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I Forge Iron

HojPoj

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Everything posted by HojPoj

  1. The coal dust is good when it's a blind hole, but once it's open on both sides it's not going to build pressure to help release the tool. What was the surface finish like on the tool?
  2. Ted, I believe I suggested this in the swage block experiment, but especially here you might to look for some expanding grout to go between the concrete and steel (at least at the top and bottom). This would allow for some mechanical preload that would help avoid a gap opening between the two. Either that, or find a way to mechanically prestress like they do for concrete structural members. I think the larger/longer the pieces are the more likely it is that you'll run into problems with keeping the hybrid structure acting as a single unit.
  3. Cold blueing? Paint just seems tacky on a hammer.
  4. wrickm, no idea on the origin of the augur, but looks like the start of a unicorn sculpture to me.
  5. For a minute there I thought those were the springs from a bed frame (or futon). Got to do a little forging today, didn't realize I pulled out 3/8 round instead of the preferred 5/16, threw my measurements off and I had a dickens of a time getting the eyes to appear reasonable. A couple rebar openers, and not pictured is a bigger slot punch than I had to make starting the eyes easier for next time. Also, did my last pair of Ken's custom Iron tongs, and welded up a pair of rail spike tongs (from big nippers and a couple chain links). Have someone in the local guild to thank for that last one.
  6. Cheech, careful of using the chisel in the pritchel hole like that. I did the same thing, but there wasn't enough support to the chisel and the hole started to distort on my anvil ( same source as yours).
  7. Here's a picture of the damage sustained these past 6 months, I don't claim to have exceptional hammer control since I don't get to forge very frequently. A picture with the hold down inserted. The newer stand is a lash-up of some hardwood cribbing that I got at the scrapyard, I believe it's oak. Saved me the trouble of carving a log. For awhile I didn't have the outriggers at the bottom, and it worked OK while forging, but the anvil tipped over a couple times while moving it and my driveway now has a couple of nice divots in it thanks to the horn. The outrigger pieces increased the stability tremendously. Here's one side of the hold-down system, the chains are lag bolted into the stand, and hook onto the ends of the bars that go over the feet to the other side. There's a hole that goes from the pritchel hole pass-through in the foot out to the side (with the exit *right* behind the chains, of course). A side view of the holddown bars. They don't exactly match because I was testing some things to see what works, and it worked Okay enough by the time I needed to move on to other things. The bars have hooks at each end that engage with the chains in the tensioning system, the bars actually have a curvature to them that gets taken out when the turnbuckle is tightened, having a lot of preload prevents things from loosening up in use, and works really well to tie the anvil to the base. Heres the other side. The slot in the side is for the hardy hole- stuff that gets punched out or driven through can pass down through the stand, there's more exit area behind the turnbuckle. I could use a stouter turnbuckle, but this has held up for a few sessions already. The single turnbuckle has been nice for taking the anvil off/putting back on when things need to move or travel, no tool is actually required (a piece of 1/4" square stock usually works just fine). The shape of the bars could use some refinement, or a stop of some sort welded to the feet in order to keep the bars from getting cockeyed and keeping them aligned for cinching down.
  8. You're lucky, I must've bought the last few in stock in the States- my price was closer to $170. For $135 those anvils are well worth it- at least for me and my area (scrapyard sells steel at $0.35 per pound, and the cost of time and effort to secure, cut, and mount an improvised anvil comes awful close to that cost). Glad your forge is now better tuned, have you attempted to reach welding temperature yet?
  9. I'll try to update with some photos soon, but here's a few quick thoughts based upon the time I've had with this anvil: 1) Best I can tell, the anvil face is induction hardened. I've gotten some dings during use that weren't even mis-strikes, but a file still skates on the raised material. This would imply that the outer skin is hard, but the substrate is still somewhat ductile. 2) The Hardy hole on mine is somewhat rectangular in cross-section, but I'd call it a nominal 3/4" square. One wall actually bulges inward a little bit, so might've been a soft core during casting. Unfortunately I can't do much to remove the material in there since the material inside the hole is hard xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. 3) If well-secured to its stand the anvil quiets down considerably, I highly advise doing this (and well). 4) I have really enjoyed using the double horn pattern, getting to use one definitely makes this a requirement for a future (larger) anvil acquisition. 5) The smaller size of the anvil does feel a bit limiting when it comes time to work larger cross-section stock. Not only do you have to take care to not use too big a hammer, the darn thing heats up really fast (to the point of becoming a burn hazard after awhile, so ya gotta stop and cool it down before you get into the tempering region). 6) The portability is nice, due to my current situation I have to pull the forging gear out of the garage and put it back every time- that'd get to be difficult with a larger anvil and stand (but totally worth it). 7) It can sometimes get a little cramped when using a holddown and doing chisel work, but this could probably be mitigated by me making a smaller holddown. 8) The pritchel hole being in the base of the horn works well for using it for holddowns, but forget about punching slugs out over it- it's likely to distort the work unnecessarily. The pritchel's a rough 3/4" diameter. 9) The design of the feet/legs makes it a little harder to do a nicer job of securing it to the stand. There's a gap underneath the anvil that was nice to stick hardies or chisel in during work, but that usually gets spanned by the holding hardware since the parts of the feet under the horn and heel have the pass-thru holes for the hardy and pritchel holes. Additionally, there isn't a nice regular geometry in the legs that makes it easy to keep the hold-down bars in place- the curvature changes (picture required). Don't put too much stock in this comment, though, as my method of securing it is driven by other requirements (namely, be able to remove/reinstall it from the stand quickly for purposes of travelling/demoing elsewhere).
  10. Looks like Cheech beat me to it. Gimme a few minutes and I'll give a short update... I really need to do a pictorial follow-up.
  11. Oftentimes the ratings for the motors are in a stall condition since that's when the maximum amperage goes through 'em. Totally not representative of where we're using 'em, though.
  12. HojPoj

    A Quick One

    "Less Fancy" He says
  13. Dibs on a set of sleeves if they're for welding!
  14. 13 year old niece and 10 year old nephew were in the area this week. Nephew was on a knife bent, and kept asking my father and I about them (I think in part due to excitement at being given an old swiss army knife earlier in the stay). Decided to give him the opportunity to make one, but given his weak upper body I ended up doing all the work. Sent them each away with a knife (I made them do filing on the handles and some 220 grit sanding of the blades prior to heat treat... y'know, to build character). I don't do knives, and don't have a lot of interest in doing them, so this is what I could knock out in the limited time we had. Made from coil spring, quenched in peanut oil. First temper was done with a torch on the spine, second in the convection oven set to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Temper got drawn a little further than I was intending, well into bronze instead of straw... Oh well, probably for the best since I've *no* idea if I'd messed anything up and got excessive grain growth- less likely to fracture in use... I hope. That spot in the middle was some bird's commentary on the product, and I'm inclined to agree. Doesn't matter thought, the customers are happy, and I think my sister is exasperated with me (double win!).
  15. I believe Jimmy Diresta also did a video recently about such a thing as well.
  16. Indeed, there was another one like it there (it's 5/8 OD material), and there were a couple of leaf springs too. I was just buying so much I'm already struggling with storing it all.
  17. Rather than creating a duplicate, I'm going to do a little thread necromancy here. Was visiting the scrapyard yesterday and there's this giant pile of anchor chains, and that I spotted there's at least three different types. Do any of these look to be worth going back to investigate further for possible wrought? I couldn't see any rusting that showed obvious grain/striation, appeared to be more pitting than anything else. Is there anything else I should look for in terms of how the chain is made that would be unique to a Wrought Iron process? For example, from what I've found online, process-wise this cut link is more than likely steel (inserted and welded spreader): I should note that unless I want to pay for the yard to do the gas cutting of these, getting a sample would be limited to whatever could be done with a hacksaw or battery-operated powertool. I think the smallest cross section was close to 2 inches in diameter.
  18. Nothing to be proud of this go round (more of a "How did you waste time at the forge today?"), but made some plant hangers for Father's Day. My dad wanted some with a longer reach (26") to keep the pots from dripping on the deck. The unfortunate bit here is that after doing the fishtail scroll, the finial, and the 90 degree bend the things wouldn't fit in my propane forge to do any bending of the middle. I ended up doing that cold in the post vise, and the irregularity in the bends shows it - along with the poorly-matched curvatures. Just finished forming a JABOD last night, so hopefully I can put heat to these and fix the warts before Sunday. Either that or make some new ones. For those wondering, it's 3/8" square stock, and though it's a little springy it'll hold the weight of the baskets they're for just fine (I've already done a test install and load test).
  19. Went to the scrapyard yesterday, since they cleaned a lot of the space up and organized things there's so much more treasure to be found! There was a triwall full of large bolts in the 1-1.5" size range, though most were galvanized. The two dome heads are going to be a dishing hammer and a stake tool. Also, there were a number of 1/2" x 4" x 4" plates that'll be cut in half to make dies for a guillotine tool. There was also some longer stuff (angle, flat, some 5/16 round which I needed for hook bottle openers, and some rebar for other projects), some hardware cloth, and some aluminum-skinned plastic that will be used for roofing a small storage unit for yard implements. Also recently, I gave in to my desire to add an adze to my collection. Had to buy a head off ebay and order a handle and fit it up. Hopefully one day I'll be competent at both sharpening and swinging it! (a lot of those wood chips were from an axe I just rehandled and sharpened).
  20. Overdid it yesterday, humidity was high and my water intake was insufficient. I've got some bigger water cups on the shopping list on account of feeling like poo afterwards. Made a couple more fishing hook bottle openers, a drift for handled tooling, and an Aspery style chisel that's not pictured since it was still annealing in the forge. The other pieces top left were just using up the off cuts from the openers. The other ( top right) opener I plan to put scales on for a first try at the process, not sure if i should leave to forge scale on, though. I need to try again with more cord, but a snell knot makes a pretty good grippy area for the hook openers. Done the right way it doesn't interfere with the operation, either.
  21. The extruder tips are pretty much hollow, and only have a lead-in that's not much longer than the diameter of the orifice. That being said, I have an assortment that I'd like to try using anyways. Thanks for putting that together! Edit didn't take, I'd also suggest looking at glue dispensing tips. I snagged some on ebay, but haven't gotten to look at their internal construction yet. They also come in a variety of small orifice diameters.
  22. This has been an interesting stroll down memory lane and all, but when can we expect AFB's inducers to available/on sale?
  23. Brilliant sir, well done! What was your heat treat process for the blades?
  24. I've not pulled the trigger on making/buying one yet, but from what I've seen what is likely to drive the long term cost of ownership is the die material. Buying known die materials (such as 4140) that aren't mild steel quickly exceed the initial cost of the holding tool with just a couple die sets. I'd say pick the die size that you can stomach the material costs for and still accomplish what you expect from it.
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