Duncan M Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Recently I was at a mine which had lots of scrap metal. The owners told me that I could take whatever i wanted so I took a look around. I got a few different chunks of plate and other stuff, but my best find was a chunk of 2" square stock. It is about 10' long and I believe that It is mild steel. any forging would be done by hand and I would probably cut it with an angle grinder or sawzall, I could hot cut it to. I thought that I could make some nice axes with it. any Ideas would be great. ~Duncan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Good Carving stock for ornamental work. Andirons, twisted newel posts, Swages for my 3 anvils with 1.5" hardy holes. Shafts for stake anvils made from sledge hammer heads. Hammer stock to have steel faces forge welded to... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 You could forge it down to 1/4" square stock and make a bunch of "S" hooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 Or just some 2" stock S hooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 Lol, eSSS hoooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 I can see it'd be just silly of me to suggest: hammers, stake anvils or bottom tools as possibilities. I think I'll just mind my own business. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 Store it. Chop a section off when you need it. Ideas present themselves in due time. You might want to make a Guillotine tool in the future and need a solid frame. Perfect! Or you may develop a passion for making dragon headed walking canes. Who knows. I would stick with the sawzall though, angle grinders and cut off discs can be unforgiving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 A soft hammer for driving punches and chisels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan M Posted August 23, 2020 Author Share Posted August 23, 2020 On 8/21/2020 at 9:07 AM, anvil said: You could forge it down to 1/4" square stock and make a bunch of "S" hooks. Imagine how much I'd have, 10' of 2" stock would be about 640 feet of 1/4". that's a lot of hook. 23 hours ago, Nodebt said: Store it. Chop a section off when you need it. Ideas present themselves in due time. Who knows. I would stick with the sawzall though, angle grinders and cut off discs can be unforgiving. that's my plan, I just thought that I'd see what ideas people had. good to know about the sawzall. 19 hours ago, JHCC said: A soft hammer for driving punches and chisels. Do you think that it's worth having a soft hammer. Thanks for all the great Ideas. ~Duncan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Having a soft hammer is a good thing, you don't have to worry as much about chipping or mushrooming struck tools, putting flat spots on your hardy and such. I wouldn't make a bunch of them but one or two, maybe a 32 oz. and a 12 oz. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 15 hours ago, Duncan M said: 640 feet of 1/4". that's a lot of hook.il, . of course that suggestion was in semi jest. However, assuming you are new to smithing, that kind of repetition is worth it's weight in gold for developing hammer control. Consider first the gold. I did crafts fairs "back in the day and one of my best sellers was 4 different lengths of "S" hooks. I think my 12" hook was made from 18" of stock. I sold them for $10. 640'÷1.5= 426 "S" hooks *$10=$4260. That's a lot of gold and a priceless learning of hammer control. I do walk the walk. A shop in Denver, years ago, did the restoration for the Denver mint. The pickets were 1" round stock from 6' long to 10' long. They had literally thousands to do. I did a hundred or so. The job was to take 9" of stock and do a 14" taper to a point. I had no power hammer so used my shop hammers 2.5#,8#,12#. I made very little money, obviously, but what I gained in hammer control was priceless. I absoluty understood just why when drawing out stock forging square to octagon to round was critical,,, and i could literally do it blindfolded. Thus my post, and the message is to think out of the box and set your goals accordingly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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