Fe-Wood

The weather FINALLY cooperated and I was able to install these railings! As promised, a couple pictures of the final product. I used Hilti Epoxy. Pink Bubble gum I think they call it..... Set up solid with temps in the low 20's Home owner is very happy!!!!

I have a set of fullering dies that came with my power hammer. They are a one way fullering die set that has been eased on one end. I am working on a design that needs two way fullering dies. I need to be able to work around organic shapes without to long of a flat in the middle. I would like to see how everyone makes or modifies their own. At Western States in 2011 Jeffery Funk had a nice set. I cant remember how much of a radius he had on the long axis. If you have them, Please show me pictures of your dies and how you like them and what further modifications you would like to do for the next set. Looking for ideas that work... Here is a picture of mine as they are now.

First thing I would do is join the rocky mountain blacksmithing group. I would also join california blacksmith assoc. and northwest blacksmith assoc. between those 3 group, you have access to some outstanding classes, clinic, blacksmiths shops and of course all the spring conferneces. Pick and chose as you see fit. Best money I have spent was joining CBA and NWBA!

Awesome work Chuck! Nice balance and form! Nice and solid without being heavy. I would love to come by and check out the Beaudry when I'm up your way... One of may favorite mechanicals.

Well, I went and cut the plate off and welded on a section that will imbed in the sidewalk. I thought that not only would it be stronger, it would look better... Before I cut the plate off I tested one of them. I put the plate in a vice and pushed on the rod. Actually, I did this as part of my decision to cut the plates off. Anyway after about a dozen back and forth flexes the plate started to work away from the post. Meaning, I was tearing the weld out of the plate. Figuring this is a railing for an elderly couple, to be placed on a set of steps that ice up in the winter it needed to very strong and able to hold a person with a slip and fall momentum. Post imbedded in concrete with epoxy should do the trick. I'll take pictures of the install as soon as it is warm enough to install it... Thanks for all the suggestions! and reasons why....

Jeremy, Changing the oil to a lighter on has helped a little. On the coldest days this last week I was able to get it to start up. The 30w would have been to thick. Bryce, I bought this hammer in August and have put 100s of hours on it. I've had it so hot I could smell the paint. These days with the cold, I have heat tape and a packing blanket wrapped around it to keep it warm. I start it in the morning and have to keep it running most of the time even with the blanket on it. I get kinda tired of listening to it and really tired of waisting the power to just have it running idle so it will stay warm enough to use when I need to. Its a great little hammer. I look forward to when it is broken in!!!

Th other day I was forging away for about an hour and then realized I had a coat of ice on my hammer from breaking a hole in the ice in the slack tub the night before. I keep heat tape and a bonnet on my power hammer so it doesn't cool off to much between uses during the day. Its taking me about an hour to get everything warm enough to actually forge with any speed.... I'll be happy when the temps are in the 30's... -11f tonight...

I have worked a bit of H-13. I work it at a mid orange heat and as sson as it goes cherry red, I reheat. For the last heat, I take it to bright orange and let soak for a bit and set aside to cool. I'm only using H-13 for hand hammered tools. The insert tools I make for the power hammer are made from 4140. Itry to make them a touch softer then the hammer dies so if I miss I don't mar the dies... Francis, Have you tried S-7 for your drifts? I don't know how it compares to w-2 but in he forging and heat treating area it is much like H-13

I have a set of dies I made for my fly press to make the square section of the tools. Then i made the tongs to fit the square.

wd&mtlteach, Nice looking tools! Only thing I would add is make the shaft square and the tongs formed to grip the square. I have found the insert tools will move or turn with aggresive fullering and the square shaft gives much better control . I don't have any pictures of mine but if you look for Toby Hickman's video on youtube I believe he shows them. Here is a link to Toby's video- At minute marker 10 is a set up like I'm talking about.

Most of the work will be small and simple for the reasons you said notownkid. Peoples attention span is 30 to 50 seconds unless you are doing something they have never seen and making noise and or sparks. My goal with this demo station is to give people a reasonably accurate depiction of what a Blacksmith did around 1860 to 1900. Most all the work produced will be ornamental in nature end up in the gift shop for sale. Thanks everyone for the ideas and suggestions! Keep'em coming-

Mike, I have my 200# Bradley mounted on 6x8 timbers. I used allthread to tie them together to make about a 4x7 foot platform. I used 4x4x3/8 angle iron to tie the platform to the floor. Works really well. I don't stand on the platform and the treadle doesn't reach the floor. I put a block between the treadle and the anvil to use as a foot rest. I don't think the LG has enough room for a block but a piece of angle iron bent around the anvil works well to. Its nice to have a foot rest when the treadle is way up off the ground. Good Luck!

Good suggestions bikecopxxx. No plexi partitions. I hadn't thought of leaning posts... I'll tuck that away for future implementation.

Great input from everyone! Thank you! Keep 'em coming! Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I've been asked to help design a blacksmiths shop for a state park interpretive center. They are able to put up a 12' X 20' dirt floor building with 7 to 8' sloped ceiling. The layout would be with the 20' length being the viewing wall. It will have 2 large, 7' wide openings for people to watch from. On either end of the building will be 2 doors for access and ventilation. This is to be a period shop with 2 working smithing stations using cast iron forge bodies and hand crank blowers because of the limited space. A bellows is a possibility for 1 forge. The period is the 1860s. My goal is to make them functional stations that are easily viewed by the public. I would like the smiths to be in close proximity to the windows to facilitate easy conversation with the public. I would rather not have a wall between the public and the smiths but it is needed for security reasons. I have put together a little poll to ask which way people feel the forges should be configured while keeping in mind the focus is on public interaction. Thank you for your input!

A pile of forges I made last year. Some currently for sale and some for students.... I wanted to be able to show up with 4 complete worksations in the back of my truck!

Thank you all for all the great tips and insight. I will show pictures once I've installed the railings.

You make a good point John. How thick of plate would you go? 3/8 or 1/2? Its going on a 3 to 4" thick concrete walkway. I'm planning on 3/8" ab's that go all the way through to wedge at the bottom of the slab. Really, I would like to use epoxy but its to cold out and I'm afriad it won't set properly.

Ian, Base plate is A36 and 1/4" thick with 3/8" mounting holes. Its going on a 3" thick slab walkway. Jim, This rail is short with only the one post. It mounts to the wall on the other end. I like your suggestion on making a square hole. I think I will do that next time. Thanks guys!

Pictured is a railing I'm finishing up. I have plug welded the post to the base because it looks better to me. I'm a little worried that it might not be strong enough. The post is 1x1 with a 3/4" hole drilled in the mounting plate for the weld. This project has been all about the details and I don't want the look of a fillet weld. Am I asking for trouble? Thanks for your thoughts-

Obviously it will take practice! It is just like forging an upset square corner only you are not making it square. All the same rules apply. Mark the centers as Glenn suggested (the center of the angle in the center of the stock on edge as that is the constant) forge with cycling blows as you would an upset corner, just don't take it all the way to 90 degrees. The short lenght between corners will be fun to sort out but doable...

How about some pewter tongs... Forged cold from 1/8" round pewter.

My Pleaser John! I have an old Bradley that runs like that until its warmed up. Get it going to the point were the dies are just touching and not pounding each other. Good practice in itself and means the hammer is functioning properly. You may want to use a bit of wood between the dies to start off with. Then back off a bit and put the steel in between the dies while the hammer is still moving. Please, don't do anything you are not comfortable with! These old girls are awesome hammers but take a bit of getting used too. Good Luck

In looking at the photos of your hammer and the die configuration, I would check that the dies meet parallel at the working hight. Also, are you working with the hit-turn method? Or do you work down one side then flip 90 and work down the other side? You might try using a piece of cold square stock and practice just turning the stock on the face of the dies. After you get a feel for that move start hitting the cold steel lightly with the hammer while turning. This will help you see were you might be going wrong. The steel, being cold will correct whatever you are doing because the dies will move the cold steel in your hands. Like I said, hit it lightly because you can really hurt yourself if you give a full hit with the steel out of alignment. After you get a feel for that, start working the steel hot. It will tell you everything you need to know about what you are doing while forging. The steel should come out straight and square if all is going right. One other thing, if you are forging one side then flipping 90 degrees, don't over forge the one side. I shoot for reducing the mass by 1/4 to 1/3 at most before flipping to the other side. When turning, I find it best to turn always in the same direction rather than back and forth.

Thanks guys! I guess I'd better find more air! Hwooldridge, whats your elevation? I'm at about 2000 ft. If you are closer to sea level than 70 cfm will definitely not work for me. Thanks again-