Ice Czar

my junkyard shopping list is aimed at high carbon steels for tools axles, leaf springs and crankshafts at the steel yard for mild steel its a lot easier to hex or round square stock than vise versa Id go for a selection weighted toward the larger dimesions 12" > 2" all sorts of ideas come to me when holding a larger stock at work we make mostly architectural (stairs, railings, doors, grills ect) and use quite a lot of 58th square, Id favor it as dimensionally stout enough to draw down in places and upset in others for fireplace equipment. most of our leaf work is 1/16" plate (laser cut) then either stamped in dies we make (40 ton sheer) or for larger leaves hand chased (air hammer), peened and curved. Contemplating doing something similar at home with hand tools Id probably opt for 18" copper plate and a jewelers saw for any complex silhouette,would be a lot of grinding and filing in steel.

howdy Glenn great advise, but those lessons where learned the first day, pain is a great teacher started my apprenticeship making 1000 x 4" wide penny scrolls that one inch stock that bit me through my glove was already in the jig Id made to hold it while it was being chiseled, it was the radiative energy that got me in that case, was so xxxx used to chiseling the 58 inch stuff somewhere near four times the thermal mass radiating energy. Raised a pea size blister right on my knuckle from 6" away we have two forges, both are propane one short and wide for large scroll work, one breadbox like with a small port front and back for heating the middle (also has a side door). Ill be working with an open hearth charcoalcoal forge here soon at home which Im sure will be much different ;)

2nd week as an apprentice I'm chiseling and twisting 40" long 58th inch square the middle is heated to a bright orange (only about 9" is finally twisted) withdrawing a piece from the forge (which has a small window front and back) I catch my glove on fire grabbing the far end of the stock got it a little too close to the forge port I find this rather distracting and while bobbling the bar I loose control of it the heated section bounces off my stomach producing a nice smiley face in my (thankfully) cotton t-shirt and a flash burn that has yet to fade wasnt really a bad burn but it is the most noticable the other day chiseling 1" stock (for the 1st time) with an air hammer, I burned my knuckle through the glove with my hand over 6" away from the stock, there is that much more thermal mass involved had to wrap an extra glove around that hand as a shield to finish that burn was more annoying, you notice it every time you put on a glove