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I Forge Iron

Doug C

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  • Posts

    457
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Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male

Converted

  • Location
    North of Boston, MA
  • Biography
    Wife got me lessons at the local forge for christmas and hasn't seen me since.
  • Interests
    Smithing, Guitar
  • Occupation
    Software Engineering

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  1. Online you can get it at McMaster-Carr. Also see if a member your local blacksmithing group has any for sale. NEB just has a fall meet and someone was selling 3 foot lengths of 1045 for $10.
  2. Wish I had been interested in blacksmithing when I did my Eagle project. Nice work and one luck eagle to be given this opportunity.
  3. Picture of the olive tongs when you are done please. I bet I could sell a boat load of those to the yuppies around here!!
  4. Hope thats won't slow down your hammering!
  5. Even though I am an IT guy I prefer pencil and paper. I can take it with me to the forge, coffee shop, work etc. I agree with an earlier post. Take a drawing class. You are not painting the Sistine Chapel so you should be able to come up to speed pretty quick. Software takes a fair amount of time to learn compared to basic drawing skills. If you are set on using software and money is an issue Sketchup is a nice tool. I know several folks that have used it an done some amazing things with it. They just had to spend a lot of time getting to know the software. I think Frosty has it right, get some graph paper,a #2 pencil and go to it.
  6. Just finished making some brackets for a hammock out of railroad spikes for someone I work with. Looking for the next project.
  7. Frosty, Glad to hear you are doing better. I want to offer my condolences on your dog. I just put mine down last Sunday for the same reason, bone cancer. She never saved my life but she was a good friend. Hope you recover soon as you are a great contributor to this site and seem like a xxxx of a nice person.
    Doug

  8. Great article Glenn, recently I found out the the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority still employees full time smiths to repair the subway fleet here in Boston. I wonder what other cities employ smiths full time?
  9. This looks identical to my anvil which is also about 160LB. I don't hold it they way you are too often! Nice anvil but the heal rings like the dickens.
  10. Harold, Remember that in the old days the low man on the totem pole in a blacksmith's shop had to weld all the scraps together. Once you have the technique down it is not hard. Just save yourself some time and have someone show you how. My own opinion is that people make a big deal out of forge welding when they shouldn't. Just do not expect to be a pro at it any time soon. You should probably start with a different kind of weld than the one you are doing. Also remember that for as many smiths as there are each will probably have is own welding technique. To start with get some 20 mule team at your local grocery ( it is a laundry detergent enhancer). You will use this for flux. Build a good fire and keep it clean. No clincker. Start by making a short taper into the end of a piece of steel. Bend the piece of round steel back onto itself. Heat it till it is orange and then apply flux to the seams created by folding it back onto itself. Heat until the to a bright orange, dull yellow. At this point time is of the essence. Move quickly but deliberately. When you pull the steel out of the fire the flux will be smoking like a cigarette if it is at the right temp Tap lightly but firmly from the bend towards the taper. Hitting hard will not help. Repeat the flux through weld stage if required to to seal the seem along its full length. After you get that down make a loop in the steel and weld just the end so you have a handle. Endless possibilities. Good luck.
  11. Harold, Besides practice the best thing you can do is find a local blacksmithing group, join and participate. Here are two in PA. PENNSYLVANIA ARTIST BLACKSMITH ASSOCIATION www.pablacksmith.org PITTSBURGH AREA ARTIST BLACKSMITHS paaba.net Also see if someone offers lessons. Even if their site does not mention it you may be able to convince a local smith to give you lessons. Working with other folks is not essential but can really keep you from making more mistakes than progress. Glad to have another interested soul on-board. Good luck
  12. Doug C

    My First Anvil

    looks a lot like my hay budden
  13. The smile says it all. I wish I had taken up blacksmithing when my kids were younger so I could have made them that happy. Job well done.
  14. Doug C

    Some more bowls

    What is the finish you have on these bowls?
  15. I found this site from the uk ( http://www.justears.org/ear-defenders.asp ) look for the musicians earplugs. 180 pounds which is $276. I think Mark Aspery was talking about this sort of plug. Here is the description from the site: Custom made noise suppression plugs with varying filters for different attenuation. ER-9 attenuates 9dB, ER-15 attenuates 15dB and ER-25 attenuates 25dB of relatively flat sound reduction across all frequencies.
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