easilyconfused

I have troubles not getting that problem. Seems like everything I make that isn't painted starts to rust under the wax coat and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong since it only happens on projects made at the home forge..... Problem is that the rust keeps spreading on my stuff..... Not to hijack but anyone know a way to combat it?

Was it clinker? I've never had any of my homemade charcoal do that, although it isn't from plum trees, just random pieces of wood on the farm. Was the wood charred all the way through? Were there any metal that would have melted, such as nails in the wood? Was it hard like strong glass, such as clinker gets, or just packed ash? Any wood will make good charcoal, hardwoods work the best because they are denser so you get hotter with a smaller fire and use less fuel, but I've welded smaller pieces (~1/4"-7/16") with softwood charcoal. Just went through a bit more fuel in the time to do it.

Thanks for the replies. Thomas dean is right, I'm hoping to try and cut it first so the holes open up a bit so the sand method won't work for that. Maybe the round rod will work. Hopefully I'll get some time in the shop this weekend. I have an hour commute back to the farm so weeknights don't leave much shop time around other work. @ Ornamental smith: Those twists give me some more ideas too. Now I'm going to have to work even harder on the farm to get time to try and incorporate them into a project too :mad::rolleyes:

I've got an idea for a candle holder upright from square tubing by cutting the tubing on the diamond into the corners, leaving some of the metal in the center of each tube wall between corners and tried to twist. However, each cube I had cut from the corners twisted off or the tube collapsed. Has any one tried twisting square tubing? Any hints on how to accomplish this? I was using an acetylene torch and will try a more uniform hotter heat in the forge eventually when I get time. Thanks

There are a few things to consider such as the quality of each product. You can burn metal in a charcoal fire just fine, using soft or hard wood but hardwood being the hotter with a smaller amount of charcoal. Since you use more charcoal so for the prices and amounts you quoted, you may be better going with the coal depending on it's quality. You also need to consider the area you're in too. Charcoal is more acceptable it seems since people will think you're just having a bonfire, that is if your area allows backyard fire pits. It also depends on what you want. Charcoal is more historically correct for most periods but coal is hotter and faster for production work imo. Ultimately, the choice is up to you but I would go with good coal if I was paying for charcoal. Luckily, i get it for free and i keep the farmyard clean at the same time.

Been a while since I've had a picture of a project but my girlfriend's dad blacksmith's and wanted to see what it looked like, so I have pictures! Rose bud made from square tube and solid rod.

I think Sherwood park is the main guild head quarters but I may be mistaken. I know it is one that everyone tells you to contact if you're ever in Alberta. There is a branch of the Western Canadian Blacksmith Guild in Alberta though, I know that much.

I've been thinking about whether this was as hardened or work hardening with use. Another aspect, brought up about chisels and punches by a local blacksmith, is liability; better to have it soft and not work as well than run the risk that it will chip and you have to buy people prosthetic eyes.

That got me thinking. According to my General Internal Medicine Class, a way to possibly, if crude and not 100% correct either way, determine if an animal has antifreeze poisoning is to use UV light on the urine. It has chemical's added to fluoresce so the mechanics can find a leak. Wonder if that would work, or if the chemicals would stick around on the whole piece after wiping away the excess.

I've heard that if you coat the metal in white or similar coloured paint and wipe off the excess, you can see the micro fractures that develop with fatigue.

In a quick study break, I just found this list of anvil suppliers. Be careful though as it includes farrier anvils, whether good or bad depending on what a person's looking for. Anvil List On another note, how many Canadians have tried Thak? Any other good Canadian suppliers?

It sounds similar. A blacksmith drift is thickest about 1/2 to a 1/4 of the way from the striking end, being tapered slightly on the striking end as well as the punch to let it slide all the way through without catching, as opposed to a punch which is only tapered on the end not being struck. The thickest part is the size that you want the hold to end up at when hot and shinking to the cold size should be taken into account.

If I was to wager a guess, you're meaning a convex grind? Like this? (). If you're using a round grinding stone, it's a common problem, although it is a good grind for heavy chopping, and I don't have an answer other than practice and experiment with your stone. Possibly grind along the wheel instead of perpendicular to it to maximize the width of contact. Make sure the tip is pointing towards the rotation though so it doesn't grab and turn the knife into a projectile as that can be very very painful . You might also be able to use it for rough grinding and then switch to files and hand stones/sandpaper and hand work it for a flat grind.

I think that is as big of role as the reliance on traditions. By not being exposed to new technologies and ideals, there is no need to change them. It occurred in N. America too before the European settlers arrived. Human nature generally follows the path of least resistance, mob mentality, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Each culture and region in Europe must have had their own way of doing things and contact had to have left a mark on each other's traditions, culture and technologies. Take for example languages. Common words is a common way to track contact between cultures. I believe that hollywood has over exemplified the Japanese blade versus Western. Each has thousands of years of trial and error, but changed in their own way to the necessities dictated by that time and to use them in different scenarios would mean that they had to change their weapons. As well, to take a weapon out of the context it was designed to be used for for comparision is a, excuse the pun, a double edged sword because, as stated before, each was developed for that particular use. Would you use a hot cut on cold steel and say the hot cut is inferior to a cold cut? I wouldn't. IMO, because western society didn't have the same "death before dishonour" mentality the Samurai seemed to have, which may have lead to a more rapid arms race. It would be interesting to compare the armour race to the weapon's race. And, like it has been said before, every tradition has wisdom to impart to anyone who will listen. The key is determining it from the piles of you know what that can come with it. ;)

I'm no expert on Japanese blacksmithing, but I was under the assumption that they treat if more religiously that us and wearing white and such is part of the rituals they perform. Anyone who really know though?

I'm by no means a professional welder but on the farm that's what I've done too to repair flighting. Of course, with the neighbor who brought the thing over working a tool I welded up that's a slotted piece of sheet metal on a pole to keep it straight in line. I'd like to know what the professionals do too.

I'm not sure about the actual alloy used, but for most of the common steels above mild, an oil quench is "close enough for the farm". There are many threads on heat treating in the forums and especially on bladesmith forums if you want to read up on it just incase I'm not remembering 100% correctly. To start with, you'll want to heat your steel up past the critical temperature. The easiest way IMO, is by checking it with a magnet on a string. Once it is no longer magnetic, then you let it cool slowly. For most stuff air cooling is fine but leaving it by the fire works better or you could pack it in some ash to cool it even slower. The key to normalizing/annealing is to cool it back down slowly. After it's cooled off, then you harden it but heating it back to nonmagnetic and quenching it. Water cools faster and therefore gives a harder quench than oil and can make some of the higher tool steels crack due to brittleness, hence why most people use oil. Of course this is variable with other factors like the size of steel you're working with as larger pieces may need water to cool fast enough to harden the center too. Tempering after hardening can be done a few ways, depending on what you're using it for and how picky you are. When I'm making tools for the forge I usually do the hardening and tempering in one heat by heating past the part I will quench to harden and let the residual heat temper the hardened part. This only works with stuff that you want one end hardened and the other end soft with a gradient between, like punches or chisels. I don't know how it would work for pliers as part would be soft. Another method is to slowly heat the metal up after hardening to the proper temperature, either in the fire, oven or with a large torch for smaller pieces. and then quench it. There are charts floating around the internet and various books as to what the different colours are in respect to hardness for various tools. They range from a staw yellow to blue-purple as hardest to softest temper. Once again the harder it is, the more likely it is to chip or break but the stronger it is. I'm not as fancy and I know I'm missing stuff so hopefully others who have more experience will chime in too.

Hindsight's 20/20 :rolleyes:

Not much to add in the way of hints or tips. I'm a free hander who follows the "close enough" method on the farm. Have you drawn out what you want the jaw to look like so you have measurements and a set curve to compare it to? Since you're grinding, I'd make sure to take it slow and keep checking the match regularly. I'm assuming the blackened metal isn't soot that can be wiped off? I wouldn't quench them in water after working on them without knowing the steel and the heat you're using and a knowledge of heat treating. Techincally it won't weaken the metal but it may break because it's too hard and become brittle. Depending on how shiny you want the metal, a soak overnight in vinegar might be enough. To get a full mirror shine back, you'll have to polish it up with progressively finer grit sand paper and buffer in the final stages. Hope this helps a bit.

I know all about the dirty kid theory and it's link to asthma, allergic reacions and cancer, and the fact that many bacteria are ubquitous and found everywhere. Parasites have also been included in the list Parasites and Asthma I've gotten enough of it in the few year's I've been in school, between my degree in Agriculture majoring in animal science and now my couple of years in vet school. I do believe that all the sanatizers in use right now are bad for you. What you forgot to point out is that they are usually low grade and usually not bypassing the defences your body has put up. Being cut bypasses your normal microflora, stomach acid, normal lymphoid tissue aggregations that monitor and secrete Immunoglobulins to prevent infection, as well as the mucocilliary apparatus of the respiratory system. One thing you forgot to mention is that, while many pathogens are found on your skin and are considered normal flora, many can cause disease if found in the wrong place, ie. YOUR BLOOD! Tetnus, as you quoted likes anaerobic environments to GROW, spores are found in many places and grow in an anerobic environment such as a penetration wound, or a scabbed over wound that is made anaerobic by facultative anaerobes such as some normal flora on your skin and in the environment Public health of canada. I'm not 100% sure how wearing gloves causes superbugs. Improper antibiotic use, ie. not finishing your prescription (you know who you are) or asking for them when it's a cold and expecting them, as well as improper and over sterilization selects for them. Wearing gloves prevents you from getting cut and the possibility of a systemic infection. Washing your hands after dilutes out any possible pathogens. Sterilization with those hand sanitizers IMO just selects for resistance unless used properly in high risk areas such as medical facilities. Throw in the fact that we aren't the only individuals or species (which many of the quoted species are zoonotic) dumpster diving, many bacteria can live for longer than a few hours in the environment, and you can get sick from them. Wear your gloves and you prevent normally harmless bacteria that may reduce asthma and/or cancer risks from getting into the wrong place where they can cause disease. Interesting article I'd love to research more and add more but I've got to study for the pharmacology final so I can treat the animals that they get infections from dumpster diving ;)

A biggy, to go with the broken glass and other sharp objects, is infectious agents like bacteria and such. Always try to remember gloves. Getting cut by a dirty piece of anything, especially if the dumpster holds household garbage, is a good way to get really sick, really fast since it has easy access to your bloodstream.

Are you sure it's cinder, not clinker? The fact that it becomes like glass makes me think it's clinker as cinder, as I know it, is more soot and ash like than glass. If it is clinker, you need to clean your fire more often to get rid of it. Generally, if you let up on the air for a little while, the clinker will start to solidify and will look darker than the coke surrounding it. It also will generally puddle near the air source for the fire pot.

Kind of a stupid question but, if you put the blower after the water, how are you going to make sure the air goes through it and not get sucked out?