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I Forge Iron

Bryce Masuk

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Everything posted by Bryce Masuk

  1. Figuring out how to cheap is an art, its like buying a used car. Some people have mastered it, Exxon moblie made a 8.8% profit last year Total revenue was 448 billion dollars, A business should never own anything that doesn't make it money, some are investments. If your paying to store things, spending your time organizing them ect (we all are). Hiring people won't help you if the work your doing doesn't earn a dime. It's pretty impossible to forsee everything, even if you do everything right your still going to lose money while working. Just do your best, make sure you take care of yourself, motivation comes easily with good health in the body and mind. The key is to remember why things are hard and its usually because your life has changed, perhaps you have tried to stay the same when its no longer an option and you are forced to change. It's evolution, it never stops, its happened before and Will happen again. The problems will change and so will the solutions, it only increases your abilities.
  2. 3d printers have a place in the future of forging Forging is an extremely efficient process in the right dies, even by hand if you have the setup. but it takes time to develop the process and the tooling, even for a small shop its an investment of time and money to make simple setup's a day is a day no matter which way you spend it. I have heard the cost of dies can be 30-40% of the cost of production of many products, obviously depends on what your making and the tolerances required. Sure they can model them on computers and try to come up with the right solution every time, but people make mistakes. I have seen them make dies in the plastic industry and the stamping industry and they have removable pieces so they can be corrected because they never work right off the bat. I don't know if you can do that with forging probley not in all cases because of the massive force and heat exerted but I am not a expert. Being able to print exactly what the die will forge would be as close as you could get, could help you find problems before they happen. there isn't many other ways of creating these shapes many of them couldn't be forged by hand easily, they could be carved but it takes someone very precise to make highly complex objects. Personally, I think if there is a chance to try something new that works for me, I am going to do it. Some people will always hate the new things that come along, but if it didn't work it would just disappear, you cant control everything but don't pass up the new things because you don't understand them.
  3. I am surprised that no one has mentioned that in the late 70's early 80's 15-20 bucks was more than enough to fill your truck up with gas, go have dinner at a pub and drink beer. now the same thing is about $200 dollars... if you put your money in the bank and collect 2.5 percent interest on the money... its likely your actually losing money because inflation is higher than the interest rate.
  4. I have heard a blacksmith state that when he was educated about forge welding that a single faggot or lap welded area has approximately 7% of the shear strength of the original strength of the material. it could be completely wrong but it seems possible. Welding of any sort is typically not very strong in Shear strength in comparison to its Tensile strength. Many of the old British anvils have problem's with the faces cracking off after a 100 years of use. (Better call the manufacturer) Simply butting two giant faces up and forge welding the face on to a large anvil seems like it would be likely to trap silicon and other unweldable materials underneath the face and it would take a massive amount of force to push it all out in a single blow. In many cases this was done by hand so the quality of the welding was determined by the smiths, but even then if you welded on 50 faces a day by hand they all aren't going to be perfect. Wherever there is a flaw in any weld it becomes the point in which everything fails. Which would also make great sense of why people used extremely high layer blades to improve blade strength, the reason being to geometrically move all of the welds into more favorable positions and to homogenize the material while removing flaws
  5. The horse thing reminds me of human's Typically people aren't all that smart myself included, we are intuitive though, usually our intuition is based upon our emotions which allows us to given the right circumstances to either do either incredible things or absolutely stupid things. I have a friend and his life mantra is " I know what I am doing isn't really the best way of doing things but I really don't care because I will just do them wrong for now and deal with the problems later" needless to say things don't usually work out all that well for him but its thoroughly entertaining to watch
  6. the Damascus looks pretty slick with that design.
  7. Sounds like a plan, Doesn't matter what you do, the more effort you put into thinking about it and making a plan the better it will turn out I think if you pick something and focus on one service or product you can produce really well which is in demand is a good bet. Say advertise railings or gates or whatever you want. maybe buy yourself a good name online with keywords if you can buy the top name related to your area "city"-railings.com" use google adwords if you don't mind spending money on it.... probley about $300 per month You need a good page it make it worth awhile.. I would hire a professional paying $2000 is worth it for a professional website, after you have a few cheaper ones you realize that it would have been better to just get the best one you can afford. flyers and newspapers and mail outs aren't likely to be so effective, if you make a quality brochure and mail it to specific professionals you may have better luck with that. its all an experiment anyways, it costs money but eventually you will have something even if its just the knowledge of what not to do.
  8. Building a business is no different than anything else I have discovered. the problem usually is that people aren't willing to put in the work to make it a reality "You always need to work to work" advertising is a hit and miss thing and it takes years to develop it to make it work, if you cant make it work its likely because you have done something wrong. everything is a process and it will take about 2 years to develop a really solid plan and tweek it to make it work you have to keep at it, as soon as you think you have a great plan and its working effectively you should be working on creating a better plan because someone else is believe me. word of mouth takes time to build up and you will need to advertise to get the initial customers, the yellow pages aren't really effective people search for things on the internet its where you should be getting exposure, it will cost money and take time but if your not on there you wont be there for the people looking for your service even really high end customers have people employed to search out things, The main thing that makes a business a business is the fact it makes money, if it doesn't its just a hobby even if your really good at it I think its pretty funny because most trades people will have huge investments in Tools, Trucks, Shops, Years of Life Invested in Knowledge, Yet they spend no time on a proper strategy to get business, or spend money on advertising. if you cant figure it out yourself hire a professional, I would expect to spend about 5-10 thousand per year, considering this the average price of one of my job's if luck is on your side it wont take much to make it better than it is a waste of money you can cut it down to about 2 thousand if you do a lot of work yourself That being said I spent a lot more money than that myself this year, I could not honestly tell you that the advertising is the direct source of my work, it just comes in. Try to think in the mind of others, what would you be doing if you were wanting to buy a driveway gate or railing, would you do a lot of searching and thinking if you were going to spend about the price of car or something.... I bet you would, and what would you expect or want to see from a contractor? You have to decide what are your goals and expectations, this will determine what you want to do, when your spending on advertising and you cant keep up and already far behind, then what are you going to do?
  9. Sounds like your hammer isn't really broken in I had troubles with mine for the first 6 months when I got it, It was doing all kinds of weird things, it wouldn't even hit the dies together at one point or it was very dangerous I took it apart a few times but truthfully it really needed hours and hours of running to smooth itself out. If I was you I would preheat the hammer and leave it running for about 8-10 hours a day for a month Over oil it a bit and just let it loosen up, Eventually its going to run a lot better overall, Your hammer is likely on the boarding line of being too tight to begin with even for Anyang. The cold is just too much for it now
  10. I started my own business about a year and half ago, its the most challenging thing I have ever done.. you have to get out there and spend money on advertising and marketing, take jobs and build clients, you have to work 24/7, everyday every hour your awake you need to plan and organize. organization is the key, which means you need employee's because you cant work and do it all and if you do you wont do it well, Running a one man shop is terrible if you are trying to run a business on industrial property, fully legitimately the government/ insurance rent costs more than I used to year per year and I have always worked hard and had a decent paying job. you need to have a large income to run a business, it costs huge amounts of money to keep going I spend about $20,000 every month now and I wouldn't say I make a lot of money either the focus as been on growing the business and I don't need anything for myself personally. business is really the study of people, the mentality of human beings, I have spent my entire life focused on thinking about how people work, trying to figure myself out. analyze the world and see what is really going on, everything starts from a structure, while we all dream of doing the most elaborate and beautiful jobs in the world we should realize that no one starts at the top, we work our way up from the bottom, in the metal trade there are so many things to learn beyond the skills that use your hands, designing things to fit perfectly, seeing all the issues and being able to create something that always works is a challenge. knowing the customers, their expectations, what they will pay, whether they are going to scam you. bending over backwards for the right people at the right time can change your business in a few seconds flat. you never know what you can do until its done. I do not choose to be a common man, It is my right to be uncommon … if I can, I seek opportunity … not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen. Humbled and dulled by having the State look after me. I want to take the calculated risk; To dream and to build.... To fail and to succeed. I refuse to barter incentive for a dole; I prefer the challenges of life To the guaranteed existence; The thrill of fulfillment To the stale calm of Utopia. I will not trade freedom for beneficence Nor my dignity for a handout I will never cower before any master Nor bend to any threat. It is my heritage to stand erect. Proud and unafraid; To think and act for myself, To enjoy the benefit of my creations And to face the world boldly and say: This, with God’s help, I have done All this is what it means To be an Entrepreneur.” ― Thomas Paine, "Common Sense"
  11. anyone seen something like this for sale? I have a customer who would like the same thing if its available I would really like to buy some. making it isn't out of the question but its a secondary option here is the picture...
  12. A Concrete cut off is what they use to install them with a guide. a 70cc 2 stroke with a shop saw wheel on it basicly it will cut though one in 30 seconds or less and leave a clean cut
  13. I wish I could have went down for this but I have all our gear loaded for a railing we are doing on a island, we have to leave on monday and it wouldnt have been feasable to work all these hours and drive nearly 1000 kms and then pack up our gear and head off. maybe next time, I hope to go to the western states in august, If we keep getting as many jobs as we are now I many never get a vaccation lol
  14. Use the wrench.. if it doesnt work just hit it with a hammer
  15. He should have made it from wrought iron as its the traditional material, The reality of this situation is that blacksmiths and blacksmiting historian's are the people who care about traditions in this manner, Habbermann used electric welding and not much but his restoration work was in traditional design, Blacksmithing and its technical aspects are relatively unknown to the common man, lack of interest and education are the cause. The truth about blacksmithing is, its a skill that requires great effort and investment of time and it may not be truly understood or appreciated but if you love it and want to do it. I suggest you just do it, there isn't much in this world to be afraid of you can always make life work. Live a modest life, do what you love,push yourself for success understand that there are many types of success, being free and happy is far more valuable than anything.
  16. You could try the QC system like on a big blue, its nice to just be able to buy dies vs making them. It would cost much more to have them made, Although you can cut the taper and file it to finish what is your time worth? Spring tools are good but they are never going to be the same as a set of dies
  17. Friction screw press is another but I want at least a couple of each
  18. That part won't be cheap to make either, I paid 2000 for my D model and someone had rebuilt it And it still took alot of work to make it run,
  19. Heat it up a dull red and wire wheel it, If you end up with areas you can't get into with a grinder you can even get it orange hot and hit it hard with the wheel and it will tear out whatever is there
  20. Ar. Stands for abrasion resistant Its tough stuff it also has a positive and negative effect When you cut it with the torch (and you will) It gets a wicked hard edge almost like a blade Works great for snowplow blades Its also expensive as hell Those they make all sorts of grades tanks and ships are going to have secret alloys undoubtedly. Trying to prevent those IHIT slugs from getting through isn't easy they keep getting more advanced Edgar Brant the blacksmith invented the technology according to Wikipedia. The Anyang dies are just too soft they can be hard faced though
  21. All hammers turn black if you use them more than you polish them
  22. A bigger pulley will help with a jack shaft, you might not have ideal friction but on a 50# it shouldnt be too bad Getting the hammer linkages tuned just right and running the way you want them is the key every hammer is a little different. At least with a dupont you dont have a little giant clutch a slack belt is pretty simple, if you cant get good control you may find that a jackshaft is what you need. With mine i put a 10 1/2 inch pulley on the motor which was pretty expensive and a 20 inch pulley to that with a 10 inch drive pulley for the 3 1/2 inch wide belt. The rotating mass is close to 200 lbs the motor never slows down because it engages with so much inertia
  23. I personally dont see why people build tire hammers and homemade hammers, it has its place for certain people. Buying a good air hammer is worth it. The old stuff was based on know how the idea that things are made around set rules that are never entirely true just make it work.
  24. Its pretty amazing, how people have saved powerhammers. Thats a neat one for sure, old technology was based on knowledge now its blinking lights and people using computers to do the work lol
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