Quarry Dog

You're definitely starting to get the geometry down.  Keep working at it, and then when you're where you want to be, come back and fix all the ones that you can and you'll have a bunch of tongs to fit for different stock sizes/shapes.  I would definitely not throw these ones in the scrap bin just yet.

Yeah, Steve is right.  Cast iron is not forgeable.  It is only bendable when very hot, and even then just barely, and it's still liable to break/crumble if you push it too much, and heavens help you if you actually hit it with a hammer.  It also has the possibility to crack as you heat it up, or as it cools.

 Get some forging time in by making basic tools and little knick-knacks for around the house.  This will teach you how the metal moves before you even try to forge a knife.  Even once it's forged, and assuming it is just one with the scrolled handle(about as simple a knife as you can make), you still have to grind.

  I always have a "writing kit" (cordura pocket protector looking doodad, need to make a leather one) in my back pocket at work, and around the forge.  In it I keep a tungsten scriber, a sharpie, an automatic centerpunch, and a 1/4" round soapstone holder.  You'd be surprised how close you can get to the sharpie mark with a torch before it disappears (even if the millscale is popping off), and it's easier to see on painted/shiny metal than just about anything else.

  I like the pencil idea, as I've seen ones that handle forging heat, but I'd break them in five seconds.  As it is I break off the tip on my soapstone at minimum twice a week from climbing around on stuff or stuffing myself into small places.  I guess I'll have to stick with the autopunch for that stuff.

Thanks for correcting the misnomer I picked up.  I'll pass the info along.

  The sucker rod makes alot more sense than what I was thinking you were talking about, both in name, and application as horns & hammers.

  I more often hear the stuff I was talking about called drill rod (not the precisely ground tool steel a.k.a. silver steel), but a few guys called it sucker rod, which is what was throwing me off.  We use it in the quarry to drill blast holes.  The 1" stuff is for loading small charges in boulders too large for the escavator mounted breaker (think mega jackhammer), the 3" is for multiple blast holes to make the highwall go byebye, and the 6" stuff I've only ever seen well drillers running.  I'm sure there's bigger, but I haven't seen it myself.

Ok, I'll bite.  It seems like I've seen people suggest sucker rod for everything from making bicks/horns to hammers out of it.  Am I thinking of the same stuff as you guys are talking about?  What I'm thinking of is a "rod"(more like a super heavy pipe) that comes in various sisez, has a set of "threads" (some actually have a very defined thread with a 30 degree or so taper, others more of a helically wrapped "lump") on each end, and is made of hard-ish steel with a proportionally sized hole running down the middle to suck/blow water/oil/air out of, commonly used for various rock drilling operations.  How do you work around the hole in the middle?  Forge weld it shut? Or just neck it down toward the end of the bick/horn?

That stand just looks way too busy for me.  No matter what, you're trying to hammer from almost arms length.  No wonder he's selling.

Stronghand's version of the Bessey clamps have a retainer clip on the end that you just push on and can slide the screw part off.  Perhaps you could make a swage for that cross section and figure out something like a "T-bolt" that works for your platten. Maybe a wedge lock could work?

I have seen more than a few on old military ISO shelters (kinda like a shipping container, but with doorways, electrical, lighting, a/c, storage, equip, etc., etc.) that had nameplates with broken off "Drivets".  I've also seen a few oldish mills/lathes with only a couple of them on the nomenclature plates.  In almost all cases not involving extreme corrosion in the hole, the head had broken off.

Weren't/Aren't these used to fasten nomenclature/manufacturer plates to the frame of industrial machinery? Like for pieces that don't have sheet metal on the frame to pop-rivet to.  I know I've seen something like it on machinery that has a solid cast iron frame, and some smaller stuff milled out of solid steel.  

  I've found that the best way to undo work is to have one two person forge, with one electric blower, one footswitch, and be the person on the other side from said footswitch.  You start out with not enough heat while you're staying out of the other guys way.  You then get complacent while waiting for heat.  Next thing you notice, is that the fire is roaring all of a sudden and those bolt tong blanks that have a pefectly formed neck and bit, are burning up right as you were ready to form the boss for the third time in a row.

At that point I gave up and made what I felt to be a pretty nice bottle opener that all the neighbors now seem to want, although the tongs I was trying to make would have been nice to use for making said bottle opener.

  I've found that the best way to undo work is to have one two person forge, with one electric blower, one footswitch, and be the person on the other side from said footswitch.  You start out with not enough heat while you're staying out of the other guys way.  You then get complacent while waiting for heat.  Next thing you notice, is that the fire is roaring all of a sudden and those bolt tong blanks that have a pefectly formed neck and bit, are burning up right as you were ready to form the boss for the third time in a row.

At that point I gave up and made what I felt to be a pretty nice bottle opener that all the neighbors now seem to want, although the tongs I was trying to make would have been nice to use for making said bottle opener.

  I just made one of these the hard way.  I forged down some 1.5" shaft to 3/8" by 3/4" flat with a 1.25" "ball" on one end.  Wanna talk about a "learning experience".

   I definitely prefer this general style of ash dump, and Arkie's take on it looks pretty nice.  Dead simple to work with.  No trying to spin it around with the end of the poker (the dumps can get hot if small coals fall through), no fighting with a slide-out (also potentially hot), no unscrewing a pipe cap (again, maybe hot), just balance it right when you build it and all you have to do is kick the ball every so often (which is away from the flap and should not be hot, so you might actually be able to flip it open with your hand, but that's awful close to the ground, and not many of our backs are likely to get better than they are today). 

Wasn't there one guy on here had plans for a doodad he called a Zipmax?  Basically a handheld pneumatic hammer mounted akin (but not exactly like) a power hammer?

At the shop that I hammer around at, there is a "story board" posted for the tongs projects that are part of the beginner class.  If I remember correctly it has flat and bolt tongs on the story board.  I'll have to take pictures of it next weekend when I am there.

I have to admit, that was not the punchline I was expecting...and for that I am glad.

I don't see that he claimed that those bookends were forge welded.  If he had, I would definitely agree that they were "forged" welds.  I like that play on words by the way.

Another idea is check with your local welding supply.  I just saw a Mr. Heater today for US$40.00 sitting over by the propane pre-heat wands.  They also had the fancy one with the guage for 100.

Yeah, especially when welding. Just be careful that noone is in the rather sizeable debris field when you do that trick, especially little ones around eye level to the anvil.

  When doing work of just about any type, I wear a "Comeaux" brand cap.  I get 'em big enough that I can wear it over the ears, keeping sparks out, as well as keeping the hair out of my face.  

  When it's really hot out and I'm not welding, I dunk it and slap it on.  That feels awesome.

  The major drawback is that you're pretty much guaranteed to look like goon. 

  If you can manage not to stub your toes on them, big rig brake drums and rims make pretty good pedestal bases.  They're heavy enough to be pretty stable, but they can be easily moved around just by tilting them over a little and rolling like an oversized oxygen bottle.  The brake drums are a little easier to move around, but the rims are more stable.

  I'm actually using a brake drum for the base of the forge I'm making right now, I just need to finish painting it and clay the pot.

  PRO TIP: If you mount a grinder motormotor (or something else that will vibrate a lot) to a rim, make sure to weld some tabs to the inside of the bottom and attach some nicely trimmed (about 1 to 2 inches oversized) conveyor belt (or similar rubber matting, use a sharp knife) to the base with elevator bolts.  It is highly advisable to do this before mounting the post for the motor.  It's easier to get at the nuts that way.  This little bit of extra effort will keep it from walking around the floor, and make it a whole lot quieter, and won't make it any harder to roll around.  I'll make a separate post in the tool section when I get pictures, which is gonna be awhile as the shop isn't open this weekend.

  I'm glad you didn't take me the wrong way, especially since it is so easy to sound like a raging "center punch" on the internet.

  I like the idea of the cage style guarding.  I use similar guarding at work for conveyors and whatever else needs people to stay away while in motion.

  I'm glad to hear that you plan on making another pass on those welds, and that you've put the chain on to try to limit the chaos if things go bad.

  I wish you much luck with your research and developement.

I'm pretty sure it already exists...the whole site is almost founded on it.

  It may be just your safety at risk, in which case that's your choice, but as soon as there is someone else around, or if someone depends on you(wife and kids), they are jeapordized as well.  

  I have seen bigger and better welds fail under less tension and shock than your power hammer will produce.  It may not have happened yet, maybe not tomorrow, or the next day, but those welds have a good chance of premature failure due to porosity and tie-in, maybe even penetration.

  I was once told that every weld ever done will eventually fail.  The difference in when they fail is based on every possible variable from the factors we can control(penetration, profile, porosity, inclusions, proper reinforcement) to those that we cannot (tension, pressure, shock, heat, weather, flex).  The better we do at controlling what we can, the longer those welds will last.

  I don't mean to be a jerk, but those welds are definitely structural, and if it were something I had made,  I would make sure it was right, even if I had to ask a friend to do it.

  All of that said, I like the design of your hammer.  I haven't seen one set up like that before, and it looks to have an extremely effective movement.

  I've never noticed that the wire brush does harm to the anvil, but I do know that it chews the scale off of the work without shaving it down.

  Hot rasping works pretty well in a vice too, and the rasp side will really shave things down fast.  An added side effect of hot rasping that I've noticed is that if you keep going around your work with the right amount of pressure for the thickness you can get very straight and true.

And they tear the scale off almost as well as a hot rasping session.