Chris Comtois

I have a large supply of Naval Lint, but alas, no Naval Brass.

So I know I'm a little late to this thread, but I make dinner triangles like the one you showed and I bend the 1/2 in round stock cold. I made a bending fork out of an old adjustable pipe wrench, and a jig I made up based on somebody else's design somewhere here on the forums (man these forums are big!). It took a little bit of effort to set up, but bending it cold beats having to tear down your forge every time you want to make a dinner bell !!

That's very cool, thanks!

Brandon I see that Howe, Indiana is only about an hour from Kalamazoo, Michigan. There is a place in Kalamazoo, Tillers International, that has courses in lots of "old-timey" crafts, including a bunch of blacksmithing related subjects. These are usually two-day, weekend classes. It might be something to look into.

Over the last couple of weeks I've finished up some horseshoe critters for some folks, and a couple of candle holders for my cousin.

It was buried in the back of the barn; the barn being open was the only reason I stopped. I've not seen one before, but it looked cool. Didn't work the first time we plugged it in, but I fiddled with some connections and it jerked a bit. The lady had no idea what she wanted for anything, everything was make an offer, so I offered her $50. Neither of us knew if that was a good deal or not. A fellow who was there helping her said, "Well it's a specialty item, only someone who works with metal is going to want it, I offered you 50 for it last week if it didn't sell". No idea if he was doing me a favor or soaking me, but it looks cool and I'm looking forward to adding it to my list of "shop projects". Michael, I haven't researched it yet, but I'm assuming I can get (or easily modify) standard hacksaw blades for it?

Picked this up at an estate sale this weekend. It works, mostly; needs to be stripped down and some gunk cleaned out.

Well, no blacksmithing involved, but I did get an excuse to get a little shop time in when the wife mentioned she wanted a couple of new holiday decorations.

OP says he wire brushes, waxes, then quenches. Would the quenching after waxing do something to the finish? I generally wax my pieces at a black heat and just leave them to cool.

I envy all you guys who get to say, "Whatever you can find at your scrapyard." Scrapyards around my parts don't allow you to buy anything, they only buy from you. They say it's because of liability issues. It really stinks, because every time I take my scrap buckets down there is at least one item I wish I could come home with. I am, however, fortunate enough to have a commercial steel supply shop relatively close by. The stock is cheap, and they don't mind cutting only a couple of sticks at a time for me, which is nice. Reminds me, I've been meaning to bang out a couple bottle openers to take to them.

Wow that's cool! I guess when you have time on your hands, that's the kind of stuff you can do! Missed the first part about annealing it when I made my last comment, so it looks like my propane torch would work OK, thanks! Regarding the firing cap, I need to do some research on the anatomy of these shells. My pal did send a pic of the bottom. I thought I would research taking the cross-type thing out and cleaning it to make sure there was no residue.

Wood block is a great idea, I hadn't thought about that, thanks! Do you think I could anneal it with just my propane torch? I don't know much about working with brass, but I think it has a sharp melting point, right? As in, it gets red, than it goes right to liquid, not much room for error? Google shows people annealing rifle casings with a propane torch, I assume the larger shell casing would be similar.

A buddy has a 5-inch brass shell casing from WWII he wants turned into a trophy for his Veteran's golf league. 5 inch diameter, approximately 24 inches high and I'd guess a couple millimeters thick at most. The open end is a bit dinged up from when it was ejected and hit the deck. He'd like me to see what I can do about fixing the dinged up parts. I've not really worked with brass much. Is it like copper, where it work hardens and I need to heat and quench it to work it? Should I anneal it first before I start banging on it? My current plan is to use a rawhide or Teflon hammer and start on the anvil horn, or get a chunk of pipe slightly smaller than the ID of the casing. Anybody see and flaws with this? Also, I know this isn't a gun group, but what do you all think about the potential for unburned powder? I don't have the casing in hand yet, but my buddy says it's pretty crusty inside. I'm thinking of wetting down the inside and putting a nylon toilet brush on my drill and going to town. Thoughts? Lastly, his group of Veterans being what they are, he fully expects the guys to go all "Stanley Cup" and drink out of the thing. Thoughts or suggestions for a liner or coating on the inside? Thanks all!

That's well done!

Let me revise - Not all prescription glasses are safety glasses! I have prescription safety glasses as well, and when I wear them they work great! When I wear my regular prescriptions, I'm rapidly reminded why I shouldn't and put on the safety specs.

A 150 pound anvil weighs more when you're 48 years old than it did when you were 28. Prescription glasses are NOT safety glasses, they just cost a heck of a lot more and aren't as resistant to grinder slag on the lens. If hearing loss hurt, everybody would wear ear pro. Opening the garage door does not count as ventilation.

No blacksmithing, but it was some metal work and it got me out in the shop.

I figure there's a few folks on here who know a bit (or more!) about farrier work. I have a bunch of used horseshoes given to me by a friend. I'd like to make her a few things in appreciation for all the free stock! She has horses (obviously) and I thought a hoof pick from a horseshoe might be kind of neat. I've seen several demos online, and looked at a bunch of pics for design ideas. Something that seems to vary is the point on the pick. Some appear to be very dull and rounded, some look like they could puncture a car tire, some are wide and flat while some are round like knitting needles. To the folks that have/work with horses, what is your preferred style of point on a hoof pic? I would think the needle sharp ones might hurt the horse, but the only thing I know about horses is how to fall off them (seriously, I've managed to fall off EVERY SINGLE TIME I've ridden on one). Thanks.

I make mini-horseshoes out of the wire. You can flatten and bend them cold if you have to. A couple of punches for nail holes and the crease and you have a genuine North-American House Pony shoe.

Well I got the sputtering problem licked - turns out one of my jets was not quite lined up as well as it could have been. Drilled and tapped a new T and all seems well now. It doesn't seem to be getting as hot as I think t should be - I can forge with it, but it doesn't seem to be getting welding hot, and there is a lot of dragon breath. Can I close off the back a bit with some brick, would that help?

Yikes! So glad you weren't injured any worse! I was trying to finish up that pumpkin after a long day and ran my thumb across the wire wheel - fortunately pulled back in time to avoid stripping the ENTIRE layer of skin. Hope things turn around for you soon.

Yep, I've had to pull LOTS of old, bent nails. I've also discovered that the "material" in the creases does not burn out in the forge, rather it bakes in like fired clay. I try not too hard to think about it as I respiratored up and took the wire wheel to them....

Got another load of used horseshoes from my source. Spent some time messing around with a few.

Our club did candy canes for ornaments one year - two strands of copper wire and one strand of steel wire, chucked one end in a drill and spun it all together. Soldered the ends. I'll try to get some pics if I can dig out the Christmas stuff.

I just turn mine inside out every week. Like a fresh pair! Seriously EA93, welcome to the group. Good luck with building your forge! I would very much suggest, before you throw a lot of money and effort into a hobby you've never even participated in (and this hobby will take as much or as little as you throw at it), try to find someone local who does it and ask if you can come by and try it out. Learn the basics first so you don't get frustrated trying things that are way beyond you. I had good results by googeling my state + blacksmith. There may be a club within driving distance.