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I Forge Iron

Sign making with a half million pounds....


monstermetal

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I like having a big press... I think I'll be coming up with things to do with it for a long long time..

So this is one thing I have been doing... This is a dedication sign for a school and will be set in a sidewalk that was a "gift" of the graduating class..

I had a template waterjet out of 1/4 plate and then stomped it into a chunk of 1"

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I needle scaled the background to clean up the scale and then put the template back on it and bead blasted the letters to get them to "pop" some..

Now I just need to figure out how to keep it from rusting ( I tried smooshing it into stainless and a half million pounds isnt enough oomph.. )

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Nice job, looks just like a casting.

Rusting? you could have tried bronze for the backplate, or what about having it plated or hot bronze /copper/zinc sprayed if its going to be walked on, whatever you do will be subject to wear(polishing?)

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Limitless possibilities with that press! I don't think the rust would bother me, but you may be able to trim the surface area of the die to get it to do stainless. Also sheet with some pitch behind it may work, may have to round the edges so it wouldn't tear.

Does kinda look like it was cast, reminds me of doing scratch molds, would be a down and dirty way of making your dies, cut, weld, grind and forge into the surface of the die instead of waterjet.

You could make some real fine impact dies for a screw press ;)

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  • 2 months later...

If you're worried about the rust you could enamel the recess. Drop some powdered glass in there and bring it up to heat, giving it a glaze. Surface wear should keep the top from rusting over I think. Of course, the enamel solution will work better in some climates than others due to the expansion/contraction of the metal.

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I ended up doing a zinc coat in the shop... first time but I think it worked out quite well... A proses used to protect ship parts..

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Very nice. Is that set into the sidewalk, or something nearby? I nice the "grain" of the concrete is at a 45 degree angle to the plaque.
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  • 2 years later...

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