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petere76

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Everything posted by petere76

  1. WHP, Good score my friend and welcome aboard, enjoy the madness. PW s are great anvils. It always amazes me that we are using something produced by men well over a century ago. Forge on and make good things. Peter
  2. Ivan, Make a bunch of matched heads that you think you might need, maybe leave so extra beef in the working ares so you can adjust to the demand. Keep them on standby and weld on reigns when you need them. You can electric weld the connection and forge it out so it looks right. The strength is the same. I have a coffee can full of ready made heads. Peter
  3. Dawn for the hands and arms. A Nettie pot with saline solution to rid yourself if the clogged nasal passages. Both work well for me and I use a coal forge a lot of the time. Peter
  4. I have seen homemade forges utilizing a blown design with simple needle valve metering. The added cost on these systems is the blower. You can get the chineses blower from blacksmith's depot for @200 USD. You still have to build the forge containment in whatever configuration you need. You can forge weld in these set ups, not so with some of the older naturally aspirated models. We have a whisper mama in the shop and it works ok for everything but forge welding. If you can build one of these rigs, you will get what you want. I believe Bob Menard of the Ball and Chain forge in Portland Maine, made a few of these things for the NEBA A few years ago. He may have plans. Good luck with your project. Peter
  5. Valve grinder for sure, large Marine Diesel 2 cycle engines B&W have exhaust valves that are up to 2 feet in dia. Periodically you tear down the valves and dress the seats in a rig like you have only much larger. Old MGs and Jags had valves that you could grind true and then lap into the head to improve compression. British Layland Corp used to outfit all their dealerships with a rig like the one you have. Peter
  6. Dave, I see where you are looking for portability, stick and TIG capabilities. I'll assume that you are running a 220 circuit in your shop. The good new set up for your needs would be a Lincoln TIG 225 with the auxiliary equipment package. Its not a 24/7 production welder but it looks to be a good shop package. It will run between 5A and 220 A with a max DC output of 75V. You would have to check on the duty cycle of the specific Model you want. The advantage to the 225 is that it is capable of bigger jobs and you can upgrade it without buying another machine. I saw where the local gas supplier here in Maine had these on sale with the equipment package for about 1500 USD. If you just buy a smaller machine at a bargain price, then outfit it with all the accessories, you wind up spending more and getting less in the long run. See if the local welding supply in your area is running any Lincoln specials and find out what they can do for you. Let us know what you wind up with. Peter
  7. Thomas, My error on the Bessmer process. You are correct. Peter
  8. Grundsau, A few pics of the ball end hooks I referenced earlier. 1/2 in ball on a 3/8 in shaft. I make two ball ends, cut the unit in half and weld onto the wall mounting plate. I use an open die on the power hammer to finish the piece so it appears seamless where it joins the plate. These hooks went with a set of steak turners. Peter
  9. Grundsau, Starting with the the thickness of the ball will result in considerable effort on your part to complete the rest of the hook shaft.,unless you are making just one part. It is time consuming. Time us money as the saying goes. Now if say you are making a run of ten or twenty hooks with two ends, that means a lot if shop time at whatever rate it costs you to run the shop. In many ways the blacksmith's trade is a study in the industrial science or "art" of production. How much can can you make a product for and how many of that product can you turn out. I'm sure the great industrialists of the late 1800s and early 1900s contemplated these same analogies. In many ways, the industrial revolution after the U.S. civil war was a study in this very concept. Blacksmith's with a production system became Titans of the industry and those businessmen smart enough to recognize and harness those talents profited beyond belief. The Bessmer steel making process (German) became US steel, due in large part to the vision, luck and timing of the civil war and the efforts of a Scott named Andrew Carnegie. History is a testimony to those that both can see talent and harness it. Success being the obvious byproduct. Art on the other hand, is bourn of life rather than science, although in some cases, it still uses the skills of the scientist it reflects the vision of its creator. There is beauty and function in both pursuits. Blacksmith's do, in our trade, walk in both camps. Peter
  10. Allen, Fold over the end of the stock and weld it. You can forge weld in the fashon of a faggot welld or electric weld, they both work. Heat it up in the forge and finish in the swage. For doing runs of mounted hooks I have a second swage that forms the connection between the shaft and the flat mounting plate with 2 bobbed screw holes. I'll try and get some photos of a finished hook and of the ball swages. Peter
  11. Make yourself a ball swage in the size desired. Obviously you have to forge up the first one so you can size the swage but after that you can pound out the ball ends all day. I have a bunch of different sizes for doing balls. 1/2 in ball on a 3/8 shaft works the best for tack hooks in the barn. My tire hammer has no trouble doing a 1 in ball. If you want the faceted look, forge the ball oversize and hand finish each one on the anvil. Jeremy, your door handles look excellent. I like the taper into the ball as well as the incised twisted grip. Nice job. Peter
  12. Made in India. They aren't cast they are forged, not the best fit but very serviceable. At USD 200 the average vise on e bay is a better deal but...they are used , old and you have to adjust them and make them right. I have an old Indian Chief in the shop and a big newer Indian manufactured vise. They both do the job. Peter
  13. If you are going the sub zero route, get yourself a weed burner and preheat the anvil to take the chill off. Works great for large scale portable directed heat. They us them at the ski area to thaw frozen snow making system valves. It was 19 below here the other day, the slack tank (plastic chem drum) is frozen solid, round like a dome on the bottom. Should be thawed out by April. Next time I biuld a shop, I'm putting in radiant floor heating. Peter
  14. Made this at the New England School of Metalwork. Dereck Glazer orchestrated the Grinder build a few years back. 2 x 72 belt, and its adaptable to you specific needs. Works great and it was well worth the time and effort. Peter
  15. Thanks Steve, I swa the lack of data out there and I just thought to ask. We generally think .25 in on the spine is the "chopper" utility knife but.....some of the edo period swords are considerably less robust and yet, effective beyond belief. Peter
  16. Gents, I'm looking for the width to blade depth ratio on Japaneses knives and swords. Looking for the finished material dimension ( thickness) after forging at the spine and the related depth, I.e. Width of the respective blade. Any info or a decent source would be appreciated. Peter
  17. Great move on getting your new larger anvil. Now think about fabricating yourself a new forge. You will be well served by having a good forge and a decent blower. You can buy one of the commercial cast fire pots and a blower. The rest you can beg borrow or barter for and fabricate yourself. Check out the forge designs. Good luck. Peter
  18. John, Nice job. Did you make a ball swage for the mid bar ball or freehand it? Peter
  19. First the tenon. Calculate the required angle of the bar. Leave enough to form the tenon on the bars centerline. The monkey tooling is angled to the calculated angle you need. Now the slitting of the bar. To offset the angle slit or punch has to be offset. Once the offset is established you drift to the correct tenon dia. The trick is in the lay out. Do a few test pieces to make sure you are getting the angled hole right. On the old railings that used this design, they frequently had a top cap that covered the end of the tenon wher it was peened into a countersunk opening so it was flush. The punched rail isn't pretty and I think the top cap was designed to both offer a smooth surface and cover up the roughness of the punched bar. I think Francis Whittakers book Showed the angled monkey tooling you need to make. Peter
  20. The book, Early American Wrought Iron. It has great illustrations of typical hardware of the day. A wireless color copier for the office. My wife always surprise me. Peter
  21. From the great state of Maine, Derek Glazer of the New England School of Metalwork as well as DG Forge. Also, Peter Brown. Owner of Iron and Silk forge. Peter was an understudy apprentice of F. Whitaker Carbondale Co. . Both are professional smiths that do work we would all envy and they freely share their knowledge. Real gentlemen, great guys and an assets to our trade. Peter
  22. You can make one handle, aka Francis Whitaker, with a simple soup can loop. Change out the cans when necessary. Works great for me. Peter
  23. in my humble opinion, It's all about the rhythm. The striker commands notwithstanding, I see it as a mindset of motion that one uses while working to form the iron based on the image in your head. After all it's about converting the idea into reality. Peter
  24. The band saw with a guide is the way to go. Do batches of 10 so, you don't get discouraged. 5 months is twenty weeks,that should give you enough time to knock it out. Another approach, would be to have a few buddies over and knock out the cutting all at once. With everything cut you can forge out the batches yourself when time is available. I am always reminded of a saying one of my instructors was fond of when I was a cadet, " what is the most expensive thing? Ans. Free time" . You have a great idea there, good luck with your project. Peter
  25. Everyone, A very Merry Christmas to all and may peace be with you and yours. Peter Carrabassett Valley Forge
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