TASMITH

Ok, will give that a try. Brain isn't working so well right now. Went to San Diego for a visit with our Daughter this past week and ended up catching some kind of virus. Maybe when I finally get rid of the xxxx thing, I will be able to think these things through for myself. Thanks Glenn

Try this again. Pictures Sorry, pictures are two large at moment. Have to resize and repost.

Ok, this may not be viewed as the "current" challenge but it happens that I made a set of fireplace tools for a good friends birthday not too long ago. It meets the "use what you have on hand criteria" however, as I happened to have all the material already in the shop from some different jobs and didn't have to get anything new. just thought I would post some picks to give others some ideas:D

Etching is generally a term used in the producing of a design in metals. Generally it means taking a piece of metal such as copper, or steel and coating it with wax or a product called asphaltum, that makes a protective surface coating on the metal that is easy to scratch a design into it. You have a logo or your name etc. that you carve in the coating down to the bare metal. You then submerse the metal into an appropriate acid bath that will eat or "etch" into the exposed metal surfaces. After an appropriate length of time, depending on how deep you want the impression, you remove it from the bath,rinse and then remove the protective coating. You will then see the design you outlined in the coating has allowed the acid to only attack that part of the metal leaving your design ,logo etc. in the metal. One of the better protective coatings to use is pariffin wax.It melts at low temp. but is easy to scratch through, is reusable, and can be taken off with a hot water rinse right out of the acid bath. As for colouring steel there are "Patinas" which come in just about any colour you want. They are applied to heated steel and somewhat absorbed. They take a lot of practise to blend colours and shades but look great. I got a promo thing one time with one of my subscriptions that advertised an almost full range of coloured patinas but don't remember who it was that offered them, but I sure someone out there knows more about them and will be happy to share with us as usual.

Remember- Carbon monoxide is clear, odorless, tasteless and DEADLY!!!!

Andy, beware of using coke indoors without PLENTY of ventilation!! Burning metallurgical coke produces Tremendous amounts of CARBON MONOXIDE! That is it's purpose. Coke is used in blast furnaces to smelt iron and the basic chemical reaction of the smelting process is the carbon monoxide produced by the coke reacting with the iron oxide to take up the oxygen from the iron oxide reducing it to iron and producing carbon dioxde from the carbon monoxide and oxygen fron the iron!

When I served my apprenticeship (way back when) in the shops department of a major steel maker, I started out literally at the bottom. There were 5 Blacksmiths, 6 helpers, and four hammer operators. The shop had three large hammers. All were steam driven (250 lb per sq in. pressure) and controlled by an operator. They were 1000 lbs, 1500 lbs and 3000 lbs respectively. The first 3 months of my apprenticeship was spent learning what the names were of the various tools and equipment used was called.It was my job to get the correct tools assembled for the helper to use to assist the Blacksmith on the job they were going to do on the hammer that day.It was also my job in those first three months to be a striker on the anvils when needed. The next three months were spent on the anvil learning hammering techniques, bending and forming both on the anvil and on one of the various presses we had set up. The next six months were spent doing the same job as the helpers on the hammer. This involved getting and holding the correct size of stop blocks, swadges, fullers, necking down tools etc. that was required to do the job on the hammers with the blacksmith.At the same time there were still plenty of time spent on the anvils ddoing the "hand forging" that was required. After a year I was finally started on the power hammers. But yet again it started out with the very basics such as straightening cold steel. It was a long slow learning curve to work up to any sophisticated forging under the power hammer with all the same techniques learned on the anvil applied to the power hammer. The same methods are used but the big difference is the POWER of the hammer. You started on the smallest power hammer and worked your way up to the biggest one (it req'd two helpers as well as the operator) to run. On the big boy we used to make the large overhead crane hooks for the plant. Unfortunately they didn't allow cameras in the plant, as I would have loved to have some pictures taken when we made a HUNDRED ton Capcity crane hook. The hook was forged from a 17 inch square billet and took three days to forge. It took a crew of 12 people to make it and when finished the hook itself weighed 6 Tons! After more than twenty five years in the trade ( and the bad back to go with it) I now just do hand forging in my shop. Even "small" powerhammers can take their toll on you! I guess the point that I am trying to make is that you have to learn from the bottom up. It is the only way to learn proper technique AND the safest way to learn. Be it power hammer or hand hammer the Blacksmith is still the most adept at making something out of nothing! How you choose to do it is simply a matter of choice.

It is not recommended to use coke in a coal firepot. Coke firepots are generally cast iron and much shallower than firepots made for coal.If you check out coke firepots at sites like centaur forge you will see that they are round and about half the depth or less than a firepot designed for coal. The reason for this design is that a true metallurgical coke is about 90 to 95 percent pure carbon. It IS difficult to light but it burns a LOT hotter than coal. Coal itself contains a great number of byproducts that are driven off in the coking process that you are burning up in your forge. The burning of these products take energy from the burning coal itself and you get less heat available to heat your work. Wlth coke and sufficient air almost all the available energy is released in your forge and available to heat your work. If you use coke in the deeper coal firepot the temp down near the tuerre in the firepot gets a LOT hotter than it does with coal and can and WILL burnout the firepot very quickly.

One note of caution about galvanized steel to prevent rusting is the fact that if the galvanized coating gets damaged to the point that the steel beneath it is exposed, the steel will actually rust FASTER than steel which has not been galvanized. I'm not exactly clear on the whole chemical process, but it creates a battery effect with the zinc acting as an anode and the steel(iron in the steel) acting as the cathode or vice versa. It sets up an electric current flow between the two and causes the iron in the steel to deteriorate at a faster rate then just being exposed to air and moisture alone. Terry

Tom, That certainly is a well equipped shop, and CLEAN!...LOL I have some pictures of my early stage construction of my shop as well. I post my pictures with Picasa web albums so if you want to view them they are at this link. Picasa Web Albums - Terry - Village Smithy

Have you seen the site for Thak the Armourer and Blacksmith? He is down in your neck of the woods. I think he is somewhere around the Kitchener-Waterloo area. He has Blacksmith supplies. That is where I get my coal from(good quality by the way). I believe his website is thak.ca

Two other quotes I like to use are: Quality is like oats If you want good oats You must pay a fair price! If you don't mind oats that have already been through the horse Well, that comes a little cheaper! And the second, which really doesn't have to do with Blacksmithing in particular: You can't make yourself look bigger, By making another man look smaller, Because the lower you knock a man down, The lower you have to be to hit him!

simply used the first two initials of my name of my given names. Easy and readily identifiable. Terry

Not sure who the original author was but I like "Measure it by eye. Mark it with soapstone. Cut it off on the hardy. Heat and beat to fit!"

Hollis, I know the machine you are talking about. I worked at a forging operation that used drop hammers and closed dies to make auto parts. One of the parts they made was a "BALL Stud" and it required an 2 1/2 inch round billet that was only 10 inches long. Because of the large dia. and short length of the billet we used to weld a "Stud" onto the end of the billet for a tong hold for the hammer men. The stud was 5/8ths round by 3 in long. There was a very small raised point in the center of the stud that was placed against the billet. The stud was put into a copper sleeve on the stud gun and projected out of the end of the gun about 3/4 of an inch. Then a ceramic sleeve that just fit over the projecting end of the stud (and was about a 1/4 thick) was put on. This left just the point of the stud exposed.To make the weld, the tip of the stud was placed in the center of the end of the billet and you pressed down with the stud gun. This caused the copper sleeve of the stud gun(spring loaded) to retract about a half inch up inside the stud gun where a set of "heavy" electrical contacts made a connection to the welder cable attached to the back end of the gun itself. There was a "control cable" attached to the gun as well that led back to the welder.When you depressed the trigger on the stud gun it caused a timer to start on the welder that engaged the main contacts on the welder for a pre-determined length of time and permitted the flow of welding current then cut the flow of current off. The small point on the end of the stud provided a contact point and started an arc between the face of the stud and the face of the billet. The springs in the copper sheath of the gun pushed the stud down into the resulting puddle and welded them together when the timer cut out. The ceramic sleeve contained the arc flash so the operator wasn't exposed to it. It was a very fast and efficient system but was on a "very large" scale. The welder used was industrial sized, capable of putting out up to 1,000 amps! We generally ran the welder at around 4 to 5 hundred amps for this operation. There are smaller ones I'm sure but all operate on the same principle, and would be quite expensive due to all the control circuits required along with the gun etc. Unless you were in production work, they wouldn't be practical for the average shop. Terry

Started my apprenticeship when I was 27. Worked in the trade since.Going on 31 years now. Seems like yesterday, but I guess that's what getting older is all about!!! Terry

John, Where exactly in the Thousand Islands area are you. I am in Lyndhurst and have been a Blacksmith for almost thirty years. Drop me an e-mail or post here and let me know where you are. Heck we are probably neighbours and just don't know it! Terry

Greetings everyone! I would like to introduce myself to the community. My name is Terry ( 57 years young!...lol) and I am a qualified Blacksmith having served a VERY Rare apprenticeship (7,280 hrs) and have my ticket as a Blacksmith. I served my apprenticeship at a major steel mill and completed it in 1981. I have spent the greatest part of my working career in the industrial sector and most of my work has been on a very large scale, both in terms of quantity and size of product. I have made a wide ranging variety of tools for use in the steel industry, including hooks for overhead cranes (ranging from 15 to 100 ton capacity) and have extensive heat treat experience, especially with the class of "Tool Steels". Prior to getting my apprenticeship I had worked in the steel plant in both electrical and mechanical maintenance and consequently worked throughout the different areas of the steel mill from coke making,to steel making, iron making, hot roll mills and cold work mills, so have had the opportunity to see and learn some of the processes involved. I moved to the little Town of Gananoque (pronounced Gan-A-Knock-Way)in the heart of the Thousand Islands region on the shores of the St Lawrence River( for those less familiar with Canada about halfway between Toronto,Ontario and Montreal,Quebec) were I worked as a Blacksmith for a forging operation that produced auto parts. Our employer pulled up stakes and left us (85 employees) without a job in December of 2005. We worked our shift Fri and Sat morning there was a letter in our mailboxes saying the plant was closed!Not really my idea of an early retirement plan but nothing we could do about it, so now I have moved to the country and opened up a little Blacksmith shop to kind of fill the void. Now is the time to learn to be a different kind of "creative" and apply my skills and knowledge to the general population. I am more than willing to share my experiences with anyone and look forward to learning a few new "tricks" myself! It pleases me to find such an open and welcome community as found here on the I Forge Iron site as well as on Anvilfire and look forward to spending time with my fellow journeymen and those willing to try something that is both new and very time honoured! Regards Terry