John Galt

Har!! Beat me to it!!

Black Frog . . that's pretty cold. I've seen it -29 here in Central New Yorkistan . . . I have been doing some forging when it gets out of the teens and it's not too windy . . I move my forge just outside my shed, anvil and vice just inside . . . been working on squaring round stock and making some wall hooks with a twist. These are about 5" long, made from 5/16 round.

That is my goal eventually, I just starting at this "blacksmithing" alchemic esoteric and arcane voodoo pseudo-science stuff a few months ago. Before I try Forge Brazing i would like to try brazing with torches . . . I have a great set of torches with all the tips that was given to me by my awesome neighbor. But I have no tanks or hoses and being retired, sometimes cashola is short. Meanwhile I use my MIG welder.

I usually start with antique forged nails. All sizes, but I prefer the 6" - 10" spikes.Then, depending on the nail, I may draw it out a little and put a more pleasing taper to it. Some crosses I actually pierce the vertical nail with the horizontal nail then tack weld it on the backside. Some I weld the horizontal to the sides of the vertical . . . using the top half of nails I have cut. Then I put a head on the leftover ends and use then to make smaller crosses out of. I also distress the nails to make them look much older, some times by actually burning the steel. I may also try an acid etch at some point. But usually by putting them through this while at orange to yellow heat:

I like that idea with the sand! This is the one I made from 4x4 treated wood I had laying around.

Thanks for all the kind and wise-guy comments corrosive process . . LOL! good one. It's not a secret, I learned how to do it here on this great forum. Here are a few crosses I did a few months ago . . I will post up some pics of this new batch when I finish them up . .

LOL! I actually thrive in the heat and humidity . . better than most up here. The winter months are very difficult for me . . it gets below 20 degrees F and I pretty much shut down. BTW . . I would give up a testicle to visit Orstraylia.

Har!!! Go ahead . . gloat. We are tougher up here in the NE of North America . . .

Well, it was actually in the 30's today . . . No excuse to NOT fire up the forge . . . Beating on red/orange/yellow hot steel with a 24 oz hammer will warm me up after a short while anyway. So I like to make Crosses out of antique forged nails. I have a bucket full of 200 year old Wrought Iron forged/cut 6" spikes . . . I like to ~tweak~ them to look older. So I put them in the forge, get them Orange to Yellow hot and draw them out longer. And then via a secret process . . make them look like ancient Roman forged nails . . . . . . older, beat, pitted with age. These are then used to make crosses. Before and After.

It got all the way up to 32 Degrees Fahrenheit here today. No excuse to not fire up the forge , , banging on orange/yellow steel will warm me up soon anyway!!! LOL! Well I had a couple ""S" hooks I made a few weeks ago . . . so, based on a suggestion from a member here . ."metalmangler" . . just add a flat , , two sides. So I put a couple S hooks in the forge and flatted the section between the curves . . I need to try this as a first step before tapering/drawing and making the curve . . thinking it will be better. . . . anywho, this is what I banged out this afternoon . . not perfect . . but I ascribe that to my anal retentive Engineering personality . . yes, I was toilet trained at the end of a shotgun . . ;/

Yes!!

Frosty, what is a fair price for something like this? I posted these pics on my FB and have had several inquiries. I checked E(vil)Bay and saw similar S hooks for $12 a pair plus shipping . . . Sir, that is my plan for the next batch . . . Thanks!! Thank you Sir! One of the things my Gramps taught me was to recognize the voice of experience and wisdom and then to LISTEN to it! Sir, I have Beeswax, Linseed Oil, and Turpentine. I have to make up a batch of Blackmith Goop . . I will be referencing th Alchemy subforum for the recipe over the next few days . . Excellent idea, makes perfect Engineering sense also

Beautiful work!! How did you finish the bottom part to get that brass/gold look?

Thank you for the kind replies. I am an Engineer (it's a curse) by trade and education so I am pretty anal about anything I put my hand to. But, in my older years I have definitely mellowed. I was pretty pleased with the results and am glad that you all agree I have a crapload of 1/4" and 5/16" round so I will be making a lot more of these. I do not have any square stock in that size range. I will be shopping around for some. But I guess I could put a square to the round stock . . hmmm. Thanks again for the kind remarks for my efforts!!

I am an aspiring Blacksmith here in Central New Yorkistan . . . Been away from the forge for a couple months while I was adding a 24' 2 story addition to my workshop . . I paint cars, build hot rods and recently . . . . learning the craft of Blacksmithing. Got tired of working in the cold rain today on the addition and decided to fire up the forge. I made four 6 inch "S" hooks. Started with 12 inch lengths of 5/16" round. Please let me know what I can do to improve these.

Thank you Sir!! I have a metric crapload of 1/4" and 5/16" round . . I will be making a few of these.

Quint . . Welcome from a fellow New Yorker (Chairman Cuomo's People's Republik of New Yorkistan) . . Who'd a thunk that there was one civilized person down there in that morass of a city . . ? I am also a n00b, but I live in the sticks of Central New Yorkistan (Near Utica) and can pretty much do what I want . . . plus I have good, God fearing Patriotic, Conservative American neighbors. We live and let live up here. I am a retired Electrical/Telecomm Engineer . . . I spent 3 years on a NYC Comms project (DoITT) in the 5 boroughs back about 6-8 years ago. . On Monday I drove 1.5 hours to Albany, caught the train to NYC . . came back Friday night or Sat AM . . worst 3 years of my life . . . Welcome again!

I like you already WayneCo . . me and Mrs. Galt are taking a very hard look at TN. Would be great to breath free air once again . . How can I get one of those T-Shirts? Thank you so much Aaron! Forge on Dude!!

Thanks Frosty! Yes I do like puns . . Bob S . . living in the Great American Redoubt . . I woulda figgered you to be a big fan of "Atlas Shrugged" . . Jus' Sayin' . . .

"Well done John, nice texturing die. Next time weld the shank to one end so the die is over the center of the anvil. The increased depth of rebound will make it more efficient and quieter even." Thank you for that good advice Frosty. I think I will modify it as such!! I will also weld a handle to the top die, those pins don't do much to keep it in the neighborhood . . . . My PW anvil has awesome rebound . . 146 lbs picked it up locally for $300 I like the way you think Shamus

They were requests Beammeupscotty

Thanks Bill in Oregon.

I think I am still the n00b here I have been making and selling a few crosses using some 6" and 7" forged nails I got a while back. A couple of the nails were severely distressed (pitted) so I used them for my first effort. After final burnishing with a wire wheel and application of bees wax I liked the look so much I needed a way to mimic that pitted look on nails that were not distressed. That was when I came upon a post (I think it was here) that was just the ticket. I took two pieces of 1x2 mild steel bar and splatter-crappy-welded one face on each with my MIG welder w/o gas . . this was easy because no one has ever accused me of being a welder . . Then I welded some 2" or so pieces of rod to help keep the top piece in the neighborhood while beating on it . . The square for the Hardy Hole was made out of a piece of round stock I had laying around, I this it was a shaft because it definitely was tough . . put a square taper on it then pounded it into the hardy then welded to the bar stock. Took me about 2 hours.

you are welcome!