how to forge a normal cross

[LeMarechal]

Hi to all out there,

as it is realy easy to find tons of videos on youtube about making a split cross, I wonder how to make a normal straight cross.

The easy way would be, to weld (stick or Mig) the crossing parts together but what I´m searching for is how the old blacksmiths had done a simple cross?

Did they split a large rectangular piece of metal from both ends up to where the crossing point will be, and then bend an draw down the splitted legs?

Forgewelding???

 

Greetings Sascha

[Frazer]

I would probably forge weld the two pieces together, that seems like it would be the easiest way to go. 

A rivet would also work.

[ThomasPowers]

"Old Blacksmiths":  Forge weld; post 1850's: Forge weld or rivet or forge braze AKA a penny weld.

[George N. M.]

I would think that it would depend somewhat on the material used.  If wrought iron, which welds pretty easily, probably a weld.  If mild steel it might be more likely to use the split and bend method.

"by hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[JHCC]

I made a split-and-bend cross for a friend a while back, starting with a piece of WI flat bar. Learned some interesting lessons about (mis)calculating the material needed for the crossing in the middle.

[Goods]

I had to wait till I was home to get this picture, but I saw this will thumbing through to books that were gifted to me. When I saw this post I thought it could be an interesting option for making a cross. From “Werk Ind Werkzeug fed Kunstchmieds” by Otto Schmirler.

David

 

[LeMarechal]

Thank you all for all the ideas.

One method occurs to me today:  Splitting and forging out like in the sketch below

Drilling or punching the holes, then splitting along the lines and changing dimensions in the direction of the arrows...

First the upper and lower part of the cross to get the mass out of the way to be able to reach the crossing middle...

Must be good calculated as JHCC wrote :)

[George N. M.]

Dear LeMarechal:

It would work but strikes me as overly complex, you would be having to forge and draw out more material than necessary.  I'm assuming that the 4 holes would define the center where the arms cross.  If that is correct, the side arms will be much shorter than the top arm of the cross because there is 3-4 times the amount of metal in the top portion of the blank.  that may be what you are looking for rather than a traditional Christian cross with 3 equal arms and one longer arm.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

[LeMarechal]

Dear George,

 

I´m absolutely with you. The point of success or failure is to devide out the mass of the upper sections equally.

My drawing should only be understood as a general idea... Next week I will have some time to make some experiments about this. I will show the results....

[ThomasPowers]

Sounds like a job for Plasticine clay before going hot.   It's good for working out volume needs and can be pre-formed in proposed stock sizes.

[Irondragon Forge ClayWorks]

I made this RR spike cross by splitting the upright then forging down the crosses to go in the split and forge welded them together. The copper wire wrap is so it could be hung on a wall or in the cedar stand.

[anvil]

11 hours ago, LeMarechal said:

Drilling or punching the holes,

Doing it this way, Instead of drilling I would fuller where your cut lines are to separate the mass's, and not cut and drill.

As for figuring out your dimensions you could use a little math and figure it out by equivalent mass.

[bertie_bassett]

would using the split cross method not work if you simply do not overlap your splits? if you leave leave a solid piece 1/2 your stock thickness then i think it should all match up.

alternatively upset the middle of a bar and then draw out the arms. seems a hard way to do this though.

[anvil]

There are as many ways to make a cross as there are blacksmiths who decided how that want to make one. All are legit and most important hard or difficult is only a product of your skill level.