What did you do in the shop today?

[Charlycuervo]

Sunny winter's sunday at Buenos Aires, I've started to make my brake drum forge.

The only brake drum I could get has that piece in the center that took me a long time to remove, even with a heavy duty grinder disc in my 7" angle grinder.

I also made the bracket (it's the right term?) for the blower, I plan to use an old hair dryer for that. Since I'm not a good welder, it took me some work and a lot of curses to do it.

Finally, I got that piece of an old wash machine that I planned use as a table for my forge. It's enameled and I know that with heat it goes to break and jump everywhere so I think to cover it with refractarian tiles to avoid that issue. What do you think?

 

[Ted Ewert]

Looking good Haywood. What size are those angle irons? Is that 1/2" plate in the middle? 

I built an almost matching hand towel rack today. I didn't bend the ends of the mounting plate, but instead went straight in with the twist. A little easier and looks close enough. 

New one's on the left. The picture shows them a lot darker than they are. 

 

[CrazyGoatLady]

Hey guys! I have a lot of catching up to do. It's late, but I'm still up. I thought I'd let y'all know I finally got back to forging Saturday. I was waiting to put my smithy together, but decided if I keep waiting, I'll never do it. So here's my first little project in over a year working with bare bones infrastructure. I hope this photo loads because I've always had a bit of trouble getting them on here. Nothing fancy, but it was fun

[pnut]

2 hours ago, CrazyGoatLady said:

Hey guys! I have a lot of catching up to do.

It looks like you didn't lose your touch. Glad to hear from you again. 

Pnut

12 hours ago, Charlycuervo said:

only brake drum I could get has that piece in the center that took me a long time to remove, even with a heavy duty grinder disc in my 7" angle grinder.

If you make another you might want to consider lining the bottom of the brake drum to bring the floor up to the level of the piece in the middle. You might need to cut the sides down as the drum looks a little deep. Keep us posted. 

Pnut

[Charlycuervo]

1 hour ago, pnut said:

If you make another you might want to consider lining the bottom of the brake drum to bring the floor up to the level of the piece in the middle. You might need to cut the sides down as the drum looks a little deep. Keep us posted. 

Do you think it's deep? I had not thought about it, it's about 2" deep. Any suggestion is welcome, thanks.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Charlycuervo - have you looked at the JABOD forges? No drum needed, easy to make from found materials, and work great.  I do solid fuel myself, and am considering going from my vintage bottom blast to a side blast to avoid the clinker issues. 

Depth wise I think you will be OK, as that drum looks fairly small. What did it come off of? What you may run into problem wise is if top of the drum is set at the same level as the bottom of your washing machine top. Then you be poking down into the fire instead of across it.  That can make heating the middle of a longer piece difficult. 

Curious, how much smithing is still done in South America? We have members from all over, but very few from Mexico , Central America, and South America..

[Charlycuervo]

14 minutes ago, BIGGUNDOCTOR said:

Curious, how much smithing is still done in South America? We have members from all over, but very few from Mexico , Central America, and South America..

Thanks BIGGUNDOCTOR, I'll look for JABOD forge. I got the drum with a friend who has a lot of old car parts, in fact every so often I go to see him looking for something useful for my projects, I like to make my own tools and machines whenever I can. I don't know wich car it's from, the new ones don't have drums.

About your question, I can say that there are many blacksmiths in Argentina and Uruguay, most of them making knives. The big issue with almost all  of them is that they don't speak english. Many of them are country people, where schools do not teach another language than Spanish.

[Pat Masterson]

Very nice again Ted. 

I got started on this globe I had imagined. Got the sphere part done. Not showing any close ups since my welds are that embarrassing lol. I think it’s going to work though. I think I might blacken and finish everything and then attach the sheet metal continent shapes with some JB weld or something instead of risking blowing through it with an actual weld. Definitely want to do another one though - I would make a simple jig to get all the bends on the sphere pieces the same. They’re a little out of whack on this one. Also trying to think of a way to make it spin but that may have to be on the next one. 
 

Also used my new post vise for the first time to fix this spring fuller. Vise is awesome. Dumb question - I have some half inch coil spring - do I weld pieces on the top to be the part that gets struck or on the inside to be the part making contact with the work? Or should I just remake the whole thing out of the coil spring? I’ve got plenty. 
 

 

[BillyBones]

7 hours ago, CrazyGoatLady said:

Hey guys! I have a lot of catching up to do.

CGL, nice to hear from you. Hope all is well and the goats are doing good. 

[Ted Ewert]

Pat, I like your globe. I think you're idea of epoxy for the continents is probably best. There won't be any stress on them (unless and little kid gets a hold of it).

You could always hang it, then spinning is easy. Maybe even install a light bulb inside. A hanging globe light!

For the fuller, I would just make a new one out of spring stock. Otherwise, the spring should go on the working side.

[Scott NC]

  Pat, if you are going to make more globes or spheres, consider building a simple (or heavey duty...) ring roller. Your rings will come out very uniform.  Some heavey wall pipe (or solid bar), some bearings, some scrap for the frame.  I built one and it served me well for other future projects.  I even rolled expanded metal through it for some baskets I made.  Hone your welding skills making one... 

[Frosty]

Good to see your smiling AVATAR again Chellie! All the hook needs is a little wire brushing and it's a dandy!

How are the kids? They should be getting large enough to BBQ. BBQed kid! Mmmmm. 

Ted: Nice hangers, they're getting better the more you make. The big improvements on your end will be learning easier faster ways to get the effects you want. 

Frosty The Lucky.

[CrazyGoatLady]

Thanks pnut and BillyBones! The goats are good. It's been a heckuva year to say the least. I'll try to get in here more often. It was very fun forging again and I surprised myself that I didn't forget everything I've learned. Y'all are doing such awesome work. I have pages and pages to go through to catch up

Thanks Frosty. That hook was made from a very pitted and rusty old nail- thing I found on the property. 

No barbecue goat yet. I've got a young buck that I think may be shooting blanks...

[Haywood71]

Thanks Ted, middle plates are 1" and angle is 3/8×3×5 

[JHCC]

4 hours ago, Pat Masterson said:

attach the sheet metal continent shapes with some JB weld or something instead of risking blowing through it with an actual weld.

Have you considered brazing? Stronger than JB Weld and with less risk of blowing through the sheet metal. 

[JHCC]

Put in some decent time in the shop working on a decisive end table that will be built up from multiple scrolled pieces held together with collars. Today was finishing up the scroll forms and some test pieces, and then cutting the stock to length for the main elements and tapering their ends.

I’d been hoping to get more done, but the heat was starting to get to me. I called it a day a bit early, not wanting to make any mistakes or cause injuries needlessly. 

Gandalfgreen stopped by to watch for a couple of hours, so I did my best to demonstrate in as many ways as possible what NOT to do. 

[Gandalfgreen]

Got to observe JHCC technique and project today greatly apreciated. Feel much more confident now and time to get started on my forge. So I can start hammering away.

[Donal Harris]

On 7/5/2021 at 1:22 AM, Ted Ewert said:

New one's on the left. The picture shows them a lot darker than they are. 

I like the original better, but both are very good. 

[Ted Ewert]

Careful Gandalfgreen, there's no cure for this disease. Pretty soon you'll be pulling off to the side of the road to get a closer look at that piece of debris to make sure it isn't some usable steel. Every dumpster you pass will make you wonder what's in it. A beautiful woman may ask you what you're staring at, and you'll reply; "that nice piece of rebar on the ground right behind you..."

[Haywood71]

Got my press welded up, now to make dies and wait for pump and control valve

[Gandalfgreen]

12 hours ago, Ted Ewert said:

Careful Gandalfgreen, there's no cure for this disease. Pretty soon you'll be pulling off to the side of the road to get a closer look at that piece of debris to make sure it isn't some usable steel.

Ted was driving home from my sisters after I picked up my wife and kid going a little slower down the streets. Kid says dad why we going so slow wife says before I can answer he is making sure theres no metal in the trash. It has already started.

[pnut]

23 hours ago, Charlycuervo said:

you think it's deep? I had not thought about it, it's about 2" deep.

It looked deeper than that on my phone. Two inches should be fine. If you find it's actually not deep enough you can always build a ducks nest or use some bricks to deepen it.  Will you be using coal or charcoal? Good work on the tuyere and ash dump too.  I also am a proponent of the JABOD forge. I've built a few and still use a MARKIII style jabod even after getting a propane forge. 

Pnut

17 minutes ago, Gandalfgreen said:

he is making sure theres no metal in the trash. It has already started

I drive slowly down the rural roads near me looking in the ditches and occasionally stop at illegal dump sites to see what treasures might await my discovery. Recently the mechanic across the street sold his garage and the new mechanic gave me full access to his scrap pile. I just have to be picky about what and how much I drag home. I live in an apartment building and the landlord cuts me a lot of slack already and with forty other tenants she runs the risk of EVERYONE wanting to store things on the property so I try to be judicious about what I bring home. 

Pnut

[Gandalfgreen]

Pnut that sounds like a nice little score. Now to be crafty and get what you can use without the building seeing you.  I have to be picky too not much room for storage and I will be working outside once get forge finished and stand for anvil. 

[pnut]

Yep, that's the tricky part. I have to keep most of my tools in my SUV or storage unit. She lets me keep some stumps a jabod and a little steel out back. The other problem is if I accumulate too much steel the scraptors steal it. I'm thinking about relocating. I don't know if it would be a better place for Blacksmithing or not. My friend also said I could use his garage in a nearby city, but once again I'm worried about someone breaking into it and making off with everything. 

Pnut

[Pat Masterson]

Ted - awesome idea with the light. 
 

JHCC - I’ve never done brazing before - but I’ll look into that

Nodebt - got any pics of this ring roller contraption? Not only has this project been fun so far but I (and guys on this site) keep thinking of ways to make future ones even cooler so I definitely want to make more. 

13 hours ago, Ted Ewert said:

Careful Gandalfgreen, there's no cure for this disease. Pretty soon you'll be pulling off to the side of the road to get a closer look at that piece of debris to make sure it isn't some usable steel.

LOL so true. Everyone hates driving with me now because I’m constantly on the breaks looking for what most consider junk.