Justin Topp

Just cleaning scrap iron from the trees at the farm! Haha. I couldn’t get it all sadly. My grinder ran out of gas and I don’t have more so I couldn’t cut it free

picked up some wrought iron! 90% of this pile is wrought iron. The rest is scrap for other projects. 10 wagon wheel rims. And several other parts of wagons.

West side only sells mild steels and ar500 plate for custom targets and I think they say carbon steel separate from mild on their site. So I had hoped they would sell 1045 or maybe even took/knife steels but they don’t sell any of that

No they unfortunately do not carry it. Their website lists carbon steel is for sale but they didn’t Have any thing when I emailed them. I believe it is ar500 Plate for shooting targets the only carbon steel they have. And that’s not suitable for knives

It’s not quite bituminous like you Would’ve used in the class but i like anthracite especially for the cost haha

I buy all my mild steel from west side. It’s very affordable there and you can usually get a 20 foot stick for the price of a 4 foot at any other big box store that sells it

Hey I didn’t even notice your in Fargo! I’m nearby. I buy anthracite coal from tractor supply. The one on Moorhead sells rice sized anthracite. My preferred size and the one in Wahpeton sells nut sized anthracite. I’ve used both and they both can be suitable for forging. Fairly cheap too. Often 5-9$ for a 40 lb bag

I’ve had very good luck using feed corn in the past. It’s similar to a bituminous in where it cokes and forms a cave. It burns very fast though. I have managed to reach welding temps on smaller stock. Up to 1/2 inch. I’d say it’s not great for stuff larger than 3/4 to 1 inch. Charcoal is better in my opinion. How I’ve personally always made charcoal for forging is split everything Into small 1” square strips or so and pile them high to burn into charcoal quickly. Pile it around the side of the fire and scoop into the core of the fire below are some pictures of corn as fuel. Need to constantly have fresh corn around the edges to coke up. corn in the process of coking. tall bright orange- yellow flames not super hot core coked corn. Very hot pile of coals. A pretty dark yellow flame. Similar to coal. And finally the piece of steel in the fire at welding temperatures.

Ya I’m swear down aren’t but they were last in use around 1905 and made earlier so a very very good possibility. More likely iron than steel

Good idea on the striking anvil. Might buy a few more forks and make one. Also thanks! thanks frosty, I agree that misrepresentation isn’t good but yea the buyer can call it whatever they want! My mother was happy with it so that’s good enough for me! On a side note I got some old ice tongs forge welded in several places made from wrought iron and some iron strips from a wagon wheel hub. Gonna be getting several wagon tires on the farm on Wednesday. All super old wood ones that are just metal rims at this point. I’m excited. They are almost certainly wrought iron.

Baby tongs!

14” hickory handle. 3 lb French pattern cross peen. 4140 steel. first attempt at flower went okay. Folded petals incorrectly

Railroad tie plate. Not sure exactly but it sparks like a medium carbon. On a side note I made a stump anvil thing from some forklift fork. 5.5 lbs. half a rr spike welded on to stick it in a stump. Had some sweet colors when I was heat treating

3/4” x 2”. I think about 8” long

Bolster plate forged from 3/4 x2 inch stock. Holes go from 3/8” up to 3/4” Punched the holes. Drifted. Than drilled to clean them up

I’ll probably do something similar so I can rotate it s it can sit in the corner of a building when I can eventually get one.

Mine doesn’t quite kick that bad. For now I think I’m okay using a 7 inch haha. A happy medium between power and not injuring yourself as easily haha. my step dad has a steel wagon tire he’s giving to me so I’m gonna make a tong rack from it. Saw it on old hickory forge’s channel on YouTube. It’s welded to an upright and a base and tongs go over the spikes in the tire. So between that. My vise and my anvil I should be good for a while.

Yes it is a little scary but it’s nice and new so that helps. I honestly will probably not use it a ton but it’s nice to have when I do Need to use it

Well I bought a 7” angle grinder and I regret nothing. This thing is far more effective than a 4.5” grinder. It’s heavy after a lot of use but not too bad. At around 11 lbs. chopped A block out of the pallet fork in 8 minutes compared to almost an hour on the abrasive Chop saw.

Ahh thanks for the info. I was thinking it was odd at the lack of a scarf. Thanks for the details on the process

A simple forge welded fire poker

The blacksmiths craft. A primer of the Tools and methods. By Charles McRaven I have also finished a 3 lb rounding hammer

Hmm. Thanks for all the info. The book just shows them folding some over and that was it. Overlay I suppose. I need a better way to cut forklift fork this took ages

That’s true haha. Thanks. Mine didn’t come with a handle so I had used a bent bit of flat bar and it wasn’t comfortable at all. This new one is much better. Nice and slim. I don’t have super small hands or anything but I’ve always found slimmer handles more comfortable. On hammers and everything really. Not a fan of the thick handles most people like. I love the cold. Probably because I’ve grown up where there is pretty much snow for half the year. 40-50s is my favorite Range. Luckily this whole week is going to be between. 48 and 57 degrees! on the topic of axes has anyone tried “steeling an axe” I read about it in a book i forget what one. I’ll look later but it’s where you fold some carbon steel over like angle iron and forge weld onto the edge of an axe. Usually used to repair well used wrought iron axes. So you don’t have to try to split a pre made axe open. I’ve got a hatchet ground back a lot and soft that could use a new edge. i took my Old handle from my brush to make a rough ruler and to my complete surprise my anvil is 4.5 inches wide. I even used a caliper to verify. I thought it was 4 inches wide for so long. No wonder It seemed really wide

I suppose it’s all about climate. It’s only too cold for me to forge when it’s below 0 haha. Anything above that is fine. I particularly like forging when it’s snowing. Except when you forget to wipe the snow off and you just about make yourself go deaf from the snap of water evaporating under hot metal haha. as a side note I made a much more comfortable handle for my brush