GD85

I hang my angle grinders, die grinder, hand drill, broom, and dust pan on my brick wall from brackets made of used horseshoes welded together. They look and work nice for a 2 minute job each.

I have also made several wine racks, a door knocker, a flower sculpture, a steak/pigtail flipper, short bbq forks etc. from these. It is kind of gross when you think where the shoe has been, but you just have to tell yourself that the heat from the forge probably killed anything bad! The wine racks which I have given away and sold are painted. The steak flipper and forks I treated with baked/burnt on vegetable oil and have kept for personal use, I have yet to get sick.

Just some ideas,

Take care,

-Grant

nakedanvil,

It would be hypocritical of me to attack your posting. While I still believe your initial posting was arrogant, I do the same thing as you (with a smaller budget).

For example, I recently bought a really nice used engine driven arc welder. I have had no training on arc welding but am learning thanks to youtube, weldingweb.com's forum, and trial/error. A few months ago, I bought a small wirefeed MIG welder, and plasma cutter shortly after. Again, had never even seen someone weld/cut in person before. I have a nice old used PW, my first "real" anvil. I wouldn't even begin to call myself a real blacksmith. While I can and have made many nice things with it, you could argue that I do not know how to use it yet (to it's full potential at least).

I apologize for attacking your post. After re-reading it, I realized I do the same things. The internet is a free place where anyone can say whatever they feel and I had no right being the forum police when I have not even been a member or an aspiring smith for very long. Please accept my apology and keep on doing what you do, it obviously works.

Have a good day Sir,

-Grant

That is pretty good Connor!

So, from my understanding/googling that is a candlestick. Why is it tapered at the end? Is it to wedge into the sides of a tunnel?

Welcome

That's great for you.

Tool fever + huge budget = success?

I am not jealous by any means. If you have $100k to blow on machines/tools that you do not know how to use then congratulations. You probably earned those funds in some way and you have the right to spend them as you wish. I do not understand the intention of this post. Do you feel accomplished? Do you wish to "educate" IFI members?

I love this craft very much. Am pretty new (been forging for only five months when the temperature hasn't been 100+ degrees) but what draws me most to it is creating something useful or good looking from "nothing". I have a decent shop/smithy. When my immovable situation changes 26 September 2010, I will be attending school in Austin to fine tune this craft as well as welding/fabrication and CAD.

When I see people like you bragging on the internet It makes me sad. For one, unless anyone here personally knows you and can vouch for your success, it means nothing.
Even if there is someone that can back you up, it is sad. Usually, the "rich" do not need to brag on internet forums and seldom have the time for it.

Feel free to PM.

-Grant

Good evening/Morning.

Does anyone else think "cash for clunkers" is a bad idea?

Am I crazy for thinking the energy expended on building the "clunker" would all go to waste if it were driven to the scrapyard on a flatbed, broken down, and eventually melted down for scrap worth a few cents/lb?

How long does it take for a negligible increase in gas/diesel mileage to be worth it to the average consumer or the environment?

I daily drive a "super clunker" (so ancient, it does not even meet the definition of this economic stimulus). It is over 52 years old. It runs, stops, and drives fine. It has turn signals.

With the exception of a recent event where it was stolen and tampered with, it has given me no unexpected problems.

To clarify, this post is meant to remind others that while the labor and toil of the past is not obvious, it should be accounted for.



Please inform me of your opinion. I may be completely off.

Thank you,

-Grant

Good evening,

Just tried very unsuccessfully to melt down the leftover scraps of copper I have as well as a few lengths of wire. Basically, what I did was cut up the copper into short strips and placed into an old iron ladle. I made a coke/coal fire and put the ladle with copper over the center, banking coke and coal around the edges so the flames would go up the sides of the ladle. I then covered my forge (made of a 22" plow disc) with a slightly larger disc. I have 2 passes cut through the forge to insert long stock so the fire had plenty of breathing room. any how, I got small bit to melt, but this was after 45 mins of cranking like a madman on the blower and constantly pushing new coal to the sides and under the ladle. The ladle was turning bright yellow when I decided to stop for fear of melting it. I thought copper melted roughly 2000 degrees?

Is there a better way to do this or something I am missing? I was hoping to melt the scraps into copper bars so I could try my hand at cold forging some jewelry...


Thank you,

-Grant

I think he is talking about ACC.

If so, see you there! I will be enrolling Fall 2010 when I seperate from the military. I share the same excitment you do. It will be great to learn the right way to do things the first time and hopefully break bad habits even though and error may have its merits. Looking forward to all day shop time as opposed to the hour here and there I get now.

Take care,

-Grant

An entire post and beam shop with tools including 243# Peter Wright anvil for $3k...

Blacksmith shop tools, contents and building

Wish I still lived in New England. I'd be there in a heartbeat with a trailer..

Have a nice weekend,

-Grant

Thank you all for the advice.

I probably should have been more clear in the original posting, and I apologize if I wasted anybodys time. The real issue I have been having is not to much polishing (so that they shine) but removing the high spots/final shaping. Probably due to my inexperience I am having a hard time with both machine and hand tools (beltsander, files, angle grinder etc w/ flap disc) and tend to take too much off and/or leave high spots.

I can get these tools close, and then hit with a wire wheel but there still is usually a line left. As soon as I try to even it out with the belt sander or file I lose it until I have sanded/filed too much and the tool is smaller than intended.

The biggest problem I have had is trying to create a half sphere that is smooth and does not have ridges.

After typing all this, it really sounds like I need to work on file control. Filing is pretty new to me, but it it slow enough of a process so that there shouldn't be an excuse for taking too much off. I will look into the 3m wheels, and depending on the price may or may not give them a try. The wire wheels (on angle grinder) seems to work pretty well for smoothing without removing too much metal and are reasonably cheap at the flea market here.

Thank you again,

-Grant

Good morning,

One quick question for the experts here... what's the best process to polishing forged repousse/chasing punches?

I made a set recently. Am mostly happy with the way they have turned out, but am missing something because no matter what I have tried I cannot get them perfectly rounded. They work alright, I think (just started messing with copper) but I still am leaving a few unwanted marks on the work.

I made them by first forging the rough shapes. Second step is wire brushed to see clearly what needs to be filed or sanded. Third step is using the belt sander or file to round off edges. Then aggressive wirebrushing to smooth whats left over.

I am thinking its just experience and patience that I am lacking? Does anyone have any process improvement advice? Is there a magic chasing tool polishing widget that I don't know about? Ok... off to the scrapyard.

Thank you,

-Grant

nice stuff there good work on it all so is that a m38a1 or a look alike

It is a 1956 CJ5.

Nice chevrons branding iron too!

Thank you Sir.

That project caused me more stress than any other yet. It was also my first branding iron.

It is very hard to represent the idea of "Thank you Sir, for over twenty years worth of much better than "plain" Honorable Military Service, to the point of rising to the highest possible pay grade, and being in charge of leading all enlisted below you, as well as being the example to which they follow".

I put many, many hours into that brand. Looking back, there were a few steps that could have gone a bit quicker (mostly finishing) but it was worth it. It is hard to put a price on a commission like that one, especially when you think of how many YEARS the recipient spent (and his family) busting butt for less than glamorous pay.

-Grant

Turtle runs $65-$95.

Seems high, however finding the head takes quite a bit of time... usually at MINIMUM an hour and a half of searching which, to me counts the same as shop time.

The way I see it is, time is time.

As I said before, they were found in a pile of parts at my local scrap yard that appeared to come from a machine shop. In it, there is everything from jacked up truck grill gaurds and bumpers, to massive 1" plate steel sheet with various shapes cut out, to the occasional rattle snake sunning itself (like... the scary reptile that can kill you).

Whenever I get a request to build one, or I just feel like making one, I have to play a junkyard version of Jenga to find a piece that is to reasonable scale of a typical differential cover. There are at least a dozen there, out in the open, ripe for the picking (from me digging) that are just way to big. Not even an artistic license could justify one of these suckers welded to a typical differential cover... it would just look plain goofy. Anyway, the reason the price is where it is because of the effort and time expended to find a similar piece and the risk involved. Sure, there are other options to make a turtle's head, one including forging. With the exception of pounding out a shape, I have yet to find a piece of scrap for an alternative as good looking as the "lathe dog".The beauty (to me, and clients) of the piece is that it makes use of scrap "junk" and welds only to create a whimsical representation.

In conclusion, that was a long winded (as usual) explanation. It was originally intended to be private but I decided to make it public so it would be open for critique as well.

I would like some good, honest opinions on my business practice. It is an age old question of "how much do I charge?" which plagues me every time I get a commission.

Is it ethical to charge the same amount for scrounging time as you would forging/shop time? I go back and forth because yes, anyone can pick through and sort a pile of scrap metal to find what they are looking for. However, if the same person could also be forging some beautiful object, or electric welding, grinding, wire brushing etc then he/she needs to be compensated for that time, Regardless of what process or step it is spent doing.

Please enlighten me to your opinions. Again, good bad,ugly etc.

Thank you,

-Grant

Thanks for the comments.

I think the heads on the turtles may be lathe parts. I found them in a pile at the scrapyard that had other machine shop looking parts. I just assumed they were some kind of broken clamps.

Also, those are rail tie downs. I have found many uses for them.

Take care,

Good morning,

Managed to post a few pictures of me, my work, and my shop. Looking now there are not too many examples of forged work. I get the camera back Sunday so I will try to gather everything I have at my house that hasn't been given away or sold and take some more photos. Most of these are found junk art type things, but I only had a few minutes the other day at lunch with the camera to snap a few shots. Note that the house is different in a couple shots, this is because we just recently moved to a renovated unit a few streets over.

BIG thanks to whoever helped me out and deleted the license plate on the Jeep for me! I had a minor panic attack last night after I noticed I forgot to delete it myself, looked up and down IFI for how to delete the photo so I could submit an edited one.

Anyways, here we go...

What led me to blacksmithing and all sorts of metal work:

First branding iron, and commission:

My outdoor, super basic smithy:

Turtle#2 . . . people seem to like these

Wife has a "brown" thumb, but she can't kill these...sold a bunch like these too.

These guys gaurd my shop from thieves while I am away. Vicious, vicious beasts:

That's all for until Sunday. I'll get some more forged work up here. Hope you enjoyed taking a look at my primitive setup. I welcome any comments, good bad, ugly. Had to delete a few, check my gallery. There are a few more pictures there.

Thanks,

-Grant

Thanks again for the invites, will certainly visit some time.

I will be posting some pictures tonight or tomorrow. Unfortunately I do not have time this lunch break to post them but i did manage to get a few shots. We found our USB cord for the camara (which will be flying with my wife to Ohio tonight for a few days but i did manage to snap some of my shop and a very small amount of my work.

Good morning.

I posted some pics of my work here:
http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/pics-my-work-smithy-alarm-sytem-etc-12786/

Also, there are a few more in my gallery:
GD85 Gallery - Blacksmith Photo Gallery

More to be added soon as the camara is back.

Take care, I'm off to the scrapyard! Then back to work on an outdoor fireset for my parents.

-Grant

All,

Thank you for the replies.

The blacksmith classes fall under the welding program apparently. I am very much interested in taking those (5 hours at a time devoted to forging?!?!?! SWEET!). I should have mentioned in the original post that, while no expert (or even seasoned amateur) I do have some experience in forging, fabrication, MIG welding, copper repousse etc from the last six months.

All learned trial and error type skills coupled with being fortunate enough to view IFI, anvilfire, and a few books. I wouldn't trust anyones life on my electric welds, or sleep well at night charging what skilled smiths deserve to on my commissioned blacksmith work (mostly custom branding irons) but the heart and desire to improve burns deeply within.

It reassures me knowing that the University of TX accepts their courses as transfers even though I do not plan on working towards an academic degree. It also speaks volumes knowing that Mr.Bastas has a good reputation on this board, as on the internet it is much easier to anonymously bash a person than to praise.

I look forward to the next chapter in my life very much.

Blacksmithing, welding, and metalworking have brought so much peace, sanity, and a sense of accomplishment to my present life. I cannot imagine how much better things will be when the bread-winning hours are devoted to smartly and creatively applying these skills.

-Grant

Brief background...currently, active-duty military looking to separate in 15 months (not that I'm counting)...

Found a strong love in metalworking by accident by building "ugly drum smokers" out of new 55 gallon drums, plumbing supplies, and Weber Grill replacement parts in an attempt to recreate the awesome smoked brisket that exhists in this area.

The illness progressed from there.

Now, i am looking at schools. The post 9/11 GI Bill is tempting. For now, what I am looking at is learning how to do structural and/or pipe welding to pay the bills (and get certified) but also gain some experience in art metal.

Austin Community College, located less than four hours away from where I am currently stationed appears to offer the best of both worlds. I enjoy reading their course descriptions, but it seems like one of those "too good to be true" deals. Has anyone here actually attended their welding program?

If so, do you have any regrets, advise etc?

Please advise.

Thank you,

-Grant

They are 15" long and were forged into a sort of rounded hexagon shape near the open ends.

Thanks for the input everyone however upon closer review they don't match the pics i linked in the original post.

Wife is out of town with the digital camera which is useless anyways as she lost the USB cable for it so I will post a crude MSpaint masterpiece...


One end of the whatsit tool has a bone shape to it the end that opens. On the other arm it has a right angle bend at the end that lines up and fits almost perfectly into the center of the bone shaped arm. The two ends fit very well together and have little play to them.


Unfinished tongs... why not? Couldn't someone have forged the reins and jaws separately?

Not sure exactly what kind of steel they are from sight and don't want to grind them to find out.

Thanks,

-Grant

Good morning,

Can anyone enlighten me as to what this guy is used for?

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_GgUUcQHYZkY/ShhfvTBUGeI/AAAAAAAAD48/8MZnzFlxm3c/s576/IMG_7653.JPG

I am thinking unfinished tongs or some kind of caliper. This is another thing I managed to scrounge (this one basically free, from the scrapyard at $0.20/lb) and found a similar one on the internet/ebay.

Thanks,

-Grant

Glenn,

I raised the question to IFI (and myself) of modifying to suit MY needs, not because I "read it on the internet". It is something I would have considered if I had been living in a cave with no ISP and had never discovered the internet.

The way I see it is, the anvil isn't too bad BUT if I wanted to make an edge surface/surfaces where my work wouldn't get dented/dings imprinted on it. I will go with your suggestion and make hardy tools. It was something I considered before however it makes me nervous to be repeatedely bending heavier stock using a hardy tool (paranoid I will break the heel off the anvil).

It makes sense to me to fix an area that has more mass behind with a gently radiused edge(or at least cleaned surface that won't make ugly marks on the work). But you are right, I should learn to use the anvil for what it is first. I have only been smithing for 3 months, no where near accomplished but learning fairly quick how to make results acceptable to me in the relatively simple projects I have taken on (steak flippers, belt buckles, hooks, knives, numerous branding irons, and misc decorative sculptures).

-Grant

Good morning,

world anyone care to make a blueprint or post how they make a fire-heated branding iron from start to finish using traditional methods in most of the process?

I ask because I realized yesterday that if I were to do it the traditional ways (aka no mig welder or angle grinder) what already takes me sometimes up to 22 hours (depending on design intricacies and size of brand face) would take weeks on end.

Please excuse me for being new but I just don't see how you could forge-weld
the face pattern like this very easily .

My very first commission was to make a large brand with this as the pattern:

I wanted to make it perfect and seamless and untouched by a modern welder, like one perfect life-sized version of that chevron carved out of metal. What I came up with came out awesome but still I had to resort to welding and the angle grinder for joining the parts.

I live in a cattle dominated state and have seen many authentic antique branding irons used on ranches around here. Some are shoddy looking but functional, others are just beautiful and you can tell that some smith really put his heart into it.

Can someone describe from start to finish how they would make a brand using traditional methods only?

Thank you,

-Grant

Thanks all.

Will try making the saddle first and see how that goes. As a few suggested, I really just wanted to take off the high points in the chips so the edge wouldn't mar the work.

Glad to hear I didn't overpay, way starting to feel like the price was a little steep for something that is only 138# and that maybe I settled due to difficulty finding an affordable decent anvil here.

Thanks again,

-Grant

Good evening,

Bought a 138# Peter Wright anvil (my first "real" one!" this week, should be here Monday but I am having a huge struggle deciding whether or not I should take the angle grinder to the edges or not. I am pretty good at radiusing mild steel but haven't really touched anything else. A local machine shop said they wouldn't touch it.

I pretty much know what you all are going to say but please take a look at the pics and let me know what you think...



Also wondering if I overpaid. I have been looking for months, asking every shop, auto repair,machine, the local farrier who tried to sell me a swaybacked 60# vulcan with an obvious stick weld job on the horn for $150) junk store, tool store, farm/feed store, ranchers themselves with cavernous barns, craigslist, ebay, welding shop, fab places, the flea market, the scrap yard etc.
I live in a border town with primarily Spanish speakers so I think the language barrier made it more difficult than it needed to be, even though I learned the spanish word for anvil. Will probably even keep looking for servicable anvils as I am becoming just as addicted to old tools that I can use as I am to blacksmithing and other forms of metalwork.

Got this one for $325. Maybe a little more than what it should have fetched but it's done. I am looking forward to using it, as I'm sure it will kick the snot out of the RR anvil I have been using for the last couple of months. Going to pick out a nice stump for it this Saturday at a local tree farm then put her back to work!


Thanks,

-Grant