forgemaster

They look really good Col, its a long way from moonys and powerhammer forging 101.

Col I have no doubt that you will be able to repay the compliment, I have made more ash trays, bird baths, and letter boxes than you may think, (ashtrays bird baths and letter boxes are what all the ones that went wrong become) and experience has not made me any better at not making them. My head hurts now, I think I'll have a cup of tea a bex and a good lie down. Phil

We make and sell 2 types of pigs feet, curved and straight, they are used for pulling dog spikes out (dog spikes hold the railway line to the wooden sleepers or "ties" for the people from USA). Pigs feet are also sometimes called claw wedges. Phil

We had a shop warming for Moony to celebrate his new shop (Lets all get hammered at Moonys) 8 years later we still meet on that weekend to all "Get hammered at Moonys". Seems like we have started a tradition. Phil

Oh no, I was talking about when we get to Moonies next, I'm sure I will be able to bring up something about whatever you have forged and it must have been hand made cause I can see its rough.

Hand made does not equal looking rough, just remember that Col. It can and may well come back to bite you.

Actually some of the best blacksmiths I have seen seem to be lanky thin tall blokes who look as if they had to run around in the shower to get wet, but one of these blokes I saw lifted his 2cwt anvil into his trailer on his own. Not many other blacksmiths I have known have done this, and those that have now have reset buttons (ie their belly button pokes out, but if they push it it will go in)(don't ask me how I know this). As Frosty says its all about how you move the metal, how you use the hammer, technique and skill, not how much brute strength you have. That applies even if you have a powerhammer or press too, seen a lot of blacksmiths trained and otherwise, using a hammer to belt the life out of a piece of steel and get no where rather than moving the metal where they need it to go, and where its happy going, (read the thread with Little Milligan and his stainless forging woes) Phil

The term is Knuckle dusters Frosty, not busters.

Thats a shame Dale, was looking forward to some more cold burnt raw roast. Next time my son, next time. We will still have a slab for you in your absence. Phil

Col why does it look like it has been run over by a steam loco? Are you also putting a textured finish on the steel as well, or is it supposed to be smooth?

Most of Grants presses he used for the forging of his stuff were screw presses, (can't recall seeing any of his vids using a punch press), thats not to say he did'nt use them, (and he did know what he was doing, one of his favourite lines was "don't ask me how I know that this will not work) but as stated a punch press has to complete its stroke, if it can't, it either stalls and jambs or breaks. Screw presses, hydraulic presses, and most types of hammers do not have that restriction. You could also look at making a treadle hammer, (maybe not the right name, but a hammer that is operated with your foot on a treadle to move the head, I'll think of the correct term 5 minutes after I get off here I'm sure). Phil

Turbo we welcome anyone, well almost anyone, we don't really welcome RAAF pilots but they still come anyway. OK guys we do welcome RAAF pilots, (I'm just seeing if someone is still lurking)

I would second the advice of Yahoo2, its called line heating for a reason, its not called just get the whole plate hot heating. I have pulled 3" plate back into line using just a cutting torch with oxy/lpg and a small plastic bottle with a hole at the bottom (to trickle the water onto the line of heat as I am going) filled up from a bucket of water as I went. Phil This may help to explain the principles behind line heating, hope it is able to be read. Phil

How about you just clean the fire every 1/2 hour, get all the rubbish out of it, maybe also screen or sieve the fuel to get rid of any rubbish/dirt etc before you put it onto the fire. Dump the ash etc when you give the fire a clean, the bits of coke that are not burning are called clinker, it pays if you get that out of the fire as it forms. Forge fires are a great source of heat, easy to make and simple enough to use, but they do require a bit of house keeping as you go. Another thing that gets my goat is when guys leave their fire roaring away with nothing in it while they go for leak or a drink of water etc, then come back and wonder why their fire is all choked up with clinker and ash. If you leave it at least turn it down, we were always taught that just before you take your job out you turn the blast back, so as not to waste fuel. Phil

1020 high tensile. Thats like having full cream full fat light skim milk.

Hey Col Put up the right pictures old son, ie the ones of the stainless, do we need to go powerhammer forging 102 my son, are you forging it square then oct etc, you are controlling the metal are you, ie not flattening it out one way then having to near on flatten it the other way, but taking it down in a nice even tapered square, then taking off the corners, then rough round. Phil

Have we started the counting yet? who is going to go this time? so few questions, so much time.

Jacob the problem was using springs off a 1968 Bronco, the springs off a 1965 or 1972 bronco would have been OK but not off the 1968, it had to do with the distance of the moon from the equator and the postition of Saturn in relation to return axis of Alpha Centuri and the Dog star at the time they were crafted. Very hard to explain here in detail but in future stay with the 1965 or 1972 springs for sure, That, and don't cool spring steel out in water until you have a little bit more experience, let it cool out in still air.

See Moon, not only is it now known that you are the "best" Blacksmith in Australia, (and maybe the world), but you are also now a "guru". How would you like us to address you now, maybe "oh wise moon, guru of all things to do with fire and hammer, please bestow us with your enduring wisdom"

Hexagonal boron Nitride, just them words enough are sending chills down my back, we use a commercial lube (actually we have used 2) the 1st one was called Deltaforge 106H (came in a 20 litre container) which was made by a firm known as Acheson, but they wanted to be silly with their purchasing requirements, so now we use basically the same thing only now it is called Lubrodal F20C (comes in a 10 litre container) which is sold by Fuchs oils and lubricants, they are both a graphite based fluid, we use it diluted 1 to 5 and we also bought a special application gun that sprays it in a air/product mixture. The only thing that is a downside with both of them is that when drifts and punches are sprayed with it they become really hard to pick up with the tongs cause they are so slippery. The difference between using it and not using it for us is really noticeable especially when using stamping dies etc, use the lube, the job goes in easy and comes out easy and the tools rarely need attention, don't use it, and the job becomes a real battle of the blacksmith against the tools. We also have used a mixture of Steam Cylinder oil and graphite in the early days, though it could tend to be a bit messy. There is still occasions when we will use coal too when punching, normally when making hammer heads etc under the hammer. Phil

Steel grade I would guess at would be something like 8660 (Chrome vanadium).

Ironfest was a blast, those of you who missed it missed a great event, I'll post a couple of photos after everything is unpacked and I have found the camera.

Yes the price for reforging a big moil can run to $400-$500 bear in mind these moils will cost $4000 or more to buy new. We have forged up to about 180 dia on our 5cwt hammer, but it was not a commmercially viable option as we had to get too many heats to make it worthwhile. Under our press however is a different kettle of fish. When we forged them under the hammer we used tongs and a chain block/monorail setup, the press we use the manipulator. The main thing though with forging the bigger moils is having enough quenching capacity ot re heat treat them, if we have a pallet of moils to reforge we will stagger the heat treatment over 2 or so days. Phil

Basically all the text books we had were sourced from the Dept of New South Wales Government Railways Technical Institute. There was at least 3 volumes for each stage of your apprenticeship, covering, practical work, theory/metalurgy/heat treatment procedures, and calculations. Not sure if they are available commercially anywhere, I managed to get a full set from my old tech teacher, and had them copied and bound. Phil

Sorry guys I thought that TAFE was a term that was used at least by us and the poms, it stands for Technical and Further Education, used to be The college of Technology, or to us Tech. Our apprentices currently attend TAFE at UTS (University of Technology Sydney). UTS is far as I know the only college running a blacksmiths trade course in the southern hemisphere, but it may not have long to run, as the authorities want to move the college out of the center of Sydney as the land is worth more than the perceived benefit of the college. We are unsure of them re instating blacksmithing as a course in any new college that would be built. Phil