Bryce Masuk

here is one for a friend I picked up this chip foose helmet for a sweet deal today $200 I really really like it I own the miller elite and this is way nicer it fits my head better the viewing is nicer it has no batterys and it picks up the arc better and instantly turns on properly I paid 300 for the miller it will end up being my work helmet now because its what my boss uses in the shop and he has all the lenses for replacement for it here are a fee random project/tool shots as well

many car parts will work like axle shafts, transmission main shafts, springs and torsion bars. you might be able to find a chart i know there is one relating to GM car parts explaining which steel is where for 80's and older cars your tongs seems pretty good for your first ones, when i first started I could barely control the hammer and I got tired real fast it would take me several sessions to make one set of tongs

We live in the Era of incredible designs in technology too bad all most all of them are poorly made or purposely designed to break

thanks for the tips i have also seen people using a cone shell with a string to draw scrolls whih makes sence because it is a scroll in a spiral I love to study architecture I have a 60's copy of banister fletcher's A history of architecture on the comparative method its quite an amazing book the drawings in it are incredible as well as the vast amount of knowledge from many time periods it is truly inspiring, next to seeing the real thing, this book is quite the masterpiece here is a drawing I worked on today I didnt really nit pick it and It was off the top of my head I didnt copy anyone unless I did it sublimially. it took about 1 hour

here is another one from tonight

Thank you to everyone for the comments and personal imput I think a couple people took me slightly too litteraly or maybe I just poorly explained things, or maybe I am just a prick unintentionally maybe I was just hoping that there was a method to it similar to sheet metal pattern development (some of the things are interchangable) if you want to draw a oval it seems easier to draft it than to do it by hand its pretty hard for me to do it by hand with 4 sides the same I have always been semi decent at sketching things I always make sure i spend a close to an hour per day drawing whatever it might be I have never been good at printing or symetrical stuff though and i want to be here are few of my drawings they are all pretty rough some of them are me drawing other people work, some are unfinished, some are totally random Because my work is so rough and imperfect, I have along ways to go to begin to perfect it I keep my trunk filled with drawings these are just on my desk/in my bag

I am just using it as a guideline to start with I can eyeball things as well at work I am not encouraged to measure "just make it like so, and if it looks right its done right" sometimes thinking solves problems other times it just complicates things, I am just trying to grasp as many idea's as i can find so i can find my own perspective in all things in life blacksmithing without design is like a gun without aim I find that since there are so many option's Idea's pop into my head as I work and I come up with more idea's then I can make in a month and end up cluster F***ed with 12 projects on the floor half finished. and then I keep starting more, practicing random techniques what I really want is some really good idea's worth finishing and well planned then i can make it happen

yeah well I have heeded the advice after the pain went away and came back slightly I realized it time for the doctor I have taken tomorrow off work to see the doctor I know that this means waiting to see a specialist and so forth I have had fear from this screwing me over on the long term from the beginning the pain isnt horrible like before but I know it needs to heal because something must be wrong even if it means being replaced at work my health must come first

Yeah neat guy I understand that kind of scroll there is also this for a different kind My link Your right grant there is art and engineering but somewhere they mesh, nature is art perfectly engineered so it seems I dont know I know I am missing something but I am unsure what it is... maybe I will find it in the next 20 years or something I just know there is a easier/better method than what i am doing now My link I know I can make things much better than I do now I have the ability it seems I lack the true experiance in design to produce what I want on paper enough that I am entirely happy to progress into it fully you can see my little website here www.themetalsculptor.com everything I have made so far is without a real drawing just a rough sketch and guesstimated diamention and then I go to work, I am not happy with any of it I know if i can get everything down perfectly on paper that I can make everything like it should be and if plan it properly it should turn out close to how i want it. for me to progress I need to set defined limits and diamentions and make myself produce them nearly exactly as drawn if you cant do that then your just screwing around guessing and fixing/changing things all the time (not that you could ever expect to get rid of that but as little as possible is usually best) Besides if I was a real apprentice blacksmith its what I would be expected to do just like I do now with fabrication. except the apprentice doesnt make all the decision's/designs he just makes the pieces and assembles them I guess I am doing everything ass backwards story of my life.

I am not really interested in tracing it or scaling it up yet until I develop the pattern I am pretty sure I can draw what I would need by hand on my welding table I am more interested in how scrolls like this are drawn from scratch with the correct spacing and accurate connections I just bought some 8 square per inch graph paper usually I just make my own graph on the paper but its pretty boring I see many types of scrolls seem to be drawn using a compass or some kind of triangulation or even math forumulas

yeah we use an engine hoist or the side boom on the forklift is pretty handy we have made some 65ft gates in the shop I work in now we use the cantileaver setups on these babys and they dont come light or cheap some of them would turn a semi truck into a pancake my buddy at work make some huge spikes for the gate so when the two interlock when closed the spikes go though the frames which were all 4" square tubing

I am prety sure grinding and polishing is the culprit plus the regular 300lb lifts arent helping installing railings and such it doesnt hurt like before but i wont be able to grind with my left hand or hammer for awhile looks like another month of no blacksmithing but i cant take any risks

Just for instance how what approach would you take to drawing something like this to scale Accurately if everything done in a grid typically and just freehanded?

Does anyone have suggestions on books teaching about drafting for ornamental ironwork? I am mostly interested in the complex design's that involve pieces that seem to be using pieces that must be calculated or geometrically constructed in some way or perfectly drawn with trial and error I know there must be some methods to the process. I am likely missing them I have managed to copy the work of some of the drawings but it is very very time consuming and I just just cant reproduce it like I should be able to with most things Not that I would like to copy the work of others in metal but to understand how and why may eventually help me

in the shop my old man worked in they had about 400' x 400' floor of platen tables and million jigs for all purposes the belt sander had like 30 ft belt for graining metal everything was old grimey machinery things blacksmiths dream about including a foundry all doing mostly decorative metalwork and some industrial

I probley should go see the doctor, its about time It really really hurt at one point it seemed completely healed recently

I strained my arm at work over 2 months ago and it got better just over a 2 weeks ago. now its starting to hurt only when I hammer I know I am an idiot for trying (now) but I figured that if it was still injured it would hurt it hasnt gotten as bad as it was but this means no blacksmithing for awhile clearly I just bought a new anvil last weekend. which of course makes it way worse I was right handed welding and grinding for a month and a half somehow I get along it just slows me down I can hammer pretty good with my right hand I just dont have the same power and control in it looks like I will have to be content drawing for awhile again.

Talk about luck brian brazeal is probley one of the best technical blacksmiths I have seen I am hoping to make it down to learn from brian at some point if you learn from him you wont have the chance to form bad habits

That sounds like an effective system, and would retain your best workers for sure Its pretty hard to measure an hours value, because the amount of work produced depends on alot of things

Makes sence to me, the only people who can become successful blacksmiths are people that would do the work for free, before anyone can recognize you have to be worthy of it. I have worked in metal shops run by business men and they dont work properly, its always a series of complaints to everyone they scream about numbers and "production" the best shops are run by tradesmen at least as an employee they know how things work. plus its pretty hard to know how to quote something properly if you have never done it yourself some hours you make 10 times the regular amount many others you lose money or break even take what you get and make the best of it around here the shop rate is 90-150 dollars per hour depending on what you are doing work with stainless is always about 150 a hour most of the railing/gate places around here are totally out to lunch no work and no money I am lucky I work in a jobber shop we do everything you can imagine it probley the best way to have a good business we make railings and gates do sheet metal with stainless repair buckets and industrial stuff as make stuff for mills and factory's we do automotive and marine and make aluminum ramps I never know what will be in my hands or what material it will be made from its like the daily lottery in a 3 man shop I like it alot but its not truly what I would choose to do but I get to do that at home I am building towards it slowly I need to journeyman in the USA learn more about the craft and slowly build a reputation right now I do some straight fabrication for people, most people that are wanting to buy from a backyard shop want backyard prices its all good though it pays for my tools

Mike your design looks good to me with the bottom plate blocking out for the centerpiece it should look complete the design looks english to me, like something I have seen before in someway the craftsmanship looks top notch hopefully it doesnt kill you to produce it to your standards in such a short period of time

I would use a chop saw and get a good quality wheel or numerous cheap ones and cut real slow very little pressure when you cut something like this make sure you cut face the thinnest side up into the wheel so the wheel is making the "least" contact with the metal otherwise it will probley burn out your saw and blow though disks just like if you were cutting flat bar try one way then the other and the difference is night and day its going to take some time but it will do it I have cut though 3 inch round on a chopsaw when a bandsaw blade broke and i had none its not the best method but it can get the job done

looks good to me after seeing a few on here i made this thing my first attempt the collars were done straight out of the forge i couldnt really correct them since my torch was out of oxy good learning experiance to say the least

The more skills you have the better, fabrication can be used for anything there are stone fabricator's you can fabricate tales of grandure, my friend who taught me some tricks in sheet metal came from romania they call everyone "metal fabricators" at least back when he was there in the communist days they taught him how to smith, machine, weld, sheetmetal, everything they used to polish large airplane props made from aluminum BY HAND with a sander all the gutters at the time were made only 1 meter long basicly they were half a 5 inch circle with a 1 inch break to 90 on both sides. they were all soldered at the joints and riveted. another important skill constantly over looked is being able to survey judge and MEASURE a site for building and installation and then make it all come together in reality. if you cant do that properly all your other skills are somewhat of a moot point unless your always working under someone or never installing it. essentially you need to be a complete tradesman, it takes a great amount of time and experiance to have all the skills this is why you can see people who are young 20 years or less that are amazingly talented artists, guitar players, athletes, and many other things but its a single purpose skill some of them are as good as the people with more years of experiance, but in blacksmithing and metalwork in general I have never seen anyone that can rival the old hands except in one skill like welding or forging but to become the complete package is life time journey, impatience is a killer I often screw things but because I am overly excited or working too hard too fast, then humility kicks you in the teeth

looks like you have done a nice job so far what is it made from 1/8th plate or thinner? does it have a wire frame? work was done hot or cold?