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John B

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Posts posted by John B

  1. Never had this type of suspension/pivot requested before, but may I suggest a possible solution and a couple of potentially major problems.

    Solution, IMHO it will need need an independent axle and bearings to allow it to freely swivel, axle secured to ceiling, bearings mounted at each edge of the timber with a clearance hole through the timber.

    Major problems are,

    To rotate freely in the wind direction the vane should be balanced,

    One end of the vane needs to be more wind resistant than the other so you can figure which direction the wind is coming from, which may mean profiling a shape or adding ballast if needed

    It needs to be in clear air, so depending on how far out the eaves stretch this may be difficult to achieve, there is a large lee (sheltered from wind direction) along any side of a building.

    Personally I would reconsider the location and put the finished vane on a vertical mount which could simply be a vertical pole suitably positioned for viewing from wherever is most suitable.

    This vertical method would make it much simpler make it to allow it to freely pivot with minimum metalwork needed, 

    I hope this helps, and if you would like to pursue my alternative, I would be happy to make recommendations. Weather vanes are a personal thing and should be inspired by your own reason for having one, In the past I have made them with profiles of favourite pets, boats, cars, hobby themes etc to give you some ideas

    2092790199_Gnomehome.png.3132e63b396f084a9bedcfe2c9ab887c.png  425641571_CopyofWeathervanewindsurfer.png.00d8610340eb8bea7c6edf2c06a696cc.png

     

    1636628720_Weathervaneleapingsalmon.png.a2fc12987de34030ca82f586f5a7d7ec.png

  2. 3 hours ago, Shabumi said:

    On a related note, how would one rivet through a hollow pipe without the rivet bending inside the hollow section? I've been having alot of trouble with this while making the chimes and I finally settled for letting it bend towards the top so the chain stays in the middle with the bend, but I end up losing the length needed for even heads on both sides, even when I add extra length. 

    Do you have to have a rivet in the tube? My solution would be to drill two holes at the top (one each side diametrically opposed) and then make a wire hanger to fit,

    Make hanger like an inverted V shape with ends flared out in the same straight line plane, to fit into the two holes, trim to length to slightly plus the diameter of the tubes and then spring it into place in the drilled holes and use this as a suspension point.

  3. If there is no where to suspend it, it would make sense to go up from and attached to the hearth structure at the back and part of the sides,   

    search for Super-sucker chimneys on this site to see how they work

    Leave access at the sides to pass your longer work pieces through

  4. 37 minutes ago, Nathan Kraft said:

    So you mean not making  a hood at all and rather allowing the pipe alone to use the draft to suck the smoke up like a vacuum cleaner?

    The heat from the fire produces the draft, but you need to channel the heat to the pipe, hence the hood.

  5. You may find the ones with the handles at 90 degree to the opener "blade" awkward to use.

    While using these as a practising too, The use of a flatter on the opener blade would also help in removing the hammer marks to inmprove the finish,

    and , if the scrolled ends were more tapered to a point, they would IMHO look somewhat better.,

    Look forward to seeing them  all completed and the progress you will no doubtedly make as you get through them.

    Enjoy.

     

  6. Hi Pat, 

    Firstly I would cut out a piece (probably 4" square) for the BMW badge from the plate, leaving a margin all the way around, makes it easir to work than a disc of the finshed size and you get equal resistance all around its perophery when casing the profile in, and incise your second circle as the first one.

    When you are satisfied with your design, then cut off the excess, Hacksaw, and file or use the dremel to finish the outer diameter.

    use the hacksaw as you would forge a round on the end of a square bar.  Saw the corners off near to your marking out of the outer diameter, just keep taking similar cuts from all the remaining corners as you proceed around the circumference and you generate a circle.

    A square is just a circle with all its corners removed.

    No need to use a chisel, this may distort your edges, and if the chisels aren't very good, then consider re-hardening and tempering them, they should at least be made from a suitable steel for their use.

    For the angel profile, then hacksaw and dremel (or file) to finish.

  7. 5 hours ago, Pat Masterson said:

    Good morning everyone. So I want to make a BMW symbol from 1/8” plate for a Christmas gift. It’s going to be 3” in diameter but I need to make two clean circles to give it the same look as the picture I hopefully attached here correctly. One circle all the way on the border and then a smaller one in the middle. I’m struggling to figure out what to use though...maybe I leave just a bit extra on the diameter and use like a 3” and 2” pipe or fitting that I could use kind of like a stamp? Haven’t been able to find something like that with a nice clean edge though. Or do you think I can do it with a very small chisel or will that just look like a bunch of straight chisel marks in a circle? Let me know how you think you’d might do it. Thanks!

    Hi Pat, I'm a little confused with the two circles, if its going to be 3" diameter, then you only need one circle. Anyhow, this is my approach to making this item

    Anneal your metal.

    Mark out the finished shape you are wanting.

    I would then use a small (Approx 4" long x 3/8" diameter or hex stock) radius fuller chasing tool, and a light weight hammer (12oz) and incise in the profiles and lines you want.

    A Search for chasing tools for some idea of how to use and what they look like may help, hard to describe otherwise , but it will look like a blunt chisel that has a very small radius instead of a sharp edge, and instead of being square to the shank end, it has a radiuse end, the smaller this radius the more easily you can control your incised curve.

    It is just a case of applying patience, and using small incremental moves, you can deepen the grooves until you get to your desired depth.

    I would then cut the material to the outside diameter and chamfer the edge to give the appearance of your second, larger circle, and clean up for the finish

    Looks like a fun project, enjoy.

  8. On 10/19/2020 at 1:52 PM, Michael said:

    Picked up this little bit of kit.  I'm assuming this is one end of a machinist clamp I have vague memories of seeing.

    I think your assumption is correct. They usually come in pairs, and are used to support clamping bars on machine tables to secure workpieces.  This block has sixteen different increments, (if used at 90 degrees)

    The clamp bars have a slot down the centre to enable them to have a tee bolt pass through to locate in a tee slot on the machine table.

    They are an alternative to a screw bottlejack as they accommodate smaller heights to suit component thicknesses.

  9. Apologies for appearing to be patronising in this response, but I am just trying to go through the making process involved in producing this type of joint in a finished project, and avoid some of the pitfalls it can involve, a little forethought and planning can save a lot of time and mistakes.This is the method I use, others opinions may differ.

    Tenons can be round,  square or rectangular depending on their purpose.

    Consider where it is going to be used, and how best to manage it before starting. This will depend on its purpose in the structure it is to be used in.

    Plan a logical way of making it for ease of forging process, accuracy in finished item, and then assembling for final riveting in situ.

    EG if you punch and drift a bar for the mortice, then its overall length will alter, not much for a punched hole, more for a lit and drifted hole. For a tenon, you allow that the volume of metal in the tenon means the length to start the incising is much shorter than the required finished length, excess may be cut off, but it is wasted time and effort if you make them too long.

    This is my take on making a simple arm to backplate item. I am going to use a square tenon as I don’t want the finished piece to be able to swivel.

     

    These are two such items I used them on.

      475826094_Bootscraperbottomenddetails.jpg.31f5ae5d589035ce50b0ef730efffefb.jpg

      1474497740_Hangingbasketbracket.JPG.51b34edf6ab7b7311959b75d6c303f3e.JPG

    Mark out the piece where the mortice is to go, (use a centre punch to mark its location) You then have a choice to slit and drift, or punch to a size.(This gives the dimension for your tenon)

    Take a heat and punch from one side most of the way through (may need more than one) and when there is an indication on the back of the piece, punch from that location to remove the slug/pellet Note when you do this, use a bolster or some suitable item to support the material around the area being punched through, otherwise the bar may bend and trap the punch making it difficult to withdraw. Then drift to final size if needed. Finally flatter or hammer straight and allow to cool.

    1197314498_BootscraperUprightsTenonandslot.jpg.f8a9c1894f18434cd0c1fa89e082b084.jpg

       1919597236_BOOTSCRAPERDETAILS.jpg.5447e50468b1b64524d73204fa112d4e.jpg

     

    Now make the tenon to fit into this hole. (You may or may not need to upset the end of the bar, depending on where the item is to be used as on a heel bar.)

     

    Tools being used,   from left to right, Curved butcher, side set, set hammer.

    2053041151_1aToolsrequiredButcherSidesetsethammer.jpg.205ec92521e8fc5e585a6d2be14b2604.jpg


    Heat the end of the bar, and use the curved butcher to mark the shoulder all around for forming the tenon, the curved blade marks the corners of the bar. Ensure the blade is square to the bar's axis, and that the angle side is facing the short end of the bar where the tenon is to be formed, you can then turn the bar 90 degrees and continue marking all four sides, this leaves a crisp shoulder to work from

    764374221_5cFirstnotchsquaretobar.jpg.6b3ac3e3669636d582ad75a228d8b113.jpg

          656509351_6aNotchallwayroundlocatinginpreviousnotchedcornerskeepsquare.jpg.e1a8e2ee13faeb111d0ce1a935094b8f.jpg

     

    Repeat this, deepening the cut until you are approaching the finished size required for your tenon.

    Now start forming the square tenon, use a good square edge on the anvil, using the side set start the tenon and either continue with this or if your hammer skills are good enough, forge the tenon to a near finished size equally from all four sides, using the existing hole in the backplate as a guide

     

    1275208874_7aUsesidesettoisolatestartoftenonshoulder.jpg.952a915011feccb13da8f9d0834cbcdc.jpg

       1057413622_7bRepeatallwayaroundonagoodedge.jpg.b4c1c9b9e12a26a183a127ba57738e88.jpg

      1690927698_8cSquareedgedblockinuse.jpg.9a1a36e65913a2c368efa364242fcfbc.jpg

    If the anvil edge is not a clean square corner, use a square block/hardie but note a sharp edge in the corners at the base of the tenon is not desirable, and ensure there are no hot shuts or cracks in the metal. This can cause premature failing and fracture later.

    You can then tidy up and finish forge the tenon and mating faces using the set hammer
    until the tenon fits into the hole in the plate
    1630050630_9aDrawouttenonusesethammertogettocorners.jpg.76f3e2ef4c3fc88a9c386de4d0427725.jpg

        525123814_9bDrawouttenontofit.jpg.7d8cadc8235dc333345259d58724d5b4.jpg  

     

    The tenon should be central to all sides, ensure it fits and beds down nicely by monkeying/monkeeing it by using the backplate over a bolster,( swage block, hardie hole or in this case the pritchel hole) of an appropriate size to support the work adequately as it is being bedded in.
    282530436_9cTenonfittedandusingotherpieceasamonkeytooltosquareandseatthetenon.jpg.0a0cb8c0b616bd56e793cb3cd9dc9363.jpg

      296422354_9dTheloosefitwhencool.jpg.8e3f13b4a2486a5725acf4c4ea2bda75.jpg  

    Allow the bar to cool slowly, if not it may be hard when you come to saw it off to the required length.

    Assemble and mark out for rivetting, the rivetting allowance is approximately one and a half times the thickness of the tenon, and then saw off excess.

    1302340898_10aMarkoutforlength.jpg.b213499de0f4ddc8f5f5fa013d49f259.jpg

      1341206557_10cCutoffreadytorivet.jpg.239cdce8df723fe5f7ed7eea4c1c288b.jpg 


    When the item is finished ready for fitting, reheat the tenon and using the leg vice or some other suitable method to hold it, rivet the item into place, use light rapid hammer blows working all around the tenon and keeping it straight to give an even head, and maintain its squareness, you should be able to do this without having to reheat the rivet to finish, as it cools it should tighten further.

    The workpiece is then ready to be finished for whatever you need for its other working end, and you can mark it out using the tenon shoulder as a datum.

    When the item is finished ready for fitting, reheat the tenon and using the leg vice or some other suitable method to hold it, rivet the item into place, use light rapid hammer blows working all around the tenon and keeping it straight to give an even head, and maintain its squareness, you should be able to do this without having to reheat the rivet to finish, as it cools it should tighten further.

     

    Apologies for poor picture quality, and I hope you find this useful.

     

     



     

  10. If you are cutting hot, you should not get a rebound, if you are, then material needs reheating. When you place a cutting plate under the workpiece, it may rebound then as you chisel until it is through.

    If you are cutting cold, then patience is the key, line up your chisel, hit, pause and then move chisel on into next position and hit again, Material may bounce on impact and is usually due to the workpice and the supporting item not being in perfect alignment, allowing top piece to spring/deflect when being struck.

  11. Either way is good, but if you don't hold the 90 degrees vertical to the cutting face and your half and half technique does not align at the same place, that is when you get a ragged edge and need to address the finish, also you can end up with different width strands,

    For beginers it is advisable to accurately mark out using a cold chisel, guide lines on all four sides on the centrelines of each side, and to the same extremities before attempting to slit, again the 90 degree rule is essential

  12. I usually slit all the way through (onto a sacrificial plate at the last stage to prevent damage to the slitter)

    Then close up and resquare the piece, then repeat slitting again from this side. 

    Resquare again, and use a thin drift over a suitable bolster to open up the slots prior to twisting and forming the cage.

    Open cage to desired profile (If you have any burred edges you can address the issue now, either use a mandrel, or file off any ragged bits)

    Twist to the required form

    This sample was on a 1/2" bar and not dressed at all.

    1831301347_Twistfromsolid.jpg.107eabfb35196e23794439792c9b67c1.jpg

     

  13. On 9/10/2020 at 10:37 PM, ThomasPowers said:

    Does anyone remember if this is addressed in the COSIRA book(s)?

    Hi Thomas, sorry for any confusion but,

    Upon checking, apparently so, but this conflicts with what an original CoSIRA instructor told me, and it worked well for me on the larger gates

    The reference for the PDF format is Wrought Ironwork, Part 6  page 86 Lesson 30, Item D, and the recommendation is 1/16" per foot.

    See what works best for you

     

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