Eventlessbox Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 First centerpunch. Made from a large Allen key I picked up a while back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 The hammer end needs to be domed. Is this for hot work or cold? For my preferences it's too long for cold work and too short for hot work. I do like your twist! It's pretty even and a nice touch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Griffin Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 Anvil, just for my information, why would you dome the hammer end? I would have thought flat would have more contact with the hammer and transfer more energy to the tip. There i go thinking again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 Dome: less mushrooming in use. Can you tell us the heat treat you used on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eventlessbox Posted December 18, 2019 Author Share Posted December 18, 2019 I’ve always done a camphered(sp?) edge heat treated the first inch to non metallic. Quenched in oil. Quick hit with a belt to clear scale. Then slow heated the shank in the dragons breath of the forge till the temper line got to right where the spiral ends and then stopped the heat spread. Buffed on a belt for apperiance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 Differential hardening, differential tempering: Good. What colour did the point end up? It probably needs some tempering unless it will be used on hot metal which will do it in use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 1 hour ago, Eventlessbox said: I’ve always done a camphered(sp?) edge Chamfered. 1 hour ago, Eventlessbox said: heat treated the first inch to non metallic. Non-magnetic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eventlessbox Posted December 18, 2019 Author Share Posted December 18, 2019 Lol. Yes. I need to proof read better. Very much non magnetic. If I could make it nonmetallic I’d win a Nobel prize prolly. Lol. The tip picked up a light straw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 18, 2019 Share Posted December 18, 2019 Actually, no. I've seen a number of beginning smiths leave stuff in the forge so long that it scales away to non-metallic. You can also burn it to that state. Perhaps an Ignoble Piece Prize? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 On 12/18/2019 at 7:48 AM, Randy Griffin said: why would you dome the hammer end What Thomas said. I will add one more critical reason. With a domed head your hammer head is more likely to strike point on point. With a flat struck surface, your flat faced hammer has a greater chance of striking on a diagonal. This will cause your tool to go flying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eventlessbox Posted December 20, 2019 Author Share Posted December 20, 2019 Love this. Learn something new every day. Shame i'm a loose that forge finish though. Love that colour I’m honestly considering just making a second and keeping that one as a fidget. If you put it tip down and run your hand up and down it it spins in a really satisfying way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 Lol, I never get rid of a tool I made, no matter how ugly it may be! It's a reminder of my progress and always seems to have a use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 Has anyone made any center punches, eye punches, hot metal carving punches from Valve Stems? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 I've heard good things about the steel but you have to find ones that aren't sodium filled, those don't like being heated in a forge and protest violently. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 Thanks for catching that; I've never had a high performance car, airplane or boat engine that used sodium filled valves; but they are out there. I was thinking that the metal is supposed to be heat tolerant and dragon carving tooling is better when heat tolerant... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Ling Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 On 12/21/2019 at 8:48 AM, anvil said: Lol, I never get rid of a tool I made, no matter how ugly it may be! It's a reminder of my progress and always seems to have a use. Seems I’ve thrown probly thousands of dollars in hammers and other tools in our pond...lol. If I kept them people would start wanting to buy them. Many of the tools I throw out is mainly just for aesthetic reasons, functional tools, but just don’t meet my standards to sell. There’s a big difference in functional and sellable, at least to me. Maybe it’s just called pride, pickyness, or high standards, or maybe all those things are the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 I grew up in hot rod central S. Cal. and even here discovered from mechanic buddies they charged a LOT extra if they had to cut a bent valve to extract it. Modern engines run a LOT hotter than in the 70s so I'd be pretty conservative. I don't know about tossing rejects in the pond, seems sort of drastic to me but somebody around here should have standards I guess. There is an upside though I suppose, just think in a dark post apocalyptic future America where humans are dragging themselves out of the recent stone age, your pond will be THE hot spot to mine bog steel! I think I'm going to have to incorporate the idea in a short story. Hmmmm. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 If someone questions your standards, they (your standards) are not high enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfootnampa Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 Just as a pragmatic point, I have had the best luck making center punches by grinding old star drill bits. There seems to be a good supply at attractive prices and they are pretty durable. I don’t heat treat them at all... just regrind the points, cut to length and profile grind the struck ends. I’ve tried various steels and heat treats... but these are cheap, easy and reliable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 Littleblacksmith, in a few years dredge those tools out and sell them as Rustic Look tools You have to watch Allen keys for tools and make sure they have enough temper drawn. They are pretty good steel, and can get very brittle. I probably would draw it to a purple myself. The only sodium cooled valves that I know of used in run of the mill vehicles are in the 60's GMC series of V6 engines. My Dad's truck had the 305 V6 and the shop manual mentioned sodium cooled valves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 Hmm.. sounds like some magnet fishing fun in tour pond Mark. Could charge for a permit and recoup some money lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Memo to self: have Daughter work on giant mutant catfish to throw tools back out of pond! I frequently tell folks "all my best work belongs to other people; but I own all my mistakes!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 Time to dig into the iron midden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLAG Posted January 3, 2020 Share Posted January 3, 2020 2 hours ago, ThomasPowers said: "all my best work belongs to other people; but I own all my mistakes!" Your aphorism is pure genius. Glenn, please add this saying into the "blacksmith, gems, and other brilliance …" thread. Thank you. SLAG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 Done, saved Glenn the work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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