Jump to content
I Forge Iron

Bowmaod

Members
  • Posts

    18
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Green Bay, WI
  1. Nope, not Dan. The reason I asked is that I tried to hammer out a knife-shaped thing today on a whim and found it was much harder than I thought. It's not really my intent to get into bladesmithing until, like you said, I can get better at blacksmithing. I was just curious at how well the experts could wield a hammer. bowmaod
  2. I guess I should have clarified - I was asking about bladesmithing (that's why I'm posting in the knifemaking section). I realize that tongs and artwork are usually finished straight out of the forge, but I was wondering how far along in the bladesmithing process you guys can get with just a hammer, forge, and anvil. Sorry about the miscommunication. bowmaod
  3. Wow, that's impressive. I had no idea that was possible. Right now about all I can do is forge a lumpy piece of stock. (I only tried once, though...) I'm still in the "figuring things out" and "making really bad tongs" stage of blacksmithing. bowmaod
  4. Hey everyone. How close can you guys get to a finished product using just a hammer and forge? I'm just curious more than anything. bowmaod Edit: I know that a lot of the work is done with grinders, files, and sanders, etc. Edit II: I'm talking about making knives.
  5. I don't know - I'm still in the tong-making phase, because I bought a hammer from the hardware store, but I only have a vicegrips to grab hot metal with! So I need to make tongs, lest I burn my fingers off.
  6. Thanks everyone. The suggested threads were a lot of help. I do want a horn, but I also want it to be quiet, so I'm thinking about putting in at least one dovetail horn for the times when I need it, with an 8-degree or so taper to keep it rigid...although pounding in a tapered 8-degree dovetail with a hammer might mean it never comes back out . I'll have a hardy hole, of course, but only one. (I measured my material and discovered it's only 9-inches diameter.) Edit: I have an awesome stump, so maybe the ring isn't too much of a problem. But putting horns on an anvil with only 9-inch stock will be tough, so I'm still considering the dovetails.
  7. I'm going to make my own anvil. I've got a bar of 1-foot diameter 1144 chopped up into decent-sized pieces, and some other high-carbon steel in similar sized pieces. My dad already made an anvil out of one of the 1144 pieces, but that design is kind of weird and it's currently someplace where I'm not. It works pretty well, for what it's worth. So, here's the deal. I can toss the 1144 or HC into a 4-axis horizontal machining center to make nearly any shape I want. (Alternatively, I can weld a piece of HC onto a base of mild steel, etc.) Is there anything I should specifically add, or any feature on an anvil you'd love to have that most anvils don't have? My current plan is to make a normal-shaped anvil plus a hardy hole, because I don't know much about anvil design. Also, is there a shape that will reduce the amount of noise caused by hitting the anvil? I can't cast my own metal, unfortunately; only machine it. Thanks.
  8. Sorry if this is hijacking a thread, but I was wondering if the cracking of the metal is caused just by too high heat. I was using some rather dirty coal and kept on cracking the ends off a pair of tongs I was making, but I thought it was because I was getting sulfur in the metal. But maybe it was because I was getting it too hot? Thanks. Edit: it was mild and mid-carbon steel (1018 and 1144, I think), and I was out in the sun and had heated it up to yellow where it was sparking.
  9. Oh, sorry. I was just asking how much money I would expect to spend on propane. I did some basic calculations and got around 10 hours per 20# tank at ~$17 per refill, which gives $1.70 per hour of burner use. Not too bad, but still more expensive than making my own charcoal, which is expected. Thanks, everyone.
  10. I may see if can get my hands on a plumbers torch. It seems like a good thing to have. One final question (I think) - what is the average price I can expect for running a bucket-sized propane forge? I read somewhere that a 20# tank will last around 8 hours of forging. Is that a good rule of thumb for propane?
  11. Thanks! That's perfect. I was looking for the most efficient burner, and this looks like it will do well (and save me the trouble of making a ton of charcoal). The other propane burners I found were such a hassle to make...
  12. After cracking piece after piece of steel from heating it in the dirty coal I bought, I decided to make the move to other fuels. I have a propane burner I pulled together about a year ago, but it's actually more of a flamethrower... it doesn't work very well. Anyway, I'm thinking about a single-brick or coffee-can propane forge to run alongside my charcoal forge. I saw that single-brick forges generally run on small plumbers torches. How well do these torches work as forge burners? Are they actually a valid way to run a forge, or are they more of a novelty? I'm especially concerned about cost, because I can make a standard propane burner in a day with a little amount of work, but a lot of the stuff I do is small, and I hope to get into bladesmithing eventually, so I'd rather use charcoal for big projects and a tiny propane forge for little things. Thanks.
  13. I sometimes jokingly refer to myself as a blacksmith among friends, usually when pain tolerance comes up. After all, I own a forge and I made a chisel...I guess that counts for something? But if someone asked me, I'd adamantly declare that I am in no way, shape, or form a blacksmith (yet, ha!).
  14. Whooo...that's a complicated project. Thanks for the link! It's going to take me a while to gather all the pieces I'll need, not to mention the knowledge required to do this safely. It should keep me busy for a long time.
  15. I'm also looking to convert an induction cooker into a forge. The only two options I see are 1800 W and 3000 W, which both run at 60 Hz. Would these work? I'd be heating around, say, 1" diameter stock at most. (Sorry - I don't know very much about this topic. This project is mostly out of curiosity.) Thanks, everyone Edit: I guess I'm not too worried about efficiency. I'm mostly interested in if a converted cooker can just get some steel up to a nice forging temperature...you know, eventually. (Within a reasonable time, of course.)
×
×
  • Create New...