Post the tricks of the trade that you use, or know that work. This is open to everyone and a great way for the new folks to contribute to the site.

* You can never get a part cleaner than what the rag is dirty. When clean is critical, use clean paper towels.

* WD-40 for killing wasps.

* If you need some shim stock, wash out an old beer or soda can and cut it apart with scissors.

* When you making several duplicate items, put a soapstone mark on the anvil or work table to check the length in each step.

* Use 2 small inspection mirrors, one to reflect light into a dark area, the other to see what is there.

* I think I've seen something similar in the Blueprint section, but I always keep a spool of thick lead solder wire laying around. I use it to trace an existing piece or bend it to make a model of new piece. Then I can straighten it out and have a good idea of how much stock I need to start with.

* A quick shot of Glenn's wasp killer (WD-40) on the face and horn of the anvil will keep it from getting surface rust after not being used for several days.

* A small pile of hardwood charcoal in the fire-pot is a sure-fire way to get your coal going quickly when starting a fire from scratch.

Don

I had some really dirty charcoal I wanted to clean up. I tried sifting the dirt and rocks out, but I had mixed results......just didn't work very well. I remembered blueprint BP0450 (it's about using a bucket of water to "settle out" rocks and dirt and clean up dirty coal). The charcoal I was cleaning had a lot of nails,dirt, and rocksmixed in it. Well to make a long story short,it works for charcoal TOO! BP0450 Clean Coal
Here's a before and after picture:

I prefer Liquid Wrench to WD40 for killing wasps, never seen anything kill them faster.
Joseff

I use brake cleaner to de-grease stuff ( mostly knives ) - it'll kill wasp in a New York second.

Ken

Hairspray works on wasps too.... It hardens on their wings and they can't fly

When you want a really low oxidising fire for forge welding make a thick mortar like paste from coal dust (fines) and water and paste around your firepot to a depth of at least 1 inch. Then build your fire within the bowl as normal. The coal fines will slowly burn over a few hours eating up loads of oxygen that would otherwise help scale up your work and make forge welding even harder.

A variation on Ian's: you can throw some industrial coke found along RR tracks into your propane forge to give it an excess oxygen consuming hot bed to work on.

When your coal fire has died down but is still warm, throw in a hand full of sawdust and put the air to it. It will come back up in short order.

A variation on Ian's: you can throw some industrial coke found along RR tracks into your propane forge to give it an excess oxygen consuming hot bed to work on.

Great idea Thomas thanks.

A piece is either straight or it is not straight.

When slitting a hammer, spin the hammer stock around opposite after every 3 strikes in order to keep a straight slit.

When drawing a point, set the end off the edge to conserve heat as that is the part that cools down first. Neck it down in steps, then forge the very end. It will have conserved its heat and you can better create heat.

When forge welding, always make the weld hammering from the inside and working out. Forge welded sections at high heat.

......

I had trouble forge welding, when I first started smithing. A friend of mine told me to put the "BIG" hammer down and use a very small hammer. I tried it, and to my suprise, it worked GREAT!!! I was trying to kill it, when all I needed to do was kiss it. I still use that little hammer to do my forge welding with.

When at a re-enactment and need to sit down to take a break and get something to eat. So your fire doesn't go out if it is mainly a coke fire, put a small chunk of wood in it and cover it over slightly. Your fire will continue to burn using the wood keeping the coke alive.

you can also crack the ash dump open...the heat will draw fresh air up fom the bottom !

When trying to set a rivet in a tough spot I take a piece of similar stock, drill and lightly countersink a hole in it to seat the head without damage, and clamp it to the head side with a vice grips. Make it long enough to keep it out of the way, and out of the heat. Put the piece in the forge to heat the other end of the rivet to be peened, this way the rivet won't fall out when you have to flip it over on the anvil or rivet set to put the peen on the the top end. If you keep the head end cool it will not deform, a quick squirt of water will help with this. I use heavy enough stock on the "helper" that I can lay that side on the anvil and actually hammer on it. Also prevents the cool head of the rivets from denting the anvil.

I may post some pictures if this seems confusing?

To heat the end to be peened it has to be down in the forge, but you have to flip it over to hammer it. I have dropped so many rivets trying to flip them over on the anvil to hammer them, even harder to position in a rivet set.

Edited July 13, 200818 yr by unkle spike
aint writing so good this morning (confusing myself)

Jeff, post some pix, if you can. Man I can't picture how you are getting the whole piece down in the fire. Thanks.

Jimbob, I like that idea. I've tried the wood, as Reb suggested, but end up with ash that starts blowing back out at me. Maybe I put in too big a chunk of wood.

George, probably the opposite. We used logs Lay the log on, rake up coke around it and leave, come back later, often much later, and turn on air. 99% of the time it'd fire back up. Drag out the log, water it down some and save it for the next time. The charred bit will spark it up again really easily.

Thanks Ian. I've not tried the wood but a couple of times. Usually, I'll just hurry through the meal and get back to work or spread the fire and start it back up, with a clean forge.

When trying to set a rivet in a tough spot I take a piece of similar stock, drill and lightly countersink a hole in it to seat the head without damage, and clamp it to the head side with a vice grips. Make it long enough to keep it out of the way, and out of the heat. Put the piece in the forge to heat the other end of the rivet to be peened, this way the rivet won't fall out when you have to flip it over on the anvil or rivet set to put the peen on the the top end. If you keep the head end cool it will not deform, a quick squirt of water will help with this. I use heavy enough stock on the "helper" that I can lay that side on the anvil and actually hammer on it. Also prevents the cool head of the rivets from denting the anvil.

I may post some pictures if this seems confusing?

To heat the end to be peened it has to be down in the forge, but you have to flip it over to hammer it. I have dropped so many rivets trying to flip them over on the anvil to hammer them, even harder to position in a rivet set.

Below Pictures:

1. curved piece in vise is the piece needing rivets, the other is the holder with countersunk holes.

2. shows the rig clamped up, the rivet pictured is too long, but notice the head is held tight in the piece. Heat and hammer rivet, move vice grips to other end and hammer that rivet down. The key is position so the rivet head needing smashing heats, not the whole piece.

Thanks Jeff. Now it makes sense. Sometimes I'm a little slow. LOL

Hey unkle Spike, great idea.

WD 40 is also good for getting grease of hands / paint jobs also puts a shine on plastic components

osage orange is good for tool handles.

I make most of my scrolling jigs where they will form a C-scroll that will touch without interfering with the jig when you form the second half. They are also made for standard size cuts [12",18",24",36",48"...] so I don't have alot of scrap from cutting up 20' bars. You can always make S-scrolls with any jig, but the C-scroll that touches gives you alot more design options and structure.