Frosty Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 Ayup, that is why I start beginners out with 3/8" sq HR. It's large enough to hold working temps longer, not burn up so easily and is not so large a beginner kills him/er self beating on it or take forever to finish a project. I like to start them with a leaf screw plate coat hook. Always forge the THICK section 1st and leave the thinnest for last. I start by isolating the leaf, shank and hook, draw out and vein the leaf, draw down and twist the shank. Then transition the twist to leaf stem and finally draw the taper turn the finial then turn and dress the hook, square it all so everything is aligned correctly and pointing the right direction, brush and finish. When I was in practice I could make one if about 7 minutes. Raw bar stock to a warm turpentine scented hook in the buyer's hand. Beginners usually took a good half hour or longer to make their first hook which is about right, I'd made I don't know how many hundreds, I hardly had to look and sometimes got silly making them for the audience. I did like turning the hook by clamping it vertically by the leaf and hammering the hook with my 32oz. turning hammer. I did that bit of showing off because a maybe 9-10 yro kid watching dared me to do it the hard way., harder than turning it over the edge of the anvil, hard way. When I handed the warm steaming hook to my young challenger and asked if he was satisfied with HIS hook, the audience applauded. I NEVER got applause, it would've been worth hiring a kid or two at demos to make that kind of challenge. People bought my little table clean, even wanted my tools. I gifted the hook to the boy and thanked him for the challenge. His Father insisted he pay the price marked on the other leaf coat hooks on the table $19.95 or take the hook back. When he handed me a $20 he tried to slip me another and I refused. Then his Mother thanked me and wouldn't take no to the $40 she "tipped" me. Sorry for the sidetrack, I get lost in good memories sometimes. That would've been around 94. 1/4" stock is for bending and twisting for beginners, tapering to a point usually turns the taper into a sparkler. 1/4" stock only SOUNDS easy to new folks, it is so touchy experienced folk have to take special care or keep the product really simple. 3/8" sq. and 1/2" rnd. are close to the same mass per inch. What I prefer about teaching with sq. stock is the smith has 4 sides to begin with so they can make the 1/4 turn per blow easily and not moosh it into a rhombus or more exotic cross section. Make sense? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoardMoreThanUsual Posted February 24 Author Share Posted February 24 Sure does, my novice mind figured i can make a few quick s hooks out of the 1/4 inch cause i could easily do it with the propane.... lesson learned. Ill post the finished tools tomorrow in my general topic once i wire wheel them and get the finish on them. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 It's easy in a propane forge because you can see it and you can position the work so it doesn't overheat so quickly. I have small pieces of broken K-26 firebrick I can put in the forge and shield places I don't want too hot. Buried in coal takes more time to learn the signs because it's buried. A good way to make S hooks from small stock is to put a blunt point or even upset the ends for a ball or fish tail finial. I go with a fish tail I suck at ball finials. Keep the stock about 1/4", twist, etc. as desired and turn the hooks. With a little practice and assuming a simple finial it's a one or two heat project and great warm up for the day. I really like a reverse / spread taper on coat hooks, they spread the weight of heavy coats over a wider area and look good if modest. One of the things I really like about smithing is lessons never stop, it's a life long learning curve. I rarely do much at the anvil anymore arthritis in my thumbs punishes me for quite a while if I over do. I still learn stuff every day. Cool eh? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shainarue Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 Frosty, it never occurred to me to use broken firebrick in the gas forge to shield places I didn't want to get as hot. Thanks for that tip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 DARN, I let another old fart secret slip! One of the voices whispered it while I was cursing not being able to isolate heat in my propane forge. I call them fire shades or shadow blocks or what comes to mind at the time. Hope they work out well for you. They only help the inside of the forge is still going to be HOT. Frosty The Lucky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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