Jump to content
I Forge Iron

TwistedCustoms

Members
  • Posts

    450
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by TwistedCustoms

  1. I've never seen a propane forge that didn't have an inline shut off valve but I haven't kept track of all the flee bay home built "forges" being offered for sale to the unsuspecting public. The shut off is for safety but shutting on and off will keep cooling the forge and may end up being less efficient than letting it idle.
  2. I have a couple of objects in the shop, stashed away under a bench which were anvils in a past life. One is a Wilkinson and I never bothered to clean the other one off enough to identify it because they are both missing over 90% of their top plates. The Wilkinson has aprox two square inches of jagged edge plate still hanging on behind the pritchel and the unknown anvil has about the same up by the cut shelf/horn. I don't mind dinged edges, missing or damaged horns, wallowed out hardy holes, torch marks or any of the other damage I've run across as long as there is a usable section of hardened face. I would never consider using an anvil as an organ donor if it had any usable life in it. We have all seen those anvils that are in fact un-usable and the cost of proper repair is well beyond the value of the repaired anvil even if it goes flawlessly. So I'm wondering, has anyone here ever sectioned up an old anvil body just to harvest the wrought iron for other projects? I hope I'm not the only smith to ever consider this! Is it sacrilege or practical?
  3. Thanks George! I didn't know Fisher made anvils with the horseshoe logo. When I first saw the photo I didn't have high hopes for it but now I'll be on the lookout. Good to know!
  4. Doesn't look like any Fisher I've ever seen. I would be wary of any anvil with the face plate hanging over the body of the anvil. One piece cast, not a welded on face plate. No way of knowing what the cast material is till you see it in person but my money is on good ole cast iron boat anchor. On the other hand. I've never seen an ASO with a clip horn.
  5. I have discovered that three normalizing cycles after forging will take care of most warping problems even when dealing with thin cross sections and fast quenches. It takes a little extra time but not as much time as starting a project over from scratch if you brake a piece while trying to straighten a warp. Once the warp is there you roll the dice and take your chances. I have removed warps by placing the work between to pieces of smooth milled hardwood and letting it rest in the vise for half an hour before tempering. Someone may know if it's better to temper before trying to remove a warp but I wont move on to the temper unless any warping can be handled first, even if it means starting over. Best to avoid all together but sometimes it just happens!
  6. 1075, 1080 and 1084 are forgiving to work with and weld nicely to 15n20. 1095 is also great but requires a little more attention to detail on the quench. There are things you Should do every time that you can get away with not doing on some alloys, doesn't mean you're doing everything right, just that some alloys will let you get away with it. Things like normalizing cycles. O1 welds nice and can make a great pattern welded blade as long as you weld it to something with the same range for heat treat. You have 4140 on your list which is a water hardening alloy and wont get as hard or temper the same as the higher carbon steels on your list. The question isn't always "what can I get to stick to each other", but "how are these two or more alloys going to heat treat?". 4140 could be welded to W1 because they have a critical temp close enough to each other to harden together and they are both water hardening. Hopefully you will have enough carbon migration during forge welding that they will balance each for the temper. There are so many alloys available today I doubt that all the possible combinations have been tried. If someone is just learning how to weld it's best to follow on the work others have successfully done and proven to be good combinations. Once you're getting good, repeatable results from two known alloys like 1084 and 15n20 then start your own experiments and post the results. If you want to achieve a different effect, like a lower contrast than you get with 15n20, try welding up two alloys with different carbon content but no nickel. They will still etch but it will be shades of grey without the silver. What you etch with can have a big effect on appearance too. One of my favorite finishes for pattern welded projects is Casey Birchwood gun blue. There are also "plumb brown" metal finishing solutions that will still allow the layers to be seen in a more subtle way. My personal combos are, 1095-15n20 5160-mild (or wrought) 5160-A36 5160-1095 O1-1095 O1-mild (or wrought) Those are the known alloys I've had the best results with for my purposes but it's also a lot of fun to make something beautiful out of pallet strapping and old band saw blades. You may never know what the alloys involved are but when it works it's no less rewarding!
  7. Lots of good advice already. One other thing I would add, look for a more ridged backer to clamp your blade to. Two inch structural angle iron or something of that ilk can be scrounged in most industrialized areas without breaking the bank. Mild steel drills easy but a thick enough cross section will be much more ridged so you eliminate one issue and then can concentrate on maintaining the correct angle without having to wonder if the problem is you or the jig.
  8. Check out the "Tools to Make Tools" course taught by Lyle Wynn in Mississippi. toolstomaketools.net
  9. Definitely Glenn! I haven't seen a can since the early 70s and even then it may have been in my Grandpas shoe shine box for twenty years. Growing up in the American South felt like being frozen in time in some ways. I remember men were still using Pomade in their hair as late as the early eighties here. We had regular and unleaded at the gas pumps and most of the cars on the road had no catalytic converter so no one paid extra for the unleaded. We hot patched tires until they were more patch than tire and stores were closed on Sunday! Not sure whether things are better or worse now but it's cool to see that old can of shoe wax.
  10. Shinola? I wonder if anyone here remembers that brand of shoe polish. Either way I can see how your work station got it's name.
  11. What does STS mean? Also, that set up looks like a gate makers wonderland! Very cool!
  12. Nice looking little blade. It would be equally at home in the kitchen or as a patch knife for black powder.
  13. OK, the additional information changes the way your idea is perceived, by me at least, so here are a few more suggestions. Working with non ferrous metals is not blacksmithing, though many blacksmiths do work with non ferrous metals. Forging copper, silver, bronze and brass alloys is a lot of fun and has its own challenges. Cold work, whether by hand or machining requires a distinct and extensive set of skills too. The more information you can provide will greatly influence the kind of replies you will get. Stainless is of course ferrous but I mention the others because stainless may not be the best material for setting a stone. If the ring is turned I would assume any filigree work would have to be brazed on. If you're not familiar with it already do a search on Damasteal. It's a brand of commercially available pattern welded stainless you can buy in rounds. I've seen some really pretty rings turned out of that material but never with a stone setting. I look forward to seeing what new information pops up on this thread! Good Luck! PS Lower carrot gold is durable enough for most mens rings. White yellow or rose, doesn't matter, 10 to 12 carrot is much tougher than 14, 18 etc. Gold can be brazed with gold for the filler so there is no visual difference between the filler and the two parts being brazed. I have personally never seen a brazing rod that exactly matched the material I was brazing because it is not the same material. Maybe don't give up on silver or low carrot gold just yet? Again, I hope this moves forward. Regards, -M-
  14. White gold and platinum are cheap compared to diamonds. My advice would be to purchase the nicest ring you can afford and then spend the first year of your happy marriage honing your skills as an aspiring jeweler and make her something for your first anniversary. Starting from a point of no experience on a project of that importance seems like performing open heart surgery with no medical training. If you have found the one woman in a generation who whole heartedly believes it's the thought that counts then go for it. My money says that no matter how understanding she is she will still appreciate a proper ring set by an experienced jeweler.
  15. Lots of them are made with a hardy shank, mine have a tab on bottom, 3/8" by 1 1/2" by 2" that I clamp in the post vise. You can also make a dedicated work station for them so you have all your dies in one place with the tool.
  16. No doubt! I worked in El Paso/Jaurez in the mod 90s. Open water is not the first thing that comes to mind. On the way down to Presidio I stopped off to see the "highest natural waterfall" in Texas, down in the Davis Mountains. Sad little trickle, looked as if someone had drug a garden hose up to the top of a desert cliff! Good find on the desert cleat. If I get a chance to bring one home for not much I'll add it to the pile.
  17. Thomas, ever do any forging on that cleat in the photo? I've wondered about how they would work as an improvised anvil. I'm sure they are not all the same composition but every time I go to the gulf coast I see them in sizes from door stop up to small car.
  18. Glad to hear it!!! Be sure to keep us updated as her projects begin to come from that great little forge!
  19. I can honestly say that's one of the cleanest fabrication projects I've ever seen. Flawless welds, nice attention to details and a post modern industrial vibe. Very cool. I have a few rifles that are in the "too pretty to shoot" category and that little forge is getting pretty close! I would rather put a tempered glass top on it and use it as an end table than sully it with coal black and ash! The most functional thing I see there, that I haven't seen before, is the modular ducks nest. Well done. Great job on the forge and the presentation!
  20. Splitting the blank and routing a slot is the first thing I thought of but with natural wood I'm sure what you did is better. They look awesome and should make great caping knives.
  21. Touche......I always wondered if ulus were developed for use with mitttens. I've never used one but I have seen them being used to process fish.
  22. Very cool. Being a pair they look as though they could have some martial application rather than food prep.
  23. Good Texas BBQ doesn't require sauce. If the brisket is smoked right there is nothing to hide! Crow on the other hand does benefit from sauce
×
×
  • Create New...