on this side. Welding was done with 1/8 E7018 Hobart rod at about 130 amps using stringer beads. The finished reconstruction job, total length 46-1/2 inches. BUILDING UP SHAFT BEARING SURFACES When I build up bearing surfaces on shafting, I do it in my old lathe with the wire feed gun clamped in a special fixture I made that is adjustable and clamps in my lathe tool post. I run the lathe in reverse on the 4 speed truck transmission as it the lowest speed I have and in back gear. I usually use either 8 or 6 threads per inch feed when doing the welding. This is at 6 threads to the inch feed with a low amperage and wire speed setting, This is at 6 threads to the inch feed with a higher amperage and higher wire speed, and with my old welder. When building up in the lathe like this the shaft will not have a tendency to warp as long as the tail stock is loose enough to move with the heat expansion. I generally let the lathe run for about 10 to 15 minutes till the red is gone from the shaft. On large heavy shafts, I will let it run for a half hour or so, with a fan blowing on the welded area to help cool it. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved. BP0212 Forming a ladle for babbit or lead, etc. by Irnsrgn - aka Jr. Strasil Photography by baby-anvil 5 inch diameter 1/4 inch plate circle laid out with a handle tang and pour spout extensions, I forgot the pour spout extensions on my first try. The dishing hammer I have, spherical on one end, elliptical on the other. Made of 1- 3/16 PTO shaft material. Weight is 2 or 2-1/2 pounds. A close up of the spherical (ball) end. A close up of the elliptical (slightly rounded) end. The initial dishing of the blank, notice the depressions, I used the spherical end instead of the elliptical end. I caught it before I ruined it though. Working the edges in stages. Another view of working the edge. Working the tang down. Working the pour spouts down. My 90 degree straight set hammer. (I also have a 90 degree cross set hammer). My bottom V swage in its base. There are 4 different sizes 1 to each side. The block lifts out so it can be rotated, there are also round swage blocks that fit in this base. The bottom swage and 90 degree set hammer used to form the pour spouts. What the pour spouts look like after the initial forming. A short can a little larger than a tuna can almost full of water, setting on the cutting step. Spot cooling the bottom of the ladle. The ladle laid upside down on the anvil to flatten the pour spouts by tapping on the spot cooled bottom. 1/2 or 5/8" cast iron plate I came up with somehow. makes a nice leveling block as I do not have a metal work bench handy. Bottom view with the 7/8 round shank that fits in the hardy hole. The ladle on my anvil leveling block, tapping on the spot cooled bottom to flatten the top edge. I needed to do a little work on the very outer ends of the pour spouts from the bottom, so I used my big V-block with the 2 inch square setting in it that has 4 different radius's on the corners. There are 2 pendulums that swing on a rod that goes thru a hole bored in the center. These pendulums keep the block from sliding out of the bottom V-block during use. Top View of the ladle, sans handle. Bottom view. Side View, notice the flat top. This is my second babbit ladle, it took me a little less than a half hour from cutting the blank to the final picture and about 8 or 9 heats all told. All the forming was done with hand hammers. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved. BP0211Making a dishing tool out of something intended for another purpose by Irnsrgn The Victim-err-Subject of this evenings surgery lesson. This is a faulty Pintle Hitch Ring or Lunette given to me by Jim Carothers when I visited him in October. I finally figured out a use for it, I am going to make a dishing tool out of it for making ladles, etc. After surgical removal of the mounting bracket and some plastic surgery, this is what it looks like. This is a scrap 7/8 sucker rod end that will be reformed into a hardy shank for the dishing tool. The square section is 15/16 the same size as my hardy hole. This is a piece of 3/4 inch flat that I put a 15/16 square hole in the center to use for sizing hardy shanks and also for forming a square shoulder under the neck which keeps it from wedging in the hardy hole. My hardy hole does not have crisp corners anymore and if I use the hardy hole to form the neck it will only go in one way. Using a 3/4 inch fuller and a 5 lb hand hammer to work the shoulder down square. What the shank looks like after sizing and shouldering. The shank and ring grafted together. What it looks like setting on the anvil ready for use. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved. BP0200 Hot Cut Hardy Helper by Jr. Strasil aka Irnsrgn This is just a piece of 1/2 by 2 flat stock with a 1/2 inch rod swaged down and bradded into a hole in the flat. The rod is the size of my pritchel hole in my anvil. This simple contraption saves the cutting edge on my hot cut. It can be made of soft iron, brass or copper and the rod threaded and a nut put on both sides to join them. This picture just shows my hot cut hardy and the helper ready for use. The helper in use, It is a simple task to reach down and raise and position the helper over the piece being cut when it is almost thru and deliver the last blow or two to the top of the helper so as not to damage the cutting edge with the hammer or vice-versa. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved. BP0202 Blueprints Forging Rams Horn Wingnuts from 1/4 by 3/4 flat stock by Irnsrgn (Jr. Strasil), Photography by Baby-Anvil (Cheryl McDowell). Start by taking a heat and using a 3/8 to and bottom fuller, a guillotine or a spring fuller, fuller with 1/4 inch sticking out past the fuller dies and down to 1/4 inch turning often so as not to get deeper on one side than the other, then use the fuller to round the this section up, do not go smaller than 1/4 inch. Fuller a second time leaving 1/2 inch stick out of the fuller dies and round up like the first one. This is what it should look like at this point. Mark the piece with the hot cut hardy about 1/2 way thru using the other end as a guide for distance. Using soap stone, mark the distance needed to roll the horn up on the cutting step of the anvil. Draw out the very end of the piece to a 1/4 in square taking care not to hit the center part with the hammer, this will check your hammer control. rotate the piece frequently so as not to get the stub off center. After you get it to 1/4 in square, start tapering the end, then make it 8 sided in preperation for rounding. I used 1/4 inch swage dies in the guillotine to make the stub 1/4 inch round, you can do this with a hammer too. It should look like this at this point. Finish drawing the stub to a nice long round taper. Compare the length with mark on the anvil step. This is what it should look like at this point. Finish cutting off at the previous mark. Work the stub to 1/4 inch square as before, it will be a little more difficult than before as tongs will be needed to hold it by the previously completed horn. The tongs used should grip the small horn securily. Drawing the stub. Rounding Swaging Tapering Rolling the horn up with scroll tongs. This should be done at a bright red or yellow heat. Finishing the rolling, and yes I made a mistake and rolled it to the side instead of up, so had to take another heat and twist into position, Mr. Murphy was helping me here. Rolling the second horn. this is the difficult one to do, I lay it on the anvil face and using two hands on the tongs as shown, hold down with one hand while rolling with the other. The finished forged Ram's Horn Wingnut. It needs to be bored and tapped yet. 5 of the 7 wingnuts. Notice the one to the far right that Mr. Murphy helped me with. You will have to keep a close eye on them when heating for rolling as the thin section on the ends will get hot quickly. I usually heat the ends for rolling in an idling fire (no air blown into the fire). I got in a hurry and left the blower on with this end, and I was using coke besides which is much hotter within the fire than it appears on the top. A quarter laying with 2 of them for size comparison. The wing nuts took me a little less than 15 minutes to make each one. View full article

IForgeIron Blueprints Copyright 2002 - 2007 IFORGEIRON, All rights reserved. BP0203 Making Balls by Jr. Strasil aka irnsrgn I finally decided I wanted to make some Balls, and I had tried almost successfully to make them without a Ball Making Tool, but they were not round enough or smooth enough to suit me. So I got a brain storm on how to make a Ball Tool for my guillotine (as if I didn't have enough dies already, they won't all fit in the box now) LOL. This picture shows what the Ball Die will do. 1/2 inch in front, 5/8 in the middle and 3/4 in the back, I made a multiple sized die. This picture shows the bottom die on the right and the top die on the left. I elected to not go with a completely round die for each size. I figured these 3 sizes would be the ones I would use the most. I tack welded 2 pieces of square together and first bored a 3/8 hole clear thru and then enlarged that to 1/2 inch, then used a 5/8 bit to enlarge part of the depth, and then a 3/4 bit for the last third or so. This could be done in a drill press just as easy as long as it was square with the bit. I used the bridgeport mill. The dies in the guillotine frame, notice the 1/4 inch space milled out on the front of the dies to leave a 1/4 inch shank This could be done with a saw if marked carefully and cut carefully and then filed smooth. I also broke or chamfered the inside edges of the dies. This picture shows how the ball fits in the bottom die. Making a 3/4 ball, I started with 3/4 rod and using 1 inch fuller dies in the guillotine, I fullered the neck down to just over 1/4 inch, there is too much sticking thru in this picture and I ended up cutting some off. you want a little less than the thickness sticking out as the corners are going to round down. Here I am pre-rounding the sharp corners a little over the edge of the anvil. Starting to form the ball in the ball dies. It took two heats to get it done. Remember to hit and turn a little. This is what I ended up with after the first heat, The ball has large facets now, The ball had a little protrusion or tit sticking out and I filed this off before finishing the ball in the die. Another heat and the ball is being finished in the dies. When the dies come together the sound will change when you hit it so you know when you are done. This is what I ended up with, I kind of like the unique look of the small facets on the ball, if you bring the ball up to a scaling heat and wire brush with a butcher block brush the facets will disappear and you will have a brushed look. Another heat and the shank is sized to 5/16, then 1/4 in the the multi sized swage tool. What it looks like now. you can work some more of the rod down on the anvil or using a power hammer then swage to size, or you can cut off and weld to a small rod of the right size. You sometimes need a large ball on a small rod. You can weld on a solid ball to a small rod, or you can upset and then forge round, or you can weld on a piece of shaft to a small rod and then forge round, I chose another alternative, the ball pictured is hollow, 1 inch in diameter and was made from black 3/4 inch pipe. I start with a long piece of 3/4 pipe with the end blocked off so as not to create a chimney for the heat and thus getting the handle hot. I use 1/2 inch fullering dies in the guillotine and have the pipe at a bright red heat as the pipe will compress better than at a yellow heat which makes it distort, This picture shows the first fullering about a 1/2 inch or more from the end of the pipe. This is what it should look like after finish fullering. I heat up to a bright red heat and crop the end using side set dies. This picture shows the little protrusion or tit on the end after cropping. The protrusion rasped off some and worked back into the main body. Another heat and the end rounded in a bottom swage. It should look like this. The second fullering with the 1/2 inch fuller dies. The length should be a little less than the diameter. Using several bright red heats, fuller down to the diameter of the rod to be welded on. It should look better than this, I stuck to much out and had to work it back toward the end some. Proper placement in the guillotine saves a lot of extra work. LOL Working the ball to a rounder shape in a 1 inch bottom swage with a smaller hammer. 2 lb in this instance. A different view of the rounding process. Notice it is still too long. Working the back side in the swage. Showing the ball cut from the pipe and a 3/8 rod ground to a point for welding on to the ball. Showing the pipe end after cutting off the ball, I put a bit of weld in the hole and then grind off some and after working the end round, it is ready for the second fullering for another ball. Using a large nut to position the ball for welding the stem on. An awful weld, the ball had water in it, don't make that mistake. Learn from mine. LOL At a bright yellow heat setting in the multiple swage tool. Swaging the weld down to size. Using my upset helper and a 1 inch top swage to make the ball a little rounder. As this ball was a little rough, I ground it and sanded it to look better. The ball a little above a scaling heat. Wire brushing with a butcher block brush to remove the grinding and polishing marks. What the ball looks like when finished and cooled. These are my new 1 inch ball shaping dies for my guillotine tool, top die on the left and bottom die on the right, they were made from a 5/8 sucker rod coupling that I sawed in half and then bored in the lathe. I now use these dies to shape the pipe ball after fullering instead of the bottom fuller and hammer method, its quicker and better looking. Here they are in the guillotine tool ready for use, the slot milled in the center is 3/8 inch wide for the stem to stick thru. This is what a 1 inch ball looks like after using the tool to shape it. Experiment and see what you can come up with. I know I have to make some larger rounding dies if I want to make nicer looking balls. View full article