TechnicusJoe Posted April 8, 2009 Share Posted April 8, 2009 ( dont know if this is the right topic for this) i read that people said to use brass or copper hammer when you are alsmost done with cutting on your hardy, i can melt copper and brass very easy but the problem is what can i use as melting pot? that can have about 1400 1500 degrees centegrade so does any one have any ideas for me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Buy a crucible! Clay & Graphite Crucibles The homemade alternatives that are going to occur to you really aren't safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted April 9, 2009 Share Posted April 9, 2009 Yeah the alternatives you can find around the house are not the best so buy yourself a good crucible for the job or better yet buy a chunk of brass for the hammer head or go to Harbor Freight and buy a hammer for less then the cost of a crucible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Yeah the alternatives you can find around the house are not the best so buy yourself a good crucible for the job or better yet buy a chunk of brass for the hammer head or go to Harbor Freight and buy a hammer for less then the cost of a crucible. Along the same lines. The best choice is to go to one of the sites that sells stone sculpture tools. The stone hammers are very soft iron that are used for striking the stone cutting tools. They want a tool that will not rebound and slip. The tools are made with a cup point on the struck end so they will not slip from the hammer. If nothing else make your self a hammer out of A36 and anneal it dead soft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 A36 not good for tools as too many unknowns thing in the mix. Its a structural rating not a alloy statement, It could have enough chrome and things to air harden, then Supprize. But the idea of using mild is a solid one for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 (edited) Bentiron makes an excellent point. Harbor Freight carries brass hammers surprisingly cheap. I realize you may not have Harbor Freight in the Netherlands, but surely you can buy brass hammers. It'll be cheaper and easier than buying a crucible and casting your own. Edited April 10, 2009 by MattBower Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodge Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 I seem to remember paying less than $5 US for my HF brass hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 I do bronze casting but I have a lot of small dirty pieces that are too much trouble to melt in my LNG gas furnace. I am wondering if a wood fired cupola furnace would get hot enough? I have lots of old pallets that can be reduced into walnut sized chunks. BB Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 Why not turn your pallets into charcoal? A charcoal fired cupola certainly would do the job. Wood probably would work, but it's not as pleasant to work with as charcoal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkeicher Posted April 10, 2009 Share Posted April 10, 2009 I agree with Matts first answer, if your'e going to melt brass get a proper crucible. That being said , why are we hitting a cut-off hardy with ANY hammer? Typically you should only be cutting 3/4 of the way through the piece and break off the last bit. Maybe I'm missing something... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted April 11, 2009 Share Posted April 11, 2009 (edited) I agree with Matts first answer, if your'e going to melt brass get a proper crucible. That being said , why are we hitting a cut-off hardy with ANY hammer? Typically you should only be cutting 3/4 of the way through the piece and break off the last bit. Maybe I'm missing something... I agree but I also have a mark in my Peddinhause 1000 gm from misjudging my stroke during a charity demonstration 10 years ago. The technique is to strike with the hammor parallel to the cutting edge of the hardy and with the edge of the hammer just a 1/16 of an inch or less from that cutting edge. One of the reason to prefer a cutoff hardy with a vertical face is that you can judge more precisely where that point is. The other is that you leave your piece with either a neat right angle face or a face ready for further tapering. That said, if you are fresh and well warmed up some times you hit harder than you intend. Edited April 11, 2009 by Charlotte repeated word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 I was taught to cut all the way round the piece on the hardy tool then either break off or hit the piece just to one side of the cutting edge until your through. If you have worries about hitting too hard you can make a hot cut hardie with a 'shoulder' and a cutting edge in the middle thats slightly lower. That way you'll strike the shoulders rather than the cutting edge if you keep hitting it square on (this is only guaranteed to work if your hammer head is wider than the cutting edge and you're happy to use the 'break off' method). If your cutting edge is wider than the hammer or at the same height as your 'shoulders' then position the stock to be cut right next to the shoulder closest to you and hit with angled half faced blows (so that the face of the hammer is lower at the 'shoulder' and higher than the cutting edge) you 'should' hit the shoulder closest to you before the cutting surface. I prefer to cut nearly all the way through and then break off, and I agree also that a hot cut hardie with a vertical edge on one side is very handy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted April 14, 2009 Share Posted April 14, 2009 Ian, don't disagree. There are a couple of different ways to accomplish the same thing. I never intend to go clear through. Just had a piece of 3/8 hot and was talking while I was working. Usually I go about 3/4 of the way through, rotate 90 deg finish with a quick shear that starts over the edge a finishes just past it. This produces a small break in one corner that can be dressed off with a shoe rasp in a stoke at the far side of the anvil. Not saying that what I do is right, just that I have a habit of doing it that way. I was responding Mkeicher's remarks. In my home set up I have a five and dime hammer that I use for bashing when what I'm cutting with is more trouble to sharpen or repair than what I'm working on is worth. It is cast out something softer than my hardies are. If I were to replace it I would use one of the sculptor's hammers they use for driving their tools: dead soft and short handled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petersenj20 Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Technique aside and back to the casting question...You can melt brass or copper on wood. I use wood in my furnace. No need to convert to charcoal first. I have a piece of pipe with a plate welded to the bottom and works fine. A brass hammer is a fine project. A hinged piece of pipe would make a good mold. A babbitt shop I worked at briefly made from babbitt to persuade casings on the vertical lathe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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