arkie

That's pretty innovative! Hardie hole and a good striking face. Have fun with it!

I quized the Office Manager at one of the local "recycling centers", ... and he claimed it was his Liability Insurance Carrier that insisted on no "retail" sales.  :(
 
 
 
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Been that route with those guys. They usually use insurance as a cop-out. Most of them have a contract with some salvage companies that gives them exclusive rights to the scrap...no outside sales. :-(

to prove Thomas' point, take a piece of A36 and drill it with a new bit.  In some places, A36 drills easily, in other places on the same bar of steel, the drill bit has a harder time cutting.  The quality control on A36 is not very good...............that is why, for mild steel applications, I use 1018

Interesting that you mentioned that. I always thought it was my cutoff wheels. The other day, I was cutting some 1" square stock for hardie tools using an angle grinder and cutoff wheels. One cut went fast, then further down the bar, the cuts took nearly twice as long.

WOW!! Fantastic find.  Free??  Unbelievable luck.  The anvil looks to be in great shape.  If you do decide to sell, it won't last long.  Hay-Buddens are a great anvil.  I just bought a 168# one about a month ago and really like it.

 

What is your location?

Beautiful hammer!  I would hope to be able to make one like that someday.

"too deep and the rod flux contacted the block and square stock"

 

Yup, I definitely noticed that happening.  I didn't think it was a big deal in this application because there's minimal shear force on the weld.  How much does the weld bead penetrate into the stock being welded?  I was hoping to get full penetration by attacking from all four sides (just because), but is that possible on inch-thick stock without beveling the stock to a point?

 

I have welded 1" bar stock on various hardie tools with no bevel.  Just do it as a fillet weld.  It's not structural, so penetration is not critical.  With thick stock like that you normally will not get perfect or deep penetration, but it will be just fine for a hardie tool.

 

What does the angle of your rod have to do with anything?

 

Since that is basically a fillet weld, the rod angle needs to be, ideally, 45 deg. to both pieces, with a slight tilt in the direction of travel.

 

Also noted that after stopping to chip the slag off, the end of my rod was countersunk leaving a sixteenth or so of flux protruding like a rim.  Is this a result of the long-arcing or something else?

 

The fingernail, as it's called, on the end of the rod is characteristic of 7018 rods after running a bead.  Mostly, it's a nuisance for clean restrikes/restarts.  Just rake the end of the rod across a file (not grounded) or a concrete floor to flake off the flux fingernail and expose fresh rod metal and new flux.

 

Oh, and how in the world am I going to get those *#&^! corners to stop melting?  It's supposed to have a nice smooth radius from the stem to the block!

 

For a hardie tool, you don't see them.  Heat builds up at the end of a bead, so melting at the end is common.  Just quickly move your rod back over the end of the bead and lift off.  That'll give you a smoother bead termination.

 

I'll run some longer beads tomorrow...... or go shopping for a new welding machine!

 

Vaughn, I got my replies mixed in with your quote, so you'll have to read through it to get the reply....sorry.

jeremy,

 

That's just what I needed.  Thanks very much for the info!.  It gives me a threshold between buying and making.  I really should make one for the experience, but if I barf one up, then get out the checkbook!!! :)

Vaughn,

 

As DSW pointed out, the welds probably won't be an issue.  Any significant force on the block will mostly be downward on the block and anvil face surfaces, not on the welds.  Also, it's possible that your bevels were too deep and the rod flux contacted the block and square stock leaving a gap in the bevel, and that might have contributed to a type of long-arcing, hence bad bead.  Just a WAG.

 

I've been looking for a piece of steel like your block, 'cause I need to make one like that also.

I was just curious about a quick, ball-park price range.

 

I don't know just what I might want in the form of a touchmark design, and that may be too vague for them to give a price quote by phone or email.  Some have (1) set up fees, which are variable, (2) possible design fees, which are variable and (3) fabrication costs, which are again variable.  If the touchmark is way too expensive, I'll probably take another approach.

Took my first beginners lesson with a member on this forum local to me. It was a great experience and an eye opening one. I don't have enough room in my shop for all the tools I'm going to need to acquire/make. I'm ok with this problem. Thank you again Dave and I hope to come out for another lesson soon.

Thors, if you're like me, I seem to spend more time making the tools to work with than the project!  One day for tools, then maybe 30 min. to an hour for the project...maybe; if I don't get sidetracked making more tools!!!!

 

Glad you got some OJT.  There's no substitute for hands-on learning.  You just can't get it all from youtube.

Good luck.  My son, in Atlanta, was coming over for a visit and I asked him if he could round up some scrap for me.  He went to a few large welding shops (might have cutoffs), steel yards (for drops) and even a couple of blacksmiths.  They all basically ran him off and told him not to come back.  I can well understand why a blacksmith would say no, since we work with scrap and ain't gonna part with any!!

 

I think the metal salvage people are being such a nuisance to those shops that it's getting harder to get scrap.  The metal scrap yards are reluctant to let you in to poke around for liability insurance reasons. :(

Just curious...

 

I realize that custom touchmarks can run the gamut on complexity, but for a simple letter inside a geometric surround, about what price range would one be looking at from makers like Columbia, CER, Universal, etc.?

Wait a minute.... Don't you weld?

Yep..."shortfuse" over on Welding Web. :) We've been talking about your forge over there...

I was reading up on using spray finishes such as laquer and varnish on bare metal.  Heat before treatment is one deterrent, but the article described why the sprays don't always work.  Seems as though when the propellant in a spray can (air, nitrogen, butane/propane, etc.) sprays the liquid out, the sudden cooling of the gas due to expansion leaves a molecular layer of condensation moisture as the finish is applied.  This does not always yield a rust-proof finish.  Slight heating of the metal surface beforehand can help, but not always.

Gonna be in the Baxter County area! Be about a year before I liver there full time......Working in TX to pay it off before I get there....

Nice area!  When you get up here, check out the BOA, Blacksmith Organization of Arkansas.  They have members scattered across NW AR and S. MO.  Some members are in the Mountain Home, Flippin area near where you will be.  Great group of smiths.

 

I just got started in trying to learn about blacksmithing a couple of months ago; finally finished my forge, got an anvil, have tools, eager to learn!

This may seem like a trivial item, but if you use or get the plastic 5-gallon buckets....get the white ones!  I ran across some dark blue ones and put a lot of small pieces in them.  Being dark colored, you can't see most of what's in them and end up dumping them to see what's there. :-(

Since I was using threaded pipe that I had on hand I just used a matching flange and bolted and piece of scrap 18 ga.(?) that I cut out and then welded an old socket driver and spare socket as a swivel ash dump. It's gonna be a while before I can get it all built but I am piecing it together a little bit at a time.

I like the pipe flange idea instead of something welded or tacked onto the side and end of a pipe.  I have to wheel my brake drum forge outside my wooden shop, and that looks more stable.

 

BTW, "soon to be Arkansas location"...you're gonna love Arkansas :)

Why not just cut some angle iron shims and place them in the hardy hole?  You only need to shim up two sides.  Or, if you feel ambitious you could do all four.

 

 

I'm currently working on a similar bick project.  My hardy is somewhere between 1" and 1.25", and the largest stock I have is 1" square.  So, I welded on a piece of .125"x 1" to two sides of the stem.  This gives me plenty of meat to grind down so I have a tight fit in the hardy, but I'll still be welding a collar around the stem so that it doesn't sink or wobble when working on the bick.

 

After building my anvil stand, I had a bunch of little pieces of 1" square stock left over and thought.... "why not use them like legos to make something useful....."

 

So, now I get to practice my welding and get some experience sculpting metal to create something that's relatively pretty.  Should be fun!

 

X2 on the shims/angle iron.  I had an undersized shank on a cutoff hardie and just welded a piece of angle iron on one corner to fit my 1" hardie hole...fit perfectly!

belgianbrewer...

 

There are a myriad of videos out there, some on youtube, showing simple spark testing with a hand-held grinder to differentiate various metals.  I recall one by a fellow posting welding videos, "chucke2009".  Check out this video where he compares mild steel with cast irons.  I think he may also have others showing testing of other steels.

 

I am a newbie to blacksmithing, and often overwhelmed with what seems to be an unending variety of ways to forge things, tools, etc.  I was aware that there are many, many forms of hammers being used by smiths and since it probably is the most important tool aside from our anvils I need to learn the various uses of those hammers.  After watching Brian's video, I have a much, much better understanding of the importance of the rounding hammer, it's many "surfaces" and the ways to utilize them.  The video clearly explains the versatility of the rounding hammer and that it's not just a "neat looking hammer".  Brian's video really made an impression on me and gave me a new insight into forging things.  Great video and instructions, Brian!!!