Spears

Thank you for the pictures and tutorial Dave, I'm thinking I might be able to do that with the handles of one set of tongs anchored in a vice for tooling. Or something could be made rather easily. Looks like you're able to neck it down perfect even having done it less than ten times. Thin walled tubing (un-plated)low carbon steel can be found or purchased pretty cheaply. I was a bit in the dark on how I was going to go about trying to do that, but seeing those pictures make me believe I can get it pretty good in the first try. Thanks again, Spears.

Hello Dave, Thank you for all the nice pictures of your work. I like the candle cups with the rippled edge. Could you explain a few details about how those are made? I was going to try to neck down a piece of tubing (whenever I can get my hands on some). I don't know if I even have anything to try and make that happen. Needing a little "how to" so I can make some as good as yours. Thanks. Spears.

After reading some of these stories, I can sympathize for those who work a job everyday that have to deal with the stupidity of the general public. There must be some sort of psychological envy of not being in the spotlight oneself or otherwise the matter is, they themselves can’t do it. Having some experience with it I like to watch others hand forge whether beginner or pro. I don’t get the luxury of watching hand forging very often at all. I just hope when I do, some screwball doesn’t try to ruin the show. Regards, Spears.

For what little traveling I do, I’m not convinced that much forged iron work is getting done even with the number of blacksmiths there are in the geographical area. It’s hot, hard, and takes a long time. It also takes a workshop with a substantial amount of equipment. Many times it can only be seen in the wealthiest establishments. I love having a collection of it. So why do it? If I can do it and have it all around me, I’m RICH! Well, at least I get to think I am. It’s the way you feel that counts.

Hello Dave, More importantly than the price is the fact that you have a little bit more to work with. The list of high tech cutting and tapping fluids is a mile long and for most work done in a Blacksmith shop they’re way overkill. When tapping just a few holes in low carbon steel, just about any oil will drastically reduce friction between the tap and work piece. I would use Crisco before I stuffed a tap into a hole dry. Just because dry cutting leaves a bad finish and severely takes life out of those sharp cutting edges which will cause excessive “drag” and cutting pressures which can cause the tap or die to break. CNC shops are concerned with tool life for hundreds of tapped holes in expensive alloys and forever +1 day could be spent talking about what works best. It wont matter much between 10W40 or Marvel Mystery oil when all we want to do down on the farm is tap a couple of holes in a piece of angle iron. Hence, “put a little oil on it” and try to never tap dry. It takes a close up view of the cutting edges of a tap to truly tell how used or dull it is. A dull tool will be revealed in the event of “excessive effort required” because the tap or die is rubbing not cutting. Not to mention bad finish even using lubricant. Compare some of those old taps with some of those new ones I gave you under a magnifying glass and examine the differences. They should feel different also. Just be sure to clean or burn the oil off if you’re going to apply a clear coat so you end up having good adhesion with your chosen finish around the threaded area. Good luck. Spears.

Yup, times are changing. People get arrested for going on private property and taking things that they themselves consider the rightful owner no longer needs. I like those good ole days where thieves just got shot. Then a thief could be a respected individual who deals with elevated elements of risk versus just a low down piece of trash looking to recycle metal for that next pack of cigarettes. Just my two cents. Spears.

Here is the link to my report I did on another forum where I used a 2.5 X 12" hydraulic cylinder. It isn't a "new" style Kinyon but I used that size of cylinder and it works. http://www.metalartistforum.com/maf/index.php?/topic/5010-power-hammer-build-photos/ Good luck. Spears.

Only on rare occasions for symmetry or in the case of a portion of a braid that has to be twisted left to make the braid will I twist both left and right. I do think two doors opening from the center might look a bit more balanced having handles with their own direction of twist since each opens opposite and the handles are seen close together. However, ornaments on both sides of windows, doors, driveways, etc and even table legs I will most always do a right hand twist. It’s just my own preference. I would bring up that fact with a customer should I undertake building something for outside my private collection and I’m glad you took the time to notice. Regards, Spears.

Sorry about the typo error. The top is 3/4" thick. My Bad. Spears.

I acquired a heavy marble top (3/4” thick) and decided make a table. I used 1” round for the legs and 3/8” rod braided for the horizontals welded to 1/4” x 2” flat bar hammered into U-channel and fish tailed. Its all Mig welded construction. It is supposed to have a bit of illusion like the horizontals are made from very thick bar instead of flat bar pounded into U-channel. It is free hand pounded and fabricated so it isn’t sized or geometrically perfect to precise dimensions. I center drilled a hole in the top of each leg to hold a blob of quality silicon caulk. This was done to take up the “high corner” that four legged construction presents. After a good dry time the table top was placed on and compressed the rubber blobs nicely with no leveling problems. I’m anxious to see how this holds up for the long run. Enjoy, Spears.

There's nothing like a giant spider to catch the worlds attention. I sculpted a spider a few years back 10" tall in a 9 ft long web and it sits as a fence section out in front of my house. Traffic slows down, kids go crazy, and it remains the highest public opinion of all my yard displayed artwork. Sometimes makes me think all I should sculpt is spiders. I hope that ends up on public display somewhere because I'm sure everyone will stop to look at it. Nice work. Spears.

Sympathy and prayers for you and your family.

Hello Dave, If the square shank of the bolt isn’t important (i.e. doesn’t show after assembly), you can purchase “plain finish” (un-plated) low carbon square head bolts up to 8” long from McMaser Carr Supply. Then you can forge or grind the head to come close. That is if “come close” is acceptable for the job. I’m assuming the thread is 1/2-13 standard USA. Low carbon plain steel (un-plated) square nuts are also available. Try Mc Master Carr website and just type in the numbers 90043A055 & 91465A194. Or you can sort through the index. I use McMaster Carr plain finish hardware for many projects so I can weld or forge the components without breathing in poison. As far as authenticity and replication goes, that depends on whether your customer wants to pay for the extra time to hand build hardware as opposed to how close you can replicate with “hand altered” hardware. Best wishes and good luck with the project. Spears.

Thanks for the progressive pictures. I like how collar thickness times two actually comes out decent for "corner bend take up" on four corners. I wouldn't have known how much to add on. If I ever do some collaring I will definitely give that a try. Most of the time when I do something so infrequently, I end up leaving it a bit long and trimming it off the hard way. It will be better to have a "come close" rule of thumb than wasting material. Thanks again. Spears.

If you already have a pedestal grinder, you may want to practice hand sharpening. Can be done sufficiently right down to even 1/16" bits. Ive also done it on a stand up disk sander. Most older people in the machine trades know how to do this if you need work with someone on it. Good luck. Spears.

Starting out cursed by perhaps my own curiosity. At age 12 saw a TV ad for a certain brand of hacksaw blade that went right down through a piece of steel pipe. Asked dad if it was real. Also saw dad cut open a water tank using an arc welder. Kind of fascinating even when I watch it today. Didn’t hesitate one bit. Took every metal shop class starting with middle school and why hesitate when you’re pretty good at it. Named most outstanding in high school Vocational Machine shop so went for the same thing at the community college. Extra CAD classes, extra Welding classes, and extra Math classes added to it. Hardships. Never got into a good company. Always low paid. It wasn’t for lack of ability. It’s more like when your just so good at doing the work all some companies want to do is work you to death because your making them so much money. After a few years of long hours and 6 day work weeks, I said screw it and went to a four year university to obtain a degree in Manufacturing Engineering Tech. Further Hardship. Finished my 4yr degree in 1994 at the same time some jackass politician signs NAFTA resulting in migration of employment out of the USA. Not to mention jobs directly pertaining to my background. Opportunities in the geographical area I started in diminished and it took some time to migrate out. Regrets. Be mobile. Vote with your feet if your location isn’t right for you. I hesitated a bit too long. If you can’t seem to find what you’re better suited for, then maybe you’re in the wrong spot. It isn’t easy to pack up and move, but the time and money losses for staying in a downward environment add up. Good luck. Spears.

She should be happy with beautiful hardware like that. I wish I had the time to do my entire kitchen with something like that. Thanks for showing. Spears.

The "Lufkin" name might only be found on things like 25' yo yo style tape measures these days, but in the "Made in USA" days, their micrometers, depth mics, rulers, etc were every bit as good as Leroy Starrett Co. You not only have a relic, but a fine instrument made by hard working quality minded people who built things that hardly wear out. Many Lufkin instruments don't die, only the owners. Nice find! Spears.

Hello Ciladog, I like your inspiration for something new and innovative. I also like your desire for people to get involved and use their thinkers. However, you may be stuck in a world like I am. "If I want something done, it won't get done unless I do it myself". I hope some people with pneumatics knowledge jump in and help you out. Good luck. Spears.

I can speak about juried art exhibitions because it is something I do. I like the challenge of trying to take ribbons with my work. First and foremost, it isn’t perfect. What the Jury is supposed to do is separate or “weed out” certain works of art that may not be suited to compare one with the other. Division of categories cannot do it all. For example: Paintings are categorized separately from things like Photography or 3D sculpture like clay modeling. The Jury decides what works get “juried” in under their categories to compete against “like” works of “end result” nature. In a perfect world the Jury should be made up of a number of impartial thinkers having some knowledge and experience of what it takes to conjure up and produce something in an “eye-hand” craft that can be subjected to public scrutiny to answer the end question which one is better. Now, having said all that, here is an explanation of why Blacksmithing does and doesn’t apply. First of all, Blacksmith work isn’t pondering the art world much for probably the same reasons there isn’t a large number of young folks doing it. It’s hot, hard, and takes a long time. You can’t compare a stair railing with a sculpture someone carved out of rock. Both can be in class by themselves. Swords and knives are also in a category of their own. It doesn’t make sense to compare a fine blade to a wood carving of a horse. So the jury makes decisions like this and accepts and returns entry fees accordingly along with immediate non acceptance of certain works. One cannot count on the people of the Jury to fairly do anything whether they have formal education in “fine art” or not. Spears.

Thanks for clarifying what that is for those of us who are unfamiliar with all these words and terms. For a second there, I thought it was just a short name for the nose of a snuffeluffaguess. Nice dies. Spears.

Hey Dodge, What I sometimes do in that application is grind a notch in the "hard" or high carbon steel and line it up with a hole in the low carbon "weldable" sleeve and then plug weld and grind smooth. Even if it hot cracks on the high carbon it probably still won't push/pull or rotate out of there. Just food for thought. Good luck with your project. Spears.

After aluminum has been mechanically finished by say 600 or 1200 grit, you might try brassow. The can might say not to use it on aluminum, probably because of chemistry so thoroughly wash hands and discard rags safely after procedure. The middle piece is bronze and aluminum and was done on a lathe with emery cloth and then brassow and then dish soap and water. Has looked the same ever since. Good luck. Spears.

I own a Millermatic 250 mig that I bought 12 yrs ago just before they came out with a digital readout on the front. The same machine is still available today and for good reasons. Yes I am biased but considering how easy this machine makes welding steel 1/6” thick all the way to 1/2”, I couldn’t stake a claim that anything was any better. I’m sure any brand name will do the trick, but used up trash and off brands wouldn’t even be on my list. If you buy something reputable and take care of it, I’m sure you can’t go wrong. Considering the availability of parts, I’m glad I went with Miller. It does no good to own something hard to get parts for. Mail order shipping costs and gasoline are through the roof right now so buying something sold right down the street could be a great advantage and definitely should be taken into account. Good luck! Spears.

Hello Stormcrow, Below I have pasted the portion of my Power hammer build describing how I heat treated my 4140 dies. (very similar to yours) Between 350 and 400 degrees temper 1 hour for every inch of cross section should yield an approximate Rockwell 50C for a good depth of the outer surface. You cannot really over temper a part, but you can under temper. With material 3" thick, you should use 3.5 hours minimum to be good and sure. I've tempered for as long as 2 hours per inch of cross section. My dies have been slammed together by accident and even used on cold steel and are showing no dents or wear. Good luck. Hardening the 4140 dies. The method described here is a “limited equipment” method but does work. Consult a book like “Heat treatment, Selection and Application of tool steels by Author Bill Bryson for more proper processing. In the simplest form, I describe the hardening process like this: 1. Get it hot. 2. Quench it. 3. Temper it. What I did was weld a 4”X 4”X 1/2” plate of hot rolled mild steel to a 2”X 2”X 3.5” block of 4140 in first stage of the hardening process. First I welded a small shelf to my forge stand which would hold the tacked together Die assembly face first in my gas forge. This setup allowed me to gradually move the part completely into the forge over a period of time. Efforts were made not to heat this up to quickly. Step 1. I brought the die up to ~200 deg for tack welding in my tempering oven for about 20 minutes. After tacking the block to the plate near the corners, I placed it on the shelf near the mouth of the forge. The die was moved closer into the forge mouth over 10-15 min until starting to take color. The corners of the base plate were the first to turn red. I then removed the part, clamped it to the table and welded down both long sides and quickly returned it to the shelf in front of the forge mouth. Over the next 10-15 minutes I brought the part up to red. Target temperature was 1600+ degrees. Perhaps a bit hot according perfect processing but I made sure I completed step number one. Step 2. Seven gallons of used crankcase oil quickly welcomed the part stirring vigorously up and down round and round. Do not do this if you’re scared to breath in a little oil smoke. It’s a 6lb chunk of red hot steel and when it first hits the oil you will see a bit of fire even at immediate submersion followed by delicious bubbles of smoke! Step 3. The parts were allowed to cool to a 4 second bare hand touch and then they were put in a small oven set at 375 deg for four hours. Step three complete. Spears.