Magill029 Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 I've seen some videos where a large 3-4" ball is used for shaping. Some fit in the hardy hole and some are clamped in the vice. I would like to get one or make one. Any suggestions? Matthew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Chrome? Sounds like a trailer hitch with the bolt on bottom forged into a shank to fit the hardy hole or a vise, but they're usually only what, 2, 2.5 inches across? What are you trying to shape with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magill029 Posted August 5, 2013 Author Share Posted August 5, 2013 Could be. Most trailer hitches I've seen have a flat top. Where would I get one with a rounded top? I haven't started shaping anything yet. I don't have any tools, but I am working on getting some. This being one. Ebay link removed. we do not allow third party sales posts. please read posting rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 The diameter of the balls will vary depending on what you are working on, and the quality of the finish will determine how good your work turns out. Mirror polish is a must for silverwork and the like, but not really needed for blacksmithing. The stainless steel trailer hitch is a great stake tool; a few minutes with a file will round off the flat spot on the top. You don't need a perfectly spherical tool. You can also buy spheres from architectural metal suppliers like King's. They won't be polished like the one in your link, but they will have different diameters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Special Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 What Vaughn said. That one is a ball bearing, welded to a rod, welded to a hardy shank with a shoulder. Can't tell from looking how they made their shank. (but you can see the cartoon network t-shirt reflected in the chrome!) I guess the hardy shank would be easy enough to make, the rest.....how's your welding skills? And do you want to spend 80 bucks on a giant ball bearing? Again, whatcha planning on making? Shaping sheet metal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magill029 Posted August 5, 2013 Author Share Posted August 5, 2013 I live in the Houston area and we have the largest Renfest in the country. I make my own armor / costumes. I've made chain, scale, and leather. I would like to either start crafting some helms or face masks. I plan to go this year as a gladiator, so yes, shaping sheet metal is what I would like to start doing. Also. I have no welding skills and my cutting with a torch skills are about 3 days old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the iron dwarf Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 I have ball bearings up to 4" diameter and make them into tools but am the other side of the pond Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 There are a few places to find steel balls. Bearings are high quality well finished and kind of spendy, call the local bearing/driveline supplier and ask what's available. It may not be on the shelf but they'll order for you. Be ready to cringe at the price though. Another place to look is a repair facility that handles large moving equipment like earth movers and or handling companies like grave suppliers. They not only have BIg stuff needing bearings like conveyors and crushers but a concrete company will have a ball mill. A little good PR and you may get one without being beat to odd sheapedness. The ball, not you. <grin> They'll also know where to get them. For helms, curiasses, etc. I picked up a couple headache balls and turned one into a mushroom stake, the other sits right now, I don't make armor anymore. Call a cable/wire rope supplier, they'll have them on the shelf or on the quick order list. Head ache balls come in all sizes from the ones you see on shop hoists to the big guys over the hooks on wrecking balls. Sure they're cast iron but a little finishing and they're near perfect for sheet work. Don't be afraid to just go on a yellow pages trek. If a company doesn't carry a thing, they'll know who does or who to ask. Just let them know up front you're doing a thing search and you don't want to waste their time. I usually preface my search questions with something like, "I have an off the wall question and don't want to waste a lot of your time but could sure use some help." Frosty The Lucky. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinobi Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 I wonder if anyone at the fair has a spare bung'd up cannon ball on hand? or maybe would know where to get one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WraithsNinja Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 http://customironworks.com/30809-p-436.html?cPath=1_31 Not shiny, but they have sizes 5/8 to 4". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 There are dome headed trailer hitches out there; you just have to keep looking for them at the fleamarkets---I buy all I find at US$2 or less. Cannon balls are almost always really mill balls used in ball mills to crush stuff when they get too small they get scrapped for pennys a pound and folks sell them to idiots as cannon balls for way ntoo much money. (cannon sizes were STANDARDIZED pretty much several hundred years ago and so all the cannon balls that don't conform to such a size are BOGUS!) Recently at a local fleamarket I bought some mill balls for $1 a piece and 3 booths down a fellow was selling them as cannon balls for $30...) Most of my armour making stake materials come from my local scrap yard---they have sold me mill balls, headache balls, ball bearings and last saturday 6 9" cast iron balls for scrap rate! I also bought a pexto stake plate there for under US$10 ! Not to mention tanks to cut the bottoms off of for dishing forms, rings from ring and pintle tow setups, hammer heads to be reshaped for dishing hammers, etc and so on. I had to train them to not try to gouge me on prices; but a couple of times watching me cheerfully tossing stuff back on the pile and going off without spending any money with them or cheerfully paying in cash for items I thought were a fair (cheap) price has got them looking forward to my visits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel OF Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Hi Magill, I haven't read through all the previous replies so sorry if I'm repeating what's already been said, just shovveling down some lunch & I'm in a hurry... Judging by your picture I'm guessing you want it for armor raising? I've heard that some people use shot puts to raise over. They'll take a care to weld to a shank as they're cast iron I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironwolfforgeca Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 heavy eqt like a cats use a ball knuckle on the blade to the ram they brake often & must be replaced any place that works on trucks or heavy eqt is a gold mine for odd shape forms to make tools out of & the steel is on the high end cause of what the piece needs to go through in its life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 You can sometimes find used shot puts at used sports equipment stores (eg Play It Again Sports) some of the small hand weights have nice curved ends but like a lot of this stuff are cast iron and so need to be treated as such. You can really find this stuff everywhere---I was once in the mail room of where I used to work and saw a 3" ball bearing with a flat ground into it and etched---I was drooling over it and one of the mail room folks said they had found it there when they moved into that room and would I like to have it.... NOTE ball bearings are often 52100 steel and MUST have preheat slow cool when welding!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw223 Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 If it doesn't need to be completely solid, try using the ball from a ball valve. I've picked up 3 and 4 inch ball valves at the scrap yard for pretty cheap. If you stack different sizes and weld them together you can get a metal "kong" shape (think dog toy) that is great for doing both inside and outside shapes. I have a tree I made up that goes from 3" down to 1.25". It works great for starting V shaped bends or larger concave/convex bends- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted September 7, 2013 Share Posted September 7, 2013 King architectural metals http://steel.kingmetals.com/search?asug=&view=list&w=solid+ductile they are ductile iron but they work great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazmat83 Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 you could get tie-rod ends and ball-joints from a local mechanic just split the socket with a grinder and smack it on good time and you got ready made pritchel tools. they already have a round stalk, and they are hardened. tie-rod ends are usually anywhere from 3/4" to 11/4" and ball-joints can be as big as 21/2" (heavy equipment and truck shops). i have a steel weight from an old window is about the size of a baseball. I drilled a hole in it and welded a piece of 1/2" rebar in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caladin Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 Here's what i do for armor work...(note these websites are just where i found them online, in a quick google, not reccomended) Get the iron balls from one of the strucutural iron places...This place has them up to 4" for a reasonable price (as do the places linked above)http://customironworks.com/30809-p-436.html?cPath=1_31 Get 1 of each size from 1.25" up to what you can afford say 4" for bigger you can get replica canno balls on ebay, or shot put, or hammer throw hammers... ball bearings all kinds of stuff...(ball bearing get expensive quickly after 2" or so) Get an equal number of 1" malleable black iron pipe unions like this one http://www.deerso.com/product/d45020/coupling?utm_source=google_shopping&utm_medium=goog_shopping_click&utm_campaign=ppc&gclid=CK73jpey0bwCFajm7AodC2gAlQ Weld the pipe union onto the"bottom" of the balls Get 1 1" black iron floor flange, like this one (r more, for more locations for your stakes) http://www.idealtruevalue.com/servlet/the-9961/Detail?gclid=CMuVw5Wx0bwCFXBk7AodajUAcg Screw it down where ever you want your tools (I have one on a table and another on the anvil stand where an upsetting block would go) Get a 1" pipe nipple, say 12" long thread it into the union on the ball, and into the floor flange, and you have a great planishign and shaping ball stake...(change length to taste) Need it tall or shorter, just change the pipe nipple... wnat a different tool, just swap it out... Need your ball on an offset stake... 3 short pipe nipples, and 2 90 deg elbow pipe fittings and you have an offset stake... you can weld up whatever other fittings you want also... all your tools are reusable, adjustable... and movable.. and all with off the shelf componenets...(just dont' use galvanized) I'll try to get some pics of some i have welded to the pipe nipple (not as good as welded to the union as above) so you can see what I'm talking about. Cal- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caladin Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 here are some pics... Dunno if this will work, picasa is a pain in the butt since google + came out... ball welded to a union floor flange wtih a 12" pipe nipple in it (this one is galvannized, only for cold metal work) (In the back you can see the botoms cut off welding gas tanks, I use them to dish metal) (There are rules to cut them safely, learn them before you evne think about cutting it) floor flange next to anvil (need to replace this one with black iron)( Ball screwed in to a dog leg stake.. Dog leg ball stake set up for use... (with my swedge block in back) A bunch of balles welded directly to pipe nipples (not as good as to a union, you can't put them on a dog leg to work inside helmets and etc) One cool thing, the inch and a quarter ball welded directly into a pipe union fits in the HUGE thumb hole of that bowling ball, so I can do cold sheet metal work on it for large stuff like helmet tops.. If you guys can't see these I'll need to get a new photo sharing site... Cal- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ric Furrer Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 I would make a ball swage using an existing stake as a master and then hot forge them with the stem integral to the ball..no welding and it opens up a selection of steel choices. BUT one needs large machines to make that happen. Ric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Not a bad application. I can see snarling irons and such, I'd use steel bar rather than pipe but it'd be harder to make them interchangeable sizes. Not terribly hard but harder. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caladin Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I agree in a perfect world I'd have a wall of stake for my hardy and stakeholders... but for now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clif Posted February 24, 2014 Share Posted February 24, 2014 I was given a 3 inch solid ball used for topping railings. Had the guys in the weld shop weld it to a 3/4 square bar. then to polish it I turned it on the shop lathe using 40 grit sand paper and worked down to 400. still has a few dips but will work for either armour or body work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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