Hey guys I have a project in mind. Call me crazy or maybe a little ambitious But i want to make my daughter her first wagon. Her 1st birthday is going to be on the 23 of December and Christmas is just a few days after. So i cant to make the frame and sides out of wood. Im wanting to forge all the brackets, both axels, handle, and all hardware for the wagon. My question is Do i have the time? I am a teacher and Wrestling coach. Wrestling season has started for me. I don't get home till 6:30 ish if i don't have a duel to coach at. So i was thinking If i get home at 6:30 or 7 i could do my fatherly and husbandly duties and be out in the shop by 9. I would work till 11:00 or midnight get cleaned up and what not. I cant really work Saturdays because i will have tournaments every weekend. but my Sundays would be pretty free. I could put in a good 4 hours on Sunday. So i have roughly 18 days to get this done. We are doing her Birthday on the 20 of December. I was thinking I could work at least 3 week days and sunday giving me roughly 26 hours to make the wagon. Can it be done????.

I will forge the axles, axle brackets, side wall brackets. the handle, all the rivets to be user join the metal.  Im thinking of using 1/2" rebar cause i have a lot of it laying around. I will turn it into square stock then forge from there. Or should i just buy square stock. If i do buy square stock what size should i get so it is not ungodly heavy for people to pull around? Also what kind of finish can i put on it to keep it from rusting outside?  I think I might be bitting more off then I can chew in the short time I have. I love the forge to finish look of metal. That black dark hammered yet smooth look. I have a bees wax/ boiled lin seed oil mix i put on my work after im done for stuff that stays in the house but what can i use for the outdoors metal? 

Please I need advice, tips, and or tricks to help me get this done. 

Not knowing your skill level, it's hard to estimate how much time this will take you. That said, starting with dimensional stock will save you a LOT of time over squaring off all that rebar.

Forging lengths of rebar square is a major effort and not really attractive when finished.  Also you really don't know what you are working with;  Recently had the occasion to repair a porch built by my father.  In the process I had to cut some rebar anchor pins.  I cussed the whole time because the rebar used was as hard as the hardware store cold chisel I started using. I finally got one from my kit that I had hardened my self to start cutting.  Ended up the concreate the pins were in gave up before the pins did,

Point being: The best way to use rebar is to  take advantage of its texture and/or strength  as a contrast to dimensional stock. From personal experience  drilling forged  rebar can be a major headache.

I'm sure other's have their own unhappy experiences with rebar.   There is a reason that it is cheap and disappears  in concreate,

Hey guys I have a project in mind. Call me crazy or maybe a little ambitious But i want to make my daughter her first wagon. Her 1st birthday is going to be on the 23 of December and Christmas is just a few days after. So i cant to make the frame and sides out of wood. Im wanting to forge all the brackets, both axels, handle, and all hardware for the wagon. My question is Do i have the time? I am a teacher and Wrestling coach. Wrestling season has started for me. I don't get home till 6:30 ish if i don't have a duel to coach at. So i was thinking If i get home at 6:30 or 7 i could do my fatherly and husbandly duties and be out in the shop by 9. I would work till 11:00 or midnight get cleaned up and what not. I cant really work Saturdays because i will have tournaments every weekend. but my Sundays would be pretty free. I could put in a good 4 hours on Sunday. So i have roughly 18 days to get this done. We are doing her Birthday on the 20 of December. I was thinking I could work at least 3 week days and sunday giving me roughly 26 hours to make the wagon. Can it be done????.

I will forge the axles, axle brackets, side wall brackets. the handle, all the rivets to be user join the metal.  Im thinking of using 1/2" rebar cause i have a lot of it laying around. I will turn it into square stock then forge from there. Or should i just buy square stock. If i do buy square stock what size should i get so it is not ungodly heavy for people to pull around? Also what kind of finish can i put on it to keep it from rusting outside?  I think I might be bitting more off then I can chew in the short time I have. I love the forge to finish look of metal. That black dark hammered yet smooth look. I have a bees wax/ boiled lin seed oil mix i put on my work after im done for stuff that stays in the house but what can i use for the outdoors metal? 

Please I need advice, tips, and or tricks to help me get this done. 

Forging lengths of rebar square is a major effort and not really attractive when finished.  Also you really don't know what you are working with;  Recently had the occasion to repair a porch built by my father.  In the process I had to cut some rebar anchor pins.  I cussed the whole time because the rebar used was as hard as the hardware store cold chisel I started using. I finally got one from my kit that I had hardened my self to start cutting.  Ended up the concreate the pins were in gave up before the pins did,

Point being: The best way to use rebar is to  take advantage of its texture and/or strength  as a contrast to dimensional stock. From personal experience  drilling forged  rebar can be a major headache.

I'm sure other's have their own unhappy experiences with rebar.   There is a reason that it is cheap and disappears  in concreate,

Your time allowed is very short!  Buy stock!  I like rebar for many things but I have a power hammer and wouldn't use it where time is short anyway.  I'd use tubing or pipe rather than solid bar for the handle... lighter and stronger.  For the axles just use cold finish rod, forging would be complicated and cause delays!

posting this thread 2x wont speed up your learning process, I have merged them into one location.    I doubt there is time enough to read, learn and do what is needed for this year,  but you can start now on next years project and maybe finish in time. 

Also, she'll appreciate it a lot more when she's a bit older.

Sorry for the double post. I would say im at and intermediate skill level. I will buy the stock instead of trying to square the rebar. any tips on what kind of finish to put on the metal for out door use? i dont want to paint it black.

Heat parts to a dull red and block brush it till it's an even finish of your liking then a light coat of wax. - better get going - times a tickin'

After looking at some DIY wagons online this will not be bad at all. 4 hours for the wood work. 3 nights for the metal work and 2 hours to assemble it.

 

4 minutes ago, jeremy k said:

Heat parts to a dull red and block brush it till it's an even finish of your liking then a light coat of wax. - better get going - times a tickin'

So just a nice coating of wax will keep the metal from rusting up outside?

 

3 minutes ago, scottyp74 said:

So just a nice coating of wax will keep the metal from rusting up outside?

 

Either that and re wax here and there or automotive clear coat. 

I will try to post pics of what i can