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I Forge Iron

jducharme

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    Shreveport, La

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  1. Rudy, I enjoy your go getter style. Id use H13 buddy, good stuff made for doing that work. Never seen Ti used but chase that search, I have seen sand, clay and Ca Sulphate used too, but H13 is where its at. Do some reading on it and here's a link I like: https://www.afsinc.org/files/methods.pdf. Ive several good books I can find If you are interested. I do brass and Al mostly, buddy of mine is Bob Hauser who owned a foundry for 43 years here locally, he's the man and a great resource. Good luck and have fun buddy. also: Check out some of the steam engine forums where they cast steel for parts. Some schools with large art programs (maybe near you) offer casting classes too. check around.
  2. Ty Latt, can weld and no powdered steel was harmed during this process. When I do use it, I call Kelly Couples and get it from him cause he is the man.
  3. TY, Yep yep, 52100 1/8" ball bearings. Prolly end up a kitchen knife.
  4. I milled a large v-block deeper and then rounded the base of the V with a ball nose, welded a 1" square x 3" hardy shank and I use that to hold the work piece while I hammer out the eye. Saw Glen do it from GS Tongs. For me, this works great and I can do it all by myself. Now a days I use a 20T press I built with an eye punching die. Make top tools and hammers on the quick! Add a few fullering dies and Shazzam! Im done, ready for handle. too easy. Might want to temper next hammer back right after quench. Good policy. Reading your post, it appears you quenched it, then dropped it and as it was brittle and without temper it cracked. Check out Nate at jack pine forge and / or give em a call, great guy that makes wonderful hammers. He can lead you down the path you seek. Good luck.
  5. Here's a fun billet I forged out about 3 mo ago, now I need to find some time to make a knife out of it. Big thanks to bertie rietveld for instructions.
  6. Peter man, great dog head and the BB hammer looks great Matto, your sledge and matching hand hammer look great, very nice! Love that anvil too.
  7. pretty good stuff, I use it for cracking hands.
  8. Hello folks. Mr Dan Graves will be hosting a hammer in at his home Oct 8-9 weekend, all are welcome. We will be talking, eating, and forging grinding making knives and steel for knives / axes / razors. There will prolly be demos, lots of Q&A and all things that you do at hammer ins. Shreveport La Dixie Garden Loop Dan Graves: 318 865-8166 Very relaxed atmosphere. Thanks for your kind attention.
  9. The Colouring, Bronzing and Patination of Metals by Richard Hughes Patina: 300+ Coloration Effects for Jewelers & Metalsmiths by Matthew Runfola these are the books i started with, can get classes on the subject too teaching old japanese formulas. Maybe email Ford Hallam for info on who gives the class as I cannot remember his name. Additionally there are kits you can buy for patina applications to iron. Kitchenknife forum has guys that use blood and onions etc to patina kitchen knives....but you've got to search em out. At least where I live there are very few who have a good working knowledge of the metallurgy involved with mokume and reasonably so because there is no call for it outside of jewelry. Local jewelers here dont deal in it much. Hope this helps.
  10. Reminds me, I drilled and broached a 1" square hardy hole in a striking anvil of 3" thickness I made with a HUGE tine of 4140 heat treated I got off a buddy from Frymaster. (This is a copy of Brian Brazeal's striking anvil) Where I am, the hole costs least $150 (pricing around) but I did it in a tool and die class at local votec as a project. Good stuff. Love brian's hammer class. Also made a mandrel in that class, fits hardy and base is 3" with taper to point about 1' tall. I miss that class.
  11. Frosty, hello, how are you? Two schools here, those that say leave it alone and enjoy as is and express concerns about loss of rebound / temper during weld up process....and folks like me that say restore the tool. Restoration can affect resell value. 1) If there is enough top plate left, wrought or cast steel- surface grind down to flats as desired. (grinder converted to belt, start at 36 ceramic 2x72 and work to desired finish) 2) If the abuse / damage is deeper, you can grind it down to fresh steel and weld it up a bit above where needed with air hardening steel or any of the recommended / suggested rods (S7 hastelloy etc ) and methods and then rough grind flats, then grind it flat on surface grinder. Ive machined them with carbide fly cutter too on a bridgeport, but Ive not tried it on my Burke MVN because surface grinding works so well. If the rebound isnt where you want it with air hardening steel top plate then just grind it off and weld up with oil / water quenching steel and heat treat it to your liking. (which is the method for anvils without top plate or cast steel) Yes this takes some time. Ive done this a few times with S-7 and hastelloy rods. Works great so far with as good rebound as before. 3) Another method is: if you have a bs group that can help you strike on a new plate / forge weld / fasten it up then get too it. I enjoy striking. My local group cant do this but the texarkana group certainly could. I think these old tools of history deserve to be restored and that's a rare anvil. Also have a look at "the blacksmith's craft" book Ive not fixed a broken horn but read on how it's done, and Im ready to try really neat stuff. Now Im betting you feel like damage comes in the form of temper loss from the welding build up process. Yes that can happen but then you can just heat treat the anvil (depending on rods used). No brittle tool steel plate to worry over with proper tempering just like you would with any tool. easy peasy! Ive restored a few anvils and lucky me, rebound was good. My buddy Clay welded /fabricated up a bridge anvil and stand for knife maker Dan Graves from 4140 heat treated fork tines. He did not re-heat treat, Sucker moves metal with excellent rebound. Metallurgy is an amazing subject. imo Id rather have a fully functioning tool when I can. Couple links to look at here: http://www.anvilmag.com/smith/anvilres.htm http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general-archive/anvil-restoration-88691/ http://www.hobartwelders.com/weldtalk/archive/index.php/t-44362.html?s=03b1bace002aa88445a7bab2714036e4 http://www.docsmachine.com/blacksmith/ Hope this helps. (realize I have tools/equipment and access to machinery that many do not have)
  12. cant find em in the south. Been looking, have farrier friends that travel looking. Hard to come by, oil field and RR used em. Very nice. Restoration in order for sure. Great anvil, and nice guy to hand it over to ya. Check out Jerry Fisk shop tour, he has 2 very nice ones.
  13. Ive a really nice one got off ebay for 100$, surprised to find it was in really nice condition and the refractory was not even cracked. Has 2 burners and takes a lot of gas to get hot. IMO for forging Id say there are way better options, for soldering, Id say there are way better options. For melting its pretty good as long as it's a low melting point. I got it just to have, i guess. I dont really use it anymore since I have bigger better ways of doing the job. Hope this helps.
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