ThomasPowers Posted June 26, 2022 Share Posted June 26, 2022 Forge braze---if you can find a feller/fella with a forge... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted June 26, 2022 Share Posted June 26, 2022 I have been reading "Practical Blacksmithing" by M.T. Richardson. Pretty good read so far. Started working on my Blue Meenie. Still a bit to go. Needs some reinforcing and the anvil need put in place along with foot peddle, spring, and associated linkage. So far it has only cost me time and even though it is made from lighter gauge metal if it will stamp my touchmark and lay our chisel lines i will be happy. I have this piece of squarish 4140 (left) that i will use as an anvil. It will be supported by a 4x4, i figure a wooden stand is good enough for my anvil why not this as well? And this piece of 1040 round (right) that may become the hammer but i am not quite certain about that yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dax Hewitt Posted June 26, 2022 Share Posted June 26, 2022 That's a beast, looking forward to a video of it in action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted June 26, 2022 Share Posted June 26, 2022 1 hour ago, BillyBones said: So far it has only cost me time and even though it is made from lighter gauge metal if it will stamp my touchmark and lay our chisel lines i will be happy. Sometimes those kind of builds will happily suprise you with more than you expect... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted June 26, 2022 Share Posted June 26, 2022 I do hope it exceeds my expectations. I wish i could make it a little deeper but that is all the room i have. From my estimates it will only have about 12" of throw, cant throw more than the foot pedal is long. I also figure that the main job of the upper portion is to hole the guide in place and most of the force will be bringing the hammer down on the anvil it does not have to be super heavy duty. Anyway regardless so far it has been a fun build and i have learned a few things. Today i made the foot peddle for the Blue Meanie and started up setting that round of 1040. I need minions. No striker so i swung a 10# sledge one handed while holding the piece on the anvil. After about 3 hours i called it a day and went for an adult beverage and now i am waiting for the aches and pains in spots i never knew i had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goods Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 Finished up a set hammer which is an over due door prize from our hammer-in last month. (I felt really bad about forgetting that I was supposed to to be bringing one!) Keep it fun, David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 3 hours ago, BillyBones said: so i swung a 10# sledge one handed while holding the piece on the anvil. B A D Billy! Rather than holding the piece by hand try wrapping a length of chain around it leaving the ends hanging, double it if you have to. You may only get a couple strikes but you can reset it before it cools and you can hit it harder. Chain has give so the work can't spring loose but chain isn't live so it won't recoil, it just holds the hammer head on end on the anvil face. Think of it like sand bagging it in place. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 51 minutes ago, Goods said: I felt really bad Are you saying you were...upset? Nice set hammer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 Cool yesterday; so I fired up the forge and worked on my replacement grill project. Flattening the rods that go across the frame. In between heats I started drilling the frame for rivets, got 43 holes drilled with a single 1/8" bit, 3 to go and the bit broke; but came out of the hole, second bit broke and stayed in the hole. 3rd bit is doing all the other drilling before working on that one hole.... I needed to establish where each individual rod will cross the frame and hot flatten it. So I flattened and drilled all the tops of the 23 rods and positioned them on the frame using some 1/8" stock through the holes and then used soapstone to mark where the frame on the other end would hit and then heated and flattened. This is where a fairly sharp edge on the anvil was helpful so I used my Fisher. (For the first end, I scribed a line near the face's edge and then just placed the ends to meet that line and hammered them flat.) I going to have to source some nails to use as rivets; 46 needed and NOT 16 penny. Going into town tomorrow and will hit the hardware store. Goal is to be using it to cook hamburgers over a mesquite wood fire on July 4th! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalfgreen Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 Well i cold forged this today for a buddy who wanted a metal sword for his toys. Still gotta finish but all hammered. Lol hey atleast i got to use my hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lary Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 Looks like a good prototype for a letter opener. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWISTEDWILLOW Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 That’s cool Gandalfgreen! Did you hammer that outta duplex nail? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 When i was but a wee lad i used to go in the barn and make little knives out of nails. I heated them with a propane torch, like a plumber uses, then hammered them out on top of my grand pa's vice. The same post vice that i am using today in my shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott NC Posted June 28, 2022 Share Posted June 28, 2022 How did you make that gaurd? Those would make good hors d'oeuvre skewers at a blacksmithing hoedown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad J. Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 I've been on a tear lately. Tonight I did a quick trivet from rail spikes, I cheated and welded it for now, I'll drill it and rivet it tomorrow. Worked a rose I started yesterday, (a couple small adjustments and I'll be happy) and knocked out 8 S hooks from 3/8 stock. Yesterday I did a few bottle openers, cut out the blanks for 4 roses, forged the leaves for the first. Sunday was putting the shop back together, Saturday was an 8 hour live demonstration in front a store I have stuff in. That convinced me I need a stake anvil or a 50 pounder. I moved my 200 pounder on its base, lifted it to the back of my truck twice and back out twice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.J.Lampert Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 On 6/26/2022 at 2:19 PM, BillyBones said: I need minions. No striker so i swung a 10# sledge one handed while holding the piece on the anvil. making some tooling and ran into the same problem making a bick out of 1.25 rod was able to use my press some but a lot needs to be done by hand also did some work on a knife for a friend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 1 hour ago, Chad J. said: I cheated and welded it for now Welding isn’t cheating. It’s a technique. Like any technique, it can be done well, or it can be done poorly; that’s a reflection of the skill of the smith. When and how the technique is used (whether for aesthetic or practical purposes, or both) reflects on the judgment of the smith. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 Also you can put collars over the welds if you want to hide them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalfgreen Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 Sorry been busy. Thats a great idea letter openers. Yes it is a nail 3-1/4" 16D. Guard is a washer i hammered square and fed onto the blade as it became oval enough then squared it off so to say. Not what you would do at all for real blade but worked very well for toys. Also had him ask me for a staff so i pounded this out of a brass rod the rest is more craft work but i did hammer the brass. And thanks i apreciate the feedback bad or good better then silence. And a tiny bit of file work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 29, 2022 Share Posted June 29, 2022 Not bad at all Gandalf. The hand creeps me out a little but it's not a thing. It IS facing the wrong direction though. The head of a staff or scepter should face forward, not back. A staff of office represents the war club by which kings, chiefs, etc. ruled. Do what you're told or I'll crush your skull. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalfgreen Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 Frosty yes you are correct had to modify original plan to twist it so that it would be but he is happy with it. Also i tried to center the loop over the top but i couldn't quite figure it out kept distort my loop instead. Still learning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 If he's happy that's what counts. I wasn't criticizing it was more of a FYI thing. Having it off center is good, many scepters represented an axe or hammer, the one buried with Tut represented a bludgeon. They got fancier and more pretentious as time went on of course. Nothing like rich folk for an extravagant, MINE is bigger better than yours contest. I think you did a good job, it's not like he gave you time to develop something. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 I'd have thought this looked more like a bishop's crozier than a ruler's scepter. Still faces forward, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalfgreen Posted June 30, 2022 Share Posted June 30, 2022 Thanks for the words everyone. I did not take as criticism just explained how it happen. Mistakes just help me learn more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 Ditto on the Bishop's crozier which is based on a shepherd's crook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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