Eddie Mullins

I want to start making a few door latches for the shop and shed so am looking for input and examples. I've tried to do my homework, but cannot find much how to info on door latches. I have found some for the suffolk latch http://blog.horton-brasses.com/archive/2010/december/makingasuffolk , and http://www.sootypaws.net/blacksmithing/latch/latch_intro.html , and a decent general article http://philipmarshall.net/pdf/cotton_knobs+and_latches_ohj_1987.pdf , but was hoping some of you might be able to share some pics of latches you have made or point me to some examples (how to info would be even better). I did find 1 BP on IFI but not quite what I am looking for. I like the self-latching function of the Suffolk, but its not a necesity, I do however want to be able to close the door behind me after entry.

My base is a hollow 2X wood box filled with crushed brick. It was made with the materials had on hand, but works quite well.

.... and then?

100 rpm .... I run my little press at its lowest rpm range, but I know its several times higher than that. Another great tidbit of info I did not know.

The one thing I don't think I saw mentioned was the handle, to me its a critical component, the handle has to feel right in my hand. Don't be afraid to reshape or replace a handle to better suite you. Handles are also often cheap at flea markets and the like. I have several hammers now, but a couple I have gotten from Harbor freight and modified are my 2 goto hammers.

Great idea.

Thanks for all of the great feedback. I see I have much more learning to do. It seems the more I learn, the less I realize I know LOL. Forge welding is still a hit and miss proposition for me, I know I need more time spent practicing, but I also seem to find additional little hints and improvements as I study and ask more. Perhaps another thread might be in order for gerenal forge welding tips ...

I've used electrolysis a few times and have found it to be very effective, including freeing up a blower that many other methods had failed to do.

Not premium material, but tire tools are a little better than A36. I aquired 10 recently : ) . I have found A36 to be OK as a drift, but as Frosty mentioned its a bit lacking as a slitter, punch possibly with the right geomtry. Expect to dress often. I have found it to be decent for practice on though before using more $ materials to make punches ,etc.

Thomas - that book is over $700 on Amazon. I may need to get freindly with the local Librarian... His 2nd video I think is also very good one the forge welding process, fire management, etc.

The faggot weld thread has led me to once again do some research. This video

Gerald while in a sense I understand your position, I hope you truely do not speak for all professional smiths. I for one do not need convincing of anything, I will try for myself, what I need is exposure and discussion. Is that not the point of this site? Discussion, and exchange, and learning (as well as some fun hopefully). I hope for the pros it is has not become "old hat" and they will continue to want to share and learn and exchange. I recognize that its a great previlige to get your participation and that of any of the professionals that frequent the site. Thanks! I wish more would.

Thats a clever solution in deed!

No doubt, and I have been looking at bellow pics on Google, but was wanting something more compact and portable. The only ones I have seen were quite large.I have a small work area so this forge will be taken outside as needed to work on longer material I don't have the room to twirl about in the shop. If you have or can point me to plans for bellows you think might be suitable please share. BTW - I happen to have a few decomissioned bikes of varied size in the scrap pile : ) . I have a few ideas rattiling around for them...

I just commented on your fan in the show me your shop thread. I think thats a great idea. I have passed on some old squirrel cage fans I surely would have gotten if I had seen this.

Is that a hand drill operated fan? I am abut to build a portable 2nd forge and this might be a good option for it. Old fans are much easier to come by than blowers.I never thought about putting a handle on one.

No problem Brian, I am just glad I had saved them. I also just saved Black Frog's too - thanks for adding them. I'll have to look for Dave's thread and video, unless you care to elborate on why you use 2 drifts instead of 1.

I had found that equation, but also ran into discussions of hammer blow back or rebound and length of swing etc. It seemed to grow increasingly complicated. I also don't know the velocity of a striker in full swing and the up vs down stroke of the power hammer, etc... At this point, I'm more interested in the theoretical or factual or practical comparrison of the striker and power hammer vs my requirements. However, we can certainly discuss my actual apllication and needs for my hammer in a different thread.

Also disapoined to find these pics missing. This is one of my favorite threads on IFI. I have a few pics of Brians punches I'll post here, but not sure which thread I actually downladed them from. This certainly is not all of them by far. This would have been an awesome permanent BP.

I plan to build a power hammer this year so am of course doing some research. One of the things I have become curious about is the weight of hammer needed. I know bigger is likely better, but I would like to build a hammer of managable proportions. I want list out all of the reasons here unless needed, but given this is my game plan, the question is what size do I really need. As point of comparrison, lets consider the amount of material that can be moved by a striker or multiple strikers swinging sledge hammers. For example I present this video of 3 srikers forming a tack from sizeable stock in about 1 minute and about 120 blows.

I will agree that some gym/exercise/fitness time would probably do most if not all of us a great deal of good. The thread kind of got off topic but I have found this discussion quite interesting and I think the one thing we can all agree on (maybe) is that we will all never agree on everything : ) . I have a 20 year old injury to my right arm that I deal with daily. I am still able to hammer, but I know to extend my time at the forge a powerhammer will be of great benefit. I plan to build one this year and I am not going to hang my head for doing so (power hammers of some type have been around for centuries after all). Lets face it, a mix of the modern and the traditional is inevitable, and part of the evolution of the craft. Where that boundary lies is a question I guess we each have to answer for ourselves. I try to do things traditionaly, i.e. forge to finish, punch vs drill, rivet vs weld, etc, but I am not going to get rid of my band saw, mig welder, belt sander, or drill press etc.

Congrats, and I'd dare say well deserved!

Gerald - I thought you liked to do things the hard way, your a black smith after all. Shouldn't you make the reins by bicep building blows from your hammer ; ) ?

This is something I'm trying work trough now, I have only made about 12 tongs (that survived) so still a steep learning curve for me. So far I have drawn all of them out, but have been tempted to weld on the reins for some for comparrison. Brian, can you elaborate on why the drawn out are lighter and have more spring? Sincerely interested and curious.

Ya'll beat me to it, I immediately thought of the same video when I read the question. I'd also like to see what you come up with.