Jump to content
I Forge Iron

Wroughton

Members
  • Posts

    307
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Wroughton

  1. So, what's the status? Are you guys in production yet?
  2. John, It's more of a coal dust under the eyes kinda thing. But I fall under the "bull in a china shop" category so I can't pull of the ninja garb. :ph34r:
  3. Some old mill iron. What I would call "pile iron". It's made from whatever was in the scrap pile. Cut a bar of really grainy wrought, polish and then etch and you'll usually see different inclusions towards the core. The split spike with the apparent grain was the victim of a industrial wood chipper that exploited a cold shut. Another picture is a bar that was twisted and then forged into a pull handle.
  4. I'm a tiny bit disappointed you didn't smack that bar around a bit but other than that "SuhWheet!".
  5. Bob, I guess i should have clarified about the RR track. I like seeing it on the abandoned rail bed, I don't like packing it around. It's just a sign that the rail bed itself hasn't been picked. We have hundreds of miles of abandoned bed in the west that has fallen back to state, federal or private hands so old spikes and bolts are easy to come by if you want to do a little walking or a ride on the atv. I'm very aware of who currently owns each stretch or area that I pick. I have permission from several state and private groups to hand pick iron in certain areas, and I even get a random call now and then to go move a pile. I stockpile wrought, and usable amounts of steel stock and scrap the rest.....which usually results in a trade out of wrought iron that I find at the yard. As for the RR police, they don't bother with us much out here as long as we don't drive drunk down the tracks. That's frowned on for some reason. Again, a little research will net you some nice stuff, and connect you with people who are in the know, which can snowball into MORE IRON!. It makes it a little easier when you're upfront about what you're after and why. I definitely don't condone dressing up in Ninja/blacksmith gear and running around stealing iron.
  6. Jim, A little research can net you a pile. Old train trestles, bridges and derelict docks on the river usually have a ton of stuff laying around. I really like abandoned rail bed, especially if it has the track still on it. If the track is still there then there are usually lots of spikes, rolls of wire, broken tools and such, If you find metal that you can't really use like cast iron or other large steel you can take that in as trade to the local scrap yard which never hurts.....your wallet. Michael probably had the best advice, bring some of your work for greasing the skids. A nice letter opener, hook or meat flipper let's them know you're in it for the forging and not the scamming/scrapping. Beer is greatly appreciated at my local yard and gets me to the goods with a minimal amount of hassle. I weigh in with my scrap and weigh out with theirs. good luck.
  7. A couple shots from Rapid City. The lock is from the gallery and the viking door was the sample for the Patient Order of Meticulous Metalsmiths. It was so hot most everyone just turned off their forges and used the new black asphalt to heat up their metal.
  8. Ooooo, Machinetools.com Who's picking me up for the road trip? Apparently we can swing into Lithuania and pick up that 275kg Beche, though i think that press behind it is just as sexy. And why stop there when you can head over to Bengal India and pick up a 3cwt Massey! We'll be hammerin in no time flat! We'll worry about the water when we get there.
  9. Darin is my first name. Wicks is the last. i chose Wroughton for all the obvious reasons.....i've been a little misunderstood at times (and i don't think i'm alone in that aspect when i'm around other metalheads) and i really like to salvage and play around with puddled wrought iron and whatever else thats looks forgeable. have you ever put a red hot piece of cast iron in your power hammer thinking you had a big piece of steel? no need for coffee if you haven't imbibed yet. you're wide awake and that bm you were hoping for is now taken care of and you'll need a change of undies. maybe its just a rotten brain? i think Apprenticeman needs a sidekick......like a talking crosspeen or sumpthin.....um... Whacky the crosspeen? Steamy the slack tub? Fussy the forge?
  10. As Fionnbharr has said before, wrought works best when brought to a high heat and definitely benefits from some "soaking" time in the forge. don't trust that your razoo forge has heated your iron thoroughly. due to its fibrous nature, it insulates its inner core from heating evenly and will look plenty hot on the outside while varying 100's of degrees on the inside. so, when you go to forge your iron will start to fall apart. wrought works well for me when i put it in a hot forge and i let it soak. it's not steel and shouldn't be worked at a cherry heat. wrought also appreciates being babied on the anvil. light taps and frequent trips to the forge to reheat to avoid tears across the grain while bending and punching. hard, frantic hits tend to shock, cool and cause micro tears across the grain leaving you with something that looks good before you reheat but starts to unravel once you start to forge again as the tears across and with the grain start showing themselves. pour the coals to it and then work it like it's bronze and you'll have a lot of fun.
  11. reforge hex lags to square or just touch up some modern square lags. when a more precise head is needed i'll forge down a known stock size with appropriate hammer marks and then drill and tap them. then i cut off a regular lag with a unthreaded shoulder and cut threads and put them together with a little Loktight.i do this so i'm not constantly retrieving my lag screw with vise grips when i try to unscrew my new fancy bolt. unfinished lags are best for reforging if you can get them. no need to burn off the zinc coating if you don't have to. my local hardware supplier has a list from an outfit that carries mostly overstock bolts, your hardware provider may also. i can usually get a pretty good deal when i buy the whole lot, which varies greatly in size. i keep these bolts/lags on hand and dip into them as needed.
  12. Eambo, very nice......mind laying out your time for each one of those sculptures? are they commisioned work or something you just had to do?
  13. ;) Rich, i would love to hear (see) where you found that.
  14. it's for a buffett table top.....to be given a hammered texture and a 1/4" raised rim around the exterior so hopefully its ok to Tig. stainless was a no go. clients wanted the nickle for its soft luster. i thought the nickel silver might have a little more yellow in it from the copper. will nickle silver oxidize or does it have enough nickel to counter act this? this stuff has to be a minimum of 3/16" thick. i have a request in to the K&G supply house that Firegnome supplied but i haven't heard back yet.
  15. hello, does anyone have a source for this? i've tried Busby metals in NY, and Atlas metals in Denver. thanks!
×
×
  • Create New...