BOB T

I did acquire the Wrought Iron from the bridge, what I got was the Tension Rods , flat bar, square, and round ... A supply that will last me the rest of my forging days. I put a couple pictures of the Bar stock that I broke to test it ..Probably will be sell some , not sure how much? I will have to decide how much I want to keep for my self first  

If I end up getting some WI ? I will bring you some  provided I do the class at Arc & Flame Center in January...most of WI is around 1" in size( dia.).. round and square ...some flat bar too 

 I may have an change to pick up some Wrought Iron from an old bridge about 150 years old ..I was wondering what`s a fair price to pay for WI ?? I did get a sample piece and cut it to do the "break test" (see pictures)... I may sell some of the WI depending on how much I get ??....thanks 

Forged these Hawks from Wagon tires . I `am pretty sure the old wagon tires are NOT Wrought Iron but nice low carbon steel to work with. I used 1075 carbon steel for the bit/cutting edge and Curly Maple handle ..I enjoy forge the Hawks  

I got a bottle of Plum brown and tried it for a finish , I didn't like it very much. Plus was not very durable, I was able to wipe the rust finish off pretty easy with just wet rag. I do like the Gun Blue finish the best so far . A couple of pictures of the Hawks with handles  

12 hours ago, Latticino said:

Agree on the bluing as a preference.  How durable is that though (most folks who get hawks want to throw them at a target eventually...)?

I have gotten a similar finish from using the hot apple cider fuming method, but I'm not sure if that would be any more durable a patina.  I'm very interested in what you come up with.  I think one of the potential advantages of an acid generated patina would be to reveal the joint between the low carbon steel body and the high carbon steel bit (if that is you construction method).

I will be trying the "hot" browning on one of the tomahawks  in the future , I `am hopefully the finish will be a more chocolate brown finish ?? I will post pictures for viewing when I get it done 

I think I may try t

he "hot" Plum browning that I used on my Muzzle loading barrels and see what that looks like ??but so far the cold gun blue is what I 'am liking  

A couple different finishes on my Tomahawks ,both were put in Muriatic acid for cleaning. One has Pema Blue (gun blue) as a finish .The other was sprayed with Hydrogen Peroxide after coming out of the Muriatic acid. I 'am not sure I like the Rust type finish??Tthe rust one is Wrought Iron.  I thought I would ask you guys your opinions ?? And also what type of finish you use?? Thanks 

I have been to Campbell several time doing blacksmithing classes (all in old shop) .I when to Elmer shop and met him but never have taken his Viking class ..May have to put that on me to do list??Good job on your projects .. 

16 minutes ago, Latticino said:

Very nice Bob.  Looks like you have the wrought stuff down pat.  Going to etch the next one?

Just had a failure trying to make an Austin style offset wrapped eye Viking axe out of wrought and 5160 over the weekend.  Went pretty well until I got ready to wrap the eye for welding.  My buddy, whose shop I was working in, had just walked away after asking if I wanted the torch setup to bend the ears in.  I got impatient waiting for him and started to bend them over the bick.  Let things get too cold and tapped one ear.  Wrought cracked on me right at the back of the eye...  May have made the cheeks too thin, but I think I'm just not that used to working with wrought.  Guess I might try welding it back together, but in that kind of high stress location I don't fancy my chances.

Thanks on the comment , I really like doing making  the Tomahawks and have sold a few on Etsy. I been thinking about possible doing a small axe or hatchet before trying the Viking axe like we did in the class?? Yeah, WI doesn't like bends very well .

  I have some 5160 I bought at Quad-State but haven't used it from the cutting edge/bits ..readied  were it can be a problem in forged welding ?? I know it doesn't like welding to it self     

A few  pictures of my Tomahawk , I used Wrought Iron (wagon tire) for the "body" and 1075 for the bit . I folded and welded the Wrought Iron to refine the grain a couple of times . I got 8 of the Wrought Iron wagon tires at an auction last fall cheap , so good supply to making Hawks .The handle is Curly Maple.

I just used Folgers coffee to etch the blade ,no cream or sugar..lol  Nothing special ,the way I drink it .I have a Keurig that I used to make the coffee . I really didn't keep track of the time I etch the blade, probably around 90 minutes there about ???  

bobasaurus....The only heat I used was the hot coffee  , just  hot coffee from the coffee maker ,no extra heating ..All I did was clean the blade and put an wax/ oil on it.

There's some pictures of my first Damascus blade, didn't  have a lot of the material to make a large knife, so did what I call a "cheese knife" in the shape of a meat cleaver.  The total length including the handle of 6 1/2" and the width of the blade in 1 1/2". 80 layers and twisted , the steel I used was 1084 ,1075 and 15n 20 ..Etch in black coffee . Happy how it turned out , Not sure how much knife making I will do??? I 'am not into a lot of grinding, sanding and polish..   

Contact Gary Riss in Streator, IL 815-672-2634 for coal or Mike Bost  in Rockford, IL 815-978-8090..both have good blacksmithing coal.

Mod Note: Tell them IForgeIron sent you. 

Upper Midwest Blacksmith Association ..web site.... umba.name  We have an winter even in South Beloit in Feb ,details on the web site

Also a good article on small axe in the Hammer`s Blow (summer 2014) by Gerald Boggs..

phabib..  If you search on the web for Wayne Coe Blacksmith ..  That's where I got my plans from...  Also on his web site has a short video explaining the belt sander/grinder. I have a 2" and 6" rubber wheel plus the tracking & drive wheel both of them are of aluminum. the platten  was made from angle iron

Finished my grinder ,Plans from Wayne Coe ..  Have a 1 HP motor (2450 rpm) with a 4" drive wheel  I know it`s not a sealed motor but was free . Will build a small shield to protect its somewhat from grinding dust, and we'll see how it performs?  When it dies will get a sealed type motor, probably 1 1/2 hp..Just have mounted on plywood base for now, I will eventually make a metal base for the grinder.  Planning to use it possibly for a few knives to grind also use it to grind on tomahawks and small axes, not using it exclusively for knives only.  I like the way the wheel arm can be set in different positions.

Question??  If I did my math correctly the belt speed should be somewhere around 3600 SFPM?  I 'am  thinking I should have more belts speed?  I've used belts sanders/ grinders in other shops and they seem like they're run faster.  One thing I noticed I get very few sparks or no sparks  when grinding using 60 grit.   I would be interesting to know what the other people who have DIY belt grinder/sanders have for belt speeds or what would be the low and high for belt speed??  I did search through the form for information on belt speeds and saw some list, curious what people are actually running and are have good performance with their grinders.  thanks

Here's a couple pictures of the door frame that we made at a gas forge building workshop.

I also took the same Viking Axe class as Latticino this past summer, we were teamed up together .Great Class, Jim was an excellent instructor and well prepared for the class

 Nice job on your Viking  ax       

10 hours ago, jlpservicesinc said:

BobT, This thread probably turned into a whole different beast than expected?..  

 

Here are some pictures of the wrought iron I stumbled across while out walking..  As mentioned before I believe they were used for rigging for cranes that worked on the Railroad as well as a watershed project by the state.. 

One other thing about wrought iron.. Overall it's not as strong as mild steel.. Tensions it's only ok. compression is pretty good. But any notch test and it will usually fail..

I had to cut a 3/4" bar to be able to straighten a section and with only an 1/8" notch I could easily break it in 2.. 

I was going to show some little videos on the difference between forging hot short and cold short as I had a piece that hated being worked hot so much so I think the guys who made it were happy to see it leave the shop.. It was originally used for a loading dock bumper..  Anyhow, after I was done with the majority of trailer making I had a scrapper helping me clean things up and the section (about 2ft long) must have gone with him..  Oh, well.. 

anyhow heres some pictures of the iron i found and the notch I cut in with the open break.. 

On ‎10‎/‎25‎/‎2016 at 5:02 PM, the iron dwarf said:

plenty here Michael

 

JIP... Good to let people know about WI ..Otherwise most  ends up in the scrapyards as plain steel

   There is a old bridge just setting out in a cow pasture ..it is WI , Has some nice bars that 1 1/2 " Sq 15' in length..I stop by every couple of years to see if the farmer wants to sell it ?  The funny part is it not over a creek or ditch..just out in the grass. Maybe some day he will sell it ?? Would hate to see the WI go to the scrapyard .    

2 hours ago, HEAP of JEEP said:

Let's see... I haven't done the math yet.  There's three separate billets, each with 64  layers then twisted.  Then I flattened those and put them together with a layer of 1080 and two layers of 15n20 between each billet.  So that would be 198 total.

Thanks on the layer numbers ..Nice pattern

Nice Tomahawk!!! How many layers in the Damascus? I 'am working on some now with Wrought Iron "body" and 1075 steel for the bits. Going to try some Damascus down the road ..  

Thanks on the feed back!!!! Have a pretty good supply to work with now so I can forge a way and learn,,,  

When to a farm sale Saturday pick up 8 old wrought iron buggy wheels . Biggest 54" in dia. 1/2" X1 3/4" . I got them cheap .I can see that  they are all forged welded together .

Question ; I read that usually wheels/rims are not the "top of the line"  for wrought iron ?? I was wondering if anyone else had some experience working with WI buggy rims and what kind of results they've gotten ? Right now going to use the WI to make tomahawks with 1075 bits .I have made a couple so far with WI that turned out ok but not from buggy rims ..Thanks