Ted Ewert

Here's some food for thought... This is the small collection I've built over the last 8 months or so (after I got my big anvil). Yours will soon look similar.

That's a nice clamp setup you have there Jim. I was aware of that method of anchoring the clamp, but my anvil is pretty thick below the hardie so I tried something different. The way you did it is probably better in most cases, since it's quicker to set up. I have a machinist vice which I want to be able to clamp to my anvil. That will be my next project. CGL, improvising and making custom jigs and tooling is half the fun of this sport!

Thanks Buzz, It only took me a couple of hours to build. I had a threaded hole in my previous anvil and used the clamp there and it worked great. I've been missing it so I built this one. You could use the same concept in the pritchel hole using a smaller pipe fitted to the hole. I was going to do that but didn't have any tubing which would fit.

I have a perfectly adequate hold fast, but sometimes I need a little better grip on the work. I'm sure other guys have come up with different designs (and maybe this one too), but I started thinking about it on a walk and decided to built it. I used an old pipe clamp which threads on the end of a pipe as the clamp. I welded it to a piece of 1" flat bar with a 1/2" hole in it. I then welded that to two pieces of 1/4" x 1" bar which extend down into the hardie. Before I welded them, I tapered the inside. I then made a wedge out of a 1/2" coupler by tapering the two opposite sides. The wedge is pulled by up a threaded rod which extends to the end of the pipe. Here how it mounts: The thickness of the junction doesn't allow the clamp to extend all the way down, so I made and extension. I used a couple of pieces 3/4" square bar and beveled two edges to hold round stock. The clamp can rotate to whatever angle is desired, and there is a bit of slop in the bottom piece for odd shaped pieces. When cinched down, no amount of clamp pressure will pull the unit out of the hardie. Ted

You just cut the leaves out, grind the shape and use a cold chisel to make the veins. I then beveled (sort of sharpened) the edges, held it tight in the vise, and used a knife and a small hammer to cut out the serrations. It's a little time consuming to do a lot of leaves, but it turns out pretty good for this type. The leaves I did on the other projects were done hot.

Thanks Chris! A lot of torch work on the twisty ones. They sort of take on a life of their own once I get started. The rose leafs turned out to be stainless, although a lower grade since they are magnetic. All the work on those was done cold and the material didn't seem particularly tough.

I've been hung up on hooks and hangers lately. I made this plant hanger for a friend: The leaves are a little too big. Flowers would have been a better choice at the end of the stems. Here's a little rose hook I made: Then I expanded on the concept a bit... This is made from a piece of tropical hardwood I salvaged from my neighbors trash. I sanded it a bit and finished it with linseed oil. I though it might make a good plant shelf. Cheers, Ted

As Cannon Cocker mentioned, Black Bear Forge is an excellent channel for beginners. You can find everything you need to know to get started there. If you want good practice, start with forging tapers. You can then make these into useful hooks. They will look a little wonky at first, but don't worry, metal forging takes lots of practice. Also, wear some good gloves. Get used to handling hot steel with anything but your hands. You can buy long pliers for cheap at Harbor Freight. I welded long handles on a pair of old pliers and used those for a long time. Welcome to the site, and to a great hobby!

My supplier has a chop saw right out in the parking area. I cut the steel into thirds, 6'-8", and load it my Leaf. I wrap it in old sheets to keep things clean. The place is run by a Chinese guy who knows how to keep his customers coming back.

Thanks guys! One's going to a female and the other to a male. Can anyone guess which ones going where? I put a couple of coats of urethane on the leafy one, but I'm going to leave the crane bare metal to let it rust. I got the inspiration from an old rusty crane I saw, so rust it is.

Beautiful work Alexandr! It's always difficult to follow one of you posts with the simple stuff us amateurs make. Anyway, I made a couple of more plant hangers...

As usual, love your work Das!

Since I have been building projects lately which need to be painted, I have had to remove all the scale from the steel before painting. The 8" wire wheel works great for most of it, but then there are those hard to get to areas which become problematic. Consequently, I bought a Makita die grinder, which works really well for getting into tight places. It accepts all 1/4" shaft accessories, although you have to make sure that they are rated for high speed operation (25K max RPM). I have been using a small 2" wire wheel which gets into just about everywhere. It is especially good with small parts, which are difficult to work on the larger wire wheel. I make a fair mount of leaves, which the big wheel loves to eat. Now I can stick them in the vise and clean the scale off in a much safer manner. The unit was only $88.00 (with a $20.00 discount). I would suggest using a face shield along with this tool as small bits of scale come off the work at a high rate of speed. Eye protection is absolutely mandatory, and gloves and long sleeves highly recommended. Otherwise, it's easy to use and a worthwhile investment.

I appreciate the encouraging words, thanks! I bought the plants at Home Cheapo which accounts for the plastic pots, but I'll re-pot when I get something nicer. Aus; those brass inlays are very easy to do. I just drill a hole the same size as the stock, then run a taper half way through each side of the hole. This gives a slight hourglass shape to the brass when it is hammered in and locks it in nicely. I cut the brass about a 16th oversized then grind it flush. Marc: Since I'm close to the ocean, any unfinished metal self textures quite rapidly all by itself. Also, being new to this work, I usually don't have to try very hard to have a well textured look as it is. I'm still working on clean.

Here's a few things I made over the past week. I thought the shelf brackets I made would be a good base for a plant hanger, so I made a few... Here's one I haven't mounted yet I also made a back scratcher and hook for work.

My daughter in law requested some shelf brackets for her bathroom. She wanted something unique and "blacksmithy looking", so here's what I came up with. I made her a pair of these, with sort of a sun motif. I learned a long time ago never to pick out colors for females. So, I told her to go to the hardware store and pick out whatever color she wanted, and to give me the can of spray paint. I also told her to buy some shelves she likes and to give me the width and distance she wants between the shelves. After 34 years of marriage I try and cover as many bases as I can before I start the project. If she doesn't like them, I'll be happy to take them back, repaint, and use them in my own house.

Is that "magnet wire" you're using? It looks like bare copper, which of course would make a dead short across all the windings...

Thanks Aus! Your wife is a keeper. The anvil wasn't difficult and only took about an hour to make. I used a piece of 2" x 1/2" flat stock and cut it to 5". I cut the horn out with my portable bandsaw, then shaped it on the 2x72" sander (a hand grinder would work with a couple different grit flapper discs). The hardie was mostly made on the drill press. 4 small holes in the corners and a big hole in the middle. Then just file it square. I also sanded and waxed it, but at a lower temperature so it didn't change color. LOL, maybe I'll stick it on the front door with a bowl of nuts next to it. I assume the other side of that wall is your neighbor's yard...

Thanks Frosty! It tends to appeal more to the males I've shown it to. JHCC: I like it, it's a functional and visually appealing piece. Nice idea, I may borrow the concept (with your blessing) since I know a spinner who would appreciate it. What's the diameter?

Nice trowel CC! I wanted to make a door knocker with a blacksmith theme. I started out making the anvil and this is what eventually materialized. I got the hammer at HF for about $3.50, and the rest was made from shop scrap. The bar is 5/8". I flattened out the end going through the hammer, split it in half and wedged it in. The wife informed me halfway through that it's not going on her front door. No worries, I just wanted to build it anyway.

The weakest link is actually the drive roller. It has twice the pressure on it as do the the other two, which share a load. Larger diameter roller bearings would take a lot more to rack than these smaller ones. A press fit on everything is also optimal. 1.5" ID bearings would be just about right.

Thanks Frosty, you know I'm not capable of building one version of anything . The first one is always to figure out how to build the second one (or third, or forth...). The 3/4" pin size is about max for the 1" bar, and works fine for the little stuff I'm doing. If I ever go bigger... the only limit is imagination and your pocketbook. If I got a hold of some large roller bearings, the rest is easy. I'm just too cheap to spring for new ones.

I got some more 1" square bar so I decided to rebuild this thing. I dropped the frame down between the vise jaws to minimise the spread of the rollers. I used some sheet metal welded to the top to hold the assembly in the jaws. This configuration also puts a lot less stress on the alignment rods, which are located outside of the jaws. I was trying to roll a piece of 3/8" square bar and actually bent these rods in the former design. Anyway, this configuration works much better than having the frame above the vise.

If I had to do it again, I would make it so that the alignment rods are outside the jaws of the vise. Then I could drop the whole frame down into the vise. That would alleviate a lot of the creeping; having the clamping force closer to the work. It still works fine as is, and I don't think I'll go to all the trouble of rebuilding it. Ran out of 1" square stock anyway.

I decided to make a ring roller for a couple of projects I have planned. I looked on YouTube and found a couple of videos of simple rollers you can use in the vise and decided to go that route. I used 1" square stock for the frame. I ordered some 1" diameter roller bearings, and 12" of 3/4" axle steel. For the rollers I got some 1.5" inch OD, 1" ID tubing. I had to clean up the inside of the tubing on the lathe for the bearings to fit (basically just to make it round). Nothing is a press fit, but it's all fairly snug. To keep the whole assembly square, I used a length of 1/2" round bar through both ends of the frame. The off center pressure from the vise will cock the rollers out of alignment otherwise. Lessons learned... The crank roller needs to be a bit taller than the other rollers so that the handle will clear. Also, the two side by side rollers should be as close together as possible. This allows the ends of the work to be bent as much as possible without getting jammed in the mechanism. The 1/4" bar over the back of the two rollers is there to keep them from riding up on the axle. Despite the two alignment bars, the rollers still want to creep up. Pressed fits would take care of this, but my machining skills are not up to it, and I don't have a press. I also put a couple of springs in to open the assembly when I back the vise off. This is very handy. These are the first two rings I made. I didn't design this roller for big stock since most of the stuff I need is going to be 1/4" square. It takes a little fiddling to get the ends to line up square. After welding and grinding, I run the ring through the rollers again for a final rounding out since the ends don't get completely bent right. This thing cost me about $80 in parts, the rest of it I had in the shop. It works pretty good, and will be a handy tool for making odd size rings that I don't have a pipe size to bend around. Ted