Toothygrin Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Well that pretty much hits the iron,would say nail on the head but this is a smithing site. I am having one of those days where I am outright stumped. I am out of money for stock for this month so I can't make hooks like I normally do and I'll be honest I am kinda bored with them. All I have left is a dozen feet of rebar and a ton of high carbon steel from old farm equipment and I don't want to waste that. I have plenty of things I could do, but I just don't feel inspired. I don't want to make a knife. lately I have been making pendants and whatnot out of nails crosses and the like whathaveyou. I don't know I just think I am having a blacksmith's version of writers block.I feel like anything I go out and start making is going to not be very nice simply because I am at a loss for ideas. Go ask friends they tell me to make a sword, as if I have never heard that one before. Anyone else have this problem, and if so how do you get the creative cogs turning? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkDobson Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 well we are getting close to Christmas so you could always ask family and friends what they would like and then make it. get two birds with 1 stone that way, A Christmas present and motivation. whenever i lose motivation but want to forge i end up making tooling or woodworking tools, froes, chisels, carving knives etc etc. they make great gifts for a wood worker (my dad), keep me busy and can be made easily with materials i already have on hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoggy Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Tools, make some tools.....that's what I do, then obviously I have to make something using the tool.....for the most part my materials are old auto parts, as I have plenty of SAP (spent auto part) stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 No election signs still littering the right away? The square C frame ones. Take 4 pieces of election sign wire about 6" long, bundle them, forge weld the ends, twist them tight and then untwist them---done hot of course, to produce a basket, now forge the ends as needed---S hooks, handles for camp cooking gear, spray painted silver and gold and hung on a Christmas tree. Can you scrounge a piece of black pipe---used or unused---and forge chili peppers from it? (big seller as Christmas tree ornaments down here in the land of Red or Green?---the official state question of NM!) Make some rebar snakes. Go help an elderly person stack their firewood and ask if they have any rusty metal as payment...Take an old unplated wrench and forge a bottle opener from it and trade it to a mechanic for access to their scrap pile... When I get into such a mood I look through my research books until I say---hey I want to make one of those! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toothygrin Posted November 20, 2015 Author Share Posted November 20, 2015 Most people have their wood in by now. and my uncle who has a spider made out of dump rake tines is not likely to give it up or let me stack his wood he's got a lot of pride and likes doing it himself. I have plenty access to car parts 3 generations of mechanics in the family will do that. My dad is also a woodworker and tends to help me out when my projects require the more common material. so woodworking tools would not be a bad idea. Have plenty of spring steel for carving knives. I like the rebar snake idea I think I will go do that as right now I have about a 20 mins of daylight left. and perhaps I can manage that before it gets dark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Always look for things where they are being used. Metal behind machine shops, garages, welding shops, etc, lumber behind buildings being built, 55 gallon drums behind truck service places or oil change and lube shops, etc. Take a drive down the alleys and look for metal. When you find some drive around front and make note of the type of business and business name. Ask them when they throw out metal and if they will call you when it happens. Always leave the place cleaner and neater than you found it. IF that means taking a bucket or two of trash, then take the trash, and rake the area to make it look clean. Next time past, leave something as a gift or a thank you. Each stop will give you a different type item to make. You can score more points in a small town as everyone knows everyone else. It works in the big city just as well but on an individual basis with each shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 I'm constantly collecting pictures of projects that like. On occasion when I can't sleep, I may take a few of those ideas and do image searches to collect more picts for ideas. Then when I get a block, but want to do something, I'll browse those files and look for something that will catch my eye. The same works in reverse. If I see someone take a common item and create something interesting out of it, I'll save that info as well. Then when out browsing flea markets, yard sales, scrap bins, I'll keep my eyes open for a few to stock away for later use. One example might be RR spikes. I have no interest in turning them into knives or hawks, but I've seen plenty of figures made from them. Then there's bottle openers, hooks and all sorts of other things. Tools are another area I collect picts for future projects. If I see someone with a good tool idea, I'll save it for later. Another possible option is simply new techniques. The other day one member here showed that reverse twisted bottle opener. I like the look, so I saved that link for some time this winter to play with and try. The technique might be traditional joinery. I have a lot of saved picts of trivets that are primarily joinery projects. As far as scrap, I have a number of chunks of railing saved to eventually cut apart for small stock. I keep my eyes open on trash day, and I know a few scrap guys and occasionally browse what they find to see if there's anything good I might be able to use. With steel scrap at a couple cents per pound right now, they will often be happy to trade it for better scrap like alum, or sell it outright cheap so they don't have to waste gas hauling it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Yes, make some rebar snakes! They are good sellers. Some people buy them to keep birds off the verandah, but they don't fool birds for very long. You didn't say what size the rebar is (that 25mm stuff is hard to work) but the smaller stock makes nice toast forks, lid lifters, bottle openers etc. As for other scrap, I guess you have to scrounge what you can from wherever. I wish I could share some of the stuff that is in our scrap pile. The junk on this patch all has to go to make way for a building. There's lots of bar, axles, heavy blocks, wrought iron - all will go to the dump. Makes me cry, but what can you do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stan Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 You got some good stuff amongst that lot ausfire, imagine what scrapartoz would do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Cochran Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Ausfire, I see lots of good stuff in that pile. Shame you can't find it a new home so you didn't have to lose it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 There are a couple of smiths within striking distance of where I am and we are arranging a visit so that at least some of this stuff will find a home. They are both skilled with the power hammer so I'm hoping they'll take some of the heavier steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironwolfforgeca Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 alot of good stock in that pile pipe / bar & cleaned out and moved to another local you would have a a 10th of that mess & the steel wheels you near scrapartoz ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toothygrin Posted November 22, 2015 Author Share Posted November 22, 2015 That looks like a fun day of scrounging. met a guy out in hardwick last year that had a place like that and let me look around. I left with 20 feet of rebar, some good sized steel plates and about 60 gallons of waste motor oil for the furnace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 14 hours ago, IronWolf said: alot of good stock in that pile pipe / bar & cleaned out and moved to another local you would have a a 10th of that mess & the steel wheels you near scrapartoz ??? Scrapartoz is a couple of thousand km south of us, but Andrew has his own very extensive scrap pile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaughnT Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Anyone else notice how you just can't trump Ausfire? Talk about old engines and he'll post a picture of a gargantuan being offloaded by a crane. Talk about scrap piles and, well.... ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the iron dwarf Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 but he has not got a smaller hydraulic forging press than mine footprint 200mm by 200mm ( about 8" square ) weight 30kg ( about 66 lb ) 10.75 tons to 15 tons depending on power pack 610mm tall ( about 24" ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 On November 20, 2015 at 6:07:38 PM, ausfire said: Yes, make some rebar snakes! They are good sellers. Some people buy them to keep birds off the verandah, but they don't fool birds for very long. You didn't say what size the rebar is (that 25mm stuff is hard to work) but the smaller stock makes nice toast forks, lid lifters, bottle openers etc. As for other scrap, I guess you have to scrounge what you can from wherever. I wish I could share some of the stuff that is in our scrap pile. The junk on this patch all has to go to make way for a building. There's lots of bar, axles, heavy blocks, wrought iron - all will go to the dump. Makes me cry, but what can you do? You can ship it to me! My address is ......... Making me want to cry... Wish my scrap pile was that nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 10 hours ago, VaughnT said: Anyone else notice how you just can't trump Ausfire? Talk about old engines and he'll post a picture of a gargantuan being offloaded by a crane. Talk about scrap piles and, well.... ;) I am indeed fortunate, Vaughn. I appreciate it every day. It is a pity that the size of the scrap pile and metal I have available is not commensurate with my experience and knowledge. All this stuff is there, but I rarely forge anything bigger than a railway spike, and big lumps of wrought are of no use to me. But I still hate to see it wasted. And Iron Dwarf, I don't even know what a forging press is. Sounds like it could make could use of our scrap though! Last weekend I had my first ever go with a spring hammer. Nothing too ambitious - just drew out a couple of rail spikes. Now I want one. Might have to investigate one of those Anyang things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 Ausfire, who owns the scrap pile, and how much more property do they own? Could it just be organized in another location? Use it to define the property lines? My thing is that items like that are not being made new anymore. Wheels like you have there are collectible, and get used for everything from sculpture to just decorations in restaurants. I would think if it was marketed correctly that it would sell for far more than scrap rate. Here where I am scrap iron is only bringing 1/2¢ a pound. The scrapyard is just letting it pile up since the cost of fuel to haul it out is higher than what he would get where he sells it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 There's an awesome idea. A long scrap fence. It would be a thing of beauty! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 1 hour ago, Daswulf said: There's an awesome idea. A long scrap fence. It would be a thing of beauty! We had a neighbor up to about 2 years ago I was considering building a fence out of scrap cars to keep her on her side of the line. I was dreaming she'd start harassing us with a drone, I haven't shot skeet in a few years. They moved though and life's been nice since. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flemish Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 On 11/24/2015, 2:22:02, Frosty said: We had a neighbor up to about 2 years ago I was considering building a fence out of scrap cars to keep her on her side of the line. I was dreaming she'd start harassing us with a drone, I haven't shot skeet in a few years. They moved though and life's been nice since. Frosty The Lucky. You could still build the fence, just to add to the beauty of the place, of course then your taxes would go up. Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausfire Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Yes, we have considered all those things and some of the big wheels and old mining stuff are going to be used as static displays and lining our roads. I have also considered a scrap fence or two. That still leaves a lot of other stuff to dispose of. In answer to your question about who owns this stuff, it is a bit of a legacy really, left to us by the previous owner of our museum, who was an avid collector of everything. He had a 'scorched earth' policy on collecting trips in the bush. He would leave nothing behind and was very skilled at extricating seemingly immovable old steam engines and the like from where they had lain half buried for decades. Too much of our stuff has already gone to scrap dealers who don't pay a cent for it, and we have much more to sort through yet. I am determined to keep what is valuable for display and find a home for that which is useful in the forge. Maybe our museum needs an antique power hammer and I could use some that way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 Maybe put out some advertising to artist groups, sculptors, etc. They may pay, or barter for what you want to get rid of. To get back to the original post..... I'll second bottle openers for holiday gifts. Rebar tongs Dutch oven lid lifters Schwenker grill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 26, 2015 Share Posted November 26, 2015 Toasting forks! Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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