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I Forge Iron

Walking Dog

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Everything posted by Walking Dog

  1. Arkham - Use flux. Borax (not Boraxo) works well. You can find borax in the laundry section of some big box stores. The band name I get is "20-Mule Team." Try 1/2 inch square stock. Be prepared for frustration. Really, your best bet is get with a smith who is good at forge welding and learn hands on. Three critical issues are 1) Getting the right temperature (judging the color), 2) How and where to hit it, and 3) When to stop hitting and reheat and refine the weld. These things have been discussed a lot on this site, but hands-on with someone is the best way to learn. Walking Dog
  2. The older the smith, the darker the heat. (In regard to forge welding.)
  3. Your disc brake rotor would be a good start on a work stand or something similar. Remove the bearings and fit a pipe into the center hole. Make the attachment solid by fitting a scrap of round stock under the lug bolt, and welding its other end(s) to the pipe.
  4. I punched a hole (hot) in a tie plate and screwed it to a heavy chunk of wood. I put this under my leg vise so the leg wouldn't have to rest on my concrete floor. Obviously this raises the vise a few inches, but that was also what I needed. Walking Dog
  5. I've made several tools from the track clips with good success (several center punches, several spring fullers, twisting wrenches). The material definitely has significant carbon, is tough to forge, and will crack if you handle the forging or heat treating carelessly. I suggest to treat it as though it were 1060. I forge at high orange, oil quench, and draw it back to magenta going on purple for a center punch. (The fullers and the twisting wrenches I just forged and normalized.) Good luck, and have fun with it! Roger
  6. Zsartell - My wife and I are the keepers of the store for NOB (Northwest Ohio Blacksmiths). We have anvil suspenders in either black or red. I think there is also 1 pair of blue left. The club is charging $15 - let me know by email if you are interested. Grant notwithstanding, I think they'll fit in a $5 flat rate box! Walking Dog
  7. Removing the chrome into an acid solution will produce toxic waste - not a lot, but something I'd hate to just dump down the drain. Couldn't you just get a piece of traditional stock material for your knife - say, an old file - and turn in your ratchet to recycling?
  8. Tim, I would suggest a blow pipe. Use 1/2-inch square tubing, about 30 inches long. Forge one end down to constrict the hole to about 1/8 inch. Flare the other end and roll the lip around back on itself to make a nice smooth place to blow on it. You can put on a hanging hook if you like, and some prefer a 30-degree bend near the business end (I like it straight myself). The blow pipe is the handiest thing for starting a fire, or restarting from nearly dead coals. Roger
  9. Phil The RARE- VINTAGE ZENITH VARIABLE TRANSFORMER- TYPE 36Y should work well on a 240-V circuit, if you are happy with the price. The "Brand new variable transformer, i.e., Variac. Input is single phase 110V AC, 60 Hz, output voltage can be adjusted from 0 to 250V AC." will be fine with a 120-V input circuit. Should be easy to apply this one. Another option, if you don't have a 240-V circuit, is to use the combination of a 120-V Variac with a 120/240 transformer, as long as the price is right. Roger
  10. I'm an electrical engineer with a good track record in getting these sorts of motors to work. There are two good ways to approach this. Use a 220-V circuit with a 220-V variable transformer (trade names include "Variac," "Adjust-a-Volt," "Powerstat," and others). These variable transformers are widely available in surplus and old equipment as speed controls or light dimmers, and although a bit expensive, are efficient and don't put out the heat a rheostat would. The current rating needs to be about 1 A or better, GUESSING at the motor size. Use a rheostat with a current rating of at least 1 A (guessing at the motor size). Your experiments say that you need more than 50, but less than 2000 ohms. Maybe 200 or 500 ohms. These things are also available in some surplus outlets, if you look hard enough. To narrow this down, find a couple of fixed resistors in the 200-500 ohms neighborhood and try them. The value you want for the rheostat is the smallest resistor value that will slow the motor down to the minimum speed you would ever want. The rheostat may be marked with a power rating in the neighborhood of 100-200 W, but as you've discovered, the real test comes at almost full speed where the motor current is at its highest and only the last few turns of the rheostat element are in the circuit. There is no harm in running the motor on low voltage PROVIDED it doesn't overheat. Overheating might occur due to the lack of cooling air when the motor is slow or stalled, but as long as it doesn't overheat, it won't be harmed. You could also try an electronic type light dimmer (220-V). These may or may not work right with a motor, but it won't hurt to try, as long as there is no overheating. On a motor this old, be sure the bearings are free, the brushes are good, and the commutator is clean and not scarred and pitted. Bad brushes/commutator may lead to the case where the motor will run, but the speed control is very poor. Good luck. (Roger)
  11. My wife and I frequently enjoy the visit to Holmes county. I have seen a couple of good anvils at what I thought fair prices in the antique stores there (imagine that!). I've gotten excellent deals on a few blacksmithing tools and a vise from antique stores there. Don't bother with all the billboards telling you to visit a working blacksmith shop (Wendell August), it's no longer there. Just various castings imported from somewhere else. Have a good time!
  12. Hay rake tines are made of junkyard metal, so those rules apply. However, the hay rake tines I'm using seem to be quite high in carbon, make good knifes, and are notably harder to forge than mild steel. Forge it hot (high orange), but not too hot (it turns to cottage cheese, or sparks), and don't forge it cold (below bright red). I'm saving my hay rake tines for things that require a very hardenable steel.
  13. Another dishing option is the bottom end of a gas cylinder, such as an oxygen bottle. My welding supplier gave me a scrap one for free when I described my blacksmithing activities.
  14. And make sure you're starting the die on its correct side.
  15. I have had exactly the same experience with a piece of 1/2 square reclaimed from a section of fencing of unknown provenance, but it looks like newer rather than older stuff. I got the same cracking when bending it hot. I also questioned my forging abilities, and tried again at a higher heat, with equally bad results. This happened at a demo, so I had to change the theme of my project on the fly. When I got home to the rest of my stock, there was no problem - just this piece.
  16. I also should have said more about safety. There are at least 3 serious concerns. 1) If you tamper/modify/damage the door, cavity, or magnetron, you may get a microwave leak which will be harmful to anyone in the vicinity of the oven. 2) The voltage/current levels in the power supply are lethal. 3) If you do get something in the oven to a very high temperature, you will need to handle it safely. See metal casting discussions for mention of the safety precautions needed for molten metals. For most cases using the microwave wouldn't be very practical anyway. As John said, just use your forge.
  17. Melting or Smelting in a Microwave Oven Yes, very high temperatures can be attained in a microwave without damage to the oven, IF you know what you are doing. I am aware of metal melting and casting being done very nicely BY USING A SPECIAL CRUCIBLE which is very lossy at the microwave frequency (2.5 GHz). If you are just experimenting without a good understanding of the principles involved, there are several things which could go wrong. However, as long as you don't hurt the integrity of the door seal, the likely damage is limited to 1) a burnt mess inside the oven, 2) a burned-out magnitron, or 3) a burned-out transformer/power supply. Operating with a damaged door seal could be bad for you personally. The magnitron is coupled to the metal cavity, which contains strong standing waves in operation. The door is part of the cavity. The window in the door contains a metal screen, which makes it opaque to the microwaves, even though it is almost transparent to visible light. The fit up of the door over the rest of the cavity is critical to keeping the standing waves inside where they won't be harming you. The plastic liner, glass shelf, and other decorative doodads are irrelevant and can be removed. Metals are generally quite conductive and quite reflective to microwaves. Operating the microwave empty, or with a few pieces of metal (foil, silverware, etc) is bad because the standing waves will be very intense, having spots throughout the cavity of high field strength. Even though foil sparks and burns when you do this, relatively little damping of the standing wave is occurring. There will also be hot spots inside the magnetron, and it will overheat if you persist. That's why your instruction book says not to do this. If you place something which absorbs energy (is lossy to microwaves) into the cavity, there will be a lot of power transfer from the magnetron to the lossy object, which will get hot. The intensity of the standing wave will be reduced, the oven will be able to run happily for a long time in this condition, and odd bits of silverwave and foil can also sit in the cavity calm and cool under this condition. The microwave frequency was chosen to make a strong energy transfer to water and fat molecules (food), naturally. The lossiness of other materials varies. A good approach to heating a metal to a very high temperature would be to get a crucible which can stand the target temperature and is lossy at 2.5 GHz. There are certain ceramic materials which can do this. The crucible will get very hot safely, thus heating the things put into it. You will also have to set the crucible on a material which is an excellent thermal insulator, and is NOT lossy to microwaves. I would try (don't know firsthand) typical refractory materials such as kaowool. By the way, the temperature inside the crucible will rise WITHOUT UPPER LIMIT until the radiant and conduction heat losses from it counterbalance the available power from the magnitron. If your crucible is very well insulated, it is possible to reach plasma temperatures(!). You will need to adjust the insulation and/or heating time so that you only get to a safe temperature for your insulation. I don't know the source for just the right crucible - only that this is how it's done. The consequence of a bad door seal is exposure of yourself to a strong microwave field. This may lead to cataracts in your eyes. This was learned the hard way by radar technicians working on the fairly powerful radars introduced in the 1950's during the cold war. Sorry for the rather long dissertation, but this is an area I know something about, and there seems to be a lot of interest in the idea.
  18. To answer the original question, I don't know any way to make the bells really quickly, other than practice. I do use a swinging-arm type of fuller to neck down the pipe. Also, the bigger the pipe diameter, the wider the fuller needs to be to bring the pipe down without loosing a lot of wall thickness. For 3-inch schedule 40, I find that a fuller made of 7/8-inch diameter round works well, but my fuller made of 3/8-inch flat causes excessive loss of thickness as I pinch the pipe down to about 1/2-inch ID for the handle. The 3/8 fuller is good with 2-inch schedule 40 pipe. Belling out the pipe on the horn is tedious, so I emphasize the reduction in diameter back at the stem end of the bell to put things in proportion. Also, I like to cut the bell end (usually 5 cuts) to allow it to be easily flared with a great deal of visual effect, but very little stretching of metal - this does make the end result much easier to obtain. I've attached a picture of the finished bells, and a sketch of the process. Note that the gap at the handle/stem attachment gives a place for the weldment (I use a buzz box). Make the weldment at a size that then allows you to draw the stem down further and the weld will forge out nicely. Walking Dog
  19. Rosco - Here are some additional thoughts . . . After your first fire, save the coked-up coal for starting the next fire. There will be less smoke. Draw the green coal into the fire gradually as needed, working it in from the sides. Never dump it onto the fire directly. At start up, poke an air hole into the coal pile right above the air grate to let flame come up. It will tend to burn up some of what would have been smoke. Try another source of coal. There is a lot of variation in coal and its tendency to smoke.
  20. Mike - your information on pots is very interesting to me. I'm always looking for good blacksmith items in my period (Ohio frontier, about 1760-1810). With uncrimped, soldered seams, I can see why there are few survivors! A few seconds over a campfire after the pot boils dry, and it would come unglued. Is the authentic sheet iron as thin as 20 gauge? Were there any forge welded examples that you know of? Is cast authentic for this time period? Just hoping you can enlighten me.
  21. Induction Heating No, induction heating is quite different than a microwave. A microwave uses standing waves at 2.45 gigahertz, which will couple energy efficiently into things containing water or fats. The induction heating operates at a few hundred kilohertz, and does not create much of a standing or traveling wave. It couples energy efficiently into conductive things (metals) by inducing circulating eddy currents into the object being heated. Grant's induction heater operates in the region of 200-400 kHz, if I recall correctly, although there is nothing critical about the exact number from the point of view of the metal being heated. There are also induction heaters which are designed to operate at much lower frequencies with ferrous metals only (read magnetic), and couple energy efficiently up to the Curie temperature . These work by inducing hysteresis losses into the magnetic work piece. Induction heating of a ferrous work piece results from the combination of hysteresis loss and the heating caused by circulating currents in the work piece.
  22. May I suggest . . . cheap, garage sale stainless "silverware" is forgeable, and can be used for low-cost practice. I have forged a number of lilies, with leaves, out of spoons and knives. One warning: some of the cheap stuff has hollow handles. If so, drill a hole, or break the handle open somehow, before putting it in the forge! I got a real surprise when I found out about this. The closed handle exploded and threw flaming coals all about my shop.
  23. Pricing I enjoy smithing at reenactments as an unpaid demonstrator; I display items for sale, but they only offset my cost of being there in part. People will generally part with $20-30 at these events, but it's hard to get more no matter how nice the work. I've reached a level of quality in the past few years that justifies a higher price, even for my camping goods, with their braided handles, worked their full length, unusual design and decoration features, etc. Two of my options appear to be: Find a higher-class venue where they'll pay more and appreciate the work, or lower my prices and quality towards what the market will bear. My pleasure has been to solve special problems for other demonstrators, such as making a tool they can't get, or repairing something. They'll usually pay fairly for the work, and it gives me a lot of pleasure to do it. My advice, if you are working only for the fun of it: 1) Don't go under the prevailing price. Over is fine. 2) Don't go under your costs unless you choose to do it for reasons that suit you. 3) Give your best work away as presents, donations, etc. If you want to make some income, what Charlotte said above. Best wishes! I forge for the fun of it. I did do a commission last summer for an upscale kitchen, felt I was well-paid, and the lady said next time, don't short yourself. Some of this work is out there too, if you are sharp and on the ball to present yourself well and get the work. The best move I've made on pricing is to put my wife in charge of it. She is much more ruthless than I am in getting the price, so she does the haggling when we're at the reenactments.
  24. Disappearing Pieces I was using the hot cut, and the last tap was a little too forceful. The red hot shard of metal disappeared across the shop, and as I was wondering if there would be a fire in unknown quarters, the first curl of smoke arose from my wife's plastic swimming pool stowed away for the winter. When the inconvenient truth sank in, I raced over to see the hot metal slowly sinking through fold after fold of the pool. I poured in the water, but in the spring I had to patch the pool in 5 places. I had thought that 20 feet away would have been enough. HF Tools I bought a pitman arm puller to do a repair on my son's truck. It shattered, and razor sharp pieces bounced all over the shop. I didn't even have safety glasses on. Thankfully, none hit me. I gathered the pieces and expressed strong unhappiness at HF as I got my money back. I bought a real tool at the auto store and easily finished the job. In other words, I've gotten some good deals at HF, and I've been burned there too, several times.
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