mcraigl

A few days ago my mentor asked me "where do I want to go with this stuff from here"? Now, I know that this is really a deep personal question. Maybe I should let you know where I think I'm at. Most of the smithing I've been doing for the last couple of years has been in the making of tools kind of with the thought process that my skills will develop while at the same time I'll increase my tool inventory. I can make a workable set of tongs in under and hour. Punches and chisels no prob. Bottom tools for the hardie, etc. I have done some decorative stuff too, lots of candle holders, bbq tools, a few small sculptural pieces, etc. I finally feel like if I can see what a piece should look like in my minds eye, that I can forge pretty close to what I envision.

The reason I throw this post out there is that I was unable to answer him. I've obviously got some deep and serious introspection to do. I kind of took his question as a hint that I need to move forward. I still feel like a rookie most of the time with the occasional errant hammer blow, or fish lips, or cold shut, etc. Some times it takes me twice as many heats as it should to get where I'm going etc. But there is a deaper question here. I have a good job, and couldn't duplicate the pay and benefits by trying to become a full time smith. I am getting a bit bored with candle holders and steak turners. Just not really sure where to focus my creative energy.

I'm not really looking for an answer, since whatever I come up with has to come from my own heart. More looking for your stories. What did you do when you came to this type of threshold in your smithing career. Advice to help guide the introspection. That type of thing. What y'all got to say?

Dale kind of brought out what I see as the main problem. iron and glass have different heat expansion coefficients. Different kinds of glass do to for that matter. My wife is getting into blowing glass and doing lampwork. She has to make sure all of her glass is compatible. Mike-hr will occasionally melt a glass bead into the eye sockets of a wizard. So I know that it is possible.

That's Zactly the point! You got it.

Evan, I picked up on a part of your post that I thought I should comment on just for clarification.

they call it 'weldable steel' and have no real other information on it.
am i to assume it is low-carbon steel, or just not very high quality in general?

anyways, i wanted to know if you guys knew anything about this steel, or if any commercial steel from hardware stores is any good, or if its all just xxxx thanks again for all your help,
Evan

I get the impression that you're equating carbon content to a steel's quality. Don't confuse them, they are very different concepts. It's more about a particular steel's appropriateness for a particular use. Sure mild steel like the A36 that you bought at Ace is not a good choice for a knife blade or punch. But by the same token a piece of air hardening tool steel would probably not be a great choice to make a pair of hinges out of. Not trying to be preachy, just want to make sure you're getting started off with correct information. However, as others suggested you probably got robbed as far as the price you payed. I've done it in a pinch 'cause none of the steel yards are open on weekends, but it's a last resort, jut for that last piece so I can finish some larger project. Oh yea. The dumpster at Les Schwab's Tire Centers is a veritable mother lode as I'm sure any such place would be. Springs (leaf and coil), axles, torsion bars, drive shafts, tie rods, wheels, etc. etc. etc......

Patio doors are made from tempered glass. It's very strong, but when it goes, it goes. That's the stuff that turns into a billion little bits when it breaks like the side windows in your car. What I think you'd want is laminated glass, which is more like the windshield in your car. It might get a crack, but it won't shower in on your observers. For the best of both worlds get a double pane that has tempered on the shop side and laminated on the spectator side. That's how we built skylights that were engineered to withstand a 30' snow load.

I'll give you a hundred bucks. How's that to get the "value" question going?

Dan,
If you read the blueprint you'll understand why we went to the trouble of building the heading block. We have done several workshops now, including at the California Blacksmith's Association spring conference. I'd say we've run maybe about 20 people through. About 1/3 of them were what I'd call "proficient" with a sledge, about 1/3 were not proficient, and the remaining 1/3 had never used a sledge. We have replaced broken sledge handles as a result of these workshops. I only have one anvil, and if it's broke I'm out of business 'til I get another one. Mike-hr and I always take our full get-ups to hammer ins etc. and Mike is finally refusing to take his peddinghaus because every single ding in it from a missed hammer stroke is from someone else. My old Peter Wright wouldn't notice an additional ding here and there, but I'd really be sad if the heel got broken off of it. Now. Having said all of that. The ONLY reason for building the heading block (originally) was to protect our precious anvils from inexperienced/inept sledge hammerers. This exact same technique applies to making a hardy took on your anvil. You would be amazed how much work two guys with 8lb hammers can get done in a single heat once they have developed their skills a little. But the same thing can surely be done by a single smith with a 2 1/2 lb cross pien. It's just gonna take a while. Give it a try, it's good fun!

Should be able to get Perlite from nearly any garden center. Silica Sand? Isn't that kind of an oxymoron? Thought most all sand is Silica. Have no idea where to get fireclay.

They make really good weights to ziptie to the bottom of your crab traps so that they stay put and land right-side-up when deployed. That's what I use them for anyway.

Just how many students do you have there bud? Ok, OK, I'll stop using the screw as my chiselling/upsetting backstop. Have fun at the PH class.

Why not punch both holes on both bars at 3 3/4". Seems that if they are the same stock dimensions they should shrink/swell/expand the same amount if you're using the same punch? If you mark 'em both cold and punch 'em both hot seems like it should work.

Mike-HR. That's soo good that I might have to steal it! I was once upon a time going to get a tazmanian devil (cartoon character) tatoo but chickened out. Wonder if I can work Taz in there somehow??? food for thought.

Ahh... Something I've been thinking about too. I've been thinking more of a shoulder/arm thing though. I never wear shorts so nobody'd ever see it on my thigh. Also, it might be a marriage ending event for me. The wife is VERY anti-tattoo. I've been thinking an anvil with a crosspein and a pair of tongs crossed over it. I'd been trying to think of a single word to put below it. Maybe a very short phrase of just one or two words would work also.

When things reach critical mass and you have to.

Forge, Anvil, and postvise are outside, don't have a flue yet, so mostly just tool storge right now.

John,
I don't have "much" of a shop, but man that really strikes a deep chord. You hear stories from older folks and from reading about how all the young boys in a town would "hang out" at the blacksmith's shop. I think your poem kind of illuminates why. Wonder how many fewer "troubled teens" we'd have nowdays if some of them had a blacksmith's shop to "sit in"... Thanks a ton for sharing that one.

Neil,
Check out BP0322:

http://www.iforgeiron.com/blueprints-300-400/bp0322-making-a-nail-header.html

5 layers of mild and 6 layers of L-6, doubled and twisted, so 22 layers. My first solo pattern welded billet.

Made this letter opener for my Aunt's birthday. First thing I've made from a pattern welded billet. Sorry for the crappy pix. It's really hard to get a decent photo of the pattern. I need to do more experimentin' with the digicam. These seemed to be the best of what I took last night. Used the black and white mode, and put the opener on a sheet of lime green paper.

Sven,
I'd love to see a "blueprint" on the Mokume Gane. Put one together for us and present it on a tuesday night BP's. I'm thinking that it would be great for furnature/hardware on knifes.

Ron,
All good advice so far, and similar to what I do. I agree that a bit depends on the type/shape of your fire pot. Mine is fairly deep, and the cave seems to work well. I too feed the fire from the sides. I also tend to make a "coke bank" so that I always have some good coke in reserve. One thing you didn't mention is what is the consistency of the coal you're starting from. Mike-hr has some Lazzari coal that is really small peices with a LOT of fines in it. We get the fire going with coke left over from last time, then spend a bit of time making a slurry out of the fine coal, then packing it onthe sides of the fire. It forms beautiful coke, but has to be a mushy/pasty slurry to get decent size pieces of coke which are then no problem to work with. I too had a problem with be "stingy" with my coal and have finally learned MY FORGE. It likes a 5 gallon bucket of coal. In the end I'm pretty sure I burn less coal because that extra amount banked around the sides keeps the heat in and I get a lot hotter fire with much less air. It was nearly impossible to weld succesfully before I figured that out. Now I can build a welding fire in my forge pretty easy.

Welcome aboard Sven. Don't worry about your "bad english". Show us some pix of what you're working on.

Ron,
It seems like every one of the two dozen or so blacksmithing books I've got have pix of scarfs. The basic concept of most is that the two surfaces are somewhat convex. I think this is to help "squirt" the flux and scale out when you strike the joint. The top piece (however they're placed on the anvil for the initial welding) could be a little bit narrower than the bottom piece since it's going to flatten a little bit more than the bottom piece too. Sometimes there's a bit of a shoulder forged into the scarf also to provide a mechanical stop to help locate the two pieces together in the right spot when you come out at a welding heat and can't see the joint so clearly.

My .02$, and worth every penny you paid :-)

I don't really see an "advantage" except when there's no power. There is the "cool factor", and I really like to use my post drill. The kids love to crank the handle for ya. I'd be too scared to let 'em close to the vert. mill though.

Diablo,
Check out the Cal. Blacksmiths Assoc. www.calsmith.org. I'm not sure where Tustin is, but there are quite a few events in S. Cal since that's where the majority of the membership lives. I'm sure some of the folks down there can help you get started out toolwise as well as instruction wise.

Ron,
Two things I'd add. Gotta brush like heck, and keep brushing til the piece is below a scaling heat. If you need it cleaner than that, pickle it. I use white vinegar because I got little kids around and I don't worry so much about them spilling it or getting hurt. I know there's other faster acids out there, but good old white vinegar works good for me and it's cheap. You can usually get the no-name brand at the super market for a buck and a half a gallon. Then when it's picked for a day or so I use a stainless steel soft bristled brush on it, then neutralize in a baking soda wash, then rinse with clean water.