NateDJ

I recently bought a 400# steel plate that was about 13'' wide by 2'' thick and I can't remember'' long for USD $0.30 per #. That would be what you are looking at if you can find a scrap yard. Your prices may vary but you can still find a MUCH better deal than buying new. Scrap and drops dose not mean old car parts necessarily the plate I bought was a drop from a full size plate that the original project didn't need. Fabrication shops do not need the drops just laying around rusting and taking up valuable space so they sell it to scrap yards. Most steel suppliers sell sections of plate and bar that has been ''dropped'' as a result of a cut off for a special order. The special order customer dosen't need or want the drop, the steel supplier knows they will likely never find a customer needing a special order that just happens to be in the size range of the drop, so they are willing to sell the drop at scrap prices just to keep them from having to transport it to the scrap yard where they would only get a few $ per 100# instead of the $0.30 a customer would buy it for. ($0.30 per# used as an example, some steel yards here are as much as $0.50 #)

A good Tuyere can be made from 2'' pipe about 6-8'' long with a 2'' pipe T-welded into it for the connection of the blower, You can also use a 2'' pipe T fitting with some pipe screwed in to allow the blower to connect. The blueprints section has very good drawings on how to make many different types of forges, the only part I still need is the ... blower!
Wish I had room for a bellows!

I have metal doors on my gasser and it is simply connected with 2 sets of pins that slide over 2 flanges. The 2 pins are on the outside edge of the door and the 2 flanges are just flat thin stock welded to the side of the forge. I slide the door on to heat up the forge then take it off or set it on the 2nd set of pins which raises it about 2'' for forging. Sorry no pictures yet but I got the idea from some one's pictures on this site so you probably have already seen them anyway. (his looked way better than mine anyway ;)

Hmmm was a diesel mechanic ~5 years then went into the army as a fuel and electrical systems spec, then was drafted to work on computers and commo equip, some programming and to build web sites. My dad taught me to do wood, concrete and metal working, and I am currently learning blacksmithing.

You can use almost anything of the right shape / strength to form a curve. I use a ball barring welded to a piece of metal and use it to press into a bottom piece of metal which i drilled a bit then heated and hammered the ball into for my small spoons. A leaf I just use the step / corner of my anvil and the cross peen on my hammer to shape it a bit.

hmmm... I have a fairly large compressor already but would have to buy the steel for either the press or an air hammer, would buy most from the scrap yard but would still have to buy it. Which do you think would be cheaper / more affective to build? The 50 Ton press operates just a little faster than the 20 but the air hammer would not have near the 50 ton power, though it would hit far more often... I would have to buy the steel for a 20 tone press too... hmmm decisions....

OK, so I went to my first demo last weekend and had a great time. While I was there working the bellows my mom and dad stopped by to see what I was up to and my mom stands there for a few min with a slightly perplexed look on her face... then says this is what my grandpa used to do! LOL I almost lost it, I couldn't hardly keep from busting out laughing right there! She went on to describe the forge and how her and her sister used to sit and pump the bellows while he made stuff. I have never heard a word about this my entire life! I guess she didn't know what it was called. She told me that her grandpa, my great grandpa didn't believe there wan anything he couldn't make except for steel its self! ... I ask her if she still had any of his tools she might want to get rid of, and if so where she had hid them all these (35) years!

A foot valve can be simply some brackets with a plate to press on with your foot, if built correctly you could have it use the hand valve and simply press the lever for you with a spring return that raises the foot plate off the valve. You could even arrange for a lever to actuate the presser relief valve on the jack in a forward push of the foot valve... your imagination is your only limit?
The advantage I can see of a foot valve is the ability of using 2 hands to hold and guide the worked piece.

How well do you think the 50 Ton version of this jack would work? It seems to have a little bit more working distance and over 2x the presser (@2x the cost).

I figure that it will be many years before I can afford a new anvil, if ever, as this is only a hobby. So I went out to our local scrap yard and grabbed a pair of forklift forks and cut them to size and welded them together. I then added some plate steel to the bottom to create a base to set into my stand and now have a very heavy anvil that I don't have scales to weigh but doesn't move unless I hook up a hoist to it. The steel from the forks is high carbon steel of some type and has excellent hardness/toughness quality and if I mess it up I can just sand it flat again, the face is about 2.5'' thick so I will not have to worry about waring it out with my sander.
I probably would have just used a RR Track but couldn't find any and am glad I decided to use this instead now.

LOL can't call them coke spoons around here people will take me literally! I'm not sure exactly what she was looking for but I think she was looking to find out if it could be proven that they were used or not. I personally just tell people they are spoons made from horse shoo nails and let it go at that.

Yep the ones made from a horse shoo nail or blade type concrete nail if you are buying them at Home Depot or the like.
I told her that I thought it would be more likely that most people would have used their fingers which would likely be where we get the ''Pinch of salt'' quote, looks like i may have been close at least.

On the same note, what do you call these little spoons?

While using the wrong tongs (was the only ones I had at the time) I had a piece of leaf material that was bright red glance off my forearm and it burned through at least 2 layers of skin, still have the scar (and several pair of new tongs) 2 months later. That one hurt bad enough to go run water on it for a few min!

LOL that is not recycling, it is rescuing! Rescuing steel that would have otherwise been relegated to a short unappreciated life as a cheep pan scraper from walmart! I bet it is MUCH happier now!
Good job by the way!

A new user named.. Coffeepot left me this message...

If anyone has any information on 'spice or salt spoons' including pictures or written info in books or via the internet i need to confirm that these spoons were a part of history. im looking for a more 'primitive looking' spoon, forged possibly. not a sterling silver, fancy type. email is fine or a post here.
thank you,
kathy



So if any of you can help her out please do. Personally I have only heard them called salt spoons and have no idea where that name originated from.

How did you make the blade of the spatula?

WOW ... so those pictures are of flat panels not formed sculpture? That would be really neat to see in person! Best of luck to you!

perhaps combine James design with a few long stem grass with scrolled leaves? just hammer flat a long section with pointed tip and slightly curve the outside edges before scrolling the end and weld the stem to the base of the railing? Maybe even a few twig/leaf combination as well?

O O oh ya I almost forgot ... look through the 10k + photos on this site and try to come up with your own version of what they have done, do most everything in clay if possible first to see if the way you think it should work out actually is the right way, if not then ask some one to show you how it should be done. You don't have to get some one to show you the entire project, just the element you are having trouble with.

I get most of my inspiration from nature and sites like these. The problem isn't my inspiration it is my skill level! If I could only forge what is see in my mind..... Some day I will get there but until then I will keep trying.

Another source for inspiration would be to find a video game that is very well developed graphically and try to reproduce some of those items, not talking about swords unless that is where your skill is but there is lots of background and furnishings in video games which are really interesting and may lend some nice art when done in metal. (watching the kids play video games so they will have to come watch me forge has several advantages, one is that I get to sit down and take a break for a few!)

Hmmm... are the holes different sizes and different places on the sheet? For some reason the name of the art form escapes me, but the use of different size dots causes the form to appear darker or lighter in areas that need it.
If this is the case could you use a cnc machine that has a travel table the size of the plate to be ''carved'' and simply program it to cut all the holes the same size at once then change bits and go again?
The web is full of DIY cnc machines which can be made for about $2,000-3,000 usd and would allow you to create what you are needing. Google DIY CNC machines for more info on these things.

When I was in the US Army we had a guy who grounded out a 24V battery system on a truck he was working on, the ring was welded to the frame and the wrench and when he jerked his hand back he pealed his finger like taking off a sock. I tried several types of rings after that, the one I liked best was a hematite as it didn't conduct electricity but it kept breaking so I finally just gave up. Been married 16 years and haven't wore any thing like that for most of those years. I will likely never get that picture out of my head and anytime I think about a wedding ring it comes back.

The copper melts before steel is at welding temp if I recall correctly.

Can you buy pre-made wire mesh and form it? Should be able to do it with expanded metal if that 'look' was acceptable to the artist. Other than that and for prototyping you could use wire mesh fencing, it is just wire that is welded at each corner is a square mesh, and I have seen it at a hardware store in as small as 1/4'' mesh, you should be able to special order a much smaller mesh from a fencing supplier.