evfreek

I found an ancient piece of rusty cable. It took several rounds of heating, fluxing and welding before I could consolidate it into a solid mass. The borax can hold only so much rust. Eventually, I had a 3/8" rod out of 1+" cable. A nice little piece of steel, but not worth the effort. I think it was an antique. There hadn't been logging in the area for decades.

Naah. I think that the car will just not stay running. My previous car was a Malibu, and after a while, it would all of a sudden cut out and a light on the dash would flash "help, I'm being stolen." I called the dealer, and they accused me of being a thief. I surfed the web, and it appears that there is a sensor in the keyswitch that detects off axis forces. It interprets these as prying. There was a leaf, a happy face, and a forge welded heart on my keychain, all made with hammer and anvil. After I removed them, there were no further "stolen" problems. I just made a set of hermaphrodite calipers for setting the distance between the bit and the prod. This should help improve the accuracy of the tumbler depths. The offset is set with a big bolt. Once I tighten this up a bit, it should stay fixed. I am now shopping for a better xy cross slide. The general consensus is that the import tables work better but still not all that well. The good brands like Troyke are kind of expensive. Note that like the drill press, a cross slide table is not an expense that is just associated with making one key. It will certainly useful for other things.

Hi Jerome. That is correct. There is a tiny RF transceiver in the handle of the key. If you have both of the factory issued keys, you can program a third that may be bought from Ebay. If you only have one, the car's computer will consider you a thief, and direct you to the factory. So, once I can cut a decent test key, which will still open the driver's side door and the trunk (and turn on the radio :)), it will be time to cut the computer key. Then it can be programmed. A failure, such as my recent one, will mangle a piece of cheap aluminum instead of the real computer key, which costs something. Clever, huh? I should apply the same trick to collars, since the complex ones never seem to get cut to the correct length with the half or so thickness for each corner or 3 for a circle. Thomas, I think that you misunderstand something. I do not intend to cut the key with hand tools. I already have a high speed spindle, which has proven to be adequately rigid and does not have the risks of a taper falling out. The xy vise seems to be the wrong choice, and, at least according to forum posts, the xy tables, like the phase II are more appropriate. As for wasting time, well, who is to say that I am wasting time. Once upon a time, I was a pretty decent cyclist. After getting fed up with the prices of Park tools, I thought I might make a few in my garage. Cyclist buddies told me that I am wasting my time. I could clean pools and spend more time in the saddle. I didn't listen to them. Eventually, I acquired a forge and anvil. Sure enough, it started eating into my cycling time. After a while, I couldn't keep up with the boys and I stopped riding with them. Didn't have so much time to ride, anyway. This year, I sold my two good bikes, since I don't ride them anymore. They still fetched good prices. Guess what I spent the money on. I still have one sad bike. It is heavy, solid and reliable, and I am not always changing parts, so it doesn't require me to forge tools.

I finished the machine, and tried to cut the first blank. It failed. There were several reasons that it did not work. One of the most serious ones is that, because of a craigslist purchase, I changed direction. There was a drill press with an xy vise that came with it. Since I did not have a drill press, this seemed like a good purchase. The high speed spindle was put in a clamp around the column, and the xy vise was used to make the cut. The x leadscrew was unbolted, so that the vise slid freely in x, and the y feed was used to cut the key from the bow to the tip. The cutting went fine, but was inaccurate. First, there was too much slop in the xy vise dovetails. For this kind of job, an xy table is more appropriate, and only about twice the price. Even tightening the gib screws all the way did not help much. There was too much slop or the table would not move. Another problem was that the key vise tilted in the xy vise. This caused the bit to gouge deeply. The final problem is that the table adjustment was used to adjust z. This does not work at all, since the rack and pinion drive is not meant to use as a z feed. The gearing mechanism causes the table to wave in xy like a flag. The key ended up being cut in only a vague resemblence to the master. It was terrible. Much of this information could have been found with a web search, especially the problem with using an xy vise as an xy table. One of my fellow smiths told me that he went through the same bad experience with a drill press and xy vise he bought at a blacksmith conference tailgate. He said it was only useful for drilling, and both the gibs had to be locked. The odd thing was that this important piece of information was not easy to find, only appearing in various forum posts. Maybe somebody trying the same thing will happen upon this post, and save a lot of time. There were so many problems that it looks like it will take a while. The fellow smith suggested that I take it to techshop and do it on the CNC mill there. I told him that I did not have g-codes or even a soft copy of the contour, and they don't have a 3-D scanner available. So, it isn't a one day endeavor. It really needs that key vise and tracing prod. By the way, the dealer has not called me back with a price. He told me that none of the dealers in this area has a machine since they cost $14000, and there is not enough business. It will have to be mailed somewhere for $35 postage, but the dealer said that he did not know the labor cost yet. I am still waiting.

Really nice job on the weather vane! I like it. I am making one myself. It looks a lot less refined than yours, but it seems that everybody's happy with it.

Hi. I took a break from the usual projects and tried hand sharpening some drill bits. I still remember the metal shop class in which this subject was taught. The instructor gave us a 3/8" drill bit and asked us to follow the contour and grind it. It was easier to do this than sharpen a bad bit. Then, he showed us how to tell if it was good or not (equal edges, cuts, correct sized hole, etc). Then, he goofed up the ends and asked us to fix it. Finally, after the lesson, he told us all that we were lousy, and we should all go to an estate sale and buy some junk drills and fix them ourselves. Only then would we learn. Well, years later I did this. Seems that youth and its rebelliousness keeps us from getting the true message and improving ourselves. The instructor meant exactly what he said. The youthful and incorrect interpretation is, "hey, he told me I suck and now he wants me to do something dumb." That's not what he said. So, there was a bottle of old drills at an estate sale, and I asked the professional seller what he wanted for them. He said $10. I told him that this was kind of steep, but he said that he normally sells drill bits 3 for a dollar. I replied that many of the bits were broken. He said that there were enough good bits to be worth the money. I gave him the ten. A lot of the instructions on the Internet are confusing. Most of them are correct. Anyway, the important points are get the point angle correct (most important), cut enough relief (second most), and keep the cutting edges equal (third most important). One of the most important tips is to use a drill gauge. These are cheap, and they are easy to make if you are broke, especially after buying tools at an estate sale. To test the drills, I drilled mild steel without lube. I used a hand crank drill. Using a cordless drill or even worse a drill press misleads you since you end up forcing a dull bit. Just a tiny punch mark. Any wandering, and the drill is not good. Look for equal curls of swarf, and easy quick cutting. Sharpening 3/8 is easy. 3/16 to 1/4 is harder, and you may have to go back to the drill gauge and ask yourself some questions. Less than 1/8 is almost impossible, but I figured out a trick. The main problem is that you cannot see. The most important factor with tiny drills is the starting position. If you goof this up, you will mangle one cutting edge. Here is the trick. Just concentrate on getting the point angle. Then, grind a 4 facet relief with a hand stone. Believe me, it will take less time than going back and forth to the grinder. Another thing I want to try is a loupe. People say throw away any dull bits less than 1/8. There may be some sense to that recommendation.

Uh oh. I am preparing an outdoor piece, and I picked up a piece of scrap sheet at the yard. It was cheap :) Later on, I noticed that it was marked Corten. Maybe that's why I had some trouble shearing it. Anyway, this part should not be painted? Good thing it was marked. As I was working on it, some of my sweat got on it and stained it pretty heavily. Odd. I plan to paint the rest in high quality red oxide primer and black. This has worked well in the past for my outdoor ornamental/architectural work.

I think you are confusing polyethylene glycol quenchant with ethylene glycol antifreeze. These are very different chemicals. The preferred molecular weight of polyethylene glycol for metal quenching is about 10000l The molecular weight of ethylene glycol in antifreeze is 62.07. Polyamory sounds like amory, but they are also very different :) Also, transforming the latter into the former is difficult. Synthesis of the polymer is performed with ethylene oxide, which is very different stuff. This reaction is not for the faint of heart. It is recommended to start with simpler non-toxic polymers that are easier to acquire. It might be worth experimenting with some easily prepared food based polymers. I have not heard anything about cornstarch mixtures, but they seem to have interesting properties. I have heard that psyllium seed extract can succesfully used as the foundation of a polymer quenchant. Carrying out polymer syntheses in the blacksmith shop is not for the inexperienced, especially reactions that are subject to runaway polymerization.

Don't be surprised if the TPAAAT does not work immediately. It did not work for me, even after many years. I do have a whole bunch of funny stories. One old guy wondered why I was so interested in anvils and not blacksmithing cuties. Today, I forged in a shop that I am a resident in, even though I don't own the anvil. I guess that is good enough. Yesterday, I used my fabricated anvil. I guess that is good enough. After many years, I got a real anvil, but not by TPAAAT. I never use it anyway. In the 4 shops I work in, there is an anvil, even though it is not mine. I guess that is good enough. I will not pay the inflated price for the anvils on Craigslist.

On my rail anvil, I used that hi alloy repair rod. It worked just fine, but some welders think it's bad. Now, I use 7018ac or 9018 if it is alloy steel. Good preheat and clean each pass. Peen deposit at over 40 points carbon. The only time I had a mishap was welding leaf spring (mystery) with no preheat. No problems forge welding it as a bit. Therefore , some alloys may benefit from post heat.

Remember, you need to multiply .9% by the alloy number (2.9%). This is a very tiny amount of carbon. This steel will not harden as you hope. I have tried spark testing several large saw blades with integral (not replaceable teeth). They have tested as high carbon. Here, the spark test is an excellent sanity check. From the observation that the steels did harden, I would expect the carbon to be on the order of .7%. Spark testing in this range is accurate to .1%. Way better than the gun. Where's ciladog when you need him.

Looks good, Daniel. How did you drill that huge hole? I tried something like that and there was too much chatter in my poor drill press.

Remember that the force required for a specific operation also depends (heavily) on the strain rate. http://www.esm.vt.edu/%7Erbatra/pdfpapers/confproceeding1994%28533-537%29.pdf

I like the idea of getting wedges at garage sales. These are the tools used to split logs. You can forge a shank on the end, but it is a little challenging single handed. Also a little dangerous. Maybe just thin it down so it fits in a vise, and make do until you can make a hot cut the traditional way. This is what I did. Technicus Joe has a great video. Brian, Dave Custer and others also have great videos. It took me a while though, several tries over nearly a year.

Hi. Thanks for the pics. Does the silicone go around the rocket entrance? It's not clear from this.

This looks like an infinitely adjustable 120V MIG welder, similar to a Lincoln SP-100. The voltage adjustment comes from an SCR pair triggered by the control board. The PC control board also provides for adjusting the motor speed. If you have some knowledge of electronics, you can fix this unit. It is not as difficult as an inverter welder, but more difficult than a battery charger. Also, if you cannot fix it, you may be able to salvage some interesting parts. If the power supply is good, you have a variable voltage, high current supply, which can be used for electrolytic derusting and various mischief. If the wire feed is good, you can use this as a feeder for a power supply. There are a lot of Millermatic 35 welders with bad guns or drive motors floating around. This could be cobbled together as a feeder if its power stage is out. All the power stage is is a phase control for triggering the SCR's. Diagnosing it is fairly straightforward with a basic SCR manual available from the web. What is the goofing up?

Hi Daniel. I really enjoyed the video. Thanks for posting it. This really shows the process well.

Hi John B. Thank you for posting the pictures of your work and the descriptions along with them. I like the dolphin weather vane in the last picture. Mine will be similar to that, but have a traditional rooster. The suggestion to make the bearing simple is very helpful. The weather vane will be mounted on a stout 20 ft high pole, so it will have to have some kind of spread foot structure to fasten it to the top of the pole. I have submitted the first set of rough drawings to the board committee which is commissioning it. They are very involved in the design. The FABA designs look satisfactory, but they are kind of simplistic, though better than the hobby/craft designs for home weather vanes. I think it is possible to incorporate more style, especially in the stationary part.

Hi. I would like to make a weathervane. There are some instructions at FABA, but they involve a lot of arc welding. There are two parts where an arc welder seems pretty useful. The first is the pivot from the arrow. I can see how this can be done with a tenon and collared scrolls, and indeed have seen some historical examples. The scrolls look nice, as long as there are not too many of them. The other part looks a little tricky. The post is usually arc welded to a large piece of angle which sits on the angle made by the roof. The direction indicators are arc welded to a large nut, which is drilled and tapped to index on the frame with a set screw. I don't have a big problem with arc welding, but does anybody know any tried and true methods to put this together with hammer and anvil? I could always cobble something together, but this may end up shaky and require some iteration to make it solid. Searches on blacksmith made weathervanes do not yield much useful information on the bottom attachment (although they are helpful for the top).

When I was just beginning, I received a lesson in drilling at our blacksmith conference's workshop. We were drilling holes in a spatula handle that we had just forged. The drill just spun. It was in a drill press, and someone before me had just successfully drilled a hole. The instructor asked me if I had quenched my piece. I said yes, but mild steel doesn't harden. He replied, either it does, or that isn't mild steel. He said this could be a teachable moment, and asked me to heat the bar to critical and just let it cool in the air. This worked just fine. I still have the spatula. Then, he gave a few explanations that I won't bore everyone with here. As for the leaf spring, I noticed that even cooling in ashes can be too fast. This stuff can air harden. Someone on this forum or another suggested a subcritical anneal. Heat to below critical, for example, dull red. Then allow to air cool. This will leave the somewhat red hard steel about RC 20-30 or so, and you can just drill it with a decent drill. Some steels work harden. I have had trouble even with mild steel (really, hot rolled A36, which is probably not mild steel). Drill these with lube before they work harden. If you are broke, use Crisco. If you are really broke, use fat skimmed from a stew. A little goes a long way. Edible oils really outperform used motor oil, so much it is not worth trying the motor oil. If you already work hardened the piece, there are tricks that you can search for on this forum, so I won't bore everyone here.

I found a guy who said he maybe could cut a key for me, but he said that I would have to provide him a blank. He does Focus 2012 keys, but not 2013. It turns out that they are significantly different. Anyway, the manager was not around, so he asked me for my number and said they would call back. As for the machining project, there has been some project. The key vise is almost done. It consists of a sled made out of flat bar. This will slide on the x-table against a guide for the y travel required to cut to the depths. It has three jaw plates on it, or more correctly, three rectangular spacers. The key and blank are retained side by side with a clamp similar to a miniature milling table clamp. The part that is turning out to be challenging is facing off the two aligning parallels which will determine the bow to bit precision of the depths. It is difficult to file a straight square edge. I know, I know, take it to a guy with a mill to make a facing cut on the critical pieces (there are not many), but it seems that one should be able to do this with a file and vice. I have contacted a friend with a mill, but the last time I came over with some work, things did not go well. Would marking it with dye help?

Too little mass under the hammer, and in the wrong place. Are you broke? Steel at a scrapyard which sells to the public would do a better job. Or, if you have two plates, you could stack them base to base and turn sideways, welding around the seam.

In order to use the spark test to differentiate between simple carbon steel and cast iron, see ChuckE2009 on Youtube. This channel is pretty well known for down home welding advice. Once you see him do the spark test, you will realize that you have to be almost blind to not see the difference.

Hi. Thanks for the suggestions. There is an ALOA certified locksmith in my town (only one, it seems that all the rest are mainly mobile emergency opening services that operate off cellphones). He told me not to go to a dealer, else I would have to pay a lot of money, like $400. The key blanks are only $150, but the cutting and programming are expensive. So, it was a little discouraging to hear that it would be kind of tough to do with standard blacksmithing tools. I did a little web search and found a lot of manufacturers of sidewinder key duplicating machines, but not much information on them. There were some interesting general pieces of knowledge on the web which were highly encouraging. Here is what I found: 1) These keys are typically cut with a 3/32" carbide endmill with a proprietary key vise and a prod to trace out the target key contour. 2) If an enterprising blacksmith wants to get into milling, there is something even more important that speeds and feeds. That is, what is the limit of the resources. The limiting factor is not speeds and feeds; it is chatter due to the lack of rigidity in the machining fixture. Using a milling machine is very scary to me, even though I took a high school shop course. The reason is that the vertical mills found in typical high school shops are big, heavy and expensive. Searching around the Internet, there was very little information on the chatter limit. There were some Youtube videos of people doing aluminum CNC with a 1/4" bit at 20000 RPM with DOC 0.030" and 30 IPM. For my use, it would be OK to do 1 IPM, but with the same or slightly larger depth of cut. To get a quick data point, I rigged up a Dremel drill press running full speed with locked quil driving a 3/32" carbide end-mill. I ran this into aluminum at 0.039" depth of cut at 1 IPM. The required DOC is 0.042". I got a slight amount of chatter hand feeding the piece, but came up with a clean slot with no tool breakage (wearing full PPE). This is very doable! The weak point of the Dremel drill press is the 0.50" 1" dia steel tubing post and the floppy attachment of the spindle. The next step is to use a larger 1/4" rotary cutter with a 1/8" collet mounted on a beefier column. Combining this with a purpose built X table with dovetails and brass gibs should really help the rigidity. I would really like to forge the dovetails, but have heard that this is tricky.

None of the locksmiths in my town can cut that kind of key. I figured that I could make some kind of machine or just wait until I go down to LA.