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I Forge Iron

Sched 40 pipe


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lately I have been making bells out of pipe and they sure have a nice ring to them.they give you a good hammer work out and forge welding practice putting the clapper inside the handle that has been drawn out.I made one out out of a piece of 2.5in,1/4in wall,it started out 5in. long.When finished the bell part is 4in. and the handle is 4in.I will try to get some pics posted.

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We make gongs out of 4 in and candle holders out of both 3/4 and 1 in. The gongs are torch cut and riveted to a round stock hanger. The sound is good. Unless you specificaly buy seamless pipe (expensive) it has a seam and it will fail at the seam if you dont keep rolling it during forging.

Dablacksmith, I am curious on the bells.

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The main trunks of these tree railings are made from pipe. For these pieces I cut an almost full length piece out. I measure the pipe to get me close to final size, then mark and cut the wedge with plasma. Next I grind the edges and put back into the forge. I close the gap using forge, anvil and round grooves on swage block. Next I tig weld the seam closed. Basically I then have a very long funnel. I reheat and forge to shape, often adding a texture or curves to make the trees that are a staple of my work. I weld on a solid top section that might be 6 feet long. For the ones that have "root" or "trunk" bases that are thicker, I actually taper the tops, then cut and add pieces to the bottoms.

and of course there is always the cattail cobs made from pipe.

10773.attach

10774.attach

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There is a common assumption that pipe and tubing are the same thing :rolleyes: Pipe is manufactured for transporting liquid and gasses. Tubing is a structural form. Pipe has a welded seam. Tubing can be a weldment or it can be seamless (as in DOM or Drawn Over Mandrel). Tubing is called out by the outside dimension. Pipe is called out by the inside dimension. Off the top of my head.....schedule 40 pipe is rated at 150psi burst strength. Schedule 80 pipe (extra heavy) is rated at 300psi. The pipe id is not exact (ie 1/2" pipe is about 5/8" id).:confused: This is because when pipe manufacturers got together to set the industry standard they started with an id (ie 1/2") and calculated how thick the wall needed to be in order to meet the pressure requirements. From that they agreed on the thread size so company X could buy pipe from any manufacturer and it would all work together. As time went by, improvements in metallurgy and manufacturing processes allowed a thinner wall to be used, to meet the pressure requirements. Rather than reduce the outside diameter (which would have required a new thread standard) they increased the inside diameter. ;)
As far as forging pipe (or tubing), it requires a different technique than solid stock. David Thompson, of Oregon, has done some very cool stuff with pipe/tubing.

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Hi all, while i was searching today, i found one of the things i was looking for, it was to FILL the pipe with sand to keep it from collapsing while it was being forged. ... THIS is awsome, that's what i am looking for, i want to be able to shape it, bend it, work it. some of the replies have been very helpful, I hope this also helps other looking for this information.

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Important to note: if you are placing the end of a pipe or tube in a coal forge, plug the other end with a rag, piece of wood, or other means. This prevents hot gasses travelling thru the pipe and heating it above a comfortable handling temperature. also be careful when quenching hot hollow forgements; the pipe can become a steam jet and scald the quencher.

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  • 3 weeks later...

fwiw, here's a youtube vid of making bamboo with steel pipe. Two different methods.
YouTube - Makin' Steel BOO FULLresVid


Must admit......I've never heard of anyone filling tubing before forging. BUT I have used that technique many times when I'm twisting or bending hollow forms.

goatman's advice if VERY important.

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I have filled pipe w/sand for cold bending but have never done it for forging, don't know how it would work out but can tell you to make sure the sand is dry if your going to fill a pipe and heat it, if it is wet it will create a lot of steam/psi in the pipe and could be extremely dangerous.

welder19

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Forging pipe - I started a thread a few months ago by asking if there was any particular magic in having a V-block of 117 degrees. I got no definite response. I've been using a large 90-degree V-block and it is helpful. You can also forge flat on your anvil, but as stated, you have to be more careful to keep turning the pipe.

I've done bamboo (works very well), bells, and apples. There is a demo on anvilfire for doing an apple from a pipe. I've done it with up to 3-inch Schedule 40. I would add a warning about creating a closed form and putting it into the forge - don't do it. When I close up the apple, I am always careful to leave a small hole somewhere before returning to the fire. I learned this firsthand by putting a cheap table knife with a hollow handle into the forge (!).

Walking Dog

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Hi all, while i was searching today, i found one of the things i was looking for, it was to FILL the pipe with sand to keep it from collapsing while it was being forged. ... THIS is awsome, that's what i am looking for, i want to be able to shape it, bend it, work it. some of the replies have been very helpful, I hope this also helps other looking for this information.


make sure it is DRY sand or it will go off like a cannon
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Solvarr,
thanks for the links, I was looking at the swage block stand he had for the little swage, I have one and would love to copy the stand, just wondering if he has a plan for the swage holder stand?


They might.
That photo was from Intracoastal Iron they are great guys.

It's flat rectangle of steel, an I beam, another flat rectange

they took some 2x12 or 2x8 and made a slot for the swage but they made sure the swage could be laid out across the slot to work on the large faces of the swage.

I should have taken a photo but I assume they screwed/lagbolted the wood to the metal rectangle at the top of the I beam.
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