Do you work with a plan?

[Rich Hale]

I find that a plan even a simple one is a tremendous aid in getting work done. We may think of that as having supplies on hand and sonme kind of routine that we work through. Can we include more things in a plan? When you put a piece of steel in a fire do you know exactly how you are going to pull it from the fire and exactly what you will do to it in the time the heat allows? If you have that in mind it may help. I am right handed so while the steel is heating I have the correct tongs in my left hand and the anvil face has been brushed. Hammer with the correct face in position in my right hand and I keep in mind where on the anvil I will work and what metal I want to move and by how much. I have a color in mind for the steel and when it drops to that color It goes back in the fire. If I am going to flux the steel I have the flux ready and in whatever I use to apply it. I have a wire brush ready to clean before fluxing the steel. If you are trying to really be accurate with the hammer it may help to do a "dry run", Before the steel is hot put it in and take it out of the forge a couple of times and work out where and how to hold it, where you want it on the anvil and at what angle and how you will strike it with the hammer. Then bring the piece up to heat and it should go as planned. These actions build muscle memory and that allows you to work more efficiently, Enjoy

[Frosty]

It depends on the task. For some things I may wing it from the git go. For others I plan as close to every step as I can.

The greater the degree of complexity, difficulty, learning curve, etc. or combination of such factors the more important a good plan is.

If you don't think of where to put 2 tons of steel before you have it delivered you're going to end up moving it at least twice and probably paying demurage on the truck while you offload. Of course if you haven't done something that basic you probably won't know what to do with it when it arrives anyway.

So, yeah I plan things out. Sometimes to excess but knowing I do so allows me to plan in leeway for my own foiables.

Besides, I LOVE it when a plan comes together.

Frosty

[Alan B]

I try to have everything set up to be convenient while I'm working. On big jobs I may even write everything out in order and create a step by step process to follow. I find that having a plan before I start tends to help me accomplish more, faster and with less waiste. This is a good point Rich, thanx for bring it to mind.

[Finnr]

Most often I work from a plan, though sometimes I just let the the project happen as I go. Fun but not the most economical method in time for sure.
Finnr

[mcraigl]

I'm mostly past the point of beating on hot steel solely for the sake of beating on hot steel so I usually at the very least have a mental image of what I'm trying to achieve. I do like the idea of cold-runs, and like Frosty, how detailed my plan is depends on how complex the project or how much time I've got into the piece that I'd have to redo if I screwed up a move. Even on simple pieces though I think I'm with Rich, I've at least got a mental picture of what I want to accomplish with that heat, the tools I'll need ready at hand, etc. for that step in the process. A dry-erase board near the forging area is a nice feature. On a topic related to that... Mike-hr made covers for his mill table out of fiber reinforced panel scraps and realized a very, very handy benefit in that they work as well with dry erase markers as any store bought dry erase board. Very handy to have a spot at the mill to write down figures and do math etc.

[steveh]

i usually have some sort of plan,lots of time i do series of drawings to help give me a better perspective and i like to do dry runs.my wife was helping me to do some forge welding the other night putting dragon heads on the ends of some lengths that were too long for me alone.we did several dry runs before the real deal.for someone who usually just watches she was great.i couldnt have done the job without her.

[Sandalphon]

I'm with frosty on this one, I plan more indepth stuff, but tend to let the everyday basics go, unless it has been awhile since I did that particular kind of process.

Nice A-team Pun Frosty:o

[unkle spike]

The minimum is to "build" it start to finish in your mind. On large projects sometimes I outrun the engineering, and if I don't stop I make mistakes.

On other projects I do actually sketch things out. One thing though is I tend to follow my eye for proportions, and remember if you are building it for yourself the only one that you have to please is yourself.

I hope this helps, and seeing as I have posted no projects here it may be hard to understand what I am talking about.

[gpworks]

sounds like your pretty organized Rich, i use a slate blackboard from an old school its 4x7 feet so i can really do some planning,i use it for ideas and other notes but most of the time i do about what alot of other guys do just wing it and sometimes plan it,depends on what i am trying to do.

[rfb343]

I don't have too much experience in the metal fab world, but as having spent many years turning sticks into house frames and decks I'd always pencil out my layout with lengths and angle degree on a 2x and have found it works as well with soapstone and metal so even though I had the general plan in my brain, I could double check my numbers before I cut.

[jayco]

First of all, I don't do a lot of complicated stuff.
But ,to get a piece or job finished, I still have to have a plan of some sort.
If I can't visualize or 'figure out' what I'm going to do beforehand.....the results in my case are likely to be poor.

If it's something I've done before, the planning is easy:
Get the proper stock and tools ready....the proper fire for the work, etc.
Step:1 Step :2 Step:3

When it comes to something new, that's when things become interesting.
When I realize I didn't leave quite enough metal to draw out the way I wanted
When that bend didn't happen exactly like I planned

At some point I say to myself, "Gee, that didn't work!"
I guess it's what you call LEARNING.........
Now I have three options:
(1) scrap the piece and the idea
(2) Put it back in the fire and try a different approach
(3) or lay it aside until I come up with a better plan

For me, no. 3 usually yields the best results.

James

[mtforge]

I've got a 3 ring binder full of instructions in sheet protectors with info on the items I make. I record the stock required and step by step procedures to make them. If it helps I'll take digital pictures and include them. This helps me repeat the items and my daughters, who work for me in the shop, make some things too.

Mark

[Bentiron1946]

Plan? I think I've heard the word before but seldom use it or at least that's what my wife says.

[Phil Patrick]

For myself. I find that I will build anything about four hundred times in my head before I put it to paper or sharpie or soapstone to steel. Being able to visualize is paramount to what I do both in my hobbies (blacksmithing etc) or my job, which is in the sheetmetal fabrication business. So yeah, I know I plan everything. I find though that certain projects will find their own path, I just follow.

[Johannes]

I pitty the fool!
who does not plan :-)

i make scetches, calculations, and usually a rough 3d drawing.. but not for simple things, I just gowith guts on simple things

[Nick]

Some things, especially ones I've done many times, I'll not plan at all. Sometimes things I've never done I'll do off the cuff as a sort of initial experiment. Large and complex projects, I'll plan out the design in detail, but I don't always hold myself to it. I almost completely redesigned the frame and elements of one complex project while I was making it, as I thought of a better solution which hadn't occurred to me until I started. I guess the whole thing is very fluid.

In terms of proccess, I have a standard way I lay things out, especially for very structured and repetitive tasks like making nails or arrowheads, or raising where I need maximum effeciency each heat. I've worked out these 'plans' in the course of doing them, and once I hit on something that works very well I rarely deviate from it, unless for special circumstances or another idea.

Cheers,
Nick

[Daryl]

I follow the advice of my first teachers, the same from a book by Otto Schmirler and strangely enough, Francis Whitaker provided the same advice when I met him at CanIron II. Most everything beyond a candle holder is planned out full-scale on a piece of thin sheet tin. It is infinitely easier where accurate measurements can be made for material calculation, details such as finials, twists, whether collars, rivets or mortise and tenon may be employed. Because the plan is on metal, the hot iron may be placed directly upon the plan for immediate comparison.
My two cents worth.

[habu68]

when I worked at a historical park my master smith would teach by having each of us make the piece by doing each step then cutting it off and doing another one from scratch adding the next step and cutting it off again, and so on, until you had a whole set of pieces that showed each step in the process. We would then string this instruction on a piece of bailing wire for future reference. This taught muscle memory and you ended with a complete set of instructions. His set was then hung on the wall of the shop for use with the public as a pass around as a smith would demo. Great learning tool. Andy Morris, my master smith did a 6 month apprenticeship with Francis Whitaker. Francis told Andy to do a candle holder of his own design. Andy made a beautiful 3 legged candle holder with twists, welds, tennon, and cup. When it was completed Francis told Andy to "now make me a set of three just like it." Andy had failed to make a drawing and cut list of the parts and spent half the night at the forge, trying to replicate his first piece.

[philip in china]

No. ;-) :-)

[dablacksmith]

not usually if it is a new product or item ile try a few different ways and see which works best .. if its a standard item ive got the dezign memorized so i dont need um generally.. tho i know a smith who has all his dezigns written down step by step with measurements and everything . he can duplicate any thing hes ever produced ...Ile never be that organized but that is the engeneering mind set....

[MooseRidge]

made that mistake at my last John C. Campbell class. Rough drawing of craftsman style lamp only, not full scale. When I was done, my wife asked for several more.... Had to take measurements of the whole thing (very difficult AFTER completed!)... Actually, enjoy the drawing part, something for those nasty days when you can't get to the forge....

Can't wait until this fall... forge will be 100 ft from the house (actually, house is being built 100 ft from the forge) instead of 42 miles away!

Chuck
Dunlap, TN

[newbiesmith]

Good example of why I'm too stupid not to draft a drawing before hand.

The other day I decided to wing making a set of tongs. I had read and read and read about all the ways of doing it. I made the two blanks and they looked great. But for some reason they didn't seem to fit well. After about 3 nights of working them, setting them down and working on another project while I thought things through, it hit me. I made both blanks identical. Sooo, now I've got to figure out if I want to use these two blanks to make two tongs (after making their blank-mates, using new stock) or if because of the amount of heats I used to rework them if I should scrap them and just start over.

This learning thing can be a real pain sometimes ;-).

-Dan

[mike-hr]

?? Both sides are supposed to be identical...unless you're making a groove or box on one bit, and a flat bit on the other.

[Ian]

He's right you know....
:)

[newbiesmith]

Ian, which one of us is right? I had always thought the two tong blanks were supposed to be "mirror images" of each other.

-Dan