Joel OF Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Heh, I just found on my phone a picture of a hook I made last summer at a demonstration. I was making one particular item on repeat but also taking on the spot orders to relieve the boredom. Obviously I try and give a bit of showmanship to it, explaining how I'll make their item, then explaining what I'm doing as I go along. A guy came up and asked for "a hook with a ball on the end" so he could hang his motorcycle helmet up, he described the shape and size he wanted. I told him that to make it using what I had to hand I would get a piece of 10mm round bar, wrap a piece of 12mm round bar around the end of it in a doughnut shape, then repeatedly fire weld them together and work it into a ball shape. I explained that it'd be a bit of a challenge because I was out in the blazing sun and barely able to see the colour of the metal, and there was a breeze which would blow the sparks away from the fire, making it really hard to judge when the metal was hot enough to weld. (No flux). He seemed interested but when I was getting to the critical stages his mate turned up, he then lost all interest and started talking about the price of potatos in the supermarket, obviously that conversation couldn't wait. In the end the guy was happy enough with it but didn't really seem too interested either way about what was going on. Although it's only a small unremarkable object I thought I might as well upload the pic as someone here will appreciate the process more than he did. There's some tiny spots where the welds didn't quite take but it ain't going anywhere in a hurry. I'm sure if I'd given it a little tickle with a rasp to it to neaten it up they'd have dissappeared, but given he'd lost interested and I was only charging him £7 I felt he'd already had his money's worth. I wasn't fussed that he wasn't paying attention to me, it was his apathy towards a dying craft and one of the most magical processes in it that irked me. His loss. I have no idea why my pics always rotate themselves through 90 degrees when I upload them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted November 7, 2015 Share Posted November 7, 2015 Great bit of forge welding there! Much more interesting than the price of spuds. As you say, his loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fbcreative Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Interesting. I might have to make a couple of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Nice work. And without flux? Cool. It is a shame that you were not only making it but also explaining it step by step and he didn't even pay attention. Should have made the ball into the shape of a potato for him. That would have got his attention. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Gary Huston, in one of his videos, takes a shortcut and sticks a large nut on the end of a rod and forges it into a ball shape. I tried it and it works. You have to work a little to minimize the seam around the rod and nut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kozzy Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 1 hour ago, arkie said: Gary Huston, in one of his videos, takes a shortcut and sticks a large nut on the end of a rod and forges it into a ball shape. I tried it and it works. You have to work a little to minimize the seam around the rod and nut. Just pondering here...if you started with a cap nut/acorn nut instead, you're already halfway there and just have to round and close the seam on the rod end. Thoughts on this based on your experience with a plain nut? They're not as common in uncoated steel but I see that black oxide is available which would be gone in the first firing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 As I mentioned, I did it like Gary using a regular nut. If you're concerned about a galvanized nut, just soak it in vinegar for an hour or so (more if necessary) and you're back to bare steel. I don't know how large cap or acorn nuts are made, but that's an interesting approach...may have to check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel OF Posted November 22, 2015 Author Share Posted November 22, 2015 On 16/11/2015, 23:20:12, arkie said: Gary Huston, in one of his videos, takes a shortcut and sticks a large nut on the end of a rod and forges it into a ball shape. I tried it and it works. You have to work a little to minimize the seam around the rod and nut. Yeah I remember that video, I like his videos. Yeah I'd imagine that seam line would require a bit of attention as it'd be a very hard 90 degree shoulder. On 16/11/2015, 21:38:38, Daswulf said: Should have made the ball into the shape of a potato for him. That would have got his attention. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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