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I Forge Iron

menze

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  1. Great looking hammer. Would love to learn how to make one. Menze
  2. here are a few ideas, not too much "blacksmithin'" with these; but they will let you create a path for your own ideas.. The hearts are simple and fun to make, I intwined them then welded, hanging from barb wire makes them appealing for any horse lover :wub: you could probably sell a few of those at your local feed store or market..
  3. menze

    wine rack

    here is the one I made for myself, hanging on the kitchen wall.
  4. menze

    wine rack

    Thanks for all the positive feedback :) although it's not a centre piece for a table, you all gave me another idea... it's meant to hang on the wall, I liked it enough to make myself one. it's about 30 inches long, the grapes are made from ball bearings, I cut the leaves out of 1/8 sheet with plasma then textured them after warming them in a propane forge, using a blunt chisel to make veins and peen the edges a little. then basicaly just shaped them to the curve of a bottle and rolled out the opposite way to show the leaf. used 1/8 round stock to make stems to tie it all together. I used the leaves to hide the welds etc. a little tedious 12hrs approx start to finish... sold it for $250.
  5. I made this wine rack for a chap who said he wanted something a little differant...
  6. two straps one winds up while the other unwinds on each stroke.
  7. the pic should help you, i hope....
  8. I'll take pics of my pump handle forge that shows how the straps work, there are a few differant types out there, most common is the ratchet. mine is differant and sounds like what you are describing,it has the lever connected to an arm that has two sides 90 deg from each other, and pivots in the middle (like an open triangle) so as you work the handle it moves the ends back and forth, the strap which is connected to either end goes through a drive wheel and winds/unwinds as the lever moves, the flywheel has a clutch mechanism in it sort of like a bicycle wheel, so it will coast on the back stroke much like a peddeling a bike does. I wouldn't use an inner tube for a belt, rubber burns with hot coal spilling on it. a picture is worth a 1000 words so I will get some pics to show you what I tried to describe. :blink:
  9. you are exactly right Socal, and essentialy that is the "beauty" in the craft. But this is a dilima I'm trying to overcome, I wouldn't pay that much for it because I could make it myself, there for I wouldn't think someone else would pay that.. does that sort of make sense? I envision how i want something to look like and if the finished product isn't the same then i feel it isn't good enough to me, however the customer could see it entirely different. I'm working on learning the busines side of this... it will come lol. I made several variations of these grape & leaf dishes for Christmas gifts etc, this one I kept because I felt it wasn't good enough, due to the flaws that I see. now the average person probably won't notice the grapes being a disproportionate clump or the grinder marks zinged on the bottom one. but i do, along with the vine not quite natural looking. However it is "good enough" to sit on my shelf. Menze.
  10. RustyAnchor, my wife is the "quality control" if it's good enough to get by her then it's good enough to sell, but it is myself being way too criticle on the piece that always gets me working for sub minimum wage... :rolleyes: Menze.
  11. As with most here, I see the flaws and imperfections that nobody else does, I have a bad habit of pointing them out to the customer and then taking a few dollars off the original price because I felt it wasn't good enough to charge full price for. some will insist they pay the original amount because they are pleased with the outcome, others are excited to get a fine piece of craftmanship and a discount. being my own worst critic hasn't really helped my income much....
  12. Whycocomaugh Cape Breton Nova Scotia is where Firehouse is located. Great bunch of guys! and the only Blacksmithing school in Atlantic Canada......
  13. This was the first lever opperated blower I have seen, I do see there are a couple others on here now that I am trying to research them a little. this company seemed to be popular for other machines, but not much info regarding forges or blowers. I rebuilt it and had to make a few parts, just missing the leather straps and drive belt, working on sourcing them, (old harness reins). in another post on here someone mentioned the flywheel might be clutch driven, I'm not sure if mine is or not, the hub seems to be in two parts, and looks like it could be a clutch of some sort in there, i'll have to take it apart to see what makes it tick... If anybody has some info on this please advise, thanks!
  14. I bought a Boynton & Plummer "lawn ornament" coal forge a while back from a fellow who had bought it because he thaught it would make a nice lawn ornament and plant stand. The condition of it when it was holding plants would give the impression that it was just worthless antique "scrap". I fabercated new legs, replaced all the bolts, tried to use the original square nuts when salvagable, or from the scatterted spares from the shop. I had to make new I bolts and connecting rod, and found a use for that broken shovel handle ;) all thats left is to find leather strap and a drive belt and it will be ready to heat. I figure old harness reins would work the best and cheapest ;) I haven't found much information on these lever crank types let alone of this brand. Anybody know much about them? i did see one on here that was lever opperated and thank God there was imput on how it was put togehter, it really helped figurering this one out.
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