Junksmith

Gorgeous!

Always on, all types, and as loud as my wife will tolerate :D

Wish I could make it David. It would be nice to see you too. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I have lots of production to catch up on and a demo on Sunday so I'm out. I know I need to get more active in the blacksmith community, but striking a balance between forge and family is tricky these days. Some people act like blacksmithing shouldn't be as high a proirity as my job for some reason! :D

I have to take issue with discouraging the newbie in what is supposed to be an educational forum. While I agree with Mr. Powers that castable ceramics would likely be prohibitively expensive, they may indeed have refractory application - perhaps in a burner nozzle itself. Whether or not there is practical application for the material Mr. Cable has brought to our attention, it is premature to summarily dismiss his post as irrelevant. Any material that has a high heat resistance certainly merits discussion with relation to blacksmithing. Mr. Cable, I hope that you will not be discouraged from making further contributions and seeking further information on our site based on this experience. We are all here for an open exchange of information for mutual benefit because we love and wish to preserve this ancient craft. I have looked at your previous posts and it is clear that you, like many of us, are getting your start with limited resources and employing the kind of inventiveness that makes this trade/hobby so fascinating. You will have failures and successes, good ideas and bad and it's all part of the learning process. I, for one, applaud your willingess not only to take initiative, but to give something back by contributing ideas. Thank you.

Good ideas all. I use a lot of 7018 and while I'm not a welder by trade I've been doing some wrought iron gates/rails/etc. that require welds that look good as well as being strong - and yes, I buy in HSCs. It's a portable unit, but since I don't travel with it much I think I'll go with a light bulb until I can find a better thermostat option. For now I can just tie the 120V input wires to a light socket and drop it in one of the sections. Then I don't have to worry about modding the case for when I do find a thermostat. Great thinking everybody! Thanks!

Morning folks, Last year I managed to get ahold of a rod oven for keeping my welding rods dry. It definitely helps in terms of spatter etc. The problem is that the thermostat has burned up. I managed to locate a replacement for this 2 inch in diameter item and they want $90 for it! New heating elements aren't even available. My question is, does anybody have experience with this kind of problem and is there a substitute part that might work for less expense? The oven is an AWS 50B Model 1 from Phoenix International. 350 watts and maintains an average of 300 degrees F. At this point I'm thinking it might just be more economical to put a 100 Watt light bulb inside the box (it's very well insulated) It would mean giving up some storage spece but the capacity is 50 lbs. so... Any advice would be apprecialted. Thanks.

I use a crank blower most of the time for better control. I have an electric, but I found that even with a speed control set low it was moving too much air and burning too much fuel. The gate was the only thing that made a noticable difference.

What's the piece of steel you are using for material? I have that exact piece and I've been trying to decide what to use it for.

Free steel is free steel. No law says you have to make a $400 hunting knife out of it. If it's workable then it's good for practice and projects that aren't material specific. Garden tools maybe?

Darn! Can't get the pic to upload! sorry.

Rather than trying to forge them, maybe you could clean them up and braze them together in interesting shapes. I sell tons of these little stars at Christmas time for $5 apiece. Just make sure you anneal the one you want to drill a hole in (heat the area to red with the torch & leave to cool after your brazing is done). Like everybody says, they are often hardened and will kill your drill bits otherwise.

Once again: Know your audience. If you offend them, they won't buy anything - this time or the next... or the next... or the next, etc. If in doubt, I play it conservative and stick to my wife's "moonlighting" line.

The Moonshine Forge. Perhaps it has something to do with another hobby? I'll never tell At craft fairs, my wife tells people that it is because I moonlight as a smith. True enough. Depending on my audience, I often say it's because I like to work drunk (or hammer hammered, if you will). Not so true, but it gets big laughs from the right people. One thing is certain. Though it has nothing to do with the trade as such, it is a sure-fire conversation starter and the more you engage a person, the more likely it is that they are going to buy something.

I'm with Steve Sells 100%. I try to make the small stuff in much higher quantities too. Not just for the individual earning potential of each, but for some reason people seem more likely to pick a small item (or 3 - especially hooks) out of a basket of 20 than they do out of 4 or five lying on the table. Just my observation. Definitely bring a few fancier things to show your capabilities. 50 people will take your card and say they might have a project for you on any given day and the vast majority you will never hear from again, but the very few who do call with a job are usually serious about paying decent money for it. 1 last thought: Keyrings are one of my best sellers in almost every show. Any little decorative element you can make - a leaf, a rolled rose, a bottle opener - can be put on to split rings you buy at the craft store at 3 or 4 dollars for a pack of 20. One sale covers your rings and you can use all manner of drops and scrap for the item itself. Good luck!

I often heat several pieces at once to black and dip them in oil for a finish. I wonder how well one of these would work for that? I usually go through a heck of a lot of propane when I'm doing them en-masse.

I am in the middle of "Steel Working and Tool Dressing". I am thoroughly enjoying it. I have found that many turn-of-the-century books on blacksmithing, while full of valuable info, are often repeating the same basics (shop, tools, starter projects). The author here though, Warren Casterlin, was a toolmaker with over 50 years of experience in the trade and made tools of such quality that he was frequently sent to industrial shops to train other smiths. He does a lot of focusing on chisels, punches, and carpentry knives, but despite his relatively narrow range of tool specialty, there is lots of good information on edge packing, heat treatment, and general practices that can be valuable to most of us. Plus, it's just a good read. He is less a professor and more a grumpy yet grandfatherly type who speaks to his readers one-on-one in a gruff, omnipotent manner - but with good humor. I imagine him really chewing out young hotshots who didn't think he was worth listening to. At least we have the option to put the book down for a while! I highly recommend this one.

So it appears that poor farmers in certain rural parts of China 500 years ago did not have fireworks accessible to celebrate Da Shuhua (the autumn festival of lights celebrating the harvest). What else looks like fireworks? Molten iron being thrown against a wall of course! Who was behind the idea? Area blacksmiths! This makes me even more proud of our heritage. See video below.

Thanks guys! Feel free to replicate. It's a good way to fill out your booth when you're low on product at the end of the year!

My 2 cents: Depending on the size of the break, you may want to consider glue. Not just any glue of course, but I once repaired a small bronze statue with JB Weld 2 part epoxy and used a little paint to replicate and blend the patina in the small area where it showed. Since it was a stress point, I also pinned it with a tiny steel rod, but it sounds like it wouldn't be necessary in your case. I'm always tempted to bring out the fire at every opportunity, but I have to remind myself that it's more about the most effective way to do the job than the most fun :D

These are fun and easy. No forging really. I just arrange old masonry nails in a star pattern and braze them at the center. The large puddle of brass is unnecessary for making them stick, but it looks nice. Once I pickle them, I heat them with a blowtorch until temper colors start to show and dip them in oil (while still hot) for a finish. One problem I ran into was that the nails were very hard to drill for a hanger. As the last step in assembly, I heat the area I'm planning to drill up to red and let it cool. Much easier to drill then. They sell like hotcakes at Christmas for $5 each and make great giveaways as well.

Most of my work 3/8 and under gets done with a 1.5 - 2 pound hammer. Over that I jump to a 3 pounder and, if I have something 3/4 or over I'll start with a 7 pound hammer. Needless to say, I don't swing "Bertha" all day - just to get larger chunks started before I refine.

That stuff is AMAZING! It almost needs its own category. Now, toys: One year, with a combination of wood and metal, I made my teenage nephew a working table top catapult. Maybe not ideal for a toy drive, but not too powerful and relatively safe for a young boy. I'd like to do that again :)

Awesome. I want to land the fish that could swallow it!

If I'm hearing the question right, you are hoping to use the thickest part of the track (the actual rail) as starter stock for a hammer head. I don't see why not. Come to think of it, I may do the same. That would be a relatively cheap way to come up with stock of that size and quality if you don't mind a little (heavy) cutting.

Even if I absolutely LOVE something I've done, my eye will always be drawn to the smallest imperfection. Fortunately, most other people don't see it that way. You are almost always your own toughest critic.