Walking Dog

One more aspect of heating stock to add to the list . . . If the piece is fairly thick, more than 3/4-inch, and you heat it quickly, it is quite possible to have it very hot on the outside, but cold on the inside. When working heavy pieces, I often find that my initial heat doesn't last as long as the ones following, after the inside has come up to forging temperature. It's better to bring thick pieces up to temperature slowly.

Forging pipe - I started a thread a few months ago by asking if there was any particular magic in having a V-block of 117 degrees. I got no definite response. I've been using a large 90-degree V-block and it is helpful. You can also forge flat on your anvil, but as stated, you have to be more careful to keep turning the pipe. I've done bamboo (works very well), bells, and apples. There is a demo on anvilfire for doing an apple from a pipe. I've done it with up to 3-inch Schedule 40. I would add a warning about creating a closed form and putting it into the forge - don't do it. When I close up the apple, I am always careful to leave a small hole somewhere before returning to the fire. I learned this firsthand by putting a cheap table knife with a hollow handle into the forge (!). Walking Dog

A Lug Wrench, the simple kind that comes with the factory tools in the trunk of a car, makes a convenient piece of stock for a hold-down. You can find these lying along the road, or in my case, my Dodge van donated one that fit the Pritchell hole well. The wrench end of it becomes the foot that holds the stock down.

There will be an abundance of abandoned signs in my neighborhood - more than I would need. I've used them in the past for wire wraps around a welded element to conceal the weld. Typically, I find 3/16-inch wire in the signs.

I called on behalf of our blacksmithing club to inquire about our liability coverage for open forge events, and the insurance company was completely flabbergasted to hear that we actually lit fires and used hammers at these events. I then tried contacting ABANA to see what they could tell us, but I got no definite leads on any type of insurance policy to cover club or host liability at a hammer-in or open forge event. In the end, we concluded that the host of such a meeting should have good homeowners with maybe an umbrella rider . . . and then just suck it in. A lawyer gave me the advice that anybody could be sued for anything, but it helps to have and enforce a safety policy, such as glasses, training, supervision for newbies. But he concluded that nothing is foolproof.

Derek - Thermal voltages appear at the junction of any two dissimilar metals. This means that if you make one thermocouple, say iron wire with constantan wire, you will get a thermal voltage at this junction, plus two more where the iron wire and the constantan wire are attached to your millivoltmeter. The reading will then be the sum of all three voltages. The fix is to make two junctions, say iron-constatntan and then constantan-iron, bringing out two iron leads to the meter. The two junctions formed at the meter are the same type each (probably iron-copper), and at the same temperature, and produce equal but canceling contributions to the measurement. The two measuring junctions are then used, one at the unknown temperature, the other in ice water at 0 degrees C. The measured voltage relates to the temperature DIFFERENCE between the two measuring junctions (one of which is at the known temperature of ice water). You can avoid the mess of ice water by putting your reference junction at just room temperature, independently measuring the room temperature, and adjusting the measured temperature difference accordingly. Omega Engineering has an excellent free reference book on thermocouples and other temperature measuring devices. Browse their web site at omega.com.

I normally use coal, but I've got a stash of metallurgical coke as well. I use my coke most effectively for forge welding - when my welding fire starts going hollow, I drop in some pieces of coke to keep it going, rather than raking in green coal and having to put the weld on hold while the coal cokes up. Sometimes this is quite useful, especially when heating a larger piece of work for welding. Yes, the coke does burn very hot and clean.

Instead of using ropes for my perimeter, I have lengths of hand-forged chain with decorative stands. It makes a good focal point for a conversation. Forging the chain also made many good demos, although I am now hesitant to do forge welding at a demo. While blacksmiths are used to hearing about all the relatives that were "real" blacksmiths, the fur trade demonstrators are continually hearing about the relatives who were "Cherokee princesses." Sometimes I can't help responding to the "grandpa who was a real blacksmith" with "my grandpa was a Cherokee princess."

Vladimir An additional option is Northwest Ohio Blacksmiths (NOB). Our next meeting is an open forge at my place in Holland, OH (suburb of Toledo, about 80 miles) on June 7. Our web site is: Northwest Ohio Blacksmiths The meeting after that will be a joint meeting with WRABA in Wakeman, OH. It's on the web site. We just had an excellent hammer-in last weekend - wish you had asked a week ago. Roger King (Walking Dog)

The sketch will show what I've been doing for the clapper and stem. The pipe-bell is drawn down (to about 1/2-inch ID for a 3-inch pipe). Round stock is fullered and drawn down to fit inside the neck on the pipe (in this case, 3/4-inch round stock). The end of the stem is gently flattened and punched (about 3/16 in this case). I clean up the hole with a tiny file. The clapper is drawn out of round stock as illustrated. Sometimes I upset the clapper end to give it more mass. Draw down the attachment end to a fine point, file out any rough places, and hang it on the stem with a very loose swinging joint. Sometimes I put the clapper on before the stem goes into the bell; sometimes after. Stick weld bell to the stem in the gap provided, then go to the forge and draw out the welded joint and the rest of the stem as desired. Hopefully, the signs of the weld disappear in the process.

Hello Again, I've attached a picture of some of the pipe bells that led me to open this thread. They are 3-inch schedule 10, 2-inch schedule 40, and 1 1/4-inch schedule 40. Forging pipe has been a learning experience. I've been using the guillotine tool, the anvil, and a large 90-degree V-block. The guillotine tool draws the metal, so when I tried to take the 3-inch schedule 10 down to 1/2 inch I.D., it got too thin and tore. I had much better luck with the hammer and V-block. For the smaller pipe, the anvil step works. I can also take the pipe down freehand on the anvil, but I think the V-block gives a bit better control to keep it moving evenly without collapsing. Yes, it seems to behave better at a red (not orange) heat, but if I do too much when it's cold, it splits the seam. With regard to the chimney effect, I've been cutting the pipe to length first and then welding a light porter bar on to one end. This avoids taking a heavy length of pipe in and out of the fire. The chimney doesn't burn my hand either, but I still need to block the end when it drafts coal smoke out from under the hood. Parkinson's book refers to using pipe and tubing, but no special info on the methods to work it. Again, thanks for all the suggestions. I've got a 3-inch schedule-40 in progress which is down to 1/2-inch I.D. with little loss of wall thickness. I'm taking pictures as I go so perphaps I be able to post again when it's done. Walking Dog

Thank you all for the helpful replies. I've ordered Peter Parkinson's book by ILL. I've done quite a bit of searching on the Forgemagic site, and I'm finding bits of information, but no dissertation on the subject. There is a passing reference there to making your V-block 117 degrees, but why that number and not just "120" or more than a right angle? Hopefully, this isn't getting too theoretical, but I am curious. I'll be getting some pictures taken soon to post.

When bending square stock (or any other), it's going to want to follow its "easy way" unless you persuade it otherwise. For square stock, the easy way is to bend on the diamond instead of on the flat. (If you just take a piece of light square, say 1/4 inch, and bend it cold around your knee, it will go on the diamond every time.) As noted, you may have to heat and bend in smaller sections so you can apply correction as you go.

Copper electrical wire is a good source of material for forge brazing - it works well for me, both with the torch and in the forge. I also forge weld in the same forge. Flux with borax.

Hello, I've got an assortment of black pipe up to 3-inch and I've been practicing making bells from it. The biggest so far is from the 3-inch schedule 10 pipe. I've made a large swing arm guillotine tool and acquired a large V-block, and I think I'm beginning to get a feel for the process, but I would like to find out what I might be missing. Are there any books that discuss the subject of "pipe forging" that anyone can refer me to? I've heard somewhere that my V-block should be at a 117 degree angle. (What I've got is 90 degrees.) Is there any basis for this, or is it just a rumor?

Borz - A good junkyard material for hot chisels would be automotive or truck coil springs. They typically run 3/8 - 3/4 inches in diameter. Forge your chisel at colors from bright, almost lemony, orange down to bright red, then reheat to continue forging. Let it cool when you have nearly the edge you want. Heat it to non-magnetic and set it aside on your ash heap to cool slowly to room temperature. This is normalizing it to relieve the forging stresses. Heat again to non-magnetic and quench it in warm oil. It should now be quite hard and brittle. Use sandpaper to shine up the working edge by removing the forging scale. Then take a blowtorch and heat the struck end and shaft as uniformly as possible to about 500 - 600 F. Let the heat run down the chisel to the cutting edge. When the cutting edge runs colors from yellow through magenta just turning purple/blue, put it in the water bucket and cool it. This should leave the working end adequately hard, and the struck end soft enough to be tough. At this point, use your file or grinder to dress the working end. If you use a grinder, don't let it get hotter than the same magenta/blue that you heat treated to. This process has worked for me to make reasonably good chisels and punches.

Ben, I found my 12-inch at a larger plumbing-heating contractor supply house (in Toledo), so it's out there. I wouldn't want to go smaller on the pipe, either. In another case where I wanted a short piece of 14 inch, I used two 7-inch pieces from Home Depot. It worked fine, just less convenient to have to put them together.

Clinker Breaker I use an old railroad forge with a clinker breaker and coal. During a full day's forging, or when welding, there comes a time when using the CB is very helpful to "freshen up" the fire and restore its heat output. There also comes a time when it's best to pull the fire apart, clean it out, and rebuild it. My CB used to be a cast iron triangular piece. When it failed, I fabbed a replacement using a 1/2 inch rod (the handle) with three 3/4 inch round pieces arc welded to it. I used a lot of rod and a lot of penetration to try to get a very solid mass. This is to allow the heat on the corners to flow into the whole CB so it wouldn't burn out in a hot fire. I used only mild steel and did this over a year ago. It is holding up quite well in heavy hobby use, including a lot of welding fires.

Newbiesmith - There are two different types of motors that you are likely to encounter on your squirrel cage blower. One is the "universal motor" that Thomas mentioned; the other is a "shaded pole induction motor." The first is what you usually see on the very old forge blowers, and also in electric drills, vacuum cleaners, and hair dryers. Universal motors are identified by their brushes, and they generally respond well to the electronic speed controls. The second type of motor, shaded pole, is common in ceiling fans, phonograph motors, and most modern low-powered bathroom fans and the like. There are no brushes, but there are one or two heavy copper shorting bands wrapped around part of the stator iron in the motor. Speed control for these is more of a problem - as Thomas said, use a throttle in the air inlet. It won't hurt to try an electronic speed control on the shaded pole motor, you'll get some limited results and if you're happy and the motor doesn't overheat, it's OK. Don't spend a lot of money on it, though. As mentioned, the light dimmer may or may not work well on an inductive load. The electronic speed controls such as made for a drill or a Dremel tool may be better. Other choices are a "rheostat" (old sewing machine pedal), or a "Variac" (expensive, but they're around). These all function by reducing the effective voltage to the motor. The shaded pole motor really wants a voltage AND frequency adjustment to vary speed.

Brad - I really like the images of the forging sequence for the rose. In fact, I like it so much that I would like to put it in our blacksmith club newsletter. Are the links above to your server space, or to someone else's? I would like to get permission to use the scan in our newsletter, so anything you can tell me to lead to the source would be helpful. Roger King

Think of the forge, the anvil and the vise as a "work triangle." They should be located at the 3 corners of an equilateral triangle. Of course, you will have to adapt this idea to the realities of your shop situation, but sooner or later you will need to swing a lengthy piece of stock from the forge (sticking out the far side), to the anvil (laid across with a great length in front and in back), and then to the vise. Plan the best you can to have the clear space to swing this unwieldy piece about those 3 locations.

My two cents - this is the plan of study which has served me well in my development over the last 6 years as a smith-wannabe. I divided my time and efforts into three categories and kept moving among them. I deliberately picked out projects and events in each of these areas. 1) Practice basic skills, such as drawing out effectively, upsetting, cutting/punching, forge welding, etc. Skills need to develop over time or your growth will plateau and you will get frustrated. 2) Do projects which are realistic, but a stretch for you. Move on to bigger projects as you improve. Don't go into a production mode before you've reached the end of your learning curve. 3) Spend some time with books, at high level demos, thinking in terms of artist blacksmithing. Develop your imagination for what can be done with hot, squishy iron! Every now and then try an idea, especially one that's outside the box. Good luck!

M-Brothers The comments you've gotten are all helpful. Read the references. In short, 1) get the scarfs right 2) get the fire hot and non-oxidizing 3) both pieces need to reach welding temperature 4) tap it together. Resist the urge to whale on it! 5) stop forging when it gets down to just bright red. Take a second near-welding heat to finish the forging. Simple, huh? This caused me a lot of frustration, too, until I went to an open forge and had it demonstrated where I could see for myself what a good scarf looked like, what a welding heat looked like, what kind of blows were needed, etc. Can you connect up with a nearby club? Walking Dog

My dog says the slack tub is very drinkable! If I let him get too much access, I have to keep refilling it. However, I take no special cares for the quality of the water, just dumping it out and replacing it when it gets disgusting, or frozen. My steel needing a good quench is usually oil-quench steel. For that, I use a mix of corn oil and olive oil, which I also use to blacken any cooking or eating implements that I make. This way I feel better about eating off of them.

I think it is a very nice idea, and it looks good! Is the back piece drawn from rectangular stock (it appears to be 1/4 x 1-1/2)? Could you describe the details on how you did the pivot point? I also made a door knocker for Christmas using two spikes, striking head to head, but no animal features. For a pivot, I split one spike, drew out the two tails and formed a heart shape, with the two ends bearing in holes punched into the sides of the other spike. Advanced reviews by family and friends have been positive, but I like yours.