dagr8tim Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 I've got a bucket of gears from lawn tractor transmissions, timing gears from car engine's, axle gears, ect... Would those be worth anything to forge with? I figure most are hardened and I would assume are pretty decent quality steel. Edu-ma-cate me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 The main problem with forging gears is the high likelihood of creating cold shuts, unless you take the time to grind out every sharp interior corner. That's going to be a lot of time. Add in the difficulty in not knowing the properties of the specific steel(s), and you're probably better off buying new stock. That said, there are many members of IFI who use gears as raw material for welded scrap art, and you could certainly do the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 If you have the time to experiment.... It really depends on what they are and what you want to make from them. Are they machined steel, cast steel or cast iron? I was recently experimenting on heating and bending a few camshafts. One was machined steel the other was cast steel. The machined steel camshaft bent and the cast steel camshaft would not bend and broke. That's just one example. Another was a cast steel handle on a large pipe wrench. It started to move under the hammer but then broke. Unless you have an idea for them to utilize part of their shape then I would say it would be easier to use a more known stock to forge into what you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagr8tim Posted June 14, 2017 Author Share Posted June 14, 2017 Most seem to be fully machined with no cast surfaces. It looks like I may just have to heat some metal and play around. 39 minutes ago, JHCC said: That said, there are many members of IFI who use gears as raw material for welded scrap art, and you could certainly do the same. That would be the other idea. I've made afew pieces of sculpture out of gears prior. I was looking for something else to do with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 I just use them in sculptures myself. Many cast steel gears are machined to the final dimensions after casting so still be wary. If it breaks you will have a hot chunk of steel going somewhere so be prepared. But have fun and be safe experimenting, and let us know what you find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 I'm sorry but "decent quality steel" is pretty meaningless as you can have decent quality mild steel, decent quality medium carbon steel and decent quality high carbon steel. In general steel gears will be a medium carbon steel or even something like 9620 and then case hardened. If you were hoping that they were high carbon steel and usable say for blades you are most likely in for disappointment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagr8tim Posted June 14, 2017 Author Share Posted June 14, 2017 12 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: I'm sorry but "decent quality steel" is pretty meaningless as you can have decent quality mild steel, decent quality medium carbon steel and decent quality high carbon steel. In general steel gears will be a medium carbon steel or even something like 9620 and then case hardened. If you were hoping that they were high carbon steel and usable say for blades you are most likely in for disappointment. I'm not considering blade smithing. I'm just looking for metal to heat up and beat on at this point to practice techniques. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 So you want to practice on items that are difficult to work and in shapes that are not usable for much as they stand....why not just hit yourself in the head with the hammer a few times instead? Hot rolled steel is quite cheap if you buy it at a steel supply store; shoot I used to get it free from an ornamental iron place on Outerbelt street, (near 6400 East Broad Street), probably not there anymore as it's been 15 years...., when I asked I was allowed to go through their scrap bin getting their drops. Used to pick up several hundred pounds of new steel that was great for forging. Learning to blacksmith is much less frustrating if you work with metal that is easy to use and doesn't require a lot of work to get it into "starting" configuration. Have you started going to SOFA meetings? We used to run a carpool from Columbus Ohio to them when I lived out there. You might want to talk with Adlai Stein who teaches blacksmithing at the Idea Foundry in Columbus OH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 For that you are truly better using known steel in the dimensions that is practical to what you intend to make. But hey, some of us like to just play around and experiment here and there since it isn't our day job. But for Learning technique known steels are better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagr8tim Posted June 14, 2017 Author Share Posted June 14, 2017 37 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: So you want to practice on items that are difficult to work and in shapes that are not usable for much as they stand....why not just hit yourself in the head with the hammer a few times instead? Hot rolled steel is quite cheap if you buy it at a steel supply store; shoot I used to get it free from an ornamental iron place on Outerbelt street, (near 6400 East Broad Street), probably not there anymore as it's been 15 years...., when I asked I was allowed to go through their scrap bin getting their drops. Used to pick up several hundred pounds of new steel that was great for forging. Learning to blacksmith is much less frustrating if you work with metal that is easy to use and doesn't require a lot of work to get it into "starting" configuration. Have you started going to SOFA meetings? We used to run a carpool from Columbus Ohio to them when I lived out there. You might want to talk with Adlai Stein who teaches blacksmithing at the Idea Foundry in Columbus OH. That's how I first got interested in Blacksmithing was taking one of Adlia's classes at CIF. I'm friends with him on FB, and he lives about 2 miles away from me. I come from the school of thought that doing difficult things and sometimes failing teaches you more than doing easy things successfully. Besides, I have not done anything in about a year. So anything that gets me back into the swing of things (pardon the pun) is better than what I'm currently doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 Next time you see him ask if he knows a Thomas Powers.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagr8tim Posted June 14, 2017 Author Share Posted June 14, 2017 4 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said: Next time you see him ask if he knows a Thomas Powers.... I believe I have in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 Did he throw anything at you? An old friend of my wife just caught up with her as she had lost our contact info when we moved to NM, well she was talking to Adlai's wife who mentioned that Thomas Powers was to blame for Adlai's going pro and "ting" the connection was forged again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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