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I Forge Iron

george m.

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Everything posted by george m.

  1. I never distinguish between wholesale and retail in my pricing. What I have into a piece is a irretrievable part of my allotted time on this earth. I figure my hourly rate and price accordingly. If I reduce the price of a piece for wholesale I am admitting to myself that the piece of my life that went into that object is worth less than I had thought. Generally, my retail prices are low enough that a reseller can mark a piece up and still make a reasonable profit. I am not absolutely immovable on this rule, I will reduce the per piece price for a large multiple order, but I try to use it as a guide and am usually successful.
  2. I'll worry about procrastination tomorrow. Also, I don't care about apathy.
  3. As much as I deeply hate leg hold traps I suggest that you take it to your local HVAC or sheet metal shop and see if their shear will handle something that size. I have found prices at a waterjet shop to be pretty reasonable. Conflictedly, George M. PS I'm not a PETA type, I hunt regularly. I just hate leg hold traps. The springs are good steel though and I will turn them into knives, etc. every chance I get.
  4. Two questions: A. About how much time, on average, does it take you to make a bottle opener? I realize that some designs will take longer than others but there must be a rough average. B. How much do you charge for them?
  5. Aluminum and brass are not traditional forging materials. I have never tried to forge Al but brass is pretty much not amenable to forging. This is because most brass alloys contain some lead to make it softer for cold working or machining. When heated the lead liquefies and causes the metal to crumble when hit. Bronze usually is forgeable but stay away from beryllium bronze because it can generate heavy metal fumes. Grain size in casting is generally a function of how fast the molten metal cools. My experience is that many young men want to learn blacksmithing so that they can make a sword. Unfortunately, it isn't that simple. Forging a steel sword takes some experience but hardening and tempering takes a lot more. A sword is not a beginner's project, at least a usable one. Also, the forging and heat treating is only part of the project. Expect a LOT of bench work filing, grinding, polishing and making the hilt parts. I think that you are better for any blade to use commercial stock rather than melting random scrap which may have any number of weird alloy elements in it.
  6. Dear Frank, It would be a nice in joke/reference to make the links 7.92 inches long, the length of a surveyor's link. Or in the Southwest, a link 2.775 feet long which is 1 vara in old Spanish measure. 20 varas = a "Texas" chain. Obscurely, George M.
  7. It depends on what I am making. If it is something that will have a black "natural" surface I generally don't brush. If I intend a smooth or polished surface I am scrupulous about brushing off scale. Sometimes I brush and not brush on different parts of the same piece.
  8. Dear John, I have wondered about this for 25 years since I saw an Anglo-Saxon fire dog (similar to the one in Meduseld in the Lord of the Rings Two Towers movie) in a museum in Cambridge. Since the originals were wrought iron maybe the antennae forge welded on easier but they are still a wonderful example of the skills of the smiths at the time. Admiringly, George M.
  9. This is just a WAG but could the 10 refer to the axle being made for a 10" diameter hub (or a #10 hub)? I don't know how standardized hubs and axle cones were in the 19th century but it looks like something that would be unless every manufacturer made both axles and hubs to match. Speculatively, George M.
  10. Query: How did you attach the horns to the beast heads? I have looked at this and similar projects and that has always stumped me.
  11. Dear Frosty, One that I recall from the original Tom Swift series from the early 20th century was "Tom Swift and His Electric Areoplane." As I recall, the original series was better than the ones published in the '50s. Did you know that TASER stands for "Tom Swift's Electric Rifle" with an A added for consistency with normal English spelling? In at least 1 episode TS had an electric rifle which stunned evil doers. Trivialy, George M.
  12. Dear LM, Is your use of bright screws to mount the torch holders an intentional decision for the contrast? Also, what are you using for fuel in the torch cups? I, too, am wondering about scorching the woodwork when it is windy. GM
  13. Dear Frosty, A pun on depressing the metal to form the grapes. Also, I was a fan of Tom Swifty jokes when I was a wee tyke. I guess that I've never met an adverb I didn't like. GM
  14. Dear Frosty, Nothing attached. Dear Lawn Jockey, I'm a recovering geologist who went back to law school in the '80s when the bottom dropped out of geology. Whenever I feel a compulsion to hit a rock with a hammer or make a map I call someone up and the talk me out of it. "Hi. I'm George and I'm a geologist." (applause) This law stuff has worked out. Inside job, no heavy lifting. Recoveringly, George M.
  15. One issue I would have to resolve if I were doing this project is whether to raise the grapes in 14 gauge hot or cold. Blacksmiths go to hell for hitting cold iron and 14 gauge is pretty thick to work cold. I've done some similar things hot against a soaked wet stump. You get steam and smoke but I can't think of anything that gives a bit when you hit it that isn't flammable. If you have a swage block with a hemispherical depression you may be able to use that but I'm not sure if doing the 2d depression beside the 1st would distort the 1st. Let us know how it goes and, if you can, post pics or a video. Depressingly, George M.
  16. Ah, yes. The equitable remedy for detrimental reliance. It seems to be an unlikely set of facts though with someone not being a "reasonable person." I'm gratified to learn that there is at least one other lawyer/blacksmith out there. A pretty rare bird. GM
  17. Dear Lawn Jockey, The basic common law definition of a contract is offer, acceptance, and consideration. If any of these is absent there is no legally enforceable contract. If you agree to do something for free you cannot be forced to do it if you change your mind because there has been no consideration transferred. As you point out contact law is complicated and sometimes not obvious. That said, most contracts are accomplished with everyone happy. A written contact is for that small percentage that go bad. "A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it is written on." George M. Colorado Attorney Reg. #16972
  18. I always thought that a cold shut/shunt was a fold in the surface of a forged or rolled piece caused by adjacent blows/pressure spreading metal towards each other and forming a sort of trench or fold which gets pressed into the metal. At one point in my misspent youth I was an inspector at the Alloy Bar Mill at US Steel's South Works in Chicago and had to look for shuts in the rods and bars before they were shipped. If I found one I hit it with a grinder and if it was too deep the bar was rejected and sent back to be used as scrap.
  19. Dear tdaleh, I haven't received anything. I'm going to slightly encode my email address by using the military phonetic alphabet. Contact me at monsson@tango whiskey Oscar lima.com. Cryptically, George M.
  20. Thomas, if that is directed at me, no, I didn't. The thought occurred to me after I had purchased the 3" spikes from the gentleman in KS. When I get around to a project needing 5"ers I will call the Georgetown Loop RR which is the nearest narrow gauge line to me.
  21. Dear Eric, I had always been taught the exact opposite. A Dutch oven had legs and and iron pot didn't. According to what appears to be a trustworthy Wikipedia article a Dutch oven is just a pot with a tight fitting lid. The ones with legs and a flat, rimmed lid are cowboy, chuck wagon, or camping Dutch ovens. They are called "Dutch" because the casting process was perfected in Holland before the English started producing similar products. Even more pedantically, George M.
  22. I asked the same question about 2 years ago and someone contacted me off forum and sold me enough to last me a decade or so at a reasonable price. I think he was in KS. Before that I was having a very hard time finding them and I'm in a state with a long mining history. If I had wanted a several hundred pound keg of them for several hundred dollars plus freight I could have gotten them from a RR supply company. I'd still like to find some medium sized ones, maybe about 5" long, to fall between the 3" mine spikes and the 7" full size standard gauge spikes. I think the 5" spikes were used on actual 24" narrow gauge lines, the 3" on 12-16" mine tracks, and the 7" on standard gauge.
  23. I agree that in general plated metals are bad things to get hot but what to y'all do to remove plating other than burning it off. It's tough to find unplated bolts, etc. these days and plated ones often don't look good on a piece. You can remove it on a wire wheel but I'm not sure if that isn't just as bad, or maybe worse, than burning it off in the forge. At least in the forge most of the fumes should go up the chimney.
  24. OK all, as an old geologist I need to clear up some confusion about coal and coke. Among coals there are thermal (steam) coals which are mainly used for creating steam in power plants. There are also metallurgical coals which are used to produce coke for steel production. They differ in various qualities including heat value, amount of volatiles, amount of non-carbon content, etc.. The most important quality for a good coking coal is the index of caking/plasticity which is the ability, when heated in a non-oxygen atmosphere to become plastic and give off the volatiles and then reform as a solid. Heating coals are pretty common and account for the vast majority of coal reserves. Good coking coal is much less common. Whether a particular coal is hard (anthracite) or soft (bituminous or sub-bituminous) has little to do with being a good coking coal. I burn coke almost exclusively because I am right in town and I don't want to annoy my neighbors. It works well but you do have to keep air going to the fire. If I turn around to do something on the bench or go into the house for more than about 5-10 minutes it will go out where a coal fire would just die down and be able to be brought up again with more air. Coke does produce clinkers because the coking process does not remove the involatiles. If you know the origin of your coal you may be able to find out its index of plasticity or caking. I don't recall what a good number is but the higher is better. You could compare it to the caking index of a known poor coking coal, e.g. Wyoming sub-bituminous coal which is pretty crappy coking or blacksmithing coal. Also, if your coal slakes (disintegrates) when exposed to the weather it is probably a sub-bituminous, non-coking coal. That was my first forge fuel and it wasn't pretty. I used to be able to get good blacksmith coal locally and was told that it came from the #3 seam of a coal mine in Oklahoma. And, yes, coal in a forge turns into coke on the edges of the fire. That is why your fire may start out smoky but then clear up and why you should rake coal into the fire from the sides rather than dumping green coal on top. Carbonaceously, George M.
  25. When I am forging bronze I judge the time in the fire by turns of the blower crank rather than by color of the metal. Counting seconds also works. For example, bringing a cold 1/4" round bronze brazing rod to working temperature in my forge takes about 10-12 blower turns. Only about 3 to return it to working temperature while working it. I can carry on a conversation while forging steel. I cannot while forging bronze, it takes too close attention. Any distraction will make it likely that you will burn the work. Small pieces (1/4" and smaller) are much easier to burn/melt. BTW, the folk at Atlas Metals in Denver are very nice to deal with. Ask if they have any drops from their fabricating operation.
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