Jack-O-Lantern Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 A while back some of you fine gents told me that 1018 or A36 was best for ornamental work. I got some 1018 and it was pretty good. I was wondering if theres anything softer out there steel wise. I have a booth at a farmers market coming up and I am waaaaayyyyy behind on production. I have maybe 5 products forged and was hoping to find something better than scrap to forge. I'll gladly beat spikes but I envy the pros in the vids using what seems like glowing clay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McPherson Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 1008 or 1010 is about as low carbon as is commercially available, not noticeably different from 1018.Now is the time to re-assess your tools and techniques. Is every thing you do a one-off, or do you produce in batches, rotating them thru the fire? Are you only hitting yellow hot non-magnetic steel, or are you chasing the heat down into the dull red or even black? Is your anvil too high, too low, too small, poorly anchored? Are your hammer faces shaped to do the intended job? Would a set of fullering tools sized to the hardy hole in you anvil make you more efficient? How about a guillotine tool or bending jig set? Are the potential profits there to justify a power hammer?You cold also set up a phone in movie camera mode and watch yourself work. Nowadays, even small town high school football teams watch last weeks game reels to see how they did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Forging to cold, not swinging the hammer effectivly and not using the anvil effeciantly are what slow you down the most, 1018 is about the most forgible affordable aloy of iron, a36 is not 1018, tho 1018 certainly meats the specification for a36. In short technic is what seperated us mear mortals from the masters of our craft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack-O-Lantern Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 I forge to black and only do one at a time. My skill has yet to get there. Im working with modified menards and homemade tools. I've always refused to let my anvil (103.4 lbs) budge. I would like a charcoal retort as its expensive and cheap coal in Illinois is hard to find. I'm a few notches above beginer so my hammer control is decent. I think my main problem is my lovely hair dryer bellows. I have it hooked up to a centaur firepot and without tweaking it devours fuel. I got some VERY clinkering anthracite once and it lastest way longer than char. So basiclly I need some good bitumonous, some more deco skills and tools, and TIME. Once my few bags of char is gone, I gotta wait for payday. Thanks for the heads up on 1008 and 1010. I hope to take this trade as far as I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack-O-Lantern Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 Building a retort and Oliver hammer is my plan for now. But I have no welder so I gotta get creative. Lack offunds has actually been a great teacher. I used to have a wrigged monkey wrench as a vice. And I built a fuigo bellows when my old hairdryer broke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJS Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Make an air gate for the forge to throttle back the blower, so it doesn't eat fuel so fast.Self discipline! Retrain yourself. You FORGE, at forging temps (yellow-red). You can break corner, planish, and straighten at red and below. You will get more done at a good forging temp, using short hot heats. You also get faster reheats if it goes back in at red, and your not wasting as much fuel. Smaller stock looses heat fast, do what you can as quickly as you can, and get back in the fire.Hammer shapes. Some hammers move metal better than others. Some leave a smoother finish, and some make it hard to get back to a smooth finish... I have straight peens, diagonal peens, cross peens, ball peens, and rounding hammers. If you have a local group see if you can try someone else's hammers and see what you like. Some people have a favorite hammer, and others use just whatever is handy, and others use a lot of different hammers each very specifically (that's what I do;-) I like Hofi hammers, and Brazeal style rounding hammers, and straight and diagonal peensWelders do make things easier, but bolts work just fine. There are several do it yourself vice patterns that you can find if you search here or google that can be adapted so it can just be bolted together. I have been thinking about ways to build with drill and tap a smithing magician with simple chopped up angle iron, haven't gotten on paper yet let alone built in steel... And your right necessity is the mother of invention, sometimes meaning your too poor to buy the proper tool, so you have to build it yourself;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 I agree, but with 1018 you can go as hot as low yello, planish at red to black. A small hot fire is the is better, as you can only efectively work about 6" of heat. Learning to use full powerful swings, and learning to use the horn and edge of your anvil as well as using advantasius hammer shapes to consentrate the force on to the smallest practical area of hor steel. A few powerful blows pinching the steel between the anvil and hammer, especialy the corner of the hammer and the corner of the edge of the anvil will move hot steel like butter. I use a set of 3# most the time as well as a set of 4# to get things moving.my 3 pound drawing hammers have half round peins and hen used against the horn, again moves steel well, with less work cleaning up as the ridges ar much less pronounced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 get a foot switch so the blow dryer is only on when you are stepping on the switch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack-O-Lantern Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 My main hammer is a 3# menards cross pein. It got so beat up that by the time I learned of rounding hammers it had taken that shape. Im guessing cheap metal. For now I'm propping the dump gate open a little for calmer air flow. Would a rail plate hold up or harden well enough to become guillotine material? And yes, only yellow heat gets forged. Once I heated a 3" thick block to yellow and felt like I had all day. Rams head horns last 10 seconds. Trial and error. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 I belive it will, I forget exactly what it is seposed to be, but it's tough stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John McPherson Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Some rail plate is not at all weldable: it cracks and crumbles in the HAZ (Heat Affected Zone) adjacent to the weld, as if it was cast iron. Best to try a piece before you commit too much time to a project.Rail clips, on the other hand are more like 1084. Good for all sorts of applications, up to swords. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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