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I Forge Iron

Chuck in Ms

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Everything posted by Chuck in Ms

  1. Just a guess here, but the Champion 400 became available in 1899 and I think with its more compact design coupled with better efficiency and less maintenance the ratcheting forge was doomed.
  2. Don't see a lot about you or where you are at but you can try this. Wood and clay forge, and box bellows. You can find plans and pictures on here or your favorite search engine. These will meet your criteria of cheap, simple, and safe.
  3. That is a good looking forge. I can't tell what the legs are made of but you might find you need a brace around the bottom of them if you move it very often. Looking forward to seeing it fired up.
  4. This is a great idea Mr Trip! I truly hope you can continue this series. And the perfect place to start. So many forget the hardships overcome in our early years. If we want to pass this information along but insist they struggle as much as we did the craft will eventual be reduced to making drive hooks. The burden should not have to fall on a few talented smiths to video for the next generation but it seems like that is how its going to be. I am glad that one of those few talented smiths happens to be you Sir.
  5. Mr Johnson, I think I agree with Mike? If you are drifting a hole that is larger than the width of the parent stock you have to slit the material longer than you first think. I am sure that the math above will work but after a while you will know when its right. You should be able to punch a clean hole the size of pritchel hole in flat stock without the drift unless you just have to save the metal for strength. You saw Brains pritchel plate? It sits in the pritchel hole on the anvil and the different size holes swing over the hardy hole. That would help like Mr Turley said as would the upsetting he mentioned. Keep practicing.
  6. Great shop! Can't wait to see how you set up the inside.
  7. The charcoal was no problem. He used pieces like split fire wood but only about half the normal length (12-14 inches) . That was stacked neatly on end, round and round, until the barrel was full. Then clamped the top on the barrel, built a small brush fire all around and over the barrel and cooked it. Kinda cool clean up the spring pruning mess and make charcoal out of left over fire wood at the same time. 1. The small hole was open in the barrel top and there was a punched hole in the center of the barrel. 2. The barrels were on there side during the burn. 3. Once opened the was about 5-10% not charcoal, but most was perfect even the bark was intact and identifiable just charcoal now. 4. One barrel tried to start burning once we opened the lid (this was two days after the burn) 5. We put the fire out and chopped into small pieces mostly as we used it. Hope some of this is helpful. Chuck
  8. A "light box" like wooden with some iron decor, or completely made of sheet steel? I see great potential either way. They used to call it "ironing out" when they mixed the two mediums. Here's an idea make one of each and let your bride pick which one you get to keep ;)
  9. Hey Jason, welcome and I hope you find a blacksmith association or a smith to help you get a good start.
  10. Can I get my medal in 3/4 inch copper? :b It sounds like you are resilient in your quest. I look forward to seeing some early projects from you soon.
  11. Mr. Kenl, I would like to trade for it when you are ready. Send a personal message if you like.
  12. Matthew, I like the final product just the way they are. The above suggestions are also great and could be used alone or in any combination. The key is to experiment until you find a style or technique that suits you. On these pieces you used sharp, short texture markings, I like round, deep marks. Once you find your style you will find different ways to deploy it but it will always be identified with your work. Keep hammering the black metal! Chuck
  13. Hey Forgenorth, I hope it is ore. Smelting is not really my thing but I did help do one this past weekend at Fire In The Swamp. We had about 45 pounds of ore and got a bloom over 8 pounds. It took a lot of dry wood to get the bloomery going and drying out then two 30 gallon barrels of charcoal, maybe more, for the process. The time went over five hours but wasn't that hard to do. Seems like keeping track of the time was a big deal. Add so much ore so much charcoal wait so long and start again. The one man doing the demo did it basically by himself with a little help here and there. At the end once he got the bloom out two of us compressed the bloom with light blows using 8 pound mauls. He directed the hammer blows and turned the stock. I admit the resulting bloom was very worth while.
  14. Ok, I unfortunately don't have a Champion catalog. I hand placed this forge as a very early model 1875 to 1885 or there about. It is hard to imagine it being around after the introduction of the Champion 400. Makes me wonder how long the production ran. Mr Jim this is the only picture of the Empire I have. I hope you can enlarge it. It was actually called Empire Forge Modified for Military Use.
  15. It could be used for rivets, or shoes, or hammers.....:) Mr Jim we need to talk, I am looking for a military forge made by Empire Forge Co. Mr Kenl that is a great forge! I have done a lot of research on this type of forge and you have the best looking one I have seen yet. Any grinding or slipping will be caused by wear or other alignment problems. You seem to have an all original piece there and looks like no broken teeth or anything so it should work fine for you. Congratulations on your find. Chuck
  16. The "tray", will hold the mound of coal you need to continue feeding the fire. Everything inside the brake drum will be burning as you slowly push your green coal toward the fire it will coke itself. We used to call this "breeze" but seem to have settled on coke. Anyway this coke will be added to the fire pot (break drum) as needed. Coke will provide a cleaner fire with more heat, and less smoke. The mound of coal can also be used as insulation of a sort around your fire if you keep it damp. With practice you can actually build a complete enclosure over your fire for very intense heat. This is sometimes called a "bee hive" used in welding. Also the extra space allows you to rest longer pieces in the fire without having to hold them all the time. Of course if they are too long you need a blacksmith's helper of some kind. The mower deck will work ok, a little thin but will last for a while as long as you clean out the forge after each use and keep it dry. Good luck to you Mr Jimmy
  17. Welcome Gromgor, you have a great resource here at IFI. I would like to suggest finding a local blacksmith group to visit. You will learn a lot from a single visit and if you join and participate it will provide you with resources for tools and supplies that are otherwise hard to come by. Using the search tap on appropriate pages here will answer most questions you will have at this stage of your game. If you cannot find your answer ask, someone will have had a similar problem and solution. This past weekend I heard a "new smith" say he didn't want to join a blacksmith association until he knew what he was doing! That's what the associations are for, learning. I have never meet a blacksmith that wouldn't help someone who was willing to work and learn. You are right about the scrap from automobiles. Leaf springs, coil springs, axles, ect ect..... All good but there are things you need to know about them before you start hammering on them. Take time and learn correctly it will pay off in the long run. Good luck sir
  18. Very handy tool, more TPI will help as well as not nearly that deep.
  19. Really nice table, great job on the leg detail. Waiting to see the matching wall score hanging above it! ;)
  20. That's a really great start, I like the wine bottle holder.
  21. I like it a lot, with proper care should last from now on.
  22. Glad you had a great time Mr Pugh! I can't believe how much you got done. And a great follow up to boot!
  23. I like the design a lot. It is a great looking building. I would use it opposite of you however. Following the beam around and closing up the half gables to block blowing rain. Then set up forge outside and put mowers and equipment inside. Keep in mind I am in south Mississippi where we only get a light frost a few days a year. Up north I would do just as you are doing.
  24. Welcome to IFI, I am a general blacksmith making mostly colonial era tools and household items. I do several demos every year and attend conferences when I can. So what brings you to the craft?
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