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I Forge Iron

tom_ET

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Everything posted by tom_ET

  1. Peng, thanks! Sorry for having to repeat yourself..
  2. Frosty: 3 blows, yes? ok. what would you say should it take to heat it up again for the next 3 blows? ... would be a "back in" - turn up air - and maybe a minute or so, or should that go faster? related to bluerooster's post. I was about to ask nearly the same question. Took a small piece of rebar and just for the fun of it wanted to draw & taper it down as much as possible. was wondering how thing the thing would get and how it would react. (Then thought i would make a tiny sugar-spoon out of it. ) But it cracked open, bit difficult to see on the picture but seems to be the same like for bluerooster. Also did cut away the cracked part, to start again and the same thing happened again. I guessed it is the "unforseeable mixture" of rebar that was so often discussed... or might it have been some wrong technique?
  3. Marc: i guess that is the main reason for getting into. While generally i like "old techniques", it is just simply possible to do so many things with relatively few tools/machines. So much can be faster and easier done by modern metal work but you need this pool of machines and the right starting-material to make that work properly. Glenn: true. they were just "held in right position" being temporarily bolted to the tub. bracing will come. Greasing: good point. will do. The wheel, btw. has its own bearing and with the weight on the wood on the axle-pin, it will probably not move much itself.
  4. Hi there. Was out again and had half a day on the forge. When I see your great works, i don't feel like showing anything but hey. at the end, there sometimes come some nice comments that help one further. I think I am going through a lot of charcoal. I have to figure out yet the right way to manage it better.. I tend to not like keep pilng it up high enough as I have the feeling i am using too much. but I guess there is no good in using less than the right pile of coal on the forge. --> I think it makes the (less) coal burn even faster and with too much oxygen?! (figured at the end that this time i had far more clinkers than last time) The metal gets so quickly cold after taking it out.. But then it has been pretty thin material so far that i have been working on. Anyhow, so although i take forever and although not really such great achievements, here a small pic. The chinese wheelbarrows we get here are such a crap... the last 2 ones just lasted 2 weeks. Then I made 1 working one out of the 2 broken ones and figured the best would be to make an own under-construction. Used the anvil to form the 2 brackets holding the wheel axle to fit my crooked eucalyptus. So far only 2 hammers, the anvil and the forge.. and used the axle-pin itself as a help. Have to drill and attach them still.
  5. Started with barrel bellows. As the Computer Fan seems to not be able to bring up the necessary pressure, I figured, I can directly work on the non-electric solution. The plastic is pretty thin, Ethiopian Plastic manufacturers seem to try to find out, how much you can reduce wall thickness while still keeping some kind of form... Am a bit worried how long my inlet will hold, I might prepare some plate with a thread that the 3/4 " nipple is screwing in, so it doesnt sit in the plastic only. The outlet I first thought to use a check-valve, but the springs are too strong in those, so that quite some pressure would be lost immediately. So i went back to the leather-flap and glued an old can over it, into which the outlet-nipple is mounted. .. After the first test in a bigger barrel holding the water, I think it works and i feel the output is good. The inlet (just a 3/4" foot-valve) seems to be too little though... Will move upwards (sucking stroke) a bit slowly... Will probably test it like this first but feel that i will have to add a second or maybe a third footvalve... having 3 might also balance the top-weight a bit better. Also I am wondering if i shouldnt have gone for a bit bigger directly, too.
  6. thanks for that grinding-effect demonstration. I started grinding off the paint from my anvil (which was a rather thick layer) and also decided to use masks for that from now on. You just reinforced that decision... proper masks got scarce here, though.. For COVID people majorly wear majorly self-made fabric-masks.
  7. I got a bit further. Before a week or so I brought my JABOD frame out on the land and filled it with mud. I decided to try it with our clay-ground only, didnt mix anything to it. I expected it to crack when drying, wanted to try that out still and just fill those cracks again with some more (or not...) Now this weekend i was able to get out again and finally have a first try. So I had the PC-Fan connected as can be seen above. I saw already in the dry trial that the air was not coming out of the tuyere as I hoped. The fan by itself seems actually pretty powerful but you could feel the Air-Jam, while there was coming air out of the tuyere, if you put your hand at the suction side of the fan, you would actually feel that some air is pushed back.. I had added a bit of rubber-hose on the suction side then as well, was hoping somehow, that would force the airflow more into the direction where it belongs, which i think it did a little bit. Anyhow, it was not sufficient. I wasted at least an hour, hoping that the fire would come higher. It looked pretty hot in the trench and I got even the leaf-spring into some kind of red but that took a long time and lasted but a few seconds when i had taken it out. As I somehow had feared that the 15W Ventilator, at least in the current layout would not be sufficient (want to try to build a better "channel" with a more smooth transition into the tuyere), I had bought a backup AC blower (which i might use for some other purposes anyway). So had to turn on the Diesel-Genset, to run the AC-blower... Now that was a difference! It is a 600 W blower and was much too powerful. from its 10 settings I had to always switch between step 1 and 2.. On step 1 there was almost no airblow, on step 2 already pretty heavy, would probably need nothing higher. The rebar i used for poking was too long, so I decided to make a quick poker. guess that was my first "project". Had bended the bar over and figured that thats not the best way, it made the tip pretty thin. In hind-sight, makes sense. anyhow. for poking charcoal it will work. Then I wanted to heat something heavier and put again my leaf-spring in. Decided i would make some kind of digging-hoe. Have drawn out the top, bended over. Time was pretty much over, had to make a last run with the weed-walker (rainy season is starting and we have to get the grass under control). Will continue next time.. want to cut it some 20 cm after the bend and figure something out for connecting it to a handle-shaft.
  8. thanks for the correction. While working on it i was actually wondering if the edges should be ground a bit. it looks more beveled than round.
  9. I dressed my first hammer today with what in the early afternoon was still a piece of Eucalyptus log. Luckily this head still had it's original hollow round wedge (with the piece of wood) in the head when I bought it, so I could re-use it. Linseed oil good for this one, too. (but just had sunflower oil at hand) Lo, my brand-new 1.5lb cross peen.
  10. Frosty: Excellent point, not only can I really try different things, I'm even hiding the fault Dharris: For sure. My wife doesn't mind "prettier things" but surely also highly prefers "working things" to "no things".
  11. yesterday I prepared most of the JABOD Forge preparation. Not sure yet, when I can make a first trial. Can't do that here but have to take it out to the land. Realized the pipe is a bit too low, have to redrill that hole. Also am not so sure if that power-supply-fan will really give enough air. But I found already in my electro-scrap another, bigger fan that will work if this one doesn't. Then, today had to repair the kitchen machine of my wife (seemingly just so much flour came in that it prevented the contacter inside to switch properly. And I used my small peen hammer (and the anvil) for the first time. Our fridge has a broken plastic-bottle-holder (what do you call that thing) and I thought best is i just make it from sheet metal. But I guess that is not called blacksmithing work
  12. Thanks, got it. Maybe again to the limits of the Anvil. Saw them hammering here with pretty heavy sledge hammers. But then, most Anvils also looked quite battered.
  13. Hey Frosty, Thanks for the box bellow- short intro. I read about it but didn't go into detail as I figured the air (with charcoal at least) shouldn't be too big of an issue. Also I wanted to check what local blacksmiths are using. Some of them have an electrical blower a lot of them are have an assistant that makes air. They seemingly make them a lot out of wheel-tubes. But it needs double action, and stops blowing when the action stops, so my (future) manual version is going to be either a bigger bellows or the drum version might be a good alternative. I read though that a computer-fan might already be enough.. That sounds comparably small (the electrical blower they were using here locally surely was more powerful and they also just use charcoal. Looks to me though as they don't even have a real hole in the ground but simply a small charcoal-heap on the ground and a pipe going into the bottom of it for the air. Anyhow, I was in Addis and that's always an adventure to be in Merkato (where they sell everything. Didn't have too much time and quite some money in my bag.. there also the blacksmitths are in some hidden alleys. In fact of course again I was pick-pocketed. So I did not make any "friends" yet (to really take time and see the setup and learn from them) and I spare that for where I am living. a smaller town. I am sure there will be a few as well so I want to meet them and see if I can learn a bit more how they work. So I will probably try the Desktop power supply fan first. Its working on 12 V DC (would therefore be possible on any small solar system) and a DC fan can easily speed controlled. I'll probably try that one. Excuse me if I do not want to search now around. I found a lot of times that Galvanized pipe cannot be used and is really dangerous. So that's noted but I didn't see immediately what's the reason. what happens with the zinc if getting too hot? Don't think I'm gonna become a village blacksmith or commercial at all for that matter. Basically its "just another craft" worthy to learn to some extend to build stuff that you don't get so easy here. Working for others will be more in the sense of trading favors. But you are right with the scrap. There is hardly anything somebody else might not need so usually everything is in a way "recycled" in Addis I saw shops that concentrated on scrap springs, others on sheets of mild steel in any thickness, etc. Today I already convinced my mechanic to allow me to take 2 coils and to leaves. Best, Thomas
  14. interesting. Here is hardly any carbon steel available. You will be mostly limited to the 2nd hand car (and other) parts market. That will be probably fine but i suppose it is nice sometimes to buy a specific srandardized size. so we have that version of packing the piece into the charcoal, salt, flour mixture and I think yours works without. It was mentioned that there is the oxidizing, the neutral and the carbonizong zone. I would have thought that you would stick the piece int he upper part of the pile and leave it there longer. thats bit really what you do, right? i think you heat it up 2-3 times till almost burning. do you quench it every of the 3 times or only the last time? you heat that in the normal neutral working zone or in the upper layer?
  15. Then definitely the grinder. let me check for what's written about the radii and removing paint. BTW: I am back home and put it on the scale, its 50kg.
  16. So it would be common to grind it in shape? And I assume the alternative is to file it down by hand, right? Yes, we make our garden soil in a quite similar way. We add Sand as well.
  17. Did i understand right that this is all mild steel? excuse me if that is a silly question but does that mean generay that bottom and top tools (if not for cutting and punching) are ok in mild steel?
  18. Oh, read this after my other thread, (where I repeated the question in combination with the Anvil, where I am also wondering what are the limits), cool, thanks. So this is roughly a 4", you've seen the photos, would you call this a robustus or a gracile?
  19. So, plenty Ideas for the hardy hole, I am sure I'm going to figure something out, when I actually get to make some tools. The hold down, I also have the feeling it should work. I also already thought the taper needs to be out or only on the very bottom. Of course, makes much more sense, (when I get rid of the taper). If I understand you right, it is not so very different. you would still make the bar get round, because you still might want some little left-right movement of the arm, The Ring would fit tight but nicely movable for up-down adjustments and the spring would be added (maybe directly as the piece holding the stock) to hold the pressure. When you put it on, you would still would probably give it a light tap with the hammer to "put it in position" I suppose? Did I get you right? What do you mean with this being "more standard"? BTW: I am so happy I found this forum. I am away from the Family in Addis Ababa, where I have a consulting job for 1.5 weeks (which finally finishes today) and as I anyway don't have much to do otherwise, I spent many hours in that last week. Read through Weyger's Modern Blacksmith and also the FAO books are really nice Thomas. Just a bit annoying that I can't find a downloadable version of the first and third book. They are extremely practically oriented. For me the interest is majorly in making things you can actually use on the land. And while I can do a lot with my Electrodes, Grinder and small drill press, I see more and more for what forging will be the better choice, not even to mention that I can be fully self-sufficient once I have the equipment and accumulated a proper mass of metal I can work on. Being rather rural with our farm, it is also about being in piece with the community around us. At the end we are the foreigners taking their land here, and it is bigger than most of them have. I can imagine there will be quite some repairs coming up in the future on donkey carts and tools. For us in the farm I am a specially interested in strong Garden tools. The land here has a lot of red clay, it rains a few month here, in which time you will have heavy weight loam-lumps on your shoes and in the dry season the ground is hard like stone. So, learned a lot these days about different forges. As I had a Breakdrum laying around I first thought that would be the choice but the JABOD is of course the one to go for. Was then reading a about blowers, while ultimately I want a full manual (but comfortable solution, I think a bigger bellows one day), I think I am going to try it with a smaller 12V DC Fan, that I'll hookup to a small solar system. As it reads, for Charcoal, this should be sufficient. Charcoal is what I will go for. I think Ethiopia is the 2nd biggest producer in the world. Everybody cooks on Charcoal, it is all from Eucalyptus. And there is soo much to learn, especially I have to get more into the different metal types, into it's identification. Scrap is not necessarily suuper cheap. There are no real scrap-yards. As you know all scrap is for other people raw material and I guess in AFrica that comes naturally. If you know your shit you can make good deals. That might be in the place where I bought the anvil, vice and hammers or in the 2nd hand metal supply where you usually pay by KG, and probably not much differentiated between carbon- or mild steel. ------------- Back also to the Anvil, Thomas, you were asking how the Anvil sounds. I assume that was in order to see if it is Cast Iron or not, right? So I assume mine would not be cast, right? I also in all that reading was not really tumbling over much of info on how much anvils and Vices will take. Obviously you would use for bigger work bigger anvils and vices but what exactly would that mean. If that is (shame, still didn't weigh it, sent it straight home, so its on the road, while I fly tomorrow) let's say a 60lb anvil, what would you NOT ANYMORE work on such? (Same question for the vice) Then there are also the sharp edges of the Anvil. If I got it right, I should give them some round edges, best in different radii. Do I use the Angle Grinder for that? Didn't research for that one yet I have to say (it just came as one of the many questions in my mind as it is fitting here) , so if that is easy to find just tell me to search myself but maybe somebody has a quick answer or link ready
  20. Yeah, I am already happy I did it. BTW: - It has 12.2 cm, that is neither 4", nor 5", not even 4.5". Germans adopted metric system in the 19th century, so I guess they simply wanted 12 cm? - Thomas (and others?) were speaking about "robustus" and "gracile" types and obviously there are limitations to how much you should pound on your vise. I guess I will develop some kind of feeling when working on the tools but can you give me examples of what could and what should not anymore be done on such a vise.
  21. Hi There, David: Thanks, Yes, I guess there should be a biggers shoulders. But then you are indeed limited with any solutions that are not flush with the anvil surface (e.g. Thomas' solution, see below). At the end, we are still talking about a rather thin spacer block. Thomas: Something like this? Looks like a neat solution as a concept. but if I think about that this is only 9mm thick and then you want to trim those 9mm, you won't end up with a wide shoulder. What would you recommend as a shoulder for a 1'' hole anyway? Frosty: OK, I just started to write that I don't fully understand it, as I was imagining a Wedge. Such a wedge would certainly not leave a flush surface on top. But now I read again, and I think I get what you mean. You would have a V bended out of a strip of metal, maybe the 1'' wide and it would enter into the whole and like you said being kept in place through it's spring function. Again, we talk about 9 mm widths, would have to be pretty thin... You think that will work. We kind of get to sheet-metal thickness if we want to bend with some shape to have a spring. Chris: Cool. So far, I feel your solution is indeed the simplest. So apart from the hardie hole, what about clamping down stock. Typical hold-down holes won't work well in a rectangular hole I suppose. (or would it actually work as they would also be canted inside?) What about the following idea. Rather well fitting (with rectangular shank) cylindrical post, over which I can slide a holder (or different types) and tap them tight.
  22. hey there, discussed already a bit in my intro thread but fits better here I guess. Am in Addis for a Job and took the opportunity to buy an Anvil in "Minalesh Terra" (you could translate that as "whatever area". You can get anything used there. So while I was searching for that Anvil, I found this post vise and finally decided to spend those 160 USD.. Jaws are 12.2cm, the total height is 93cm. Screw looks all like the short visible piece on the pic. I didn't really check the screw housing, was a bit difficult to do in that crowded place. Also I guess the jaws are pretty fine still. Couldnt get him down, he was only willing to add this little hand vise. The 3 hammers, I also found laying around and got together for ca. 14 USD. The ball-peen with the handle (which also needs replacement) is 1lb, so I guess the cross-peen is maybe 1.5 or 1.25, the small one will be 0.5-0.75 lb ?! Wouldn't mind at least one heavier one. Also took this engineering vise, not anymore turnable, somebody welded that together. paid 60 USD. Not sure if that was such a deal. Then again. what you get new, is all Chinese (and I don't think the good Chinese), and more expensive at the same time.
  23. here the pic to what I thought.. although a version without having to drill holes into the shanks would probably be nicer, if somebody has a different idea
  24. Thanks for the details. Will have a look again, I guess. If I have the time, am for some consultancy work in the capital city (I live normally 550km north) and the time is tight but you are reinforcing my urge to go back and see if I should not simply take it. at the end, money is there to be spent What about the jaws: could imagine that such are often a bit abused?! I guess they are not to be replacable as they are for some machinist vices?
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