Junksmith

Beautiful! Copper & iron - it's like chocolate & peanut butter!

I'm not sure if it was mentioned, but I like to braze copper when attaching branches to rose stems and so forth. It's a little more difficult than soldering, but the joint is strong and I think brass looks better against copper than solder does. Brass looks nicer as it ages too.

Leave it to the Army to take something as handsome as a forge and make it so plain and sterile (out of necessity of course). That being said, it would be a right handy demo unit.;)

I like it. I keep shying away from animal heads - except fish, which are super easy. I'm not sure what's keeping me. Mostly production I guess. Maybe after the first of the year I'll try something like that when the pressure is off. Seriously though, I know a lot of people who would be tickled by something like that. Very good start.

Rest in peace Mike. You and your thoughts will be missed.

'Atta boy!

I bought a 4" at a flea market in MD for $55. Of course it had no spring or mounting strap. I probably got screwed, but they aren't as easy to find around here. My 6" post vise was a gimme - if only I'd gotten that one first!

Let's not forget the combination tool - angle grinder WITH wire wheel. It excels at accelerating broken bits of wire into your abdomen with enough force to make them stick up like porcupine quills.

baking soda works well too.

I had a very similar situation and found starting fluid (ether) to do the same. Only in a pinch though. Like you said. No ignition sources nearby.

Mostly small & medium-sized hooks - particularly the find that mounted on a wall (as opposed to say, "S" hooks or beam hooks). Keychains were another big one. Particularly ones with a rolled rose or a fish. We have lots of fishing enthusiasts here. One of my demo items was a souvenir horseshoe made with a 4.5 in length of 1/4 in square bar. They only took about 6 minutes to make. I gave a few away to kids, but a surprising number of people offered to buy them. I just charged $3 apiece. No pictures of those yet.

Thanks Frosty! One fine day I'll find (and possibly afford) a more traditional one, but I don't think I'll give that one up even then. That rounded bit on the top makes drawing & tapering a snap and easy to control - particularly with a Hofi (czech knockoff) style hammer.

That's a pretty even "S" hook for a beginner. I like the gravity hooks too. These days I always make it a point to do those little outward-facing curls on my hooks whenever I can. They look nice and keep the hook from poking through things that might be hanging on it - or the hands that put them there! Good work.

My first actual selling show was this past weekend. I had a blast demoing but tear down was a killer (after 8+ hours of forging at home I just shut off the fire and go inside). It ran Saturday & Sunday. I only made a couple of hundred bucks but I'm OK with that in this economy. What really made the show worthwhile (besides the experience) is shown in the last photo. In the middle of the 2nd day, a gentleman came up to me and asked if I was interested in a vise and gave me his address. Well, I went over there last night and picked up a 6" monster in near-perfect condition for FREE! He also threw in a broken rivet forge pan with a salvageable tuyere! He wouldn't take any money, but I did give him a piece of my work out of gratitude. I think my 4" vise will now be my "portable" travel unit. Sweeeeeet!

Beautiful! I almost like the stump it's sitting on just as much. That is some gorgeous spalting in the rings.

Yeah, it's just a RR spike. I threw it a few times and it absolutely devastated the old wooden door I was using for a target. However, the handle did begin to bend in that tapered area just under the head. If I get around to making another one with a metal handle, I won't be tapering it. It will need every bit of that 1/2" square on the handle to minimize the bending. Obviously steel isn't the best material for a handle for many reasons, but It will only straighten so many times before the inevitable break. But Ohhhhhhhhhhh the heft!

First show is 2 days away and I'm still scrambling - but I'll survive. Here is the last piece to come off the forge (and the welder) before the event. It's only 16" overall but it just emanates evil in person. I throws remarkably well too though I didn't design it that way, but I think it's more of a decoration than anything.

Well, I must say that this advice takes a load off. I have plenty of other preparations to worry about without that hassle. I'll let everybody know how it goes. Thanks to all!

I am VERY tempted to take the advice of not accepting cards and seeing how it goes this time. For reference though, who is your service?

Does anybody take credit cards at shows? I am doing my first on on Sept. 12 and have had a h*** of a time finding a short-term account that I can use for a single show. Paypal has a fairly simple one but it doesn't seem to have a way to verify whether a card is valid on the spot. I am also looking at one through my local bank, but it requires a 2 year committment where I'd be paying $20 for every month that I don't use it.:mad: I know that accepting cards can boost your business - particularly on high-dollar items - not that I have that many - but I'm starting to wonder if it's worth it this time around or if I should wait until this show is over and see how it goes first.:confused: If anyone has any experience with a situation like this, some input would be much-appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Great ideas guys! I'm going to Lowes tonight to get some pvc pipe & caps. My space is limited so I'm envisioning a setup like rlarkin's with a mesh basket that can be lifted out to retrieve smaller pieces. This will handle most of what I do. Gaylans idea will work well when I'm demoing at the show next month. I also use muratic acid on rare occasion but the fumes can be a killer. This will be a lot safer. Thank you all!

Morning all! Generally, when I finish a piece that is not going to be painted, I give it a run over a wire wheel to knock the worst of the scale off of it and give it a little shine before I give it an oil finish of some sort. I know that the motorized wire brush wheel is inherently dangerous. I don't mind using it for simple shapes, but more complex ones - particularly ones with hooks - can get caught, flipped and shot out in the blink of an eye. Sure, I always wear eye protection - but that doesn't help when it smashes a finger as it did last night:o Now the question. I have heard people mention pickling before to remove scale. I have a show coming up in September and so there is no time to build a tumbler. Is there a mix that will work relatively fast (a few days)? It doesn't have to do a perfect job. I've heard of using vinegar. Won't that go rancid in pretty short order? Any thoughts appreciated. In the meantime I'll be nursing this finger so it doesn't interfere with production this weekend. Thanks.

Evil... EVIL!!!! I like it.

Woah! I was in Bethlehem in the Lehigh valley a few weeks ago. I was at some riverside "court" (I think it was built on the old Bethlehem Steel grounds) and as I entered I passed what appeared to be a blacksmith shop right next door! Was that you? There were several gas forges burning, but I was on my way to a restaurant there for my Brother's wedding rehearsal dinner and I couldn't stop. It was a tough call, but since I was my Brother's best man I opted to go to the dinner. Next time I go to visit him, I WILL find the place again.

I'm doing a demo next month where there's no electricity so I was "forced" to dig up a Champion 400 Crank Blower:D When I found out about the demo I called an old friend who had one sitting around and he let me have it for $40! Now I don't have to use electricity to belch coal smoke into the atmosphere! I am officially "green"!