saintjohnbarleycorn Posted March 27, 2009 Posted March 27, 2009 I have heard people talk about modeling clay being like steel and working it the same way. do they mean acutally hitting it with a hammer or just working it with your hands. thanks for clearing this up. kevin Quote
Frosty Posted March 27, 2009 Posted March 27, 2009 Use light hammers and forge it just like you plan on with steel. It'll tell you a lot about how your plans will work out in the rel world and it's a LOT cheaper than burning gas, coal, etc. and steel learning the same things. I'll use clay to determine what sequence to use if I can't see it up front. If I did it a lot I'd make some light weight wooden hammers that mimic my regular hammers. Frosty Quote
arftist Posted March 28, 2009 Posted March 28, 2009 Clay will also stay the same volume, so it could be useful to determine the amount of metal needed for a certain part. Quote
Bob JS Posted March 28, 2009 Posted March 28, 2009 I watched a youtube video recently. The bloke was demostrating how he forged a sword from a block. He used clay on the anvil with a hammer and is was a great way to demonstrate the process, because he had to hit in the same way but it was much quicker and easier to understand without the pauses for reheats etc. I imagine it would also be a good way to pratice or experiment with how to make something. I did notice that the clay was sticking to the anvil and hammer, so maybe a light dusting occasionaly would help, like rolling pasty. Quote
Glenn Posted March 28, 2009 Posted March 28, 2009 The modeling clay allows you to use all the same tools you would use with steel to get the same or similar results. You must remember that clay moves a lot easier than steel so much less effort is needed to get the same result. Quote
element Posted March 28, 2009 Posted March 28, 2009 I used to love playing with clay and now i got an excuse to play with it again:p:p Quote
archiphile Posted March 28, 2009 Posted March 28, 2009 I used to love playing with clay and now i got an excuse to play with it again:p:p You needed and excuse!? You are an adult do want ever your little heart desires man. Quote
mike-hr Posted March 28, 2009 Posted March 28, 2009 I pulled my achilles tendon pretty bad last November, and couldn't be in the shop for a couple weeks. After a few days I was gnashing my teeth wanting to create something, I had a block of soft plasticine from an art supply outfit that I was going to use someday...I stumbled to the shop, got the clay, some punches and chisels, and a small hammer in a bucket and tripped my way back into the house. I entertained myself for a couple days forging the clay into 1/4 x 1-1/2 flatbar on the coffee table, and then making decorative hinges out of the clay flatbar. The thing i noticed is, with clay you can pinch,pull, and twist in one motion. You have to break those down into individual steps to be able to replicate the moves with steel. Once I got healed up enough to light the forge again, my first project was to replicate a goofy bird head I made in clay, to steel. It turned out very close to the clay mock-up. I think it's a great way to block out steps of a project fast, and also allow yourself to push the creative envelope, if you don't like it, just squish it back into a piece of faux-flatbar and try again. Quote
viking-sword Posted March 28, 2009 Posted March 28, 2009 these art supply clays come in many different colors and are very useful in an unusual way, and what i mean is that i use it to do layering experiments, so that i can determine how a damascus billet will look when it is folded in different ways. this of course makes it disposable in the end, but it takes all the guess work out of the process and is a great way to see the end results. Quote
saintjohnbarleycorn Posted March 28, 2009 Author Posted March 28, 2009 thanks, I am working on some things and this will be a good way to get in my head. I don't have the time in the forge to visualize what I am wanting or how to make it happen yet. kevin Quote
Dave Budd Posted March 28, 2009 Posted March 28, 2009 I do it all the time. If I'm trying ot work out how to make a shape that I've never made before, or I really don't know if I can do something from the stock I have. I use the same hammers and tools that I will use with the tools so that I can be more sure that the steel will move as the clay does. If I used my light hammers then the face is a different shape and I could ends up coming apart when I move onto the steel. Quote
ChrisB Posted March 28, 2009 Posted March 28, 2009 If you get the Sunday paper the coupon/comic section usually has an ad for the big box craft stores here in MD that's Michaels and AC Moore. Typically it's 40% off. You can get a big ole brick of basic modeling clay for less than $5 that way. I found out you really only need a play dough containers worth to figure out most stuff. Quote
Avadon Posted March 28, 2009 Posted March 28, 2009 Try oil clay. I used to get mine from farwestmaterials.com as you can get oil clay in very very firm grades. You can also get it in very pliable grades that mold easily in you hands. But get the very firm oil clay and then place it in the freezer, it will become extremely firm, you won't be able to manipulate it by hand it but will have excellent control with hammer and an anvil and it will also NOT stick to your anvil or tools easily. I don't reccomend water clay, paperclay, or the like as they will stick to most things especailly if they get saturated with water. A firm oil clay cooled down in the fridge of freezer will give you exactly the right firmness and control your looking for. Because of it's range you can get high detail with oil clay and it will hold indefinitely and not crack or shrink like water based clays Quote
BeaverDamForge Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 At a demo I saw an anvil, clay, and wooden hammer set up for kids to experiment with. Seemed like a good way to let them get a feel for it. Quote
brianbrazealblacksmith Posted March 31, 2009 Posted March 31, 2009 We used clay alot in Alfred Habermann's shop to communicate with. We did not speak each others language, so we used clay to quickly hammer out ideas. I like what Avadon had to say about oil clay. I've used different types and sticking can be a problem. Quote
ornametalsmith Posted November 22, 2009 Posted November 22, 2009 fwiw, here's a clay forging video......about horse heads.YouTube - Horse head-working out the forging w/Clay Quote
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