FieryFurnace

Thanks for the input guys! This will give me something to work with!

Ok so, I just finished pouring concrete in the shop. Once the casters arrive via UPS, I'll be moving equipment back into place and reorganizing. I'm wanting to install a second forge. My current primary forge is beside the outer wall and uses a Hofi hood style chimney arrangement. The second forge is going to be farther in the shop, and I have no choice but to go straight up through the roof. Here is what I need to know! Where do I get a 12-inch rubber high-temp boot to seal the pipe where it goes through the roof? Is this the best option? If not, what is? I don't really care for the "cut a ragged hole and silicone it to death" option! And P.S. I'm going through a metal roof with 2x6 trusses and no insulation. The area going through the roof is at least 8 feet above the fire, so heat is not a problem, although I will be taking proper heat-deterent precautions. Thanks for your input!

Thanks guys! I really put some effort into this one, as it was a very special piece for me as well as for them. It is stamped FFF in the back right hand corner. I thought stamping the front would throw off the ballance between the names and the date stamped front and center. Well you have to know the bride! She's not the best at conveying feelings openly, but I think in her own way she was very pleased with it. She got a picture of the groom, herself, and me with her in the middle holding it.

Ohhh wait! I do have a picture of the copper rivets!

My best friend just go married a few days ago. Her husband asked me before the wedding to make her this goat piece. (She really likes goats. His specs were something 3-6 inches tall, two goats, one girl, one boy, facing each other, heart behind them, and a base plate with their names and the date of the wedding. I put him on "stand-by" because I had no idea if I could even do it, but I was happy with the results I got. The first thing I did was find a suitable picture......coloring book drawing, and had a friend downsize it to the correct dimensions. One smaller for the girl goat, and one larger for the boy goat. Don't fret too much! I gave the girl goat horn and beard shave on the light table. For the process I used, I put these original prints on the light table and traced them out. The next thing to do was to anneal the sheet steel blanks. I used approximately 16 gauge material. After that I taped (instead of rubber glue because I don't have any,) the drawings onto the blanks. I used my reppousse hammer to chisel-cut the blanks out. After the blanks were cut out, I filed off all of the rough edges. Then I used chasing and reppousse to raise and lower the goats to make them more real and 3D. I also added eye lashes to "MiLady Goat." I left the tabs on the bottom of the feet so that I could rivet the goats to the base. Ohhh yes! The base! The base was 1/8-inch steel plate something like 5"x10" if I remember correctly. I cut off the corners, annealled, and chamfered the base. Here's a sneak peak! Here is where I got enventive. The husband (Paul,) had told me to stamp his name and the bride's name (Nicole,) into the base. His plan was to put this piece on their reception table, covered, so that the bride would not see it until she came into the reception hall and uncovered it. So, I asked Paul how they would be sitting at the reception table. He said that Nicole would be on his right, and he on the left. I then emailed Nicole, and told her I was working on a surprise for Paul for the wedding, and asked her if she could send me a picture of her signature saying "Paul and Nicole." She complied without question! I used this signature on the base and then stamped the wedding date into the base. Finally I had to forge the heart that would go behind the goats. I used 1/2-inch round for this, and emplemented mortise and tenon joinery. I finished with thorough hand-sanding and clear coat. Oh yes, the base has three, 1-inch long pieces of 1/4-inch square migged to the bottom so that it always sits perfectly flat. And now for the final photo run! I was quite pleased with the results although there is always room for improvements. As an slight detail, I also used heavy copper rivets to fasten the goats to the plate. They are pretty much hidden from view, but do add a touch of detail. Thoughts???

My experience thus far is art shows that are juried, that must be applied to several months in advance, that run close to a $300 booth fee, and are in artsy and/or wealthy area, are good bets. Demonstrating helps sell your work! Try to demo, but NEVER pay an additional fee for your demo space. If I don't sell over $1000 of work on site and get some custom orders or leads to bring back to the shop, I don't go back! I'm doing a show this weekend, and I'm probably carting something like $3000 - $4000 worth of iron work. The key to selling a lot of work is to have a lot of work. Have a lot of variety. Odds-n-ends under $50.00 sell! Take a few higher priced items like pot racks or firescreens. You might sell it on site, but it's more to attract attention and custom orders.

I met these guys out at the ABANA conference! Great folks and it would be a really neat job. I am often torn between taking up a position like that or trying to make it on my own. The weather in South Dakota is the biggest hand-up on that one! :D

That's ok Glenn.......he doesn't need safety glasses on because he has the horn facing the right way and his thumb on the top of the hammer! :) Ok seriously! An 84-year old man with an English accent, and we turn it into a hammer holding and anvil placing showdown! Bottom line? I don't put my thumb on the top of the handle but hey, if he's been doing it for 74 years, and he can still hold a hammer, it's apparently must not be killing him! There are others that have forged for very long periods of time with their thumb not on the top, without killing themselves. Point is, it doesn't matter! Both can forge, and neither one's arm has fallen off. Anvil placement may be a little more technical. I forge, horn to the right, but occasionally I'll slip around to the other side to get an odd angle. Their are pro's and cons to either way, but the bottom line is, you can make a J-hook or a $20,000 railing, if your skill level is up to it, regardless of whether your anvil is facing right or facing left. Whever feels good and whatever works for you. I have my preferences! You have yours! Neither is wholly and eternally right or wrong. Safety glasses on the other hand.....LOL Hey he's still got both eyes, but I wouldn't advise working without some sort of protection there.

Nice job! What are you going to use to seal it up?

Yeah yeah! I think it has something to do with that too! :D

I'd be happy to have you come down sometime. I'm pretty busy now, but things will slow down in a month or so. Shoot me a PM sometime with your email. I haven't been on the forum much and let this thread get away from me. I noticed though that you said you have a difficult time drawing freehand scrolls. You and I are part of a large crew on the same boat. Freehand scrolls are a headache. One thing that helped me was the Golden Rectangle. I'm not going to lay it all out here because I don't even remember it all. Basically it's a geometric formula for drawing a perfect rectangle. You can use that formula to draw a series of perfect rectangles, and then use those to draw a perfect scroll. It's like connecting the dots. Do a google search and an IFI search for the golden rectangle and the golden scroll. You'll find enough info here and there, to figure out how it works. I used the Golden Rectangle formula to draw some "perfect" scrolls back a year and a half ago. Since then, I have had much greater success in drawing scrolls freehand, because the Golden Rectangle method trained my eye, to an extent, to see a good scroll. I now draw all of my scrolls free-hand. A light table is also a great help with scrolls.

Hi from Columbia Kentucky! I did an art show in LaGrange Ky a few months back. I do large drawings on thick sketch paper. I usually start with a scaled down drawing, then upscale, then layout onto a table for drawing. If a client wants it, I'll make a couple of sample pieces. Stainless steel rulers, squares, compass, decent pencils and erasers, that pretty much sums it up for me!

curved hot-cut with a striker and a curved top cut! 1-heat job!

Hi there! You first need to get a good grasp on the basics. Then move to joinery. After you understand joinery and how it works, then you can start putting pieces of metal together and making multiple pieces work together. Practicly everything in blacksmithing is a combination of forging (changing the dimension and shape of the steel,) and joinery (putting those pieces together.) That's the order I learned in. As far as developing an eye for art, just practice! Study art! Get inspiration from other artist blacksmiths. (Don't steal their work...change it and make it your own.) You will develop an eye for seeing what can be made out of a piece of steel once you've gotten some experience and a good foundational skill set under your belt. I don't bother with much scrap as I have new steel readily available and cheap. You'll develop your eye according to what you have available. Come up to my shop sometime if you want! I'm only two hours away!

If you ever see the guy at a car-lot, don't buy the car! :D

Under the hammer, how do you keep the punch from sticking in the hammer blank when you are pounding it under a power hammer? What type of hammer and what type of throw does it have? Are you still practicing the hit and remove the punch, process like Brian uses with a striker? I have and air hammer with a 12-inch throw. I need to weld my extra set of hump tools to some bottom dies, make a cupping die, and figure out a way to punch under the PH. Like Brian says, a punch press is the ideal, but that's not in the list of shop additions anytime soon here.....in the mean time, I'd like to be able to make a few hammers, and I don't have a striker! How much does that hammer weigh?

Nice! Nice! Nice!

I've got over 700 square feet and am satisfied for now. I've got all the big equipment I want, and plenty of room for small tools still. My main shop is 20x28 feet and I've still got some breathing room. The steel room is 13-feet square and is a separate room from the shop, although it is attached. Very nice having a separate steel room. It too, is big enough for everything I do! I have additional space upstairs for storage for stuff like packing materials, the light table, etc. That's handy too! Walls do not cost much.......roofs do! If you need more storage space, try going up, not out!

Very nice! Collars look great as well as the entire center piece! Just really neat looking! What is the finish going to be?

what are you forging????? Ship anchors or RR engines?

Ehhhh Mississippi, Missouri, South Dakota (ABANA), Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas.......I'm sure I'm missing a couple. Been on the road without internet for a month. Just got back a week ago. Been REALLY busy since then too!

I've used clear coat on several screens on big fireplaces that get used. Never had a problem with it! Cold oiling would be a good second joice!

Great to see this project back on the table! I was afraid you had finished it and had not had time to post about it. Love the idea of the parallel strings to check the height on the upright eliments. The painters tape on the collar areas is great too! A couple of questions on the collars! Are you doing plain or decorative collars? Are they going to be butted or overlapped? What size stock? Are you tack welding under the collars? (Sorry, had to ask!) Are the collars being done hot or cold?

I'd also take a look at it. Need more info and specs though!

LOL that would be a dream come true!