Steve Sells

Occasionally when working on a Hydraulic Cylinder or other Round Item its hard to get it to stay in one place and keep from rolling around while its on a flat table. Short cut offs of Channel Iron make dandy remedies for this problem and you can even roll the item in them if not too heavy, such as torching saddles etc on pipe.

Lots of people are getting plasma cutters for their shops and it seems they are a mystery to some. So I thought I would explain them as they were explained to me. This may clarify things or not. If I make any mistakes please feel free to correct them.

My father has a little problem with birds nesting in his chimney, the first time he went to light a fire this fall, he got smoked out. So here is my solution to remove the nests. Most Chimneysweeps should have at least one tool like this; it screws on to the end of their brush extensions. This guys brush extensions happen to have 3/8 inch pipe thread on them.

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These are made by pointing a piece of 5/16 inch rod and coiling it around the horn of the anvil, simply weld to a 3/8 inch black-iron pipe coupler. Works real slick for removing tightly packed bird nests from stove pipes or chimneys.

When making a cutting plate for your anvil, make a narrow one for the heel, it will make it a lot easier if the piece sets flat on the cutting plate.

When doing a demo you can keep from loosing the crowds interest while waiting for a piece to heat in the forge by giving a little history of Blacksmithing. This will keep the crowd interested and also tell them that you do know a little something about Blacksmithing

Who was Hephaestus -( Hi-fest-us )? Hephaestus was the son of Zues, the king of gods, and Hera. He was born deformed and thrown out of heaven by his mother, and broke his leg in the fall, thus he was deformed and crippled. He was the God of Fire and the worker in all metals and other crafts. He is known as the father of all Blacksmiths in Greek and Roman Mythology. The Romans overthrew the Greeks, but retained their mythical gods, but changed their names. Zeus became Jupiter and Hera became Juno, for whom our month of June is named, Hephaestus became Vulcan. His shop or forge was under a Volcanic mountain where he used hot liquid lava to heat his metal. He was able to make things that were articulate and could move on their own. He made 3 golden hand maidens that helped him in the shop with his work. One day while he was eating, the mischievous handmaidens slit his apron up the middle with a pair of shears. This is the mythical story of why a Blacksmith wears a split apron. He also had a Cyclops, a mythical one eyed giant, who was his helper and striker.

The myth behind the luck of the horseshoe.

DUNSTAN the patron saint of Blacksmiths was in his shop one day, when the DEVIL came in to have new shoes put on. Dunstan recognized him as the devil, because of his cloven hooves, and grabbed his nose with a pair of red hot tongs and tied him to a post and removed the old shoes and put on new shoes. He made this such a painful experience that the DEVIL stated that he would never again go anywhere near a horseshoe again. A HORSESHOE should always be fastened with the open side up to hold the luck in, except over a Blacksmith Shop it should have the open side down, so that the luck pour's forth into the forge.

Our word MYSTERY comes from the old English word MYSTERIE which meant a trade or craft, because the guilds, similar to our present day unions, kept the workings of the trade a secret from the common people to keep them from learning how it was done. Thus it was something unknown, so it was a mystery.

To the superstitious people of olden times the Blacksmith Shop and its contents held MYTHICAL MAGICAL POWERS. The old Smiths would always strike their Anvils three times upon entering their shops in the morning and when leaving at night. This was supposed to keep any evil spirits from the shop. With the modern technology that we carry in our heads and use everyday, if we were to go back to those times we would have a very good chance of being put to death as witches. In the days of old, a sick child would often be brought to the Blacksmiths Anvil where it would be laid on the Anvil and the Anvil struck 3 times by the Smith to drive out any evil spirits. If a child was really sick it was placed on the Anvil and some water from the Blacksmith's tub was poured on the child and then 3 Smiths with the same name would pass their hammers over the child to drive out evil spirits. These practices had a mystical beginning much as round barns have no corner for the devil or evil spirits to hide in.

Blacksmithing has been a trade for 3000 years since 1000 BC, the beginning of the IRON AGE. But working IRON has been known for 6000 years, although irons was very scarce before 1000 BC.

Our own American Indians were quick to see the advantages of Iron and many of the first Treaties with the Indians required that a Smith and Smithy be set up among them.

Blacksmithing was considered the KING of TRADES many years ago because all the other trades depended on him to make their tools and accessories while he need not depend on them. Because of the lack of skilled people in other trades on the frontier he diversified his trade by taking the on the work of other trades such as the FARRIER or horseshoer, the WAINWRIGHT or wagon maker, the WHEELWRIGHT or wheel maker, the COACKMAKER, and the FOUNDER or caster of metals. When AUTOMOBILES came along he was the MECHANIC because he knew about things mechanical. In some cultures he was even empowered to perform marriages.

KING SOLOMONS TEMPLE - In the building of King Solomon's Temple, "There was not heard the sound of axe, hammer, or any tool of Iron." This applied to the actual construction and not the preparation of materials. King Solomon's iron mines were located at the north end of the Dead Sea. In Chronicles 2, we find that King Solomon requested HIRAM of TYRE to send him a 'Skillful man,' one who was capable of working in Iron. Upon completion of the Temple, King Solomon gave a huge banquet to which he invited all the overseers, or superintendents. He further ordained that the individual that had performed the greatest service toward the erection of that edifice should be honored with a seat at his right hand. There was considerable speculation as to who should occupy this favored place. The Superintendent in charge of erection pointed out that the building was perfect, therefore he was entitled to the place of honor. The Quarry-master told how he had dug out the rough stones, shaped them to specifications. Therefore, he should be favored. The head Lumberman told how he had cut the trees, trimmed and hewed them and bound them into rafts. Therefore he was entitled. The day of the feast arrived. As the many guests entered the banquet hall they discovered a Blacksmith sitting in the favored chair. When King Solomon asked by what right he expected to occupy that place, the Blacksmith pointed out that it was he who made the tools for digging out the rough stones from the quarry, he who made the chisels for shaping them to specifications, he who made the axes and other tools used in the forest and the chains to bind the rafts. His plea was so eloquent that King Solomon accorded the Blacksmith the chair at his right hand.

ALEXANDER THE GREAT - When Alexander the Great was on his journey to conquer the world, his scouts brought back word that a certain city had acquired fame in its ability to forge better swords and spears, etc. Their account was so glowing that Alexander detoured his armies 60 miles to capture the city. Mounting the steps of the city hall, Old Alex made a speech informing them that he did not want maidens or slaves, gold or jewels, but they had some iron and men who understood how to forge it. He ordered them to deliver 8 tons of iron and 9 Blacksmiths, otherwise the city would be destroyed. And they complied.

ROME- Rome had one of the worlds greatest Blacksmith Organizations without which she could not have equipped her armies. History states that at one time the hordes came pouring though the Brenner Pass bent on capturing Rome. They were met on the Plains outside Florence, Italy, by Blacksmiths, with the products of their forges, and were so decisively beaten that they fled back in disorder. The Romans are given credit with inventing the Horseshoe and the Claw hammer.

You might be surprised to know that one of the earliest industries started in the western world was Blacksmithing. You might be further surprised to know that forged Iron Bars were exported from our shores before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Presumably by the Norsemen, the Vikings.

The First Blacksmith in English America, James Read, arrived with the original group of settlers in Jamestown, Virginia on May 13, 1607. In the Southwest the Spanish Priests brought Blacksmithing to the New World and had a thriving Blacksmithing Industry going using Indians taught by Priests prior to 1607.

The phrase MACHINE SHOP, was first used to give an explanation of a more or less modern Blacksmith Shop. As powered tools became available to the blacksmith, he found out that these MACHINES that were also TOOLS, made his life much easier, his work more precise and easier to do, and also kept him competitive with or gave him an edge over his competition. He was using a shop full of machines, thus the name MACHINE SHOP. Today a MACHINE SHOP usually denotes a shop custom machining using Lathes, Mills, Drills, and other Precision Machines. Modern Machinists almost have heart failure if you mention that the machines they use were originally invented by Blacksmiths, but in fact a lot of them were invented or altered by Blacksmiths to due a specific job or to improve there capabilities.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - One of direct reasons we are a United States of America today is the fact that we had an outstanding Blacksmith industry during the Revolutionary War. Washington suffered reverses and went into winter quarters at Valley Forge. What an intriguing name to Blacksmiths--Valley Forge--the valley of the Forges. In this Valley were numerous Blacksmith Shops making guns and cannon. Some of these cannon were so ingeniously made that when the British captured them they were sent back to England for study by the military and now repose in British Museums. When those Blacksmiths in Valley Forge had made enough armament, Washington was able to resume his campaign to a successful conclusion.

ELI WHITNEY Blacksmith - Eli Whitney, got his name in the history books for inventing the cotton gin. He accomplished much more when he conceived the idea of making duplicate parts. He made 10 muskets with every part identical, took them to Washington, disassembled them, mixed up the parts, then reassembled 10 working muskets. He was given a contract for 10,000 muskets which were used in the war of 1812. To accomplish this feat he is given credit with inventing the first practical Milling Machine, which was not changed for quite a few years.

Some things you may be asked.

Cherry red heat is approximately 1420 degrees F.

Orange heat is approximately 1850 degrees F

Yellow heat is approximately 2050 degrees F.

White heat is approximately 2450 degrees F.

Pure iron melts at approximately 2750 degrees F.

Depending on the type of coal and the amount of air, a forge can reach over 3000 degrees F.

Definition of the word blacksmith: Iron is known as the black metal, Smith means the artisan or craftsman who smites or hits the metal.

If someone in the crowd says that their relative of someone they know was a blacksmith, tell them you would like to have met them, you might have leaded something from them. This will please the crowd and make you look good. If an old smith shows up and says he was a blacksmith, wipe your hand off a little and offer to shake hands with this individual. Tell this person that if they have any suggestions about how you are doing something to speak up. This will endear you to the crown and you may learn something besides. Don't under any circumstances make the crowd mad at you. Treat them with respect and you will get respect in return. If you make a mistake, own up to it. don't try to hide it. Keep your eyes on the children and teenagers. They were usually not taught to ask before handling, and can injure themselves very quickly and you will be at fault in the eyes of the crowd.

If you don't know the answer to a question, say so, don't try to fool the crowd by making something up. Someone in the crowd will invariably know the answer and you will end up with your foot in your mouth. You will also make yourself look bad and this will reflect on other smiths as well.

This is a piece is 1/1/2 inch square bar with a piece of 1/2 inch round welded at the middle of the block. A piece of all thread rod was available and used, but anything can be used as a handle.

Make the flag holder as usual. For the piece that sticks into the ground or foot, point one end of the stock.

You simply lay the hot end of the flag stand on the swage block, put the footing tool on top and whack it with a hammer forming the foot.

This simple foot saves you the material and effort of making a foot stand for the flag holder. It still can be punched into the ground and the simple foot will keep it in place and keep it from tuning or rotating in the wind.

This little hook is designed to hang wide brimmed western hats but could be used for coats and jackets or even a medium sized Poodle. It makes a good demo piece because it goes quickly and incorporates several different smithing operations.

Start with a length of flat strap 12” long. This one happens to be 3/16” X 1” but almost any size will work. Center punch two marks at 1 ½” and 3 ½” from one end. The hole closest to the end will form the beginning of a split. The one at 3 ½” is to hang the hook from.

If you use a square or hexagonal center punch, your mark will be easier to find in the scale raised on hot metal.

Draw the end to a taper starting at the mark that is 1 ½” from the end. Keep the taper even from side to side. Leave the point of the taper sort of blunt, as you will split it later.

Punch ¼” holes at each center punch mark.

Beginning at the hole closest to the end of the piece split the taper evenly with a hot cut. You could do this with a hacksaw, but the hot cut operation is more interesting at a public demo.

Once you have completed the split, separate the branches and draw them out into longer tapers.

Then form the tapers into longhorns over the horn of the anvil. We used longhorns in this example but a later photo will show some different ideas for forming the split ends.

Once you are finished with the horns, use the peen to draw out a fishtail scroll end on the other end of the piece.

Bend the end of the fishtail over the far edge of the anvil to give it a smooth curve. This is where the hat will hang. It needs to be wide and smooth so it doesn't punch a hole in that $700 Stetson that you will hang on it.

Beginning about 2 ½” from the fishtail, form a rough “L” shaped hook.

This should result in a bend that is a little less than 90 degrees. If the iron is bent at a good heat, you will naturally get a little curve in the “tongue” of the hook. This holds the brim of the hat better than if it were perfectly straight.

After a coating of your favorite wax finish, you have a quick little sale item. A hand-forged nail to hang the hook with adds a nice touch.

Different treatments of the split end adds variety. (Hearts, longhorns, Hereford horns, handlebar, etc).

If you are really pressed for time at a demo, put a fishtail scroll at each end. It cuts out one of the hole punches, and the splitting and drawing out of the horns.

Don't understand algebra" Geometry not in your vocabulary? Running out of soapstone on figuring? No problem. Here is a simple method to find the center of a circle or arch, which makes it easy for anyone.

Start with a circle or arch (part of a circle).

Make marks on the circle or arch in 3 different places, no need to measure. In fact, there is no measuring involved.

We set a compass to some undetermined amount. Put the point of the compass on each of the marks and draw a circle.

Draw a line connecting the intersections of the red - green circles, and another line connecting the intersections of the green - blue lines. Where the two lines cross is the center of the circle.

When you make a Go-No go Gauge, mark the size on the gauge and attach hole and the tenon together. This way you will have not only the size of the tool but also both pieces when you need them.

There has been an influx of hooks among the blueprints and not wanting to be left out I make my humble offering. It’s just a Nail-in-Hook and takes just about as long as an onlooker can be bothered on looking. Thanks that fella who came up with the original design. And thanks ‘Siss’, aka Rachel, my daughter for looking after the photography.

This is really starting from the beginning. I’m using a length of 3/8 rod for this project and the first task is to cut off the daggy end that was left over from the last job. The rod is driven almost through onto the hardy. Be careful here as your hardy will probably leave a nice scar across your hammer if you go too far.

The last little bit will virtually fall off but because it was still a bit hot it took some extra wiggling. As an aside let me say that rules, especially safety rules, exist for very good reasons and only when you are totally familiar with them and with the consequences should you ever temp fate. Dear beginners what is wrong here? You're right. Remove the hardy if not in use lest you subtract a knuckle from the tally God gave you.

Where possible a good idea is to use round stock if you want square and square if you want round. This gives the whole piece a forged look rather than just the bits you’ve hammered. Here I’m turning the round into square by first flattening about three inches. And what about the new Father’s Day hammer? Don’t tell Siss but I prefer the old one.

Turn 90 degrees and finish squaring up the rod.

Bend about 1 inch over the edge of the anvil. Without any assistance to hold down the part on the face of the anvil it will kick up. Just belt it down.

Here we are about three quarters of the way. Aim for a bend of about 75 degrees

With another heat, quench about three quarters of the short section then drive in into the anvil face. In this step the object is to work up a square corner. The squarer the better in the finished piece I reckon. If it is nice and square, when it is nailed in, the hook will appear to be magically attached to the wall or post. Also, if it’s square it won’t get damaged much when it’s hammered in.

Now to forging a point to nail in. Start with the work on the face and taper that dimension then…

…hook it over an edge and taper the other dimension. There is latitude in this step to get the square corner just as you like it but be careful not to go overboard and ruin it instead.

At this stage my nail-in-hooks look a bit like this.

Cut off about 3 inches from the ‘nail’

Remember we only squared up about 3 inches of the 3/8 rod. In this step square up the rest and begin to forge a fine point.

That is fine enough, we’re not making acupuncture needles.

Scroll the point by nudging it over the edge of the anvil while feeding forward. Oh…and if you want to know what “choking a hammer” is all about, this picture explains it pretty well! But it’s a matter of control and here we needed all that could be mustered. A hammer without a handle would have been even better.

Eventually you must turn the thing over and coax the scroll around by hitting straight on the end.

Take another heat and with a bending fork begin to make the hook part. It’s a good idea now to always quench out the scroll…it’s pretty fragile when confronted with a two pounder in full swing. It just cringes in fear and destroys itself. It won’t be your fault it does it on its own.

Finish off the hook over the horn. WATCH OUT FOR THAT SCROLL!

Almost done.

The twisting photos didn’t turn out, Siss says sorry Dad. I generally do the twisting with two stout pairs of tongs but the vice and shifter work just as well. This picture at least shows the result. It also shows an experiment I thought I’d try. At a black heat the hook is getting a spray with “Lanotech”. It’s just lanolin in a can. You never see a rusty shearing shed so it must work.

And this is the finished article. I think I’ll be using the Lanotech again.

Footnote: There are a few blueprints about that describe a pineapple twist. Part of making this decorative twist is to know how many twists you've made in the first step so that you can untwist it by half that number. The hook described above has a half twist ie one end has been turned 180 degrees relative to the other end. The number of diagonal lines on any face gives this info immediately. In the hook you will see two diagonal lines therefore it's a half twist....two being half of four. Had there been six diagonal lines it would have received one and a half full turns...six being one and a half times four. If you were using hex material the four in the calculation would become a six.

Start with 24 inches of 1/4 inch round bar.

This is the tool I use to make the first bend.

This is the next tool that I use.

I take a good heat, drop the shaft through the hole and bend

All the way around a full 360 degrees.

This is my hook bender that I use on the other end.

The hook end will feed up through the drain hole on any standard terra cotta flower pot.

Now we have a hanging flower pot, you bed a plant in the pot and hang it up.

Copper sheet, leaves, templates, and tools.

Cardboard templates, leaves and petals

Petals and leaves drawn on copper sheet

Petals and leaves cut out

Petals and leaves cleaned up.

Putting veins in the leaves.

Putting more veins in the leaves.

Finished leaves.

Putting texture in the petals

Punching the hole for the stem in the petals.

Petals textured and hole punched

#6 copper wire textured for the stem

All the petals, leaves and the stem

First petal soldered on the stem

Setting the second petal with a piece of 1/4 pipe (is this sch 80?)

Second set of petals ready to solder

Third set of petals in position ready to solder.

All of the petals soldered in place on the stem

Centaur set of petals folded up in place.

Second set of petals folded up and shaped with the pliers

Soldering leaves on the stem

Rose all soldered together

Cold water to quench the petal in after heating with the torch to get the colors.

Rose all colored with the torch.

Rose ready to be sprayed with clear cote.

Clear coat sprayed on rose to seal it from fading.

Finished rose.

Just tack weld the piece of 2 inch flat in the center of the channel then tack weld the other piece to it. The 2 inch piece has to be square with the channel

When welding a flange to the end of a piece of pipe, you need something to square up the flange to the center line of the pipe. The square has to go over the flange to get it square with the pipe, not easy to do without some sort of positioning device.This is so much easier to use than a 2 by 4 or some other jury rigging and the short piece of 2 inch channel is very stable and self centers on the pipe. Tack the flange in one place, use the tool and a square to get the other side square, tack weld, then rotate the pipe or the square fixture a quarter turn to square it the other direction. Tack weld and remove the fixture and weld the flange to the pipe or tubing.

The big horns for the hardy hole.

The little hardy horns, notice the stop at the bottom to make it flat, I was using it once for a ring and it came out with a taper to the sides, as the bottom edge was not going completely against the side and was stretching the bottom side.

Ok, I know it looks mangled but its not, it is my version of side bending horns.

Shown here in the hardy hole with some of my short pipe mandrels. I am limited to how long a piece I can swing around on my anvil, so this way I can do a long piece by just pushing down.

The initial set up.

The second push down, just keep pushing it in and bending down.

Farther along.

The completed ring, if it was done hot it would be more to the size of the mandrel.

I wanted to remove this fan from an electric blower. At first, my small gear puller looked like it would work fine.

The problem is that the cast iron fan hub was quite a bit smaller in OD than the base of the fan. Without some sort of adapter, the arms of the puller would hook over the edged of the fan itself, and the pulling force would be against the fan sheet metal.

This is a close up of the adapter against the fan. The puller arms will catch on the 1/4" plate and not damage the fan sheet metal.

With a little of Bayou Joe's favorite penetrating / lubricating oil (Howe's “since 1927” brand name), the fan came right off with use of only the 6” adjustable wrench on the gear puller. The home built adapter is now in the box with the rest of the gear puller stuff.

All the talk about gas forges has gotten too me, my brain has been working overtime on this one for awhile, it finally came to a head, so I had to do something about it. LOL, So here goes, remembering that I sometimes think outside the box.

1 inch black pipe burner tube with the OD turned to 1.25 inches and threaded 16 TPI and the end relieved down to the bottom of the threads as I will not be able to thread the venturi clear up to the shoulder.

Take the strainer portion loose from the lid. Most of these can be chiseled loose fairly easily as they are held with just a couple of spot welds.

Fill the bucket with your favorite annealing medium. This one is filled with wood ashes from the fireplace. When you need access, just flip the small lid open, bury the item, close the lid, and go do something else. The lid keeps your medium from blowing out of the tank so it’s always ready when you need it.

This is a variation of the portable drill press by Jr Strasil in BP055. I have used one just like the one we are about to make for over 20 years . I needed to drill 34 3/4 inch holes in the triple frame rails of a tri axle dump truck and was having quite a time. A mentor and friend of mine showed me how to make this. Although he has passed on now, I still Thank him every time I use it.

It starts with a 6 foot piece of 1-1/4 inch sch 40 pipe. Weld a 6 foot length of light chain (I use 1/4 inch) on to one end of the pipe. Add a hook to the other end of the chain. I forged this one but used store bought hooks for years.
 

Make a saddle to hold the drill out of plate or angle. I use plate bent in a U shape to fit the spade handle on my drill. Weld it on to the pipe 18 inches down from the end you welded the chain on.

Since I use a spade drill I place the drill handle in the saddle and Drill a hole in both sides of the saddle and make a pin to fit in to the holes to hold the drill in place. I attach the pin to the saddle with a short piece of chain to keep it from getting lost.

If you are not using a spade drill you might not be able to pin it.

Take a short piece of 5/16 rod and bend a hook like in the next picture. Now weld it right behind the Chain you welded on the end of the pipe in the first step.

As you will see later on this will make adjusting the chain length much easier.

You can get a lot of leverage with this rig and if the drill tries to catch it does not wrap you around the work piece or break your wrist. The handle is long enough You can stand back and eyeball if your level and square.

I have made several L brackets out of scrap iron with 5/16 hooks welded on the top. I tack weld these to larger work(like Plate, Bin walls, tanks etc) that you can not get a chain around. Just tack weld the front bottom edge of the angle to the work. Or drill a couple of holes in the bracket to bolt it down if there are any holes in the work piece. Then attach the drill rig chain to the hook on the bracket.

To remove the bracket when your done... If you tack welded it on you bend the bracket back and forth or smack it with a hammer to break it loose. Grind the tack off of both pieces and your done. If you bolted it on simply unbolt it.

There are probably several refinements that could be made to the drill rig. however I have used mine for many years just the way it is. If you have several holes or large holes to drill this tool will save time and effort.

This is one of my upset helpers. It's just a short scrap of 2 inch square mild steel with holes bored in it. 3/8, 1/2, 5/8, 3/4, 7/8 and 1 inch all at least 1/32 oversize, with a hardy shank welded on the end.

The end upset just a tad with a short heat and the edges beveled with a hammer on a piece of 1/2 inch hot rolled for a bolt. Most people heat to much of it when upsetting and it just bends over. (Rule of thumb is 2.5 times the diameter for a bolt head.)

Starting the upset with about the right amount hot on the end. its already starting to bend to the side, if you are not using some kind of restraint, now is the time to straighten it.

With my upset helper I just stick it in one of the holes that will let it expand some and hammer on it till it gets too cool to upset anymore. It can't bend much sideways so more work is accomplished as the straightening can wait till the end.

This is what it looks like right from the upset helper hole.

Another heat and straightening it and beveling the end a little.

Squaring the end some prior to heading, notice that one side is longer than the other, this should have been cut off, but I decided to leave it to show what will happen.

In the header and the initial heading done. (notice what happened to the side that was longer). This is very hard to correct now and will never be right.

Another heat and squaring the head up.

Back in the header for making the final head thickness.

The final thickness achieved.

Final finish squaring of the head, a hand made bolt head will have a tell tale slight bulge in the center of each side due to this final squaring and have a slight depression in the center.

What the finished head looks like at a dull red heat.