DaveGas Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Hello all, My name is Dave and I got in to blacksmithing about two years ago. I have no idea what brought me to the trade but I am glad I did. It's a hobby for me as the job that pays is being a police officer. I'm located 10 minutes west of Pittsburgh and am currently operating out of a 12x16 shed. The first thing I ever forged was a fire poker and a sad excuse of a railroad spike knife. I've since moved on to candle wall sconces and door knockers. My latest and largest project is a two tier, 12 light ring chandelier. Anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself and give a little background. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Welcome aboard! We've got a few IFI members in your area, and I'm sure they'll be along to say Hello. If you haven't yet, please READ THIS FIRST!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Welcome aboard Dave. I'm about 40 or so minutes south of Pittsburgh. I'd like to say thank you for for what you do in your day job. Oh, just so you know we love pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveGas Posted February 24, 2018 Author Share Posted February 24, 2018 Everyone loves pictures. Here's some of my sconces and the second attempt at a railroad spike knife compared to my most recent ones. Once my chandelier starts to look like a chandelier I will be sharing those as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Those sconces look great. Nice symmetry on the scrolls. Yeah the spike knives are much improved. I have a bunch of knives I have yet to finish. There's just so much other stuff I like to do when I get the time that I can get side tracked. Have you tried to make any knives from coil spring yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveGas Posted February 24, 2018 Author Share Posted February 24, 2018 Not yet but I have 4 springs off a Polaris ranger that I replaced last year that have been patiently sitting next to the anvil. I recently acquired an anchor (baby) that has been putting a damper on my free time. I'm hoping to get a hammer in his hands by mid summer though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Congrats! I have a little girl due in two months. I'm sure forge time will be lessened for a while but I can't wait to get a hammer in her hands when she's old enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Thank you for serving your community! Being Dad is a frightening responsibility. You can’t guarate they will acquire any of your good habits, but they will get every one of your bad ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 Hi Dave, from an old retired officer. I started hitting hot metal to relax when I was a rookie in '85. Retired with 29 years on the job as Lt. and still hit it hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveGas Posted February 26, 2018 Author Share Posted February 26, 2018 Funny how beating the xxxx out of something soothes us. If all goes as planned I will be eligible to retire at 50. Still plenty of swinging years left after that! Thank you for your service and thank the rest of you for your kind words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidF Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Welcome Dave! Awesome scones and the progression in the blades is awesome to see. I may need to try the scones myself. Great inspriration for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 1 minute ago, DavidF said: I may need to try the scones myself. Now I'm hungry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidF Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Lol! I guess I should turn off the spell check. Let’s try again sconces. Or is it sconches? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveGas Posted February 26, 2018 Author Share Posted February 26, 2018 I do some different things with my sconces. These were a big hit for me. I found that 2"x3/16" flat bar works best for the body and 3/16" square makes the best scrolls. 5 1/2" candle trays also work best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidF Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 They look incredible Dave. Have you ever been accused of being a bit of a perfectionist? Looking at the symmetry, I know how much effort, time, and pride those take. Also, did you round all of the tube pieces? They look very nice. Last question, I love the calligraphy style numbers and letters. Did you cut those out and did you texture them? They looks like you put a texture on them and polished them to a high level. They really standout well against the sconces. Now I can’t wait to see the chandelier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveGas Posted February 27, 2018 Author Share Posted February 27, 2018 Definitely heard the perfectionist line before. As for the round stock I just started with 3/16" solid round and scrolled them. I found the letters and numbers on an online shop actually so I can't take credit for them. I used a silver leaf pen to color them (copper looks great also). Just got the arms riveted on to the 30" chandelier ring today so I've attached a picture of that. Still have to add the candle trays and sockets once the nipples come in but it's coming along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidF Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 Love that chandelier design. Post updates when you get the nipples and the work done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc1 Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 DaveGas, do you bend the thinner scrolls cold or hot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveGas Posted February 28, 2018 Author Share Posted February 28, 2018 33 minutes ago, DavidF said: Love that chandelier design. Post updates when you get the nipples and the work done. Just got the hanging rings on today. See below. I might resize the rings to 3 inch instead of 4 but I haven't decided for sure. 6 minutes ago, Marc1 said: DaveGas, do you bend the thinner scrolls cold or hot? I bend them hot. I usually bend them at the same time as the main scroll so if you stack all the scrolled pieces they will match perfectly. I also cut the pieces from the same stock; pretty standard stuff for us but when you tell a customer "all the same size pieces are cut from the same stock so if you unrolled everything you can match the cuts together perfectly" they eat it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc1 Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 Only reason I ask is because you keep the start of the scroll flat, usually a sign of machine scrolling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveGas Posted February 28, 2018 Author Share Posted February 28, 2018 Depending on the stock I don't flatten the ends if they fit the bender. The larger tubes I must flatten based on thickness. As long as it's hot this bender has no problem bending flat bar 3/8 x 4". Hot only, would probably snap the handle on 3/16 cold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 The flat ends really detract from the piece because as mentioned they are generally indicative of machine made stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc1 Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 It takes very little to forge the start of the scroll even if you then roll it cold and the result is a much nicer scroll, but I don't want to tell you how to do your work. I am intrigued by those tube scrolls you use for the chandelier. How do you get the groove? Do you have a Hebo scrolling machine or you buy the scrolls ready made? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveGas Posted February 28, 2018 Author Share Posted February 28, 2018 I thank you both for your input and it will be assimilated. The scrolls for the light arms were bought. I needed the grove to assist in hiding the wires as the wire fits in the channel. Long story short, the 3/4 tubing I had and scrolled was too big and overpowered the pieces even though the wiring was completely hidden. 1/2 was too small. Then I went with 5/8 and while they fit nicely proportionally, there wasn't enough room on the inside for wiring through the scrolled end so there was a 2 inch wire run on the exterior. My solution to aide in that was to purchase these as the wiring stays in the contour of the grove. The bender I was using also put groves in the tubing the wire rested on top instead of inside and my jigs wouldn't put a grove at all. This is a project I am doing for my living room and is the first one I've ever attempted so there is a massive learning curve on my part. On the upside I am learning a lot about proportional pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveGas Posted February 28, 2018 Author Share Posted February 28, 2018 11 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: The flat ends really detract from the piece because as mentioned they are generally indicative of machine made stuff 11 hours ago, Marc1 said: It takes very little to forge the start of the scroll even if you then roll it cold and the result is a much nicer scroll, but I don't want to tell you how to do your work. I am intrigued by those tube scrolls you use for the chandelier. How do you get the groove? Do you have a Hebo scrolling machine or you buy the scrolls ready made? While I have both of you here what would you recommend for the square stock? Taper then scroll, flatten then scroll, or flare and scroll? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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