Forged sheet metal stuff.

[7A749]

Well, I just joined after hearing a lot about this site from several ppl I know. DSW and I are administrators on another site and he's always spoken very highly of the content of material and ppl here. First off, I'm not a blacksmith. I do forged art from sheet metal which I cut and shape, then forge to finish. Been doing it for awhile, plan on expanding to some bigger stuff this summer. I work for myself so I don't have a lot of free time for things like this, but I really do enjoy it.

Heres a few things I've done, and am in the middle of. The mirror frame is mild steel forged sections welded together. It is not finished, kinda in a mock up stage at this point. Still need to add hangers to the back and color finish it.

A simple leaf also from mild steel. I've done several picture frames, I'll post some once I locate the pix.

 

Thanks for viewing, I hope this is in the right place.

Some address numbers for my house. I found the ring at the scrapyard, everything else I cut by hand and forged the detail on.

 

 

 

Oh, if I put this in the wrong place, please accept my apologies. I'm still trying to figure the site out.

[SLAG]

Beautiful work.

You'll fit right in at I.F.I.

Welcome,

SLAG.

[7A749]

Thanks!

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. Nice looking work you have there kind of heavy weight to call repouse but what the hey it's a process to hang your knack on.

Do you have a handle we can use? 7A749 is not only impersonal but kind of cumbersome to use. I suppose I could call you Mr. 749 but then I'd find out you're Japanese and I should've been calling you Mr. 7A and I'd look like a knucklehead. Well more of a knucklehead.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Daswulf]

awesome work. very clean and i like the round 3dness about it.

 

[7A749]

10 hours ago, Frosty said:

Welcome aboard, glad to have you. Nice looking work you have there kind of heavy weight to call repouse but what the hey it's a process to hang your knack on.

Do you have a handle we can use? 7A749 is not only impersonal but kind of cumbersome to use. I suppose I could call you Mr. 749 but then I'd find out you're Japanese and I should've been calling you Mr. 7A and I'd look like a knucklehead. Well more of a knucklehead.

Frosty The Lucky.

I go by the same name on welding web, I figured it would be the easiest way for ppl who post on that board and this one to identify me. That's the only other board I really post on. It's actually the number of the license plate off the first real motorcycle I ever owned. I got it in the summer of 1993 and by pure happenstance I held on to it. I grew up in Las Vegas, and when I came back to MI in 97 the plate somehow followed me. When I started posting on forums I just decided to use that as a handle. It kinda stuck. Everyone on WW knows me by it now 

You can just call me Steve (or whatever else you want )

 

You guys got a great site. Some really talented ppl here. Thanks for the welcome.

9 hours ago, Daswulf said:

awesome work. very clean and i like the round 3dness about it.

 

Thanks. I love Crash. He's absolutely awesome. 

 

Great at stuff Here!

Steve

[HEAP of JEEP]

Agree with everyone else.  Stunning work!  The texture you get in your finish is mesmerizing to me for some reason.  I just caught myself staring at the leaf for 5 minutes. LOL

[7A749]

Thanks. I use a needle scaler to create the texturing. I have several different ones, but the cheapie Harbor Freight air hammer slip on gives the best overall texture without being too harsh IMHO.  I do the distressing at about a cherry red heat. The needles also create a domed effect on the steel after a few heats. I have three trailer ball strikers I made that fit in the square holes in my table or in the hardie of my anvil. I use those to create larger relief areas, then use various scalers to draw the metal  and get the shape I want. I'll post up some pix of the stuff I use. If you got a scaler and a decent compressor, give it a shot. You can really do a lot of shaping and different textures with one after you get a little time with it.

I am going to work some stainless soon. I've done very little with it in the form of forging, but have wanted to try it for awhile. I'm going to post a thread in the general discussion to try and get some input on the best ways to go about it.

Traverse is beautiful. Been awhile since I've been there. Hopefully we'll have a nice summer. Winter was pretty uneventful.

Many thanks!

[arkie]

Steve, welcome to IFI.   Great to have you come over and join us.  Very nice metal work, BTW.  Really enjoy you over on WW (I go by shortfuse on WW).  You'll find a lot of great info and help here from some very experienced smiths and metal workers.

[7A749]

Thanks a lot man. I've been reading a lot. 

 

I love your titles, like "curmudgeon" or in your case, a cranky old guy. We should have that over on WW

im sure whatever they called me, it wouldn't be very nice lol.

 

 

[VaughnT]

Beautiful work.  I would never have thought to use a needle scaler to work the hot steel, but now you've got me thinking!

How are you going to fasten the mirror to the metal so they're joined firmly?  I still haven't come up with a way that I like.

[arkie]

16 hours ago, 7A749 said:

Thanks a lot man. I've been reading a lot. 

 

I love your titles, like "curmudgeon" or in your case, a cranky old guy. We should have that over on WW

im sure whatever they called me, it wouldn't be very nice lol.

 

 

On IFI, you can pick your own "title".  Go for it!!!!!!

[DSW]

hey Steve. Beautiful work as usual. If you ever get around to taking picts of your work setup and torch holder again, start a thread on those here as well. Many here will probably love some of the ideas you came up with. Your air system setup would also probably find interest here as well. They aren't real big on links to other sites here, but you can always cut and paste with some minor editing to save time. They wouldn't have an issue with that.

I'm getting lined up with a big 5HP 80 gal commercial  IR compressor out of a shop I'm working on right now. 18.7cfm @ 175psi is what the tag says. That combined with my 60 gal existing tank from the dead compressor should give me all the air I'll ever need.  It's coated in oil/grease from the shop and I'm hoping it's not blowing oil from gaskets or seals. I got to see it start up, but they had to tear it out before I could see it run all the way up to full pressure. I'm hoping I can make space at the house to forge so I can play with my air chisels and needle scalers myself now that I have enough air power to run them again.

[JHCC]

Really nice work, Steve. Great sense of movement and proportion, and very nicely made.

[7A749]

2 hours ago, arkie said:

On IFI, you can pick your own "title".  Go for it!!!!!!

I'll be sure to do that

 

**

Thanks Doug. I really understand the link thing because when someone completely new shows up over on WW and their first post is loaded with links to videos, websites and Instagram accounts it kinda leaves me feeling like they're just using the site to boost their own numbers. I'll take some new pix of the forging station and stuff since I didn't have backups when I banned myself last year.

Thats great on the compressor. I hope you get it. Once you have a good air supply, the whole world seems to open up at that point. Of course, after playing with some of the stuff you have gotten to use, not much compares hehehe. I've been on a road trip to pick up some welders and a new to me belt grinder. I'll post pix up. I stopped for the night after close to 500 miles. Did Lansing to Euclid Oh, to South of Indianapolis and about 60 miles north of there now.

Im beat lol

 

**

Thanks JHCC. Still trying to figure the quote thing out on this site. My head being soup after all day in the road doesn't help. I'm already clueless as it is lol.

[7A749]

12 hours ago, VaughnT said:

Beautiful work.  I would never have thought to use a needle scaler to work the hot steel, but now you've got me thinking!

How are you going to fasten the mirror to the metal so they're joined firmly?  I still haven't come up with a way that I like.

Hey thanks. I'll take a pic of the back. Right now, I'm using two small pieces of rubber that fit into L shaped brackets I forged and welded to the back of the frame. They sandwich between the brackets and the back of the mirror. The brackets have a sort of musical note shape to them for lack of a better term. It's held in entirely by friction. It's quite sturdy, but I'm open to suggestions on a better way. The pix will explain better than I can right now. I'm on the road until tomorrow.

[DSW]

Compressor is mine if I want it. He wants $400 for it, or about 2 days worth of cleaning and grunt work at the shop. The guy I'm working for thinks I might be able to talk him down a bit more, but the guy we are also working for is my regular mechanic and I'm not sure I'd feel right about trying to beat him up over this.  I'm just hoping it doesn't have any major issues since I didn't get to see it run for any length of time. If it does, I'm sure we'll work it all out though.

He also has a beautiful large bench vise he'll probably sell. Must be at least 6" wide jaws. Vise slides on what looks like gibs on a cross slide for a big lathe. I'll have to remember to try and get picts Monday. I really don't need another big vise however. I already have 2 or 3 spares plus the big 5X Parker on the heavy steel table. I'd be really tempted to take the big vise as well if I wasn't trying to save my pennies to build a shed at the house this summer.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Welcome to IFI from Moapa Valley. 

I like the Art Nouveau look of the mirror. 

[JHCC]

Steve, check this link, which shows hot forging with a handheld pneumatic hammer.

[7A749]

2 hours ago, BIGGUNDOCTOR said:

Welcome to IFI from Moapa Valley. 

I like the Art Nouveau look of the mirror. 

Thanks a lot.

For those who asked, here's how I fit the mirror into the frame. These pieces of rubber firmly hold it into the brackets I attached to the back. So far, this is the best solution I've come up with. I can hold the mirror upside down by the frame and shake it and it doesn't move or fall out. Of course, I did this over a padded surface.... 

But anyways, I have to add the hanger for it, then I'll finish up the coloring on it before clear coat. That's the plan anyways.

17 hours ago, DSW said:

Compressor is mine if I want it. He wants $400 for it, or about 2 days worth of cleaning and grunt work at the shop. The guy I'm working for thinks I might be able to talk him down a bit more, but the guy we are also working for is my regular mechanic and I'm not sure I'd feel right about trying to beat him up over this.  I'm just hoping it doesn't have any major issues since I didn't get to see it run for any length of time. If it does, I'm sure we'll work it all out though.

He also has a beautiful large bench vise he'll probably sell. Must be at least 6" wide jaws. Vise slides on what looks like gibs on a cross slide for a big lathe. I'll have to remember to try and get picts Monday. I really don't need another big vise however. I already have 2 or 3 spares plus the big 5X Parker on the heavy steel table. I'd be really tempted to take the big vise as well if I wasn't trying to save my pennies to build a shed at the house this summer.

Yea, that sounds fair Doug. As long as the tank is sound you'll prolly be fine. I agree on not beating the guy up on the price. I might suggest offering additional services for more money off it if he's game tho. You never know what he may be thinking. I would be all over trading work for it if possible. My Ingersoll has served me well. Adding that auto drain really helped a lot. When I get time, I'll make a riser up for the dryer I bought and get it installed.

Ill put a thread up about the compressor. I'll just copy the text. I have most of it saved as a file anyways. 

[7A749]

Here's a couple flowers I made several years ago. I hammered the detail on the petals, obviously not shooting for realisim here. They were actually going to be part of a montage for my now ex wife. I did weld two of the original four flowers I had to a stand and gave them to a former boss I had who I thought a lot of. She was a neat lady.

The butterfly was a reproduction of a drawing my ex wife gave to me when we were dating. I tore the drawing up, but couldn't bring myself to toss the metal piece lol. They are all heat colored and oil finished.

[7A749]

58 minutes ago, JHCC said:

Steve, check this link, which shows hot forging with a handheld pneumatic hammer.

Yeah, that's sort of where I'm at, (and wanting to go) only I don't have any hammers quite that big. Cleco and IR make a really nice hammer like that for square shank chisels which can be modified to any shape. I use a smaller air hammer with blunted chisels and points to create similar effects to what the guy did in the video. I recently bought a real nice Ingersoll straight air chisel which uses square shank chisels. I need to get a couple for it. I had to modify a large nut for it that acts as a jam nut to hold it together. I turned it in my lathe and tapped it. I only paid ten bux for it and it cleaned up real nice. I can't wait to use it.

I need to acquire a large stump like that fella has for deep forming. On the anvil or a table (my preferred method for working hot metal) there's too much rebound. Once you get the larger depressions made, then the hard surface can be used for the finer work. I've used V blocks to do preliminary depressions on stuff, then finish it out on a trailer ball striker. I still have a lot to learn, but I like the pneumatic hammer method a lot. 

 

Great video. That guy is super talented. Thanks for the link.

[7A749]

Thought I would add a couple picture frames I made. The pics aren't the best, I had more of them and I made a mistake last year and wiped out over 10K posts and all my pics off WW while using decimator to ban a spammer.

Oh well.

Anyways, Heres a couple frames I made.

The first one I made for some friends of my moms. Their only son was heavily involved in coaching girls softball, hence the home plate shape and hanging whistle. Unfortunately, he took his own life after a bitter divorce. He had two teenage daughters he left behind. I did it for $100 and wouldn't take a penny more. His mom and dad cried when I gave it to them. I did too.

The second one I did originally for my now ex wife, but I took it back shortly after our separation. It was an anniversary gift with a pic of her and I when we were first dating.

Put a pic of my son in it. He was like four at the time. Both are mild steel and made from scrap. I heat colored both of them, but never applied a protective coating to the second one and it tarnished. The effect ended up looking kind of cool, dunno if I'll refinish it or not. I used an automotive grade clear coat on the home plate frame.

The base the home plate frame is attached to is the same style construction as the "scroll edged" frame. I used a pair of vise grip needle nose pliers to twist the scrolls while hot. After I finished the general shape, I metal finished it with an angle grinder and non woven abrasive wheels on my buffer. The home plate frame is welded together from several pieces, then attached to the base by TIG welding.

Both of the Windows for the pictures were cut by hand with a cutoff wheel, and hand finished with a file. Nothing was cut with any CNC equipment.

[JimsShip]

Hello 7A749! Glad to see your work!

My Dad was an old school tin knocker, and I dabbled a bit in some punched tin items, but never got to do any detailed forming like that frame, that is awesome, i'd like to see how it's done if you ever have time to make a video or two!

My one suggestion would be to keep in mind that you may need a spacer or something on the other side of the back so it will lay flat on the wall when hung. (I made a picture frame once that always leaned towards the right of the room until I put a few of those felt discs on the other side!)

 

[7A749]

On May 17, 2016 at 3:17 PM, JimsShip said:

Hello 7A749! Glad to see your work!

My Dad was an old school tin knocker, and I dabbled a bit in some punched tin items, but never got to do any detailed forming like that frame, that is awesome, i'd like to see how it's done if you ever have time to make a video or two!

My one suggestion would be to keep in mind that you may need a spacer or something on the other side of the back so it will lay flat on the wall when hung. (I made a picture frame once that always leaned towards the right of the room until I put a few of those felt discs on the other side!)

 

Thanks a lot Jim. I really need to make some simple videos. I don't even have a YouTube account, or know much about making and posting them to be entirely honest with you.

I have to figure out a hanging method for the frame yet. As you mentioned, it will have to hang flat. I was thinking of finding the center point of balance at the top and using an offset tab with a ring, or something to that effect. The felt spacers sound like a good idea. I went kinda gangbusters on a lot of this stuff I've posted like five years ago, then it all took a back seat to paying work. Hopefully I can get it finished this summer. I have a lot more projects I wanna start on and finally have made a hole in my schedule to do them.

I keep reading here and am so impressed with the diversity of different stuff as well as all the knowledge. The warm welcome has been great too.