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T-Gold,
Those are excellant ideas! I never thought about a mushroom stake or a small bickern. I'll reserve some of those for that. Here is the link that gave me some ideas for getting some of this stuff.
http://www.metalsmithinghowto.com/tutorials.cfm?page=IRONY/intro.htm&content=122

I like the plates because they make good bases to set grinders and such on after they're welded onto a stand. The guy's idea for a poor mans acorn platen has merit if a person could figure out the welding problems. I've got an idea about building a big fire and preheating them in that to cure the weld problem.

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A while ago a friend gave me some 52100 steel. This is exellent steel for making knives out of. Trouble is, it was in the form of "short heavies" and was going to take some serious metal shifting to get it anything like knife-shaped.

The size and location of my shop means that I am never going to have a power hammer in there, so getting, or making, a big hand-hammer seemed like the best option.

So, what do I find by the roadside, but this 7 pound sledge head....


bighammer1.jpg


A little work with the gas-axe and belt grinder, and she looks like this....

bighammer4.jpg

Heat treated and handle fitted.
Now that is a proper hammer. I can feel the shoulder ache already.....

bighammer6.jpg



one_rod.

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One-rod,
So are you planning on using this thing onehanded?
I ask as about the biggest sledge I use when striking is maybe 8lbs and it moves metal quite well. But then again my regualt using hammer is only 2 1/2lbs.

If used one handed then be careful as the shoulder and arm really are not going to like this.

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Hello,
My brother has a big sledge with a short handle that he uses some times. the handle is a sledge handle thats been cut down to the size of a 32oz size.
I have a straight pein 2lbr thats got a bunch of chips on the face edges that are about 3/8" deep. I think I might make that face a vertical pein with the other being a straight hort. pein. I've been trying to decide what to do with it as I think grinding the striking face down enough to clean it up would make it too unbalanced. You guys are inspiring, I get great ideas form this forum!

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One-rod,
So are you planning on using this thing onehanded?

If used one handed then be careful as the shoulder and arm really are not going to like this.


Ralph,
yes it is for one handed use.

Really, I made it just for the one job of re-shaping some lumps of 52100. rather than for general forging.

52100 is tough stuff to work any way you do it. Lots of blows with a lighter hammer or less blows with a big brute like this, the effort seems to be about the same.

I have used a couple of times now, and yes it's hard work, but once you get a rhythm going it really does move some metal.


one_rod.
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Two things:

1) one_rod: I'm a little curious why you made such a sharp pein on the hammer. Do you have a specific use in mind? I think I'd wind up buggering up anything I tried to pein with that end, so I usually make my hammers more rounded at the pein end.

2) Meco3hp (or anybody): Do you know any use for these clips? I have yet to find one, which is odd considering everything else from the tracks is good for something. I'm talking about the ones on the left, not the solid stock ones.

RRiron004.jpg

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Hello,
The only idea that I can figure is heat them and flatten them out for misc high carbon steel. Anybody else got any ideas? They measure about 3 1/8"x 5/16" flattened out. I do have a buddy that can get alot of drops out of a local machineshop's metal dumpster, all they ask is you try to and make an even trade. But no tin! Just cast or iron. They love cast iron bath tubs. If I can't figure out a use for them I can always trade them out that way.

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There wqs a site posted somewhere recently that used the solid ones to make guillotine fullers from. You just use the straight section and the "flat" provides a better place to hammer on when using it. They had both plain and pipe fullers made from them.

I never pick them up cause i had *no* ideas on how to use them. Now I have to go get a couple...

Thomas

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Those hollow-formed, sheet-metal looking clips are much more common now. Those are the ones I'm talking about. It seems like they are more trouble than they are worth to use for anything. I've made (and posted pictures of) tools from the solid springs. They are a pretty good steel and make a nice tool.

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Two things:

1) one_rod: I'm a little curious why you made such a sharp pein on the hammer. Do you have a specific use in mind? I think I'd wind up buggering up anything I tried to pein with that end, so I usually make my hammers more rounded at the pein end.



Yes, good point Ed. As soon as I started to use the thing I realised I had made it too sharp.

A little work with the belt grinder, and it is now a much more practical shape.

I'm very much a beginner at this sort of thing so am learning as I go along. (I have quickly learned that it's a lot easier to shape a hammer head before you put the handle on than afterwards :roll: )


one_rod.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello,
Went on a walk today along some RR tracks. I found the regular amount of spikes and such, but I found two other items of intrest.
The first item is a chunk of metallic material, that I think came from where they used "thermite" to weld rails together, as this track is ribbon rail. The pics have a magnet hanging off of the side of it and it has a strong pull. I'm going to try forging it and see what I get.
The second item is a 10" long shaft about 2" dia. that was broke. When I looked at it the break, it seams to have a "sheath" around the edge, like the center pulled apart but the outer surface stayed intact. Could this be "case hardened"? How do you use a chuck of this stuff. Does it forge like regular steel or what?
Here are some pics.
moreiron004.jpg
moreiron005.jpg
moreiron006.jpg

Let me know what you think.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I couldnt pass it up. I was at a SCRAPARAMA and was looking for a small anvil for demos. Well i found a beaut but i didnt have the cash so i went and bought some other things. Then I saw it and clenched the $23 in my pocket. Then i saw the price $25. So yeah i paid $23 for an anvil that weighs more than me(it weighs about 200 lbs). :D


overall.jpg

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don't know about the blob, but the shaft may be case hardened or induction hardened like the do hydraulic cylinder shafts before chroming them. you will be able to tell by a spark test, tho.


meco3hp,

I think irnsrgn is exactly right about the shaft. It's probably the damper shaft from a rolling stock buffer.
The company I work for chrome plates many hundreds of these things every year for the railway industry. It will certainly be made from medium carbon alloy steel, and just as irnsrgn says, it will be induction hardened.

This type of metal is great for making hammer heads and punching tools from. The odd one appears in the scrap bins at work and I always try to grab it before the bins get emptied.

The thermit sprues are said (I have never tried it) to be good for making knives from.
If the metal is etched with ferric chloride or a weak acid it will show a damascus-like pattern.



one_rod.
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Well this is the type that the heel is welded on as a entirely seperate peice. If the weld wasnt good or it was really really cold out it could break off really pretty easily. There was another smaller anvil there with the horn broke off i thought maybe he had $60 on it but he had $100 so i just kept walking. Horns can get broken off if you are really abusing it. Using the horn for really heavy fullering a lot ,for example, can really tear up an anvil pretty quick.

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The old smithing books talk about repairing both horn and heels that have broken off.

I think the heel has a greater tendency since the hardy hole acts as a stress concentrator in the corners and folks tend to pound a lot on hardy tooling.

The heeless anvils are one of the best buys in smithing IMNSHO as they are generally *cheap*, have a lot of face left and have the horn which is a handy thing, you can hold hardy tooling in a post vise or make a socket for them that mounts on the anvil stump.

My loaner anvil weighs about 125# has a nearly mint face and no heel and cost me $40

I'd like to get a hornless anvil of old pattern to use for medieval events.

Thomas

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