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I Forge Iron

Ozark Nick

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Everything posted by Ozark Nick

  1. Ozark Nick
    Did some more reading. The article on branding irons here at IFI says to use 3/8 or 1/2 inch. He also said he wants the symbol about three inches tall. But the article here says 4 inches or larger. Guess I need to do a lot more research.
  2. Ozark Nick
    Ok, here I am dredging up an old thread. fellow asked me today to make him a branding iron for his cattle. he insists the brand has to be made out of 1/2 inch round stock. didn't sound right, but I thought what do I know. now I've read this thread. will this guys idea even work at all? ps- by brand I'm referring to the logo.
  3. Ozark Nick
    Yes! Thank you! That allowed me to find the title which is, "Cockeyed Cowboys of Calico County". LOL.
  4. Ozark Nick
    there's an old western I saw once. where a blacksmith needed to find a wife. it was kind of a comedy. but there's one scene where it looks like he's actually forging on a piece of steel. I'm desperately trying to find the title, but am not having any luck so far.
  5. Ozark Nick
    Howdy all. Haven't had much time for blacksmithing this past year because of work. But things are slowing down now and I've been able to fire up the forge quite a bit. I found I had to relearn much of what I'd already learned because it had been so long! LOL! Here is a photo of my most recent work.
  6. Ozark Nick
    The bolt you have circled in white will allow you to remove the outer jaw of the vise. I recently got an old leg vise too, removing that bolt and giving that whole area a thorough cleaning brought it back into mostly working condition. Good luck!
  7. Ozark Nick
    Got a stand made this morning. I do wish I had done this a long while back, Thomas!
  8. Ozark Nick
    That's nice. Love the etching(?) in the metal.
  9. Ozark Nick
    So hey, here I am to dredge this back out of the depths. I finally got around to working on this thing today. I got the pivot bolt out. I cleaned it up and oiled the heck out of it and now the jaw operates they way it ought to. Yay! Tomorrow I'm going to make a portable stand for it so I can finally use it.
  10. Ozark Nick
    Outside in shade. Maybe what I thought was bright orange was actually yellow. At one point it did throw some sparks when I took it out of the fire, but I thought it was the charcoal.
  11. Ozark Nick
    Haha! Seriously? I thought it was only at bright orange. :D
  12. Ozark Nick
    Okay, so I went back out and tried it again. Was working at a bright orange temp this time. I rearranged my forge last weekend and I think I created an air leak between the forge and blower, it just didn't seem to be getting as hot as it did before. Anyway, I cut off the damaged bit and went to work. I got more cracks in the tip again, but they're different this time. Is this the same problem or something else? Thanks again for all the help.
  13. Ozark Nick
    That's good to know, except this was a scrap yard find. There isn't any way for me to be really sure which alloy it is, is there?
  14. Ozark Nick
    Interesting. Now the question that comes to mind is, Can this be fixed? Or do I just lop off the tip and start over?
  15. Ozark Nick
    Not hot enough?! Ok, I thought high carbon shouldn't be worked above a dull orange. I think I'd read that somewhere. Thanks for the help guys. :)
  16. Ozark Nick
    Found the shaft from some kind of auger at the scrap yard. Spark test seemed to indicate it was a higher carbon steel. So I tried to make my first punch with it. While drawing out the taper I noticed a crack forming in the tip. Any thoughts as to why this happened? Did I get the steel too hot? Thanks!
  17. Ozark Nick
    Thanks again for all the kind words everybody! I'll keep practicing! Dave, I haven't drilled or punched these yet, I don't have the tools necessary to do either one here at the house. As for the mounting area, I'm still really trying to get the flattening technique down. Those half-hammer blows take a little practice to get them in the same spot! :)
  18. Ozark Nick
    Wow, that is incredible. May I ask which end was the ball peen?
  19. Ozark Nick
    Fishtail on the end sticking out from the wall? Will those little pigtail finials I've been doing tear through a jacket?
  20. Ozark Nick
    Still practicing on hooks. Took Dave's advice and got some 3/8-inch round stock to play with and worked on my techniques for shaping the hook (without the benefit of a horn). Funnily enough the far left was my first attempt and my favorite. I'm kinda thinking I need to video myself making these so I can see exactly what I did to get certain results after the fact.
  21. Ozark Nick
    LOL ... that's ok. I don't think I mentioned it in this thread specifically. Yup, I like Dave's vid a lot, jumping at the bit to get out and try it but it'll be tomorrow or maybe the weekend before I have a chance too.
  22. Ozark Nick
    Hey Dave, Thanks very much for taking the time to make and post this vid. I can see right off the bat my hammer motions are similar but I haven't been adding the complimentary motions with the other hand. Can't wait to get out and try it some more!
  23. Ozark Nick
    I learn something new everyday! ;) Are there specific swear words to make hooks match or will any do? lol.
  24. Ozark Nick
    My "anvil" is a piece of railroad track, so I don't have a horn ... that's why I was looking for alternatives! ;) Thanks for the compliments. Dave, eagerly awaiting the vid!
  25. Ozark Nick
    This made me realize ... I need to find a large piece of steel and forge my own "horn" and weld that to my rail.
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