Junksmith

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.

I like the turtle, snail ideas.
Here are few hand held items I thought were fascinating.
http://blindspotjewe...jects/2636243#7

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.

Interesting. I always just assumed they were a sort of round file. Well, that's what happens when you (ass)ume

I'll test them. If they're high carbon, I'll make something useful - if not, I'll make something pretty. I just wanted the stag handles anyway.

Hey everybody,
I have come across two old sharpening steels. Aside from the obvious use has anyone ever forged anything with one? I'm guessing it's some hard stuff. Like a file maybe? Just curious.

Just for the sake of argument, let's say that blacksmithing as a trade is dead or dying (again just for the sake of argument folks!). Does that mean it is not a worthwhile pursuit? Who is to say you have to make a profession out of it? Most of us don't do this for a living, just some money on the side and the satisfaction in knowing how to make something with your own two hands. Technology has taken a lot of work, and therefore a lot of character, out of making things - useful or decorative. I can think of no better character building exercise than manual labor, especially to make something beautiful. When you understand the work that goes into the art of creation you understand the VALUE of what we as a human race have wrought. Too many take it for granted.

Besides, you're sixteen. You've got plenty of time to decide what you want to do with the rest of your life. Learn something in the meantime!

Good Luck!

Beautiful rose, absolutely. I'm curious about the stand though. Is the stand and the base all one piece? It looks good no matter what, but if it's forged from a single piece you're not getting near enough credit for it!
Like I said, it looks good either way.

I have a forge/blower similar to yours, but mine came with a broken drive belt. I'd be interested in seeing some pix of the blower and gearing on yours. Also, if you "resize" your pix before posting them they will be much easier for others to view. Here is a link to a website that lets you resize photos for free.

http://www.resize2mail.com/

I have almost the exact same forge and it also came with a broken belt. For once, being fat came in handy as I had an extra leather belt on hand that was a little big on me (waistline was 44"+ at the time ). I just cut it a little short of the required length and stitched it together with steel wire then wrapped the joint with a layer of gorilla tape. Works fine for now. Also the previous owner wrapped a layer of duct tape around the flywheel itself for more traction. This is the best pic I have on hand. Hope it helps.

If you're doing relatively small work with it, you can look for anything remotely conical and steel and weld a shank on the bottom to drop in a hardie or vise. That's more like a bickern I guess, but it's a start. I found a tapered pipe reamer in a junk pile and ground the threads off it with a flap wheel. So far so good!

makes great decorative twisted elements,IMO.

Niiiiiice!

For what it's worth, this is a link to a machine conceived by Jim "Paw-Paw" Wilson that let kids twist metal from a safe distance:

I hope you have an ironclad (no pun intended) insurance wavier.

That said, I often make little horseshoes for kids and I guess they'd be easy enough for them to do with a little help. I start with 4 1/2 inches of 1/4" square and tap each end about 1/8" oven the anvil edge at each end to make heels. Then I bend it over the anvil horn - though for simplification with the kids you could make a bending jig. As a finishing touch, I take a cape chisel and cut a few vertical lines in each side. Drill a hole in the top center and you can make it a keyring even. There's one in the upper right hand side of this pic.

Good luck!