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I Forge Iron

What did you do in the shop today?


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8 hours ago, ausfire said:

Gergely: 100 x100 x12mm is a serious piece of angle! Cutting a slice of that would take some work. And I hadn't factored in the power hammer for the forging! Gotta get me one of those!

I thought so too, but actually it's not that bad. I cut it with the 9"/230mm Milwaukee angle grinder. It takes around one minute per cut a slice. One intense minute certainly ;). It does not need to be too precise to get good results at the end, I need to trim the forged stock back to size anyways so a little too chubby is okay.

I do forge it under PH, but it's really not that bad: like 1/2" square at the stems and 1/2 x 3/4 rectangle at the corner. Of course it's way more productive to move it with the machine. My goal is to forge starting stock to shape in 2 heats, dress it with hand hammer in 2 heats, trim it to size and redress the ends in 2-3 heats, and texture it in 2-3 heats. That way I could get ready a pair in 45 minutes. 

And yeah, power hammers rule! That and my 3 phase 250A MIG welder changed my shop life totally. (Have I told you the time when I took a piece of 60mm dia stock and tapered it into a candle holder? And I have only a 30kg ram weight spring hammer.)

Bests:

Gergely

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Great work @58er

Those oak leaves, are they forged in some sort of die? Those weins don't look hand hammered - or if they do you did reaaal great :) 

I'm asking this because recently I was tempted by oak leaves but decided to not be ready for them yet. Could use some guidelines... If you don't mind.

Bests:

Gergely

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You can hear the Christmas bells? 

After a few weeks of 'creative constipation' :blink: and only the building of extra tools and equipment (second pair of Inconel hybrid burners and a second melting furnace for the trade), I forged one of my 'famous' table bells just before Christmas. The existing bells I had all given away to friends and acquaintances had supported me during the construction of the air hammer and the 'collection' of extra tanks for air storage.

Unlike the earlier bells, I completely forged them with the air hammer and the new small gas forge instead of the conventional coal fire and by hand on the anvil. Now it costs me half of the normal time (alone) and helps me to get a good feeling for hot areas of the gas smithy and the force of the air hammer. 

30 years ago I saw a group of gypsies in Prague on the Wenzel square busy forging these bells. They were so attuned to each other that a bell within 25 minutes arose under the watchful eye of an enthusiastic audience, who then also was sold between 15 and 20 dollars. The whole was accompanied by the necessary spectacle (spitting on the anvil, glowing steel on it and forging - resulting in a small hydrogen explosion flying mill scale and burned panty hoses of the omnipresent female audience)

Since then I use the example of the bells during demonstration forging and workshops together with the well-known fire pokers, roses or chisels.

The bells are made of 2.5 inch x 10 inch mild steel pipe and equipped with a prefab made clapper. Many well-known forging techniques are applied and you have a nice result within 45 minutes that also sounds like a bell.

Perhaps you already knew this kind of work piece or it is too simple for you, but for some people it might be an inspiration how you apply various techniques in a short time with a nice result.

Wish everyone marry Christmas and a healthy, safe and happy new year. 

Cheers, Hans

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On 12/22/2017 at 7:45 PM, 51 Papy said:

Got to try out the draw knife I made a couple of weekends ago on the horse.  

Animal cruelty! everybody knows you should never test a drawknife on a horse, only goats! I'm just messing with you.:) I made a shave horse a few years ago, really handy when using a draw knife, and surprising how well it grips most wood.

                                                                                                                                               Littleblacksmith 

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9 hours ago, MotoMike said:

I have been having trouble keeping tabs on my hammers and tongs.  Today, I put a rail on my stump.  too soon to know if it was a good idea.  I can tune it a bit if needed.   

Even though it is traditional to have some tongs and a hammer or two hanging from the stump, I have found that I like to keep hardy tools on the stump, and everything else on a nearby wall or table. Gotta bend over for everything, you can't stand as close to the anvil, and you get tempted to pick tongs up by the jaws...

It looks cool, though, and If it works for you, it's good.

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My Dad called his bench like that a Schnitzelbank. 

Here is the Wiki on it... Schnitzelbank literally means "scrap bench" or "chip bench" (from Schnitzel "scraps / clips / cuttings (from carving)" or the colloquial verb schnitzeln "to make scraps" or "to carve" and Bank "bench"); like the Bank, it is feminine and takes the article "die". It is a woodworking tool used in Germany prior to the industrial revolution. It was in regular use in colonial New England, and in the Appalachian region until early in the 20th century; it is still in use by specialist artisans today. In America it is known as a shaving horse. It uses the mechanical advantage of a foot-operated lever to securely clamp the object to be carved. The shaving horse is used in combination with the drawknife or spokeshave to cut down green or seasoned wood, to accomplish jobs such as handling an ax; creating wooden rakes, hay forks, walking sticks, etc. The shaving horse was used by various trades, from farmer to basketmaker and wheelwright.

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21 hours ago, 58er said:

Made a die for the viens because I needed the leaves to have detail from both sides. 

Thank you!

 

This is my last thing before Christmas (and maybe in the old year). Wine bottle holder made of scrap 10mm dia mild steel. In the heart part there are the initials of the owners' names with old Hungarian runes.

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Bests:

Gergely

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A couple of visitors said they had trouble finding me at today's demo. (We have about 60 old buildings in our historic village). So I decided to make a sign to put where it can be seen from a distance. Nothing too flash, just a simple sign letting folks know where I am.

 

 

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LBS. . 

After I reread the post I figured someone would get after me.  Simple, effective and very relaxing.  Always rewarding when you build something that works better than you had planned.

Big Gun

Thanks for the history.  Old Tools still have a place in a modern shop.

 

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I managed to make a set of tongs today. It was my first project and im happy with how it came out. Only took me like 3 hours to make them.... I still have to draw out the reigns and I want to do some curls on the ends too. 

They aren't pretty and I couldn't get the pin centered( I'll have to work on that) but they function. I can work 1/4 - 3/4 round stock and 1/16 - 1/4 flat stock with them, probably 1/4 - 1/2 square, but I don't have any to test with.

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