Double Y

These are a couple bowls I made this week using the steel balls and cylindar bases that I showed above. I haven't come up with a real clean way of putting legs on aside from welding. I tried to punch and rivet, but didn't like the results on the leg.

I did most of the install on this piece on Wednesday. However because of the multitude of lines, pipes and wires running right where a post should have gone the latch didn't fit and I had to rebuild the latch last night. Put the latch on this evening and took these pictures. Then took most of the family for a nice steak! Right where the main post for the large section on the left is (which is the post the gate swings from) is: a gas line, an electric line, a telephone cable, a TV cable and 3 sprinkler lines. On the right section the post against the house is set in 3 feet, but the other post is only down about 10 inches and has a large plate welded to it. Because there were 4 more sprinkler lines right where that post should have gone. The big news is the customer is VERY happy and is looking for other jobs for me to do at her house. Her neighbors love it and they too are looking for things I can build for them. Bragging a bit with a well earned steak in my belly!!

Peyton thanks for the pictures - did he make those masks using the press? Pretty cool stuff. My press doesn't use a hand pump, instead it uses the hydraulic pump from the tractor to drive the cylinder. So I would be interested to see any tooling folks have come up with. Thanks John

WOW! Great site. Thanks for sharing

This is my press. The frame was the base of a snow V plow on the front of a No. 12 Cat Motor Grader. I purchased the cylinder off Ebay. The value is off our old farm truck. The truck had a hydraulic auger for loading grain drills. I use our small Kubota tractor for the power. That is why there are the long hoses wrapped around the top. It pushes like a champ but...don't let it hear me say this....it's ugly! I used the steel balls and the ends of the oxygen tanks as tooling for making bowls. It works well. I built two bowl from 10 guage plate and the press didn't have to work very hard. I will try to get pictures of the bowls later. I am interested to see if anyone else on here does work with a press and what type of tooling they use.

Do any of you use hydraulic presses in your work? If you do, what do you use the most for tooling? I built my own press and have been building a few tools, but am interested to see what others are doing.

James....those are words to live by, "make friends with the liquor store owner."

nicely done

I am here in cattle/horse country and there are lots of feed supplement tubs for livestock that just happen to be perfect for slack tubs. I have used the supplements for my livestock in the past and now use a plastic one that is esentially 1/2 a 55 gal barrel for my slack tub. Look around for a rancher (don't call them farmers) who has those barrels out in their pasture. Stop by and ask if you could trade for an empty one. You would be surprised what good friends you can make.

4 anvils 2 Hay-Buddens Smaller HB came from my Great Great Uncle - $Free Larger HB was on my In-Laws farm forever - $Free Small Arm&Hammer? - The markings are smashed was on my In-Laws farm forever - $Free Also a 35 pound NC tool that my Uncle gave my son - $Free Am I bragging? Yeah a bit!

I use a pump sprayer that is usually used for spraying weeds and bugs for the muratic acid. I spray the piece completely and let it soak for a half hour or so. Then I spray the piece with bleach. NOTE>>>>> do all this outside and stay up wind. You DO NOT want to breath the fumes. Again let the bleach soak for a while then lightly spray with water. You may have to spray it water a couple times. It gives a nice finish and can be clear coated if desired

It is starting to make more sense now. I haven't tried that effect, but really like how it looks. You do great work, thanks for sharing. John

Thanks guys. I use a lot of 10 guage when making ranch and business signs so I have a lot of drops left around. I have been trying to turn the drops into $$$! With no power hammer...it buts the elbow to work, but the customers like them. My Scotch/Dutch heritage makes it hard for me to throw anything away! I rusted the sunflowers with muratic acid and bleach. It gets the rust started nicely and then over time it turns into a deep red rust.

I have worked on several flower projects over the last year or two that I thought I would share. The Calla Lillies were made as a memorial for my Great Grandmother. The tulips are all hand hammered from 10 guage plate as is the "vase." The sunflowers stand about 5 foot tall and again are made from 10 guage plate. Your comments and thoughts would be appreciated. John

Beautifull work Paul. Do you have any photo's of the step by step process of the file work?

I use the tumbler to remove scale off all sorts of forged pieces. If they are small enough to fit in the forge they go in there. I put a timer on it so I can turn it on when I leave for the office job and it will turn itself off after a couple hours. I used a 3/4 sucker rod as the axle for the tumbler. It runs completely through the barrel. A note to anyone building one of these with a 100# propane tank. The top of the tank is not necessarily true to the rest of the barrel and for that matter neither is the base. I have the impression the top and bottom are welded on by a monkey in a hurry. And as long as it doesn't leak no one cares what it looks like. Getting the barrel to roll true was a big project. It was a must for me, because as you can see I used the barrel itself as a pulley. I welded angle iron baffels on the inside to help stir the matrix as it tumbles along. All the best, John

I have to be honest....I actually swept the floor and cleaned off the layout table before the pictures were taken. I try to keep a tight-ish ship out there, but it had gotten away from me after a "Hammer In" last weekend.

My son is 7 and likes to help in the shop. The small anvil was a gift to him from my Uncle, who is also a blacksmith. The tumber is obviously a used 100# propane bottle. It works great, but makes a significant amount of noise. I use fence staples for matrix in the tumbler. The press is obviously homemade. I bought the cylinder, but used parts I had around the shop for the rest. I have long hoses so I can hook up to the hydraulic connectors of my 35 horse Kubota tractor. I can leave the tractor outside and shut the door and still run the hoses under the door. I don't know how to tell the exact tonnage, but I guess the press will push about 20 ton.

Happy Easter to everyone on IForgeIron. I have been meaning to properly introduce myself. My name is John. I live along the bank of the Yellowstone River in South Central Montana, USA. I was born and raised in Montana and love the "Big Sky County." My wife and I have two kids that keep life interesting. I work a full time job aside from my metal work. We also raise a few cows, put up hay and run a few horses too. What ever it takes to keep from having any free time on our hands. I thought I would attach a few photos for you to see what the shop looks like. Seems like there is a lot of anvil envy here, so I included a few shots of my two main anvils as well. I built my forge myself and used burners from Zoeller Forge. They work great and get up to heat in a hurry. This is a great site and full of loads of usefull info. If you have time I would love to see some pictures of your shop setups as well. All the best, John

Caleb, That is what I was working on doing with the one that ended up with the ball welded to the end. My thought was to split the stock four ways and place the ball in the middle. Closing the split pieces like fingers around the ball. After that didn't work and in fact ended up breaking off and shooting across the shop.....well I just broke out the wire feed and welded the ball on. I actually thought I had the start of a forge weld just before it went winging across the shop and hit the wall. I think I may have hit it a bit hard! They averaged about an hour each to build so I am going to price them at $50 each. Thanks for the comments. Going to get some more shop hours tomorrow along with the help of my one blacksmith uncle and my other very handy uncle. We will see what we come up with.

I seasoned them with vegetable oil. Got them on the north side of warm, slathered on the oil and then kept them hot for a while. All outside in the propane BBQ! That is the only place I can season the food untensils that doesn't drive my bride crazy.

The super quench seemed like a good idea at the time....isn't that how so many things start? It seemed like a good idea at the time.... I have the bucket open and near the forge so they went in the super quench. Maybe a small tag to remind folks these aren't part of a wood burning set!

I have a show next week at a bull sale. I have been thinking about these type of turners for a while and trying the forks as well. The square turners are all made from 3/8 and the round one is made from 5/16. I hardened the tines with super quench and am pleased with the hardness of the times. All have a vegetable oil finish and seasoned. Thoughts and comments would be appreciated. Thanks,

I keep several oil drums around for scrap pieces. I cut a lot of plate building signs and art for people and the small drops go in a 30 gal drum out front near where I do most of my cutting. In the back of the shop I have a 50 gal drum for the larger pieces. I started making a lot of flowers recently and I have sortted through the 30 gal drum time and again pulling out pieces big enough for the flowers. The bigger drops get turned into smaller art pieces. When I have two or three 30 gal drums full and there isn't room for any more, I load the drums and the kids in the pickup for a run to the recyclers. I use the money generated for ice cream for my crew.....of course as long as I am at the recyclers....I usually spend 10 times what I generate.

Just a general question for everyone about what you do with pieces that don't work out. Do the odd bits and bobs get chucked into the bin for the recyclers or do you find a way to build something usable from the piece? I stopped at the Bridger Blacksmith's shop this summer in Bozeman, MT. Tom has a very cool and very large wood stove that is adorned with pieces that didn't turn out as well as he wished. He is a very good blacksmith, but the pieces that are obstanent end up welded to the stove. The overall effect is a really cool looking stove. Currently mine end up in the bin for the recyclers after laying on the lay out table for a time, while I try to dream up a use for them.