ornamental4766 Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Hi guys, i've been doing ornamental iron work for some number of years like gates, fences handrailings furniture and custom work as well. All these years i've tried to make scroll jigs but they ALWAYS turn out looking like scrap junk. I've just been bending the scrolls around different sizes of pipe and whatever else i can find that has the same radius i need. Can anybody tell me the best, most effective way to make a scroll jig or where i can buy them already made because it would make my job a lot easier because im doing ornamental iron work full time business now and i depend on it to put food on the table and pay the bills. I really would appreciate any suggestions. Thanx. Keep your iron hot and your hammers high guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironantlerforge Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 I don't know of any for sale off hand but I'm sure there out there. That being said If you want to make a scrolling jig the easiest way is to find a scroll that you like, heat up some flat stock and bend it around the scroll. Basically your using the scroll as a jig to make a jig. Then take your flat stock scroll and weld it to a steel plate. Weld on the inside of the flat stock around the outside of the scroll. Next grab the center with a pair of pliers and pull up so that the center of the scroll is higher than the outside. Reinforce where needed and weld. There you go, done deal. you will need to make some way of fastening it down to a table or anvil or vise which is easy and you may need to attach something to hold your stock while you bend it around the jig but that's easy also. Did that help in any way? I get the feeling that you where asking something else that I missed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Welcome aboard, glad to have ya. Scroll jigs are available for most of the benders around. Or you can make your own with the above method. If you'll click "User CP" and edit your profile to show your location it'll help a lot. IFI is represented by members from more than 50 countries and a lot of info is location specific. If local guys know you're there they can tip you to get togethers, tool deals and offer hands on help. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slouis Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 If you want to get up and running quickly then contact a local ornamental blacksmith and get him to make a set of jigs for you. In my opinion the commercial sets of jigs such as from Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 (edited) It actually depends of the kind of equipment you have. I have an acquataince in Baton Rouge, Lousiana that has a large table of 3/4 plate. (like 5 ft or so on a side) When he gets a job that requires scrolls of several different sizes he lays them out on the table with soapstone. Marks tacks a bunch of 1 inch angle pieces to follow the curves and then bends 1/16 or 1/8 strip around the points in a smooth curve. He is a real clever guy with the drawing table and in design work. He knows from the start how big the scroll will be and how to lay it out. He uses stock scroll forms from previous jobs mounted on 1/8 plate as much as he can. If he has a bunch to do he just tacks the form down to the table cranks up his Johnson natural gas forge and gets to bending. Samuel Yellin in quoted in Francis Whitaker's "Blacksmiths Cookbook" as saying in part that: a blacksmith should aways work from a full sized drawing. Someone, of significant stature as a smith, said that "an hour drawing is as good as an hour forging when it comes to developing as a smith" (or words to that effect) Edited April 13, 2009 by Charlotte Finish incomplete sentence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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