facium

Copper is different, it will be soft after annealing regardless of air cooling or quenching. How hard copper will be after annealing (hard, half hard, dead soft) depends on how hot you get it. I think there has been a slight misunderstanding about copper returning to hard if air cooled. Some (but not all) non-ferrous metals do need to be quenched to soften them (Silver need to be held at temp over time, then quenched). If you let them air cool (4 hours?) then they would still be hard, but the original question was about copper.

thanks John, as my fabrication facilities are somewhat limited, I bought a chepo set of industrial punches from harbor frieght and ground them to what I needed. working on a new piece with these tools, and will post some pics soon

thanks, I have noticed a lot of pieces I have seem don't bother with flat, they texture the surface (I would assume using a rubber mallet on a textured backing plate)

thanks John, that's about the shape I was thinking. thank you too Thomas, I suspected the bedding might be too soft (modeling clay) and am in the proccess of getting something stiffer. It's nice to know I not waisting my time. the only problem I forsee with bedding is the abient temp here runs 100+ most of the time, and I don't know if I will be able to use pitch.

Facium; In latin it usualy means to build or to make. It is is the latin root word for fabrication. I came across the quote "Aut invenium, aut facium" while reading a military history of the officer that gave the order to shoot, when Stonewall Jackson was killed (accidently) by his own men. I do not remember the officer or the military institute he attended, but the institues motto "Aut invenium, aut facium" (I will find a way or make one) I have made my own. It has has been a constant reminder that we can only "find a way" when we look, and we can only "make a way" when we work. My real name is, Michael A. Crowther

do you have a pic of a "flattener", I'm self tought and at times I am missing key vocabulary. I can take a guess at what this tool would look like (the name is kind of obvious) how ever I see no need to reinvent the wheel if an accepted tool is allready widely used. Thanks I'm gunna go check some places on the internet to see if I can get some ideas (always hard to do when you don't know what something is called)

Hi all, I am getting a lot of wrinkle in the sheet around the shapes I put in the copper (all the flat surfaces). Is there a method that will reduce this wrinkle effect, or a process to remove it after the fact. The piece shown in this post is a good example. although I don't mind a "rustic" look on this piece, I like the look of flat copper in the non hammered areas of a piece. I used to hammer the copper cold (no annealing) and did not have this wrinkle effect happen (the sheat was too stiff to distort). anealing has made it much easier (or should I say possible) to make the detail I want, but I lack the experiance/knowedge to correct this effect. any advice help would be greatly apprieciated

an excellent suggestion, I will keep it in mind. of course for the test prototye I will just throw a tarp over it.

please excuse my use of the word crucible, it was not my intention to to melt but to heat the metal for forging. I was thinking of using a crucible because it would hold the inert gas (co2 being heaver that air), resist the heat, and be readily available.

biggest problem is tuning it off and on, I can automate moving the mirrors (to turn off the forge have the computer move them out of focus). I don't have the money for that (and it would raise the complexity of the blue print considerably). I need to find a low tech solution to either cover the mirrors (about 5 square ft) or flip/turn them so they are out of focus. I have the mirror size and reflection angles figured, just working on the funtionality

Solar, prabolic mirrors redirected strait down into a ceramic crucible filled with an inert gas that is heaver the air. instant free energy. like frying an ant with a magifiying glass. gunna take some time to figure the curve and size of the mirrors, and the angles to redirect it down into the crucible. I'll figure it out and build a prototype (I live in Arizona, we got lots of sun shine)

electricity was not the power source I was considering, but thanks for the info. I need to do some math

I have some basic curiosity questions about forges. what temp range are we talking about for the perfect forge? does using coal or gas make a differance to your material? would heating the metal to a forge temp without the presance of any fuel or O2 (ie argon or CO2 bubble) be of any advantage? I know some of you will be tempted to tell me how impossible this is, but the question is could you find any advantage to it?

did someone call "fescue 911"