House of D

Mr. Bandit,

Just last weekend someone gave me a large aluminum bronze sledge that was badly chipped and cracked. I chucked it up in the lathe and turned out all the chips and cracks that were propagating and finished it out nice like a 5lb ball pein sledge. I re-handled it Saturday along with an 8 pound sledge someone gave me. I put short handles on them for driving drifts and not tearing up my forging hammers. They turned out well, and I don't fear using them. It depends on your resources and what you are going to do with them. I certainly would not use them as is. Chips and cracks need to be removed for safety and for not marring your work.

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Gonna party like its the industrial revolution!

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Culver, 

Looks like a solid first run on some much needed tools. However, you are going to want to chamfer the edges on your spring swage. Those sharp edges will get you a cold shunt in your material. And have seen much worse welding, yours looks like it will hold just fine. Pretty comes with practice. And tongs are a tough beginner project, they will improve with repetition. So long as they hold the material well and you hands stay uncooked, they'll work. Nice anvil.

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You have a pic? I'd like to see that gear.

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And it would be an awesome outdoor seating area if made into the worlds coolest table...however, you would have to have quite the footings or it would soon turn into the worlds biggest and most aggravating trip hazard due to sinkage.

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Have you fired the forge yet? Do the bellows and vice work? I think that is pretty cool honestly. Nice.

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A massive Sundial would be pretty awesome... With a massive gnarly forged gnomon jutting from the center... Would be a terrific project for a large chunk of metal and a massive power hammer!

I dig the striking anvil. I am going to make one. I happen to have a piece of 3"x12"x5" just laying around waiting to be mounted on a 1" plate. I would rather wail away on that than either of my Refflinghaus anvils. My anvils are 180# and 500#. The striking anvil will be lighter, but I won't worry about smashing the face with a 30 pound sledge. Which is a good thing. I like the idea of a striking anvil.

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I agree with Charles. It's a hot cut. Unless it a specialty steel.... Forge it, normalize It and put it to work. The odds of you messing up any hardening and tempering you did are very good especially when cutting large stock. I use A-33 for my hot stuff for that reason. Forge it, quench it, use it... If you get it over red hot toss it in the slack tub and go again.

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Throw some hot steel on it and get to it! It's hard enough as is. I guarantee it's harder than glowing iron. 

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Looking forward to this topic as well, and congratulations on the girl!

Hahahaha! In that case, good choice of fabricators!

I see a bit of fabricator in you Harry...Nice stand.

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Ethan,

I have 12 feet of 2.5" 1045 for just such an occasion! 

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7 hours ago, Ethan the blacksmith said:

Now, why dose the idea of forging a 8 lbs rounding hammer make me excited....

 

Because big hammers are cool...

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Ethan, 

Maybe l can use it as a down payment on an 8 pound rounding hammer!

Shoot me your info, and I'll send one to you.

D

Ethan,

I have a friend that looks after tower cranes, every once in a while he has to swap'em out. He brings me some when he comes down. Need a 3" bearing? I'll send you one! Let me know.

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Sorry, swap out the turret bearings, they are often 3" or bigger.

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Ethan,

I have a pile of 3" ball bearings, I'll use one of them to fashion a cupping tool, then I'll forge out a top and bottom fuller. Good weekend project. Again, thanks for the video.

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I dig it Daswulf! Very nice piece indeed.

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Great video Ethan! I need to make a pair of those 3" radius fullers. Nice.

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Ethan,

Also I should mention that for less dough a tough industrial machine is the Jett 3"x79" sander. Mounted vertically, with a 36 grit ceramic belt it removes material fast! 12-15 hundred bucks and available in a dozen phase and horse power configurations.

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Hello George,

I don't know the "best steel" for that, but I can tell you what I have used and what I would use. I have made the ones I use from Atlantic33 or flutegon. It works very well, I have had no issues shearing bolts and cutting thin sections of steel with them. I only harden the working end and leave the hammer end as forged. I believe that 1045-65 would work well and be inexpensive compared to the higher alloy steels, though not last as long nor be as durable. My belief is that L-6 would make an extraordinary cold chisel, due to the vanadium content it would be very tough. The "S" series would be very good as well. Most any steel that could be made tough through heat treatment would work. These are just my thoughts.

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Beautiful design! I like the idea of using angle iron to give the square profile with less effort. Good thinking, that might have to go to the ol' R&D department, like your swage block...rip-off and duplicate! I would personally do a counter-punched depression with a domed copper rivet inside. I bit of visual effect while keeping the clean lines. Like everything I've seen you do, very nice!

Scotty P,

I personally prefer a deeper firepot. This allows the oxygen to burn off before it hits your iron. My fire pot is 11"x13"x5.5" Deep. I made it from 1" plate. I do heavy forging and often have 2" plus in my fire. This depth allows me to keep 4"-5" of coke below the iron and 2" or more around or above it depending on what I'm doing. This does not imply in any way that a shallower fire pot will not work, they do. And work well! i just prefer a deeper one, it works for me. A shallower may work for you! Dick Nietfelds website, Shady Grove Blacksmith Shop, www.blksmth.com has tons of valuable information. There are forge and firepot designs and plans as well as alot of other useful information that may be of interest to you and anyone who has an interest in blacksmithing. Dick is a great guy whom I consider a friend and valuable resource. And he imports some great anvils! Check out his website, lots of good info.

D

www.stephenbader.com

Hello Ethan,

Bader makes different models for whatever application you need. They are super friendly and very willing to talk with you about your requirements. Their machines are beyond compare and the quality is excellent. They can also up the horsepower on their motors on a particular model if you are going to be using it for heavy work, like the bench model. They are great to work with. These machines are not cheap, but I feel their quality is worth the extra money. That said, I just want to say that you are a remarkable young blacksmith and your work and work ethic are impressive. I look forward to seeing your contributions to the world of blacksmithing in the future. For the requirements you mentioned check out Baders floor model, it is called the Space-saver, takes a 3" x 132" wide belt and is available with up to a 7.5 horsepower motor. Up to a 6" wide belt is an option.

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