Blog

Using the Mechanical Gas Saver

2012-01-18T17:44:00.000-08:00

I bought my first mechanical gas saver in January of 2004 based on the recommendation of a friend working in an industrial fabrication and forging shop. After seven years of use I can’t imagine using my oxy/acetylete cutting welding systems without them. My cost accounting suggests that my torch work is my most expensive (not to mention, dangerous) construction technique and unfortunately I use it quite a bit. It didn’t take me long to get compulsive about keeping connections tight, valves turned off whenever possible and gauge settings adjusted to the most effeceint gas use.

I watched Wendel Broussard in Lacrosse in July 2001 at the Grapevine Ironfest and in July 2004 at ABANA Lacrosse. The torch was hung at a convenient working height close the the gas saver pilot light. It was a “hands-free” operation. He could step down on the treadle which lifted the torch hanging of a lever arm which started the gas mixture flowing and as the torch tip passed by the pilot flame the heat was on. All Wendel had to do was turn and hold the workpiece in the hottest part of the flame. When the metal was at working heat he just lifted his foot off the treadle and turned to place the workpiece on the stake and hammer away as the torch flame shut off.

It was still a couple of years before I set up my gas saver and although I imagined I would construct a treadle operated system, that hasn’t happened yet. I simply don’t use my torch the same way that Wendel was using his setup.

I don’t need the “hands-free” part of the loop. I just lift the torch, light the flame on the pilot light, use the heat, hang up the torch and the flow of gas stops. Maybe not the most cool but still pretty cool and essentially equally cost effective.

I looked back at my photo file hoping to find an image of Wendel working as I have described but, naturally, I didn’t snap that image. I did find some examples of his expert work and I found an image of Jeff Mohr using the torch to heat an ash shovel blank just as I did it before I got a gas saver.

So, why did I think about this today? Well, it was a day of mechanical failures. First, the switch box fell off my power hammer. Next, the blade on the bandsaw got in a bind and slipped off. And finally, the gas saver pilot light reached the end of its’ life. These things alter the day schedule in an annoying way but they are just a part of doing business. That gas saver has indeed saved me a lot more that I paid for it so it was a no-brainer to order another. It is a WDW150, just for the record. I have another tip about using a hose clamp to make the flame adjustment easier - another thing to address later.

The Pedal Hammer at Pieh Tool

2011-12-22T10:01:00.001-08:00

I recently visited the Pieh Tool website and was looking over some tools and found the page relating to the pedal hammer I developed. The tool is available there for a try out. That would be handy for those in the southwest. http://www.piehtoolco.com/contents/en-us/d1519.html

Pieh tool is located in Camp Verde, Arizona near Sedona.

Gordon Williams is the resident blacksmithing instructor. I had the pleasure of watching him demonstrate at a BAM conference several years ago. I learned a lot about technique and he also was very entertaining and had several good business tips.

You can find out more information about his classes at

http://www.piehtoolco.com/contents/en-us/d1460.html.

I use the pedal hammer a lot for striking detail lines in botanicals. The dogwood motif napkin holder pictured is a recent example.

My First Blacksmith Souvenir

2011-12-22T04:07:00.000-08:00

One of our sons lived in the Chicago area for several years so we would make a couple of trips a year or more for short visits. Each time we took a couple of days for the 10 hour drive and stopped along the way to explore small towns. We did some family history research, visited museums and ate our lunches in small local cafes.

I was mostly interested in wood working at the time but in flea markets, antique stores and living history demonstrations we bumped into blacksmithing. We stopped for a meal in the Amana Colonies and to walk around and see the shops. Roger Quaintance was working at his forge when we arrived in the blacksmith shop. He had a nice display of forged work set up and I bought a small dinner bell set with hanger and striker hung with a leather strap.

The 3/8” round triangle is only approximately 8” on each limb so it is for inside the house use. I use it in the studio as a demonstration of simple elegance. The crook hangers are attractively shaped with long graceful tapers ending with delicate scrolls. Two ends have rivet head shaped upsets which are nicely symmetrical. The round stock striker was slightly flattened as long as the hammer face is wide then twisted and trued back to the original 5/16” diameter and straightness.

It is a simple souvenir but it’s the expert execution of the forging processes which make it information rich.

http://homepage.mac.com/customcutlery/oldsite/Rogersanvil.htm

Superglue Rescue

2011-12-20T19:31:00.000-08:00

This is not the first time I used this first aid technique which says more than some people would reveal about their clumsiness. Here I go again the suffering associated with another wound as trivial as the paper cut, steel splinter, the hang nail and the blood blister.

The fingernail fold back and rip into the nail bed is one of those nasty minor mishaps which robs the work day of splendor. Expletive! Expletive! Now this nail edge split will catch on everything which passes nearby repeating the original pain experience.

Relax. Let reason prevail. I know how to fix this problem. One drop of my old faithful Gorilla super glue and in five minutes the wound is sealed. The rest of the day proceeds painlessly. In a week or so the nail will grow out and I will clip off the end with the rip and the superglue.

I think it was in 1969 when I heard about my medical colleagues serving in the Vietnam combat theatre using isobutyl cyanoacrylate as a tissue adhesive in war surgery. It seemed a minor miracle that the fast drying polymer could hold together tissue which would otherwise be impossible to suture and helping to save life and limb. But it’s true and a long stretch in significance from the use to which I applied it in my minor wound today.

This has been a hard week struggling with an awkward project and I have managed to shave off the skin on the dorsal surface of my right index and middle finger dip joints as well. There are a thousand ways to get injured doing hot iron work yet the rewards of successful creation propel me onward. It’s a good day when all I need is superglue and ibuprofen to rescue me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isobutyl_cyanoacrylate

Buying My Little Giant

2011-12-08T06:27:00.000-08:00

I recently put my 50 pound Little Giant up for sale and when visiting with a prospective buyer I recalled something which struck me funny and I have retold the story a lot of times.

I was in Grapevine, Texas June 1-3, 2001 attending the IronFest Blacksmithing Regional Conference when I saw a 50 pound Little Giant chained on a vendor’s trailer. I had never used one but was interested and I lingered for some time studying it and trying to determine it’s condition. I was startled by a fellow who came up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder and said, “That the one you want.” “Really”, I said, “why?” He replied, “Because it will kill you instantly - no suffering.”

Well, that wasn’t exactly the encouragement and advice I was looking for. Eventually, I met Mike George from Alva, Oklahoma who owned the machine and was offering it for sale. I explained that I didn’t know much about them and he explained he didn’t know much about that particular one because he hadn’t done any rebuilding but had just confirmed the motor would run it.

After a while we worked out an arrangement in which neither of us had much to lose. I’d pay him when he delivered it and If I tried it and wasn’t satisfied he’d take it back and pick it up and repay me. Everything worked fine and that was the beginning of a nice friendship and ten year of enjoyment using my Little Giant before I started making my own power hammers.

It was also a very enjoyable conference, a bit hot, but Frank Turley, Mike Boone, Wendel Broussard and Jeff Mohr gave nice demonstrations and I learned quite a bit and was lucky to buy the Boone-Broussard collaborative grille at the fund-raising auction. It’s a really nicely executed piece and I’ve enjoyed having it on in our entry hall where I see it every day.

Punch Lubrication Hazard

2011-12-07T04:28:00.000-08:00

This is an incident report of a potentially dangerous shop operation which I experienced. It was not so much a surprise that it happened but the violence caught me off guard.

I was working on a very simple taper candle holder design using a 3” compressed sphere which had been chamfered and textured. I wanted to punch a socket in the center to hold a standard taper candle. This is the link to the source of the compressed sphere stock and images.

http://www.kingmetals.com/productSearch.aspx?SearchCriteria=compressed%20sphere

The first step was making a series of punches to be dedicated to the project. I forged a 3” round taper in a piece of 7/8” round tool steel, polished it, then cut it into three sections of about 1” length and welded on utility handles. After the faces were dressed by putting a radius on the edges I was ready to test them. I did no heat treatment. See illustration.

With an even coal fire heat I put the compressed sphere in the hydraulic forging press, lubricated the punch with the coal dust grease, which I wrote about on the 25th of October, and punched the smallest starter punch. The press moves slowly but is very powerful and the punch sunk a bit deeper than I wanted so it hung up a couple of seconds before I could knock the punch out. It came out at a dull red heat but fortunately did not upset.

On the second heat I followed with the middle punch with no problem. On the third heat, when I began to reverse the press and come off the punch the grease lubrication exploded and backed the punch out for me with the “muzzle flash” and loud bang. The confined work space didn’t give the punch anywhere to go so it couldn’t become a projectile in this case.

This was exciting enough to stimulate some forensic examination. So what are the factors to consider? Without the lubricant the explosion wouldn’t occur. If I had drilled a small through-and-through pilot hole the hot gas would have escaped at the bottom. Perhaps if the punches were wider relative to their length the escape would be easier. Perhaps of the face had more radius - more ball shaped and less flat - no chamber could form to trap the gas.

When I return to the project the plan will be modified in some way which I haven’t settled on yet. Safety First!

My Little Giant Platform

2011-12-01T05:14:00.000-08:00

I recently advertised my Little Giant in the BAM newsletter.

For sale: 50- LB Little Giant Power Hammer Number K-7062. I added a fused Square D disconnect switch, new power cord and plug, a pitman wrench, wood base, belt guard, oil reservoir caps, a step to aid top oiling, a dual tang die carriage, flywheel brake and swing-away spring guard. I oiled it daily with Stihl chainsaw bar oil. Also have spare parts worth several hundred dollars. $3500. Contact Persimmon Forge, David or Betty Edwards, 3008 Hacienda Ct., Emporia, Kansas 66801, (620) 343-1947, djedwards@cableone.net.

Soon an email arrived inquiring about how the wood base was constructed and I offered the following information in reply.

“When I brought home my first power hammer (the advertised one) I didn’t know much more than I needed one to make money because I wasn’t going to be able to crank out enough work with a three pound hammer on a Peter Wright anvil. I signed up for Harlan "Sid" Suedmeier’s Little Giant rebuilding course in Nebraska City and learned a lot (all about the 25 pound type).

I can’t recall who gave me the advice about how to mount my hammer so I can’t credit them. I had read about needing a foot or two of concrete footing under the hammer and was prepared to do that if I had to do it but I decided to try the recommended “poor man’s compromise.” I had access to some 3/4” plywood and cut three pieces and slabbed them together with glue and bolted them to my 6” thick shop floor with four corner anchor bolts.

I used the hammer about two hours a day for perhaps 10 years and the floor never cracked. Currently, neither of my power hammers have any wood cushioning so I’m running a greater risk now.

Since the wood underlayment raised the treadle over 2 inches, I had to make a couple of toe brackets to attach to the treadle so I didn’t have to lift my toe so high.

I’m glad I didn’t bust up my floor and put in that massive footing and just used the plywood instead.”

Ultimately, each user must decide for themselves how to deal with the mounting. I’m sure the wood cushioning robbed my hammer of some of it’s potential striking power but on the other hand it worked well for me and the floor never cracked.

More About Hammer Care

2011-11-30T08:49:00.000-08:00

While thinking about hammers some thoughts came back to me from over 30 years ago when I first read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values. It is one of the few books I have read more than once. It explores the notion of quality from the perspectives of romanticism and rationality. I seems to conclude that striving to combine the views may result in the greatest satisfaction. I suppose it appealed to me because I regard some concepts such as art/craft metaphorically as poles of a bar magnet. The poles can be stretched very far apart yet the field is never broken. Art isn’t worth much unless crafted well and craft is worth much is not artful.

So part of any project is forming the creative vision of the tactical goal and part is planning the strategic approach. I was thinking about an extension of the “Choosing a Hammer” ideas and the maintenance issues crept in.

It didn’t take long for me to learn to treat my forging hammers with special care and not use them for demolition, chipping slag, driving and stamping which are better accomplished with hammers whose face polish isn’t as critical. Appropriate segregation of use for each hammer is a starting point for maintenance.

Keeping the head solidly connected to the handle hasn’t been any problem for me since I switched to the Gorilla super glue bonding technique.

With use the handles of my forging hammers get worn slick and hard to grip so I lightly sand them to increase the friction. I like the flexible pads about 1/4” thick and 4.5” x 5.5”. Some handles have been spray painted for identification and that seems to do about the same thing as sanding.

The faces of the frequently used hammers get dressed about monthly. Sometimes I have to use a zirconia flap wheel or sanding belt but usually only the silicon carbide wheel and hard felt wheel with chromium oxide buffing compound will do the job.

With the tools in good shape I can turn my imagination loose to do some creating.

Ironwork Today 3

2011-11-23T05:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I received my copy of this new Schiffer LTD publication and was pleased to find it included six images of my work from several years ago. They even used a grapevine wreath image on the title page. http://www.schifferbooks.com/newschiffer//book_template.php?isbn=9780764338762

It seems like every five years or so they publish a new addition to the ironwork series. So far I have bought them all. I find it interesting to see them as representing the state of the art in a particular slice of time. A lot of nice work with a lot of variety is included and I often find ideas I can adapt to current work.

It seems as if there were many more artists represented whose names were unfamiliar in this addition. I don’t get to as many conferences as I once did and probably a lot of new people are joining the ranks.

The publisher’s description online is as follows.

“Over 450 vivid color photos provide a sweeping overview of the amazing range of iron artwork being created by 82 of today’s artist-blacksmiths. These works in metal are found in public spaces, offices, and homes. They vary in size from small, everyday objects to staggering public monuments. The pieces, discussed by the artists who made them, include sculpture, gates, railings, furniture, lighting fixtures, doors, locks, and much more. This book, the third in an ongoing series, has artwork arranged by the artist alphabetically, rather than in categories. This allows readers to see the full scope of each artist’s work together on adjoining pages. Here readers will find some artists whose work they have seen in other books in this series; others they are meeting for the first time. This book will be a prized reference guide and source of inspiration for homeowners, designers, artists, and blacksmiths as a fascinating snapshot of current trends in this dynamic, growing field of artistic endeavor.”

I hope they are right that this is a growing field of artistic endeavor and that it attracts young talented people who can make a living and will continue experimenting and developing new methods and designs.

My friend, Jerry, of J. Schrock Photography prepared the images I submitted. Check out more of his work at http://kansasartistsonline.com/?sproofing_id=1 and http://www.jschrock.com/.

Choosing a Hammer

2011-11-10T06:29:00.000-08:00

I started with what I viewed as a “standard blacksmith’s hammer.” It was the commonly available American (also called British or German) style weighing about 2.5 pounds with an octagonal face and cross peen. It worked well but as time passed I got more picky and acquired and made more hammers.

Every day I work off of two Peter Wright anvils. The larger one is beside the coal forge. A slightly smaller one is at my torch station where I work on small pieces. At the coal forge anvil the primary forging hammer is a Swedish pattern with a mushroomed cross peen. I described it in the April 26, 2011 post. I use a slightly lighter version on the other anvil.

Around each anvil is an assortment of hammers of various styles, weight, handle length and face radius. After 10 years in the studio they have all found their resting places and don’t travel around much.

Selecting the hammer of choice for a task has become something like an intuition and a bit difficult to explicate rationally. Yesterday, I drifted some holes for lag screw mounting of plant hangers. I used an antique hand sledge weighing about eight pounds. I think some people call it a drill hammer. It is great for driving a drift but I couldn’t use it for a forging hammer because I couldn’t swing it fast and accurately enough and it would wear me out in no time.

If I want to upset the end of a 3/8” round rod, I’ll get a one pound ball peen with which I can hit a lot of light blows quickly. For fire welding I use lighter hammers and have several even lighter Repoussé hammers with elongated heads.

I rarely use the striker’s sledge as the power hammers seem adequate for most purposes. My only rounding hammer and an antique three pound ball peen lay by one of the smaller swage blocks. They have the shortest radius faces (most curvature) of all my hammers.

On June 23, 2011 I wrote about how I like to modify the end of the forging hammer handles to fit in the hardy hole. The optimal handle length varies for me I don’t have a good formula for it. The same thing goes for the point of grip. Most of the time, especially with a Hofi style hammer, a short grip can deliver enough power with accuracy to do the work. If I’m wailing away on something my grip slides back to the end of the hammer like a carpenter using a framing hammer to get the velocity for powerful blows but accuracy can be compromised.

With experience and experimenting I have decided on the handle circumference which feels best for my hand. It is a subtle thing to get optimal. A large circumference gives the best mechanical advantage to controlling rotation but most of the hammers I have bought I put on the belt sander and reduced the diameter of the grip area to fit me more comfortably.

Considering how radius is used to move hot steel, I rely more on selecting the backup radius on the anvil than by varying the edge of the hammer face striking position. Trying to use the toe or heel positions, particularly, seems to cause more wrist strain. The worst strain risk, though, probably comes from working too cold. Work hot. Take another heat.

Making a hammer is a good lesson for a student and an image shows one of three hammers made in the studio by a glass artist friend for his sculpture work. But, today, if I needed another, I’d just buy one from a smith who specializes in hammer making. Their prices are very reasonable.

The other image shows me with my first hammer at age two. There is a lot to learn about using a Birmingham screwdriver. Start while you’re young.

Choosing an Anvil

2011-11-08T05:33:00.000-08:00

From time to time someone asks me for advice about buying an anvil. My first question is, “What are you using for a hammer?” It seems to me like a hammer and anvil are a pair of things which separately aren’t of much use.

Let’s get first things first. I once heard Steve Martin say, “Do you want to know how you can make a million dollars and not pay any taxes? First, make a million dollars. Then, don't pay any taxes!” In this case it’s, “First, get a hammer.”

If it seems the person is serious about buying an anvil for forge work, I suggest that they decide the hammer weight they will use most of the time. That will probably be 2.5 pounds plus or minus a half pound or so. I was taught, and have confirmed from experience, that a good forging hammer/anvil ratio is 1:40. Up to a point, larger may be better if the person is going to do some sledge work and has the extra money. But, the anvil mass issue can often be addressed less expensively in a good massive base.

After the size, quantity, has been sketched in then quality is the next thing to consider. Personally, I’d pick a London pattern shape and want it to have a flat face which is solidly welded to the body and has a good steel ball rebound. There shouldn’t be any cracks or missing parts.

I’d look for an old Peter Wright, Hay-Budden or Trenton brand. I don’t worry too much about some dings in the face edges or the top of the horn if they can be dressed and serve as a working radius or be filled. I take notice of the ring, first, to verify the steel ball rebound test. It shouldn’t have a “cracked pot” sound suggesting the face is delaminated from the body. Secondly, is it annoyingly loud and begging for a sound dampening device? That is a problem I have had with some of the new cast steel anvils.

I’d be willing to pay $2/pound for an anvil that suited me. Generally, I see asking prices run between $1 and $3 per pound.

This site has further information on anvil brands, age, etc.

http://habairon.org/Digest/Balcones%20Forge/Sept07%20-%20A%20Guide%20to%20Anvils.pdf

This site discusses the physics of the hammer/anvil relationship.

http://assets.calsmith.org/cba-cdn/647/anvilph_update_4-18_original.pdf

The conversation would go in a different direction if I found the person was only looking for a unique door stop.

An Old Welder

2011-11-06T04:35:00.000-08:00

About the time I bought my first MIG welder the welding supply store manager and I were just making conversation and he was relating stories about customers. At one point he remarked that he could spot an old experienced welder when he pulled a piece of soapstone out of his pocket no bigger than his fingernail. This image seemed curious enough to me that I have remembered it probably because I didn’t really understand it at the time. Soapstone came in long sticks and it was inexpensive so why the little piece? It seemed like a frugal oddity.

When I load up my overalls pockets each morning, soapstone is one of the items which goes in. The title phrase jumped out at me when I looked and saw I was putting in several little pieces of soapstone that were approaching finger nail size. If soapstone came in long sticks and was inexpensive, why was I still carrying the nubbins? The answer is because they still work and the smaller they are the easier they are to carry around. So now it didn’t seem so much a matter of frugality as a matter of savvy convenience.

Each marking method has something to recommend it. Back on September 19, 2010 I wrote about how much I like using a presto pen. One of the disadvantages of the correction fluid line is that often I need to use lacquer thinner to remove it so it doesn’t leave a permanent ghost image on the steel after being heated.

I use soapstone a lot. It’s clean, more durable than white chalk, erasable, good for sketching on a rusted sheet but not as good, in my opinion, as charcoal on paper.

I carry a silver pencil too. It’s not as good for sketching as soapstone but easier to draw a clean thin line.

If a really accurate line is needed a scribe is hard to beat but it will often leave a process mark which may be desirable or not. I already spent some time last July 20th writing about witness marks of various kinds so no more here.

The little pieces of soapstone are probably have a permanent home in the bottom of my pocket. I have never been able to adapt to the holders that clip onto a shirt pocket. For me, that is an example of gilding the lily.

Playing The Tower of Hanoi

2011-11-04T04:14:00.000-07:00

Before winter, while I can still have the studio doors open o some days, I plan to do some rearranging. The space is too crowded. The forge room is okay but the north porch and assembly room and east walk area are packed.

I have some salvaged hydraulic equipment on the porch which needs to be cobbled into a pipe bender. There is a Champion 1880 lever action forge blower which I haven’t used since 2004, a wood stove unused since I installed electric heat in the studio, a post vise which has never been used, a small anvil on a stand which has also never been used, and an antique treadle grinder. Those things just need to go away.

Most of the rest is good stuff used occasionally but poorly arranged. In my mind I have started planning the shuffling process and I was reminded of playing a game called the Tower of Hanoi when our boys were toddlers. Here is a link which shows a nice animation of the solution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Hanoi

I have a break on the porch which I built to built to make a 22.5º bend in a 24” wide piece of 7 gauge sheet. To get to it and have space to work I have to move two gas forges and a rolling base. Then they have to be moved again to get out. The break is a crude, but effective, contraption built from some sturdy scrap. The grader blade section is the pushing edge and a 30 ton jack provides the force. A piece of round stock in the crotch of the piece of angle serves as a stop. With it removed the bend will go on to about 90º

I wish it were easier to get rid of those things I don’t need. The demonstration trailer is parked in the woods north of the studio and I should empty it and use that space for storing things I might actually use again.

Making Black Lag Screws

2011-10-28T05:48:00.000-07:00

I wrote some about this back in late May. Today the issue came up again as I had to make about 100 black lag screws, 5/16” x 1.5” and 5/16” x 2.5” and decided to take a couple of images to better explain the technique. Since almost everything I make has a black finish I like to make sure the mounting hardware matches. I have square head hardware to use when it seems most appropriate but most things mount with standard hex head lag screws which I modify to get the right color finish.

Step one is to remove the galvanizing with a 10 minute soak in hydrochloric acid. I explained that last April in “The Pickling Bucket”.

Step two is rinsing with water and drying. A light rust color appears.

Step three is shown in the image showing the screws inserted in the vise jig I use to hold nine at a time to dress the heads.

Step four is to polish off the factory lettering on the heads.

Step five is to heat each head with the torch using a slightly reducing flame to barely melt the surface surface and glaze to remove the abrasive streaks.

The final step is to spread them out in a pan and spray them with Minwax clear satin polyurethane.

I got this tip back in my woodworking days. When I’m gathering things to do a mounting project I stick the screws into a toilet bowl wax ring. The urethane wax is an excellent lubricant which, in addition to a pilot hole, makes screw insertion easy. Here is a picture of the type of ring I’m describing if it’s not already clear.

http://www.oatey.com/apps/catalog/instance_assets/assets/Photo/Wax_Ring_31195.jpg

How to Find A Hook Jig

2011-10-26T17:54:00.000-07:00

It is a disturbing fact that from time to time I need something I can’t find. It’s disturbing because I’ve put a lot of time and effort into making sure that doesn’t happen.

I have been requested to make a coat rack similar to one I made several years ago. Actually, it was quite a few years ago. Back then I didn’t keep any records, so this was like starting from scratch and figuring it out all over again. I really don’t like that, but I can do it.

First, I queried my inventory and found where two coat hooks jugs were located. I found them and one was made for a very specific project which I probably will never repeat and the other was an enigma so I disassembled it.

So, not actually finding a suitable hook jig, I designed the type of hook I needed for this job and did two test pieces and made a new jig to duplicate the prototype hook.

This is a summary of what I did. First I cut 8” of 3/8” square bar and forged a 2” fishtail taper then rolled it into a scroll. Then I cut a piece of angle, a piece of pipe and a piece of round bar and welded up the radius jig. With the mass of the fishtail hooked on the round bar I torch heated as I pulled the radius with a cheater pipe. When the tangent looked right I welded on another little piece of angle as a stop. I made a twisting wrench by heating a piece of pipe which I thought would slip over the square stock when forged to shape. With torch heat I made a snug fit onto a short piece of 3/8” square then used that piece to make the T handle. I torch heated the hook in the little triangular gap between the pipe and the angle stop and added a 180º twist.

Later, I’ll swell the top end with half face blows and punch a rivet hole so the hooks can be fixed to the mounting bar,

When I finish I’ll stamp a name and the A02 number on the jig designating what it’s for and where it will hang. It’s the old “a name and a home” strategy again. Next time, maybe I’ll be able to find it.

Coal Dust Punch Lubricant

2011-10-25T03:41:00.000-07:00

This week I made some forming dies with the hydraulic forging press. The depressions were sunk in several heats with progressively larger top tool positive forms. Slight upsetting and entrapment of the pushing form is always a possibility and a problem if it occurs. I thought about how I sometimes use a pinch of coal dust in the hole when hot punching to prevent the punch from sticking and how sometimes dipping the punch in grease or Anti-seize also helps.

When I first was setting up the shop I needed a 55 gallon drum to build a small tumbler. I went to a local bakery, which gave me the drum, but it still had about 5 gallons of grease inside. They said it was edible grease - Linoleic acid - and was really high quality. I scraped it all out and filled a 5 gallon drum and filled several more clear plastic jars with it and have used it ever since for general lubrication.

I mixed some of the grease with some sifted coal dust about 50/50 and filled two small cans. It seemed to entirely prevent sticking as I worked with the press so I’ll continue using it. Apparently the escaping gases from the combusting grease prevent the punch from binding.

I looked up linoleic acid http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linoleic_acid and found it is a colorless liquid at room temperature and what I scraped from the drum was a pale green soft solid so it must be mixed with something else. Any cooking grease or canola oil probably would work too. Use good ventilation. I have no idea what is in the fumes.

Carhartt Shirts and Fried Green Tomatoes

2011-10-22T18:53:00.000-07:00

It’s fall. Every creature is looking for winter quarters. I ran a blacksnake out of the studio a few days ago. The monarch butterflies are gone. Tree frogs have gathered near the creek. The turkey vulture and herring gulls migrations have passed through and we’ve had one light frost now. It came on about the expected date and nipped the tender plants. I went out at dusk in the windy chill and picked the green tomatoes. It was a poor garden year for us with about thirty days over 100º and very little rain so there was only enough for a couple of servings of fried green tomatoes. I was worried that this might be the first year in my life without tasting them. Betty fixed them just right and they were great.

I’m pretty tolerant of cold and probably only put on a coat a half dozen times a winter but I like sweaters, jackets and my Carhartt sandstone twill long sleeve work shirts. I have several and they are well worn and getting faded and one has a big elbow patch but they are comfort clothes as sure as fried green tomatoes are comfort food.

I love autumn and today I paid attention to the beautiful colors in the sugar maples, the Virginia creeper and the poison ivy vines. Some ripe persimmons are dropping now and, while the crop is sparse this year, the flavor is wonderful.

It’s perfect forging weather and I treasure every day of it.

Flat Bar Scroll End

2011-10-22T04:32:00.000-07:00

What appeals to one client won’t necessarily appeal to another. That, to me, is a good thing as it drives creativity. Several years ago I made a simple flat bar coat rack with four hooks for a client. I textured the bar but it still looked rather generic so I added scroll ends. Naturally, they didn’t like the scrolls and wanted just the flat bar.

The scroll end hanger eventually wound up in a gallery where it sold recently. As soon as it was sold I was requested to make another one like it. So much time had passed that I couldn’t recall immediately how I made the scroll but I remembered it was simple to accomplish.

I got out a scrap of tar paper and cut it in the shape of the 2” wide flat bar and confirmed it just required trimming the end off at a 45º angle, texturing both sides and rolling the scroll by pulling the point down while twisting. I thought a reversing scroll might be interesting so I rolled one on the same piece of tar paper and snapped an image of it for the record.

The roll of tar paper was purchased 15 years ago and I have used it to make numerous patterns and I still have most of the roll left. The soapstone, silver pencil, correction fluid lines show with nice contrast. But, I still need the white grid paper for charcoal sketching.

Blacksmith Dirt

2011-10-14T04:28:00.000-07:00

On Saturday a crew is coming for an interview and some filming in the studio and I have been trying to do a little cleanup and picking up to make it look less scary.

My wife says the studio produces a special kind of dirt. The most stubborn variety. It's true. My hands only look respectable after several days of vacation.

I suspect most of it is coal dust, soot and the various iron oxides of fire scale. The tumbler is responsible for processing the most tenacious black stuff as it removes all manner of surface coatings such as paint, lacquer, oil, fire scale, rust, and more. I especially dislike having to deal with pickled and oiled stock.

The sticky products I handle like silicone caulk, glue, Permalac, Polyurethane, paint, sanding sealer, oil, Goop, etc. serve to attach the blackness nearly permanently to skin cells.

Even when I empty 20 pounds of black powder the place isn’t going to look clean to a new visitor and even I won’t be able to tell much difference but it will be 20 pounds cleaner.

The dirt is generated in the forge room and tumbler room but travels everywhere throughout the shop. Putting the tarp and drum shell around the tumbler helped some. Probably I need to get a vacuum attached to the tumbler. That would be a good project for the winter.

In reality I know I’m never going to get a clean workspace - it’s a blacksmith shop. Francis Whitaker was shown a piece of work and asked, “Is this straight enough?” He responded, “There is no such thing as straight enough. It is either straight or not.” The same goes here. Clean enough is never clean.

It Bends Where?

2011-09-30T04:07:00.000-07:00

When I was bending these spikes I thought I was witnessing a violation of an axiom I learned as a beginner - steel bends where it is thinnest or hottest. In this case neither was true. The axiom needs an amendment. Steel also bends where the bending force is isolated.

This story is a progression of the “picture or 1000 words” post. To complete the spikes I needed to bend the kink point to a right angle. I could have used localized torch heat to do this and if I only had a couple to finish that’s how I’d do it. In this case there was a pile, I had a bending jig and I had other forge work to do so using the coal fire was quickest. The way I was working it wasn’t possible to get a heat localized at the desired bend point like a torch heat. However, the jig effectively did that isolation of the bend point.

I used the power hammer to draw out the spikes in a single heat and did the 90º bend in the second heat then ran them through the tumbler. Now they are ready for welding into a tripod base, This is a component of what I would call a functional piece and isn’t particularly artful, but, the subtle stretch-buldge of the 90º bend is a tiny detail which appeals to me.

A Picture or 1000 Words

2011-09-26T05:26:00.000-07:00

Last week I downloaded a few images from my old shop camera then it expired. New batteries couldn’t shock it back to life. So after many years of service in a harsh environment I let it go to R.I.P. in the realm where expired electronic devices go.

I understood immediately that this was not a crisis since it seems like almost everything with a battery is now capable of taking a picture. My older son, Keith, tells me my iPhone has a better camera than my camera. That sounds circular but you get he idea,

My actual solution was to take my wife’s old camera which she never uses as she prefers the one on the iPhone and I traded her a newer camera which I have used to take “professional” images in my mini photo studio. Incidentally, that camera was obtained at Stapes in response to my request for their “least expensive Canon camera.” I will never take the time to figure out anything more complicated a don’t use most of the features built into the inexpensive one.

Today, I took several images of the steps used in preparing some spikes for tapering. It was a pleasure to look in the viewfinder and actually see a large clear image of the target, It was also neat to hear the click sound which indicated the image had been captured. It gave me a comfort sensation similar to the old days when I picked up the phone receiver and an operator asked. “number please.”

I don’t know if a picture is really worth a thousand words or how anyone would know. I do know that the images I take are a great help in documenting my work processes. They save time and provide more information than my written notes.

Making Small Rings

2011-09-23T05:17:00.000-07:00

Last week I needed six rings for a chandelier project. I made them by tacking a 5/16” round rod to a 1.25” round mandrel then wrapped a coil with torch heat until I had 8 or 9 rings. I generally make a few extra in case I misplace one or one doesn’t look just right. The extras are handy to weld on things as hangers.

I removed the rings from the mandrel by slicing the coil with a zip disc and opening each ring with a tweaker until it slipped off.

Sometimes it is important that a ring not be able to rotate so an ellipse is preferable. I have made several mandrels with crank shafts to make chain links of different sizes. The principle is the same as the round rings, torch heat, wrap, sever and release.

That’s a Swell Hole

2011-09-20T05:04:00.000-07:00

For the past couple of weeks, besides trying to get the lawn to recover after the terrible hot and dry summer, I’ve been finishing a chandelier. I’ve never made one of this style before and have found it to be interesting and challenging. At this point the frame and pendant elements have been constructed and I’m just working on finishing details.

This detail, if not trivial, is at least a very small one. In my opinion I still think it is worth considering and in other cases can create a much more striking visual detail.

In this design the power cord traverses most of the distance between the ceiling canopy and the candelabra pendant inside a tube with rings at each end instead of winding through the more common vernacular chain. After making the rings from 5/16” round and flattening 1” of the tube ends with the hydraulic press, I sunk a center punch mark and then drilled a pilot hole. Working over a narrow vise opening I heated the hole perimeter with the torch and used a handled opening punch to enlarge the hole so that the 5/16” ring could pass through and swing easily. That process necessarily creates the slight bulges along the edges of the flattened area.

It may take a blacksmith to notice a change this subtle but an accumulation of such little details in the design can eventually add up to interesting.

Hot Punching

2011-09-18T06:35:00.000-07:00

I like to design projects which use hot punching as a technique. There is a little bit of a learning curve to climb before it gets easy but when mastered it is fun to do and the swell around the hole looks nice.

In the earliest days of my metal working experience I visited a smith who owned a historic shop and he offered some advice based on his 30 years of working. I still remember some of those things and one was to keep my punches sharp. I really didn’t understand the significance of that at the time but I became a believer through practice.

Usually I try to set up punching work when I have an assistant to either strike or to hold. Most of the holes I punch are 5/16” or 3/8” round by design. With holes smaller than 5/16” there is more risk of the small diameter punch drawing so much heat it reaches forging temperature and deforms. With holes larger than 3/8” a lot more force is required to create the hole.

If hole position must be very precise I will make a light mark and check the position and make adjustments and eventually set a shallow depression which can be seen of felt at punching heat.

A six pound sledge is my tool of choice for striking. I try to avoid placing the hot workpiece on the anvil until the punch is ready to place so the anvil doesn’t suck heat away prematurely. When the punch is in proper position, vertical and still it is time for a firm blow with the sledge. The punch is rotated about 90º while the hammer is lifted. The the punch is held steady and struck again once of twice until it is felt to “bottom out” against the anvil. Then the punch is cooled in the quench tub.

If the work piece is turned over the darker, cooler, circle is visible if the punch sunk deep enough to form a very thin area which will be the slug. This is where it gets interesting to me. If the punch face is flat and the edge sharp and the workpiece is cool enough when the punch is centered on the dark circle and struck the slug will fall out. In other words, if every thing is just right, it works perfectly.

If the punch is not sharp it acts like a fuller and moves metal back and forth without creating a stress riser perimeter which will break in shear. If the workpiece is too hot the slug mass perimeter will stretch and not shear. With enough practice this gets easy but, for me, never uninteresting. I just notice smaller and smaller details.

It seems like a trivial thing to rotate the round punch but it is an important detail if the hole is to turn out close to perfectly round. It’s sort of hard to dress a round punch so that it is perfectly round. Usually it is a little bit oval. If that is the case the hole will still be round if the punch is rotated while the workpiece is at a forging heat. If the punch is too oval it will be too difficult to twist so there is a limit to the our-of-round which is tolerable.

The body of the punch has a slight taper so the finished hole may have a very slight hour glass shape and each hole may not be quite the same diameter. Finishing holes with carefully made drifts corrects those imperfections.

I own a couple of square handled punches but have rarely used them to punch holes. If I need a square hole I usually make a round one and use the square punch as a drift. Or can it really be called a drift if the tool doesn’t pass all the way through? I could be an opening punch but that sounds like a segue to boxing.

Pretty Side Down?

2011-09-16T07:16:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me that over time there has been a change in my thinking about forming. This is something akin to the gestalt of seeing positive space or negative space.

It seems I used to think mostly about the forming process as how the work piece would have to move rather than how the radius of the tools would move the work. Today I spend more time thinking about how I want the surface too look - emphasizing the process marks or eliminating them.

The anvil is usually smoother and flatter than the hammer face. And too move metal quickly a short radius hammer such as a ball peen or rounding hammer is used. As the final form is approached a long radius forging hammer is useful if the chunky surface is to be worked to a smooth surface. Finishing the presentation face with a nearly flat planishing hammer can leave a very smooth surface.

I was taught that because the anvil face was the flattest and smoothest the surface toward the anvil was the “pretty face”. Today I often prefer more visible texture so the interesting side is up and the plain side is on the anvil face. Pretty side up.

The surface facets can be accentuated by hand sanding with 60 or finer grit sand paper or light filing and I do some of that but not much. Like with other surface accents of brass brushing or Guilder’s paste, I think a little goes a long way. I have spent a lot of time studying how I an use fire scaling followed by light tumbling to create the surface appearance I like best.

In the final analysis what shows in the work should be intentional so carefully picking the tools and making sure they are well dressed so they don’t leave unintentional marks is good craftsmanship.

Check out Care and Maintenance of a new or old anvil at:

http://www.blksmth.com/care_and_maintenance_of_anvils.htm

Pedal Hammer Seat Improvement

2011-09-13T05:00:00.000-07:00

Over the summer I started using the pedal hammer in an auxiliary manner and now think I should report it. The one I’m referring to sits right beside my design table. Sometimes I just felt like sitting down for a few minutes while making notes or sketching some drawings so I made a simple angled drawing surface from a piece of angle and 10 gauge sheet that fits where the anvil ordinarily would. It rotates and is very comfortable to use. It is just flat enough to also use as a platform for photographing small items.

The time sitting apparently led to some other contemplation and I became aware of the kludge beneath my feet. The seat mounting could be improved a lot. First, the placement of the horizontals and verticals could be shifted to leave the space where a leg swings through more open.

Next, the seat bracket could be fitted with one or two cam locks to replace the locking bolts which would allow for quick changes in seat height or distance.

Also the vertical could be changed from square tube to round to allow rotation. Now that I’ve thought of how nice those changes might be all I have to do is find the time and energy to actually make the changes.

Too Short? Not a Problem

2011-09-12T04:40:00.000-07:00

From time to time I have an experience which reminds me of my woodworking days and why I like ironwork better.

Last week I was assembling pieces of textured flat bar for a chandelier frame and found one of the vertical pieces to be short by a strong 1/16”. If this was a wood frame I would cut another piece and that would be a hassle to set up because both ends are cut on a 14º angle. However, in this case it was just a matter of running the piece back over the texturing die in the power hammer without heat. Two passes did the trick and the bar was then full length.

The ability to adjust length by subtle drawing is nice property of iron working. Shortening by upsetting is possible occasionally but usually trimming is easier.

Mentioning the chandelier brings up another issue. I don’t do wiring. I’d do it for myself but when dealing with clients I make all the components and let them arrange for their electrician to finish the work. They are the professional experts in that field.

Get Convenience First

2011-09-02T06:32:00.000-07:00

I’ve had some interest in time and motion study since I read the book, Cheaper by the Dozen, sometime in the 1950’s. So, when I am planing a forging session I attempt to plan it heat by heat.

When working with small blanks or short material I want to form them into shapes I can easily pick up as early in the process as possible. Sure as can be, some pieces will find their way to the floor and as long as they are short and flat they will be difficult to pick up. At the very least this wastes time and motion and the distraction may risk losing something else to overheating in the fire.

In the image, Repoussé Sunflower center volume.JPG, I show how it may be possible to establish useful initial volume with the fly press. In the image, Sinking heart volume.JPG, the rounding hammer and swage block are used to establish some volume. Granted, if these pieces land on the floor concave side down, they may still be difficult to pick up, but I’ve improved my chances of easy grasp to at least 50/50. I can skew the favorable odds more by working that initial volume more toward a potato chip shape, dome and bowl, rather than just the bowl or dome shape. I’ll just admit I don’t know the proper topological names for those shapes.

In the image, Various Handle Lengths.jpg, I offer the example of how I first drew out some of the 3/8” round handle length from the 3/8” x 3/4” flat bar blank so I had more to grasp and could do without tongs for the remainder of the forging of the cane bolt slide.

Those two techniques are rather obvious. Using the convenience bend is less obvious but becomes intuitive with some experience. As forging processes become more sophisticated and complicated the issue of obstruction comes up more and more. Planning convenience bends is usually the solution.

Sometimes the bend is just a fold-forge-fold back type. Sometimes it is a bend and twist-forge-bend and twist back type. Sometimes it is difficult to use the bend without leaving a trace of the process in the finished work. Planning a bend of long radius in which the stretching/compression deformation is subtle is often helpful.

Formulating general strategies, such as these, for my work has been helpful.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_and_motion_study

Back from a week vacation to southern California to see kids and granddaughter, it was disappointing to find the 106º heat still entrenched. The long anticipated break my come next week. In any event, it looks like head down work ahead for several months. It’s nice to begin feeling rested and full of new ideas.

The BAM Tent

2011-08-19T06:47:00.000-07:00

We’re back home after a short working vacation. Once again working two days in the demonstration tent of the Blacksmiths Association of Missouri was a pleasant break in the routine and, as expected, I learned a thing or two.

The weather cooperated by bringing two very mild temperature days which are hard to come by in August. We were able to spend time with long-time friends, not so long-time friends and family. The main plan was to work on my offset tongs but, as usual, we wandered off on another project proposed by a visitor. It was entirely predictable that we would not have the stock or tools best suited to the job so work-arounds must be devised.

As a learning experience, the challenge was a success. As a functional object, the creation was a success. As an example of skilled craftsmanship, we came up a bit short. This all served to reinforce what I learned from a demonstrator several years ago and have come to think of as the “first law of demonstrating” - do what you already know how to do.

Off to Join the Circus

2011-08-15T06:11:00.000-07:00

Well, it hasn’t come to that yet, but tomorrow I am off to enjoy the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia, Missouri, and work/play in the Blacksmiths Association of Missouri demonstration tent. This annual event is a favorite part of my year; I'll be away from the blog for several days. When my father mustered out of the Army Air Corps in 1946 we settled in Sedalia. That was where I grew up from age 3 to 18.

We have dear friends in Sedalia who give us a place to nest and good food and conversation. Every visit has built more lovely memories and complement those which date back to elementary school and even preschool days in Sunday school.

When I was living there, State Fair week seemed to coincide with my birthday, August 27th. But school starts earlier in the calendar now. Part of my birthday present used to be passes to the races for me and several friends. We could count on hot weather, a drought-breaking rain and sometimes a severe storm. I could go on for quite a while with memories of The Fair.

In the days preceding our trip I must decide what to pack. I’ve pretty much given up on trying to construct a “crowd pleaser.” It’s a lot more like a reception line than a static audience so the vast majority of visitors see what they want to see in less than a minute. A few will linger to ask questions and the oddball, potential blacksmith, will hang around and try to learn something. Those few will be offered the possibility of joining BAM and opening the gateway to eternal happiness. Well, again, I may exaggerate.

Back to the packing issue. After quite a bit of experience with this sort of thing, I now pack what I will need to accomplish what I would be doing in the shop anyway. Off and on I work on improving my workspace. Recently I looked over the tong racks in the forge room and concluded there were about twenty pair which were used frequently and another fifty which may not have moved in the past few years.

I removed all of the archived ones, looked them over, and concluded that most could be converted to useable tools. Most were odd shapes, too heavy kludges which I picked up for about $5 apiece at flea markets in the early 90’s. I took out the rivets and prepared them for reforging.

Over the years I have become picky about tools and have firm preferences. In tongs I have a very specific style of offset tongs which I like. I acquired a set of about eight round stock tongs sized from about 1/4” to 1” in an eBay auction about 15 years ago. It may have been the best auction purchase I ever made. At the time I didn’t realize I had purchased anything as unique as it was. I have been to a lot of shops and studied all the tongs offered by the big suppliers and have never run across this style; however, as I pondered my “ideal” tongs, I felt these were not quite on the mark. I had come to like the feel of the ball finial on the reins of a couple of manufactures tongs and decided this feature should be added. Moreover, a ring could be superior to a ball as it could accommodate a hasp or link catch as an alternative to a tong clip when used in a specific production run.

Now, I had a Fair Week project. It is hard to find the time for a couple of days of experimentation. It feels like a luxury extravagance in the work week but can be excused during Fair Week. On Saturday my student assistant, Scott, came and we pounded out enough tong blanks to see me through.

I’ll post a detailed description of my method of making tongs later but this is an introduction. I use 3/8” x 3/4” hot rolled flat bar stock. The blank is 13” long for the average pair of tongs. A couple of inches shorter will make nice light weight tongs for 1/4” stock and a couple of inches longer will make suitable tongs for 1” stock.

In almost every project I try to enhance my convenience in the first heat. This may be, (1) add two plane volume, (2) draw length, or (3) add a convenience bend. If I have a blank and have added two plane volume (potato chip form) as the first step, I can easily pick it up off the floor with pick up tongs rather that chase it around flat when dropped. Drawing length first adds a handle. A convenience bend facilitates localizing the heat. This power to bend and unbend at will is one of the great aspects of blacksmithing.

In this case, I wanted to prepare my blanks so I could work at the fair in a casual manner with hammer on anvil doing the refined jaw work. I decided to do the reins drawing in the shop with my power hammers to save time, effort and perspiration. Each reins segment was drawn out to 3/8” round in two heats. This left a great handle which can be drawn to full length with at 5/16” stop later when I am back in the cool shop.

It could be pretty hot on those demonstration days and I believe in the slogan, “Never let them see you sweat.”

http://www.thisdayinquotes.com/2010/06/never-let-them-see-you-sweat-was.html

Pipe or Tube?

2011-08-13T07:19:00.000-07:00

When I started to build my shop and all the work supports, tables and other equipment I was mostly getting the steel from the scrap yard. I just picked up pipe and tube which was “about the right size.” It wasn’t until much later and working on commission jobs that I seriously studied pipe and tube characteristics.

As it turned out, I needed both in different circumstances. Pipe is a vessel which is designed to conduct a fluid. It is sized by inside diameter and the wall thickness varies in accordance with the pressure required to contain the fluid. All of that was essentially irrelevant to my needs.

Usually, what I needed was tube. Tube is considered a structural steel element and is sized by outside dimension. The wall thickness varies according to the structural load it will bear. In the sizes which I work with, tube is less expensive than the roughly equivalent size pipe.

I don’t have an engineering background so I came to blacksmithing lacking a lot knowledge which would have been very useful and which I acquired piecemeal and haphazardly along the way.

There is a lot more to consider when building with these materials including issues of threading, fitting, ASTM grade, seam or seamless and weight. Here are some references which may be useful.

Pipe vs Tube

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/pipes-tubes-d_347.html

Carbon Steel Pipe

http://www.pipemarkers.com/pipe-data.html

Structural Steel Specifications in PDF

http://www.saginawpipe.com/product_charts.htm

Pipe Weight Chart

http://www.davidstrasser.com/pipechart.htm

Tubular Steel PDFs

http://www.tubularsteel.com/products_welded.asp

Wet Coal or Dry Coal?

2011-08-10T06:13:00.000-07:00

It was a tedious weekend having to do house repairs and recycling, however, there is a sliver lining in those clouds. A break in the heat wave is what permitted me to get these chores done. It also allowed firing up the coal forge and doing some forging on a larger scale than the little torch projects I’ve been doing for most of the past month.

Today we worked three jobs. One required upsetting some 1” bar stock ends one required punching some pockets where lag screws will seat and the third involved bending some 3/4” round stock to 1” and 1.5” radius 180’s. All easy enough but much easier with coal fire heat than torch heat and it was something of a relief to make this little progress.

As we were working with the dry coal fire it occurred to me that we hadn’t used a wet coal fire in quite a while. I probably only manage the fire about 20% of the time and mostly leave that task to my assistant. I recall that when I was first forging I used wet coal a lot. I learned about it at CRMS watching Francis Whitaker and his assistants. It does a better job of making a “cave fire” which is great for forge welding and it probably is more effeceint in keeping the fire in a more confined space thus conserving fuel.

Most of my work does not involve forge welding and the fuel is relatively cheap compared to labor time so that has encouraged a “work very hot and quick with multiple pieces” tactical approach. Today I tried to focus on what we were doing. It was essentially a method of keeping the fire as hot as possible all the time - frequently pushing coke into the hollow - and shifting the work pieces to keep their heat at the desired orange-yellow incandescent color. It requires constant attention o avoid burning up the work and it possibly uses more fuel than when running the fire temperature up and down but it is the practice to which I’ve become accostomed. In an hour and a half or two hours a large clinker will form but that is when I quit anyway so no time was wasted dealing with it.

Now that all these thoughts have come back to me I think it would be interesting to spend more time working with the wet coal again. Then I remember, “Never trouble trouble, until trouble troubles you.” Alas, I’ve got a lot of other things to think about that seem more urgent.

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost

Engine Valve Tools

2011-08-06T06:33:00.000-07:00

I made two punch tools last week and each was dedicated to a small project. I’ve mentioned my affinity for making dedicated tools, jigs and templates which are stored as a group related to each repeated project. In these cases each punch had a round taper to make a 3/16” hole. I made each of them from one half of an engine valve shaft and welded a short utility handle.

I have used this valve stock for quite a while to make chasing tools and drifts and have been impressed how well they hold an edge and shape. I always thought there were some variety of stainless steel which was air hardening until I found the article below. I’ve never had to buy any as the auto mechanics seem to be quite free with giving used ones away.

I made one punch just by grinding on a zirconium sanding belt and the other by torch heating and forging the taper and then grinding to finish. I keep a batch of utility handles ready to use so making the punches and welding the handles took a total of about 5 minutes maybe ten if I count the time spent stamping the names on the handle labels. That seems like a good investment for tools which I anticipate will last for years.

Nice reference about engine valve alloys:

http://www.enginebuildermag.com/Article/2564/valve_alloyswhat_makes_them_so_special.aspx

Too Hot To Forge

2011-08-04T05:57:00.000-07:00

It’s been over 100º almost every day for about three weeks and 112º yesterday. I was about to say, “I wish it would let up”, but that would leave the opening for someone else to quip, “If wishes were horses then beggars would ride.”

In the past I had a rule that I wouldn’t forge on days when the temperature was predicted to reach 90º at 3 PM, the usual peak forging time. I’m far enough behind schedule this year that I’d be willing to raise that to 95 º but haven’t found one of those days recently.

It has been necessary to turn to other small jobs which can be done cold or with torch heat. At least it’s an opportunity to make the things I put in the Prairie PastTimes gallery. I only make a few items in the category of “Colonial Reproduction” or “Old Time Ironwork”. They aren’t big sellers on the Great Plains, so far removed from their main historical base. There are a few pieces like the sawtooth trammel, sticking tommy and the fat lamp in which I see a sort of primitive engineering elegance which appeals to me. This week it was time to make fat lamps.

I make one simple style with an open pear-shaped pan, rived to a vertical bracket which ends in a swivel made from a forged square nail attached to the hook/spike hanger. I works as poorly to produce light as any of the similar historical types. These crude, but portable, lighting devices, burning a tallow soaked wick, were first made of pottery and later bronze and iron and spanned a lot of history from the campfire to the oil lamp and candle.

As this is a project which is repeated and made in batches, it is heavily jigged. I first made a die set to use in the power hammer to forge the pan and later adapted it to the hydraulic press. That was the only fairly hard part to get perfected. Now I can deep draw the pan from either a 16 or 14 gauge mild steel blank which is heated in the coal fire to scale. The perimeter excess is trimmed away and I use the press once more to true the form then tumble. I touchmark the bottom of the pan and punch the rivet hole in the back of the pan directly opposite the wick trough.

The other components are not complicated but I’m not an expert when it comes to making square nails so that is more time consuming than it should be. I have found every part of the project to be easier to accomplish with torch heat except for the pan forming. Doing anything this repetitive can get boring for me so I work at it off and on between other design and test work. This week I managed to complete 18 lamps.

It doesn’t appear that the coming week will be any cooler. Maybe that will be sticking tommy week - anything to stay cool. I heard that a fellow saw a dog chasing a cat and they were both walking.

Trust But Verify

2011-08-02T03:40:00.000-07:00

I needed to make some coils for a project in which the coil would serve as a hinge eye. The barrel stock would be 3/8” round and the coil stock 1/2” round. So, I needed to calculate how much stock I needed to allow for three wraps. It’s not that I distrust math and this is rather elementary but I wanted to see how close this worked out in actual practice knowing “There’s many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.”

A 30” piece of 1/2” round stock was marked with a presto pen at the appropriate transitions and I put a center punch in the fly press and laid the round bar in a “v” block and punched a mark at each designated point. Using the torch to heat the bar I carefully pulled it snugly around a 3/8” mandrel for three complete revolutions in one segment and two revolutions in another. Then I inspected the punch marks. They proved the predicted and observed results were identical.

In another project I will wrap a 5/8” round tapered element around two pieces of 5/8” square. The match between prediction and observation will be less exact because there are more technical difficulties as well as more complicated math, but I’m confident I can get close enough.

Ronald Reagan was fond of using “trust, but verify”. It is a translation of a Russian proverb which, allegedly, was also often used by Lenin. This exercise is a way of demonstrating how taking a skeptical approach and working through it can build confidence.

Flying Wire

2011-08-01T04:48:00.000-07:00

When I made the move from doing woodworking to working with metal a lot of the tools were new to me. In the days before building an effective tumbler I used wire wheels to remove fire scale. I used wire wheels mounted on a bench grinder and wire cup brushes on an angle grinder.

It didn't take long to discover the annoying and dangerous tendency to shed wire strands which will penetrate clothing. I used heavy gloves and a full face shield in addition to safety glasses. Still that didn't save me when an angle grinder kicked back and the knot wire cup brush grabbed my tee shirt and plowed across the skin of my midsection. Not serious but scary and painful enough to get me going on designing a better tumbler.

An experienced blacksmith gave me the tip of using a variable speed polisher/sander instead of an angle grinder. I got an inexpensive one and it did work well. Most of the time my work doesn’t require high speed operation. The tool is pretty heavy and more awkward to use than an angle grinder. I use it infrequently so it has lasted ten years so far.

I was well acquainted with a wood router and had a speed control unit so I tried it on an angle grinder and found that setup works better. My work can be accomplished at speeds well below where wire breakage is likely and the velocity of a broken wire would not likely cause a serious injury.

This is the model I used.

http://www.harborfreight.com/router-speed-control-43060.html I notice it now sells for $19 but was $15 when I bought it.

I gave up the use of the wire wheels on the bench grinder altogether and never tried a speed control on it.

The tumbler has largely replaced the use of the cup brushes too but on the occasions when I need one I prefer the stainless steel knotted cup brushes.

Civilization owes a lot to the inventors of the wheel and the related beneficial applications but they also introduced the hazards associated with the kinetic energy of a rotating mass. It's our responsibility to utilize the benefits and subdue the dangers.

Do your Thinking in the Fire

2011-07-31T02:55:00.000-07:00

What doses that mean? To me it is a strategy similar to playing chess in which success depends upon thinking several moves ahead - a mental step set. The movement of the iron won’t be as tricky as a chess opponent but I need to have a contingency plan if my next move doesn’t accomplish exactly what I intended.

It means having a clear idea of what I want to achieve on this heat. Where does the heat need to be isolated? Does this require a convenience bend or selective slack tub cooling? What color heat is needed? Is the hammer and ancillary anvil tools set up properly?

It wasn’t always the case, but today when I plan a forging session for a project I usually have a written strategic plan or drawings detailing the sequence of steps I imagine. I divide each step into a one-heat-at-a-time tactical plan.

In order to learn something new, some time must be set aside for experimenting and doing test pieces so when it comes time to do the project I don’t expect to be surprised by some bummer problem. On the occasions where that happens I quit and move to another project. A fall back and regroup tactic is best done when the fire is out. And it is one reason I carefully layout somewhat more than I expect to accomplish in the allowed forging time.

Work Which Tells a Story

2011-07-30T05:36:00.001-07:00

Over ten years ago I was asked to make a gate which would mount in the doorway between kitchen and dining room of a home. The owners wanted the canine members of the family confined to the kitchen space so visitors, especially young children, wouldn’t be bothered by them.

After deciding the technical details, discussion turned to the design theme and how it might reflect things meaningful to the owners. The clients were intellectual people with backgrounds in psychology and physical therapy and avid readers. Eventually we settled on an interpretation of the opening lines of William Blakes’ Auguries of Innocence. It has served as inspiration for countless other artists.

To see a world in a grain of sand

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand

And eternity in an hour.

The gate was free to swing both in and out and had a spring catch like the old fashioned garden gate so the over all look might be appropriate to a garden entrance. The sunflower is a natural for Kansas although the poem isn’t specific about the wild flower. Symmetry could suggest a Rorschach inkblot test which a psychologist might appreciate.

With the frame constructed and fitted and these ideas floating around, sketch work was chalked out on the layout table and test pieces were done. The design was necessarily tight because a 3” code was specified based on the dogs snout shape.

Eventually it all came together with the poem guiding the way and was installed and worked well. I got to visit it from time to time which is unusual for most of my projects. Today, I wouldn’t do it the same way and my skills have improved quite a bit but every work is fixed in its own time.

The family mowed to another state after retirement and the gate went with them. They kindly sent me a photo of it in place in its new home. I hope to visit it there eventually and the friends too, of course.

Vise Handle Bumpers

2011-07-28T05:32:00.000-07:00

This is a little safety device I’ve used so long it is almost invisible to me. My big Trenton-Fisher is at my main work station. This large vise has a handle which is massive enough that if it falls in the vertical orientation a serious pinch can result if the thumb-index web skin is caught by the terminal ball.

After such a close call I decided to create a bumper by wrapping a leather strip around the handle just below the ball. Later I added some silicone adhesive and even later used duct type tape. I use the vise every day and from time to time the bumper must be refurbished to remain effective.

There are five other post vises around the shop and none of them have handles heavy enough to present enough threat to require bumpers. One has a sinuous “S” curve bent in the handle which seems to have been added by a previous owner and is somewhat effective in preventing the potential free fall.

Getting Discouraged

2011-07-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

Kristopher Skelton operates Alchemy Forge. I think his primary interest is blademaking. I’ve never met him but have enjoyed reading his blog and viewing the website galleries.

In the blog I came across a second, or third, hand narrative which I feel has some wise advice as follows...

MONDAY, MAY 16, 2011

A reminder...

This was posted at Don Fogg's bladesmith forums by Alan Longmire, attributed to Ira Glass:

What nobody tells people who are beginners — and I really wish someone had told this to me . . . is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, and it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through. POSTED BY KRISTOPHER SKELTON

http://alchemyforgenet.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html

Being able to recognize good work and appreciate the beauty of fine craftsmanship and design is necessary yet not sufficient to producing such work. Practice, practice, practice is essential. Most things worthwhile are difficult to achieve and require dedication, discipline and persistence. I don’t think I have seen any masters who aren’t perfectionists.

For most of us the ideal is elusive and just beyond our grasp so each instantiation of our effort is a bit disappointing and we see how we might do better. Take a deep breath. Take another heat. Take another run at it.

Perhaps it was the word alchemy that set the environment for me to detect and connect the theme of striving and it reminded me of Goethe’s story, Faust. This tale is based on the medieval alchemist and magician Johann Faust, and in it Goethe concludes that man’s salvation lies in his striving and action. He observes that to err is human and as long as one is doing and striving, salvation is ultimately assured. In this metaphor success or satisfaction might better substitute for salvation.

http://www.new-wisdom.org/cultural_history2/6-romanticism/goethe.htm

Get a Grip

2011-07-26T05:34:00.000-07:00

I heard an investment adviser say, “You can’t have too much money.” I’m not sure, but, I’m betting he didn’t have much trouble finding people willing to test that proposition.

I do know I never seem to have too many clamps. My favorite is the original Irwin Vise-Grip 12” large jaw locking pliers. The long nose style and angled long nose and locking C-clamps are handy too.

I don’t often have a project large enough to get out the heavy duty screw C-clamps, but, when I need them, I need a bunch of them. Individually, large new ones are pretty expensive - in the $50 neighborhood, but at auctions they are often a bargain. I picked up a box of about 20 a year ago for $25 total.

In the early years I sometimes had to go to the store and get another clamp or two for a job. I got a few more when we got to a job site an hour away and found we forgot to pack the clamps. Baring another slip-up like that I may finally have enough now. It would be interesting, but too much work, to gather them all up for a count. They are widely distributed around the shop and ought to be left alone because they got where they are for a reason.

Curious Inventor

2011-07-25T06:07:00.000-07:00

I came across this site and thought it might be useful to other blacksmiths so I’m posting it.

http://store.curiousinventor.com/guides

It seems mostly to be designed for interested in electronics and electronic hardware design. There are several reference guides which are more general.

http://store.curiousinventor.com/guides/Metal_Working/Screws

http://store.curiousinventor.com/guides/drill_speed

http://store.curiousinventor.com/guides/tap_drill

http://store.curiousinventor.com/guides/Drill_Letter_and_Number_Decimal_Cross_Ref

Here is another curious site offering many innovative materials for inventors:

http://www.inventables.com/

Check them out. Nothing ventured - nothing gained.

The Tweakers

2011-07-24T06:12:00.000-07:00

Quite a few years ago, probably 2002, I was at a Rocky Mountains Conference and saw a tool in the silent auction labeled "Tweaker." It was a nicely forged and finished tool which had a blade similar to a slotted screwdriver and a "t" handle. It looked handy and when I returned home I forged several from 1/2" 5160 coil spring stock.

Sometime later I heard Tal Harris use the term "tweak" and question whether he should, for correctness, say "tweakify."

I checked a dictionary to confirm that tweaking refers to fine-tuning or adjusting. Tweaks are any small modifications intended to improve a system. Also think, alter, modify, refine, etc.

For the group image, I laid out the three tools at my primary work station. There are several others throughout the shop. Honestly, I will have to say they are mostly just used to pry something loose rather than adjust. I find them one of the most useful small tools and haven’t damaged a screwdriver blade in a long time.

The coil spring steel has held up well. The tips have been made in several shapes, oval, flat and pointed and the blade thickness varies. Originally I probably made each when doing some specific repetitive project. The tips of some have been dressed a few times.

As I recall, most were made with torch heat. A little ten minute job which seems well worth the effort.

Happy Tweaking or Tweakifying.

Air Mobile

2011-07-22T07:09:00.000-07:00

When I was stationed at Fort Benning back in the Vietnam War days the high five greeting was “Airmobile!” or “Airborne!” The Air Mobile warfare concept was designed around the UH1B "Huey" helicopter, the workhorse of the concept. In those difficult years the 1st Air Cavalry Division the 101st Airborne Division formed the bulk of mobile forces, as I recall. But I digress. That wasn’t the kind of air mobile threat I was originally thinking about.

Blacksmiths, by necessity are exposed to some nasty airborne particulates, coal dust, smoke from burning carbon fuels, dust from abrasive operations, finish and cleaning chemicals, welding fumes, and more. I was pleased to discover, when I started associating with this diverse group of talented people, that they largely avoid adding tobacco smoke to that mix.

Good ventilation is always recommended in the workspace. Ideally, masks and respirators would be as easy to wear as eye, ear, hand and foot protection, but that just isn’t the case. Even with doors open, fans can help. Every time, essentially monthly, I change the furnace filers on the shop heating/cooling unit it is impressive to see what has been trapped.

We are taught that some airborne molecules are more dangerous than others. Lead, and asbestos have been determined to be such threats that they are being removed from our US environment on an ongoing basis and not added anymore. Correct me if that’s wrong. Heating metal hardware parts can liberate zinc and cadmium vapor and heating copper alloys puts another group of potentially dangerous ions into the air.

Another potential concern encountered in gas forge construction is the refractory liner - both fiber blanket and castable materials. High temperature sealers help reduce shedding of particulates.

The health effects of many of these poisons and irritants are largely irreversible so appropriate vigilance is indicated. We’re all going to die of something but there is a lot of distance between our obligatory demise and suicide. Be Careful.

http://www.furnaceindustries.com/Images/msds-kaowool-blanket.pdf

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease - Wikipedia, the free ...

Metal fume fever - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Silicosis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Asbestosis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1st Cavalry Division History - Ft. Benning, Airmobile 1965

Tractor Seat Stools

2011-07-21T05:31:00.000-07:00

While my favorite scrap yard was still in operation I kept my eye open for tractor seats among other things. I could buy them for next to nothing there. If I saw one in an antique store the price was considerably multiplied so I left those for collectors.

I made three shop stools using tractor seats. They are all a similar style with four legs, scroll feet and a heel ring. The heights vary from 21” to 24”. One is used for TIG welding. One is used with the fly press. The third is a wanderer which moves around from place to place often acting like a table.

If I were making another stool just for utility I might use a plow disc for the base. A disc doesn’t present an edge to kick and it wouldn’t snare an extension cord as the scrolls do.

Doing an image search will capture quite a few interesting designs. I saw one with a single welded chain post. It looks cool but must require some considerable faith in the welders’ ability.

Witness Marks

2011-07-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I started a small sculpture project which required seven pairs of elements. The pairs are similar but not identical so I stamped reference numbers to keep the pairs matched. This one example of what I call a witness mark. They may not be readily apparent in the finished piece but theoretically a forensic examination might reveal them.

After a little checking I found this phrase can be used to express quite a range of subjects. The online Double Tongued Dictionary, which describes itself as “a lexicon of fringe English focusing on slang, jargon and new words,” gives this definition:

“witness mark n. generally, an intentional, accidental, or naturally occurring spot, line, groove, or other contrasting area that serves as an indicator of certain facts; in geography and surveying, a blaze, cut, hole, paint splash, or message written on a post, tree, rock or other guide to indicate a boundary, feature, or significant point on land, especially on a witness post; in construction and manufacturing, a line, groove, score, notch, cut, or written indicator made on the surface of material to impart information, such as where to cut or join; in forensic investigation, a surface groove, smear, stain, abrasion or other feature that can serve as evidence.”

I’ve used the term a long time. I think I learned it when I was doing woodworking. I distinguish it from a “process mark” which may be detected on close examination but not intentionally placed - just a surface mark related to the tooling used.

I make witness marks mostly to demonstrate the proper alignment of a tool or jig. I remember watch Tom Clark forge a hardy and fit it to the anvil - it only fit in one orientation so he made a mark on the side which should face the horn. I call these “registration marks.”

I also don’t think of transient marks as witness marks. Silver pencil, paint marker, layout fluid, presto pen and soapstone marks are quite useful but disappear as the work progresses and they are no longer helpful. Interestingly, I don’t know if there is really a proper name for that group but I’m going to call them “layout marks”. Even a center punch mark, which could be a permanent thing, disappears if it serves as a place where a hole was drilled.

Likewise, I think of touchmarks as being in a separate special category as well as the numbers stamped to indicate a pieces’ place in a series.

So, what makes a good witness mark? This is the rhetorical question that keeps me going. Usually, I use a punch. Usually the punch has a sharp round tip. Usually it is a center line mark. I was taught that a sharp square punch mark is easier to see in the fire than a round one but I really can’t say it has made enough difference for me that I make square punches which are more tedious to sharpen.

If I think I will have a hard time seeing the mark in the fire I will use a round punch to make a frog eye, my favorite - see the images, or use a gate fuller or guillotine tool to place shallow fuller marks on opposite sides. Of course, these need to be used in areas where thy will disappear with subsequent forging.

A scribe is nice for precision cold work as are transfer punches. Sometimes a chisel cut works well, sometimes a shallow saw cut. Occasionally I just put bars in the Hossfeld bender and make a slight kink to mark a transition spot. As John Wayne said in "Hondo”, "A man ought'a do what he thinks is best."

So, I think the name of the set is Witness Marks and the members of the set are all those other examples. At least that’s what a splitter would say.

I found this by searching for witness mark but I would call it an illustration of process marks: Cute animation

http://www.kanabco.com/vms/glossary/w/witness_mark.html

Analog Math

2011-07-19T07:14:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I tend to forget that all measurements are approximations or estimations. The variation in value is contributed to by the instrument I use and the characteristics of what I am measuring.

Many times a day I pull out a pocket steel tape and measure something. Usually this is a single and quick comparison as a rigorously accurate value isn’t required. If fit is a consideration, particularly as the economic consequence rises, I am more careful and often follow the “measure twice and cut once” proverb. Even more insurance of accuracy can be achieved by comparing the value I measured with that which a helper measures.

Less often, yet frequently, I use some analog, or non-integer, method of measurement. This is even a cruder approximation or guesstimate but often adequate. For instance I may balance a bar to determine the center of mass. It he bar is of nominal dimension the center of mass will be pretty close to the center of length.

Alternatively I can use a pair of dividers set to guess half the length and scribe off lines starting at both ends and split the difference. This is just like the bisecting a line method we learned in plane geometry. Using a pair of dividers made to mark the golden proportion lengths is another useful analog design device.

When several equal length bars are involved I often find the center point by putting a presto pen mark at the guess point then flipping one bar end to end and splitting the difference between the two marks.

Laying a leather strap on a bar and then folding it in half and marking is another quick way to guesstimate center.

Years ago I acquired some strips of lead about a 16” thick and 3/8” wide a couple of feet long which I use to measure circumference of small objects. Soft wire solder has also been recommended.

I have an antique traveler but it just hangs for display. I suppose if I did a lot of work with circumferences that would be different.

Occasionally if I just need to transfer a length measurement under 3 feet I will use a slide bar quick-clamp as a caliper. It will hold long enough without slipping to make the comparison measurement.

Finding the center of mass, “gravity”, by hanging is a trick I know but don’t recall ever having to use. It is similar to finding the center of a circle with a center finding tool. We use an analog method when locating the center of a rectangle by drawing lines from opposite corners and observing the intersection. But when I check a fabricated rectangle for “square” I use a steel tape or folding metal rule corner to diagonal corner to check the numbers.

I’m pretty sure I’ve skipped a lot of examples of this sort of thing. Outside my blacksmithing realm, digital conquers all - electronic caliper, calculators, etc. I haven’t touched a slide rule in many years.

Integers and fractions have their place. Sometimes I need them, sometimes I don’t. That reminds me of the Mounds and Almond joy candy bar ads of the 1970’s. "Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.”

Hanging to find the center of mass:

http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~scdiroff/lds/NewtonianMechanics/CenterofMass/CenterofMass.html

Terms:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accuracy_and_precision

Doing Things Wrong

2011-07-19T05:51:00.000-07:00

I once heard a person say, "Nothing is ever worthless. It can always be used as a bad example."
So it is with my collection of mistakes and bad ideas. Each specimen is an illustration of how not to do something.

The early learning years produced a few five gallon buckets full of pieces which missed the mark. From time to time I decide to clean up a bit and go through one of those buckets to see what could be reworked, scrapped or preserved as a bad example.

Also, from time to time I look at the old test pieces hanging on the walls and take one down to show or look at for a design idea. If it illustrates an interesting defect I may keep it as another bad example. Sometimes I make another example done more artfully that the old one to show the difference.

A while back a blacksmith friend visited and wanted an idea for a simple demonstration he was scheduled to do. I looked up and saw some old scroll forms and took one down thinking I would just give it to him to use in his show. I noticed it had a kink in the radius near the end of the arc and pointed that out to him. Then I thought how that could be used to illustrate how easily the eye can spot such a defect. It is actually easier to see if the scroll is held up against a plain background and the negative space inspected. The break in the smooth line is easily apparent whether a kink or a flat spot. Now that makes the scroll pulling demonstration more interesting.

There is intellectual knowledge and there is visceral knowledge. The intellectual knowledge can be obtained vicariously without actually learning from experience and sometimes that is best if the activity would be really dangerous. But usually learning from experience sticks best with me.

“Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.” That is according to Vernon Sanders Law. When I was doing the first experiments with my newly completed hydraulic forging press, I decided to try and cut a piece of mild steel on a cutting saddle with a handled hot cut. I failed to appreciate how much more powerful this machine was than my 50 pound power hammer and I didn’t get my foot off the pedal fast enough. The hot cut went through the workpiece and the cutting saddle and snapped off the chisel tip. Wow! I won’t ever try that again. Now that’s visceral knowledge.

Some times it is instructive to intentionally do something wrong as a part of teaching. Working a piece of real wrought iron too cold will easily reveal the fibrous nature of he material. Showing how important it is to get a punched and drifted hole perfectly centered by doing one off-center is a clear illustration. Showing how not getting a bolster sized close enough to the size of the drift will allow metal to suck down the hole is an other example. There are many possibilities and I’ve probably done most of them.

Take another heat.

Black Annealed #9 Wire

2011-07-18T06:04:00.000-07:00

Locally I can only find 16 and 14 gauge black annealed wire. A friend in the Denver area brought me a 100 pound 12 gauge roll. I went to the internet to locate a source for 9 gauge but needed only 10 pounds or even less.

After more difficulty than I imagined I found what I needed at this address:
http://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=NWS001&Product_Code=SPSW910&Category_Code=

The wire was to be used to simulate sigma and stamen elements in some botanical motifs.
Apparently this wire is also used in setting animal control traps. The product advertisement stated that is was used primarily for positioning snare loops. Product Code: SPSW910 Price: $16.95 Shipping Weight: 11.00 pounds

So there is a tip for anyone having difficulty finding this metal stock. While I was roaming about I found that black annealed wire sold for rebar ties is usually 11 to 15 gauge and baling wire is 9 - 14 gauge. The baling wire is available in 1018 and 1008 alloy.

I could find a number of sources for 100 pound rolls of baling wire but I didn’t want that much. Also I could have done what I have usually done - buy #9 galvanized wire, remove the zinc by pickling in hydrochloric acid then anneal in the gas forge. This is doable but it seems like a long run for a short slide.

My Asymmetric Jaw Vise

2011-07-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

About 10 years ago I bought this handy tool from a friend who was a longtime blacksmith and tool collector. He said he had only seen four of the vises with a pivoting rear jaw. I was looking for a heavy vise which I could mount lower than my post vise. It is mounted on a concrete filled barrel at my primary work station. It stands a few inches higher than the Peter Wright anvil and a bit lower than the Trenton-Fisher double screw vise.

Most of the time I use it with the jaws parallel but it does work well for gripping slightly asymmetric things. I really haven’t tried to determine the maximum angle of effective grip.

Of course any parallel jaw vise can be fitted with a jaw insert which will pivot to grip asymmetric items. I made one a long time ago when I was making some soft jaw inserts and inserts with a larger radius edge. I don’t recall ever using it though.

My vise was made by the Reed Manufacturing Company of Erie, PA. Patent dates of 1908, 1912 and 1914 are shown in the casting. The company is still in business making tools including many kinds of vises.

This vise has been most useful because the jaws can open to 8.5” with the slide fully engaged. The rectangular slide surrounds the main screw and not and keeps dirt and debris away from the threads.

I looked up some information about this unusual tool and was pleased to find the author of the article below felt the Reed vises were the best ever made.

Link to an excellent article about vises, their manufactures, restoring vises and more:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62716

More vise discussion (there were 131 pages so far):
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44782&page=109

Link to another swiveling rear jaw vise - scroll down a bit:
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general-archive/vise-squad-pics-lets-see-yours-78814/index23.html

Trenton-Fisher Vise Chain Repair

2011-07-16T06:13:00.000-07:00

Several months ago, actually August 2009, one of the links on my antique Trenton-Fisher vise finally gave way. I took the chain off and inspected the break. It looked like it might be possible to fabricate another link but it might be tedious and time consuming to get it just right so I decided to look for new chain.

At the local farm and ranch supply store I found out that it was called steel detachable chain, also flat steel chain. It is called agricultural chain too in general, but there at least three subtypes. The store didn’t stock the size I needed and suggested I check with John Deere. The most valuable thing I took away was learning the proper name which I was able to use at John Deere.

I drove directly there and they were able to measure the link, look it up in their parts manual and order it for me. The minimum order was 10’ for $38.53 which included shipping and tax. There was the option for buying the chain link by link but time was going to be the biggest expense in the repair and if another link broke and I had to go through all that again it would really be a false economy.

Time flies. The new chain has been in use for almost two years and works fine. I’ve got enough extra chain to fix it again it if I need to do that. So all’s well that ends well.

Here are some references for anyone interested:

Chart showing how to measure a chain link to get the part number:
http://fcmason.thomasnet.com/viewitems/steel-detachable-chain/flat-steel-chain?

Some other chain sources:
http://www.thebigbearingstore.com/servlet/the-Roller-Chain-cln-Detachable-Chain-cln-Attachments/Categories

http://www.balsters.net/agroller_steel_detachablechain.html

http://www.macknair.com/miscellaneousparts.htm

Swarf

2011-07-15T05:47:00.000-07:00

As a kid my contacts with metal working were rather skimpy. I flattened tin cans and nailed them to carts and tree houses and we covered a knothole in a chicken house with a tin can lid securely screwed to keep out mice and snakes.

I cut some steel with a hack saw and did some filing and pounded bent nails straight with a rock or claw hammer. All my work was done cold and it wasn’t much fun. Wood, especially from orange crates, was the preferred material for building something.

It was pretty neat to watch someone with a drill press use a twist drill bit to go through steel cutting out the curly strips and chips. I never dreamed that amusing stuff had an actual specific name - swarf.

From http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/swarf - Definition: material (as metallic particles and abrasive fragments) removed by a cutting or grinding tool. Origin: probably from Middle English swerf, from Old English geswearf, gesweorf; akin to Old English sweorfan to file away. First Known Use: 1565
For more detail see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarf

When I’m cleaning up the swarf today around the drill presses, band saws and cold saw I find a small rare earth magnet on a handle pretty handy. That’s what got me thinking about those childhood experiences with iron.

The brick street in front of our house had concrete curbs. The street sloped to the south where at the end of the next block rain water was captured in a culvert which ran under the Katy Railroad tracks. When we got a good rain sand would wash down and deposit at intervals in little sand bars near the curb. When dry the sand was a good place to mine for some small treasure, perhaps a coin. I found a bullet once. Besides something to dig with the favorite tool was a magnet. It was fascinating to see that quite a bit of the deposit was magnetic. It’s not really surprising though remembering that iron is the fourth most abundant element in the earth’s crust.

I don’t recall that we found anything useful to do with the magnetic “dirt” but sometimes it was associated with little pea-size pieces of soft red stone, similar to red chalk, hematite. Those were great for painting indian war paint stripes on our faces and arms.

It was a long journey from my early iron-age to today. In a small way that story recapitulates a larger history. Iron ore isn’t worth much without heat. Learning how to use heat to manipulate the element is the key to obtaining useful metal and to eventually forming metal products.

My woodworking abilities improved a lot from the orange crate period, but I sure wish I can been drawn into the iron working sooner. Today most of my work is done hot and it’s a lot of fun.

Unconscious Design

2011-07-14T11:40:00.000-07:00

I imagine every designer settles on some method which usually works for them. I have become comfortable with a method which relies a lot on unconscious processes.

While writing this I came across this note which I wrote in 1997.

“I think most of us agree that there is something we call “the back of our mind.” If I can’t figure out how to do something or I can’t remember something I once knew I can rely on coming up with the answer if I pose the question clearly and relax and go confidently on to other things. When the answer has been prepared it will push out into consciousness. It is not a mysterious thing. It is how mind works.

I put a lot of trust in it. When an answer pops up it is pleasing to see how the process is so dependable. You say, “Sure but what you don’t remember is the times that noting ever came back up.” Perhaps. I just figure that those questions were determined to be unproductive and the unconscious trash-canned them for me. Thanks.”

I picked up two commission projects this week which will take some planning. Right away I made notes about the plans and did a little research. I set up folders to collect more material as it came in. Now with that much preliminary work done, I will move back to current work. I anticipate that periodically things will occur to me which will move these new designs along, Somehow that skeleton will flesh out and soon a satisfactory conclusion will appear.

Sometimes jobs come with a lot of instructions and specifications in which case it’s mostly a construction challenge. The opposite type , complete artistic license, job presents more of a design challenge. I usually enjoy both types. In the final analysis it’s just about solving the clients problem.

I’ll come back to the design theme from another angle later in “Making work tell a story.”

Fire in the Hole

2011-07-13T06:01:00.000-07:00

I like to use solid rivets. Emphasizing the joinery sometimes seems to dress up a piece which may otherwise be rather plain. They are a traditional or classical element whose use goes back to the Bronze Age.

Their nearly universal use in blacksmith tongs illustrates their advantage in being easily removable permitting repair and modifications.

If you do an image search for a rivet hammer, handheld type, not the air power hammer type, you will get the typical light cross peen variety. I’ve got a couple and rarely use them for anything especially rivets. A ball peen works best for me, at least in forming a rounded head. A flatter face is better for flush rivets or flat, low profile, ones. Maybe that’s what the rivet hammer is good for. The light weight which favors quick high velocity blows does make sense.

I only recently learned that in store-bought rivets the formed end is called the factory end and the one I form by upsetting, bucking, is called the shop end. That makes sense too. The shop end is also called the buck tail which seems to take a little more imagination to make sense. I suppose the factory end is the head and the shop end is the tail formed by bucking.

When bucking the factory end is supported by a rivet set to keep it steady and to preserve the head radius. I make mine by heating a block of steel and hammering in a carbon steel ball part way or using the press to do that. Various radius impressions can be done in a single block or individually. Incidentally some people seem to call the tool a rivet snap.

For most rivets I cut the shaft so the material available for upsetting is about 1.5 to 2.0 times the shaft diameter.

I usually slightly over-drill the rivet hole or slightly oversize the diameter with a punch or drift.

The out of usual context of this title occurred to me as I was heating a tenon in the process of peening. The punched hole was intentionally slightly larger than the diameter of the tenon so assembly would be easy but a tight fit was the goal. Directing the torch flame down the hole heated the base of the tenon, or rivet, so the following top blows would upset the shank to pretty well fill the hole. The next heats are directed at the tip of the tenon so it will mushroom to cover the hole and capture the bar. This is a small detail but sometimes important.

Another detail to consider with tenons, or rivets, and their corresponding fit holes is to make them both out-of-round, in other words, oval. There is extra rotational stability with this shape. Of, course it requires making an oval drift to prepare the holes. I’ve mostly used this on small items like delicate feet on small trivets.

In the process of making a lot of botanical stems I use a lot of 40d and 60d common nails. I use a cold stock shear to cut off the heads and gripper section. This leaves a lot of flat head rivet material. Common nails are tough and soft - I’m guessing about 1010 carbon steel alloy and work nicely as rivets.

I’m in the process of reworking some old inexpensive tongs which I picked up years ago in flea markets to form some more useful ones. I’ll likely have to make all those larger rivets myself. Fortunately I have some old rivet headers which I also found back in my flea market wandering days.

Nest Fiber Tales

2011-07-10T04:45:00.000-07:00

A local artist told me about another artist who once strung colored yarn abound his yard. During the nesting season the birds helped themselves to the yarn and incorporated it into their nests. At the end of the season the artist collected some nests which had become colorful pieces of art.

When I was a child, Mother would put out short pieces of string for the birds to gather for nests. There was really no shortage of dead vines, twigs and stems. The string just provided another opportunity for us to observe the birds at work. In the winter the nests were easy to find and it was interesting to observe the choices the nest builder had made.

In recent years I have purposely hung fiber material which I have observed the birds, particularly the Carolina wrens and orioles, using. This little wren seems to prefer nesting close to human activity. Every year they nest on the porch of my shop and in, or just outside, the garage. Usually they will pick a natural cavity such as an old shoe, planter, carton, or bucket which has a 3” or greater opening as the starting point then they will gather a prodigious amount of long fibrous plant material to finish the nest mass.

When I tore down some dead and dried out morning glory vines or cut the old pampus grass the birds went after the debris. When we replaced an old cotton hammock I decided to use the residual material for nesting fiber and make hanging dispensers to contain it. I cut the old weather weakened rope to smithereens, actually about 6” lengths, and unraveled parts of the twisted cotton fiber cord and it is the bulk of the fiber I put out in dispensers ever since.

We have a north facing entrance step and walk which becomes ice covered and hazardous in some winters so we got some coir, coconut fiber, ice mats to walk on. One of them got damaged and frayed and the Carolina wrens benefitted. Later I tore up that damaged piece and in the following nesting season three large wads or it were hung and it all disappeared before the autumn.

The dispensers I made were all simple ironwork projects in several styles. I now use the one which is quickest to make. The bowl is formed as a 5/16” textured round rod coil which is then pulled out into a vortex somewhat reminescent of our Kansas twisters. I hang them from a limb with an extended S hook somewhat above head height.

They are an inexpensive little garden novelty and sell well. Yesterday a gallery emailed that a visitor had come in and bought them all so I guess I’ll be making more of those today.

Smart Hand - Dumb Hand

2011-07-08T05:33:00.000-07:00

Some question came up and stimulated me to look up something about screw thread. In the process I recalled a couple of long forgotten things and learned a few new ones.

I recalled that someone once told me that the way the standard right-hand wood screw thread helix was designed assumed the screw driver would be held by a right-handed person and drive when turned clockwise. This was based on the knowledge that supination, clockwise rotation of the forearm, was more powerful than pronation, counter clockwise rotation of the forearm, in extension. Lefties were out of luck.

Probably nearly everyone learned “righty tighty, lefty loosey” at some time - clockwise to tighten, counter clockwise to loosen. Apparently this is also known as the right hand grip rule for screw threads.

The action of supination can be produced by the biceps, supinator and brachioradialis muscles. Wikipedia says the later is known as the “beer drinkers muscle.” Now there is a handy bit of knowledge.

Think about the everyday forging practice where we draw a taper. The teaching instructs us to strike a number of blows, two or three, then rotate 90º and strike the same number and repeat until the shape is achieved. The rotation process and equal application of force keeps the deformation of the metal from going too far in one direction.

Today I had a lot of little pieces, screw hooks, to make which required exactly that process. I paid close attention as I worked and noted that, depending on how i picked up the piece, I may start striking while holding the workpiece in full supination. No matter the starting position, after two blows the piece was rotated 90º to strike the next two blows. So there seemed to be theoretically four possible 90º sequences; full supination to neutral and back, neutral to full supination and back, neutral to full pronation and back and full pronation to neutral and back. Most commonly, however, I was working back and forth between about 45º supination and 45º pronation.

I recalled that someone told me to imagine that in this process the tong hand is the “smart hand” and the hammer hand is the “dumb Hand.” The tong hand is mostly responsible for putting the work piece in the correct position for the hammer to strike while the hammer hand is just bringing the hammer up and down in the same arc.

Well, there is more to it than that but as a teaching device it must have been worth something because I still recall it. I also recall Francis Whitaker saying, “If you can’t hold it, you can’t hit it.” This was a plea for choosing tongs which properly fit the work piece and allow it to be manipulated without slippage.

It takes time and practice to develop the motor skills associated with hammer on anvil forging. Repetition is key in learning hand control in this and many other activities.

There is a big difference between watching and doing. I think most casual watches do not appreciate the blacksmiths finesse with both hammer and tong control. They mostly are just aware of the rhythm of the hammer striking, bam, bam, bam and are unaware of the directional nature of the blows, use of top and bottom radius, changes in force associated with changes in the workpiece metal in a falling heat, etc. There is a lot of physics involved and both hands need to be “smart” but skilled is a better word.

Gorilla Super Glue

2011-07-07T06:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a product I tried and liked. For years I have used the cyanoacrylate based super glues for various little jobs both in the liquid and gel varieties. About a year ago I decided to try a new brand and have stayed with it. For all I know there may be a number of similar products which work just as well but this is just based on my experience.

What I like about its is it’s flexibility and viscosity.
It seems thicker that the liquid superglues I tried and not as thick as the gel. It sets quickly and is tough, probably related to its flexibility. The MSDS says it is ethyl cyanoacrylate. Its behavior is quite different from the Gorilla Glue polyurethane adhesive which I have used. The super glue doesn’t swell with a bubbly foam as it sets.

In the shop, loosening of wooden handles during the dry winter months is a well known problem. Soaking in linseed oil or antifreeze was my practice for years but I have switched to using the Gorilla Super Glue and have about one year of experience with that and plan to stay with the practice until I have a problem with it.

Product detail from http://gorillatough.com/glues/superglue/index.aspx

“You asked for it. Or maybe secretly wished for it. And now it's here. Introducing new Gorilla™ Super Glue, the first super glue that keeps holding strong, even when the bond takes a hit--we call it our Impact-Tough™ Formula. Just hold in place for 30-60 seconds while the formula sets, no clamping necessary. It's what makes Gorilla™ Super Glue, so, well, super....
• IMPACT STRENGTH– unique rubber particles increase impact-resistance and strength to handle everyday use after your repair or creation is set.
• WON'T CLOG – anti-clog tip with metal pin keeps nozzle clean.
• EASY TO USE – thick formula flows better for improved control. Dries in just 30-60 seconds, with no clamping.
• WHATEVER THE SURFACE– use on nearly anything, from wood, metal, ceramics, some plastics, rubber and a whole lot more!”

I think that pretty well says it.

Using Porter Bars

2011-07-06T05:30:00.000-07:00

I’m not sure where I learned this technique or it’s name. I don’t think I made it up but I do hear other people using it and when I tried to look it up on the internet I couldn’t find anything matching my usage of the term.

The dictionary defines a porter as a person hired to carry burdens or baggage, as at a railroad station or a hotel. In this case it is the steel bar that carries a work piece instead of a pair of tongs.

For routine forge work I use tongs but there are occasions when I’m in a “production mode” and need to work a number of awkward pieces. This is when the porter bar favors faster work.

The first ones I recall making were pieces of 3/8” and 1/2” rebar with a hairpin bent into the end for a grip. Later I added a coil of sash cord stuck to the handle with silicone caulk adhesive which is quite heat resistant. My current preference is to use 24” of 5/16” round and bend the handle grip in a jig with torch heat. I weld a 3” label plate of 1/8” x 3/4” flat bar. That is what is shown being cut in hydraulic forging press on my 25 June post.

This label plate gives me a place to write instructions with a presto pen and also prevents inserting fingers through the loop which is dangerous. Sometimes it is several days between the time I prepare porter bars and when they are forged. Also I have many projects going at once so it is easy to forget what I intended to do with some of the stock. Writing specific instructions on the bars avoids confusion.

Some handles eventually get permanently attached to something. In those cases I stamp the name into the label bar so it too is permanent.

This attachment of a porter bar with a MIG weld bead has been a routine practice for several years. Anything which isn’t very easy to grasp with tongs is treated this way. The weld is place at a point which will be forged out or sacrificed or otherwise easily erased. The sash cord handles are used only for heavier work, for multiple heat work and for work which will not be placed in the tumbler with handle attached.

I’ve made quite a few porters over the years in various styles yet I seem to need to make more a couple of times a year. Fortunately with the cold stock shear, the jig and a torch I can make 15 more in about as many minutes.

Web Site Dilemma

2011-07-03T06:59:00.000-07:00

There are many versions of the story of the fisherman who never failed to bring back his limit of fine fish and the sheriff who suspected he was violating the state fishing laws. The sheriff arranges to go fishing with the fellow and the master fisherman agrees to teach him his technique. Out in the boat the fisherman lights a stick of dynamite as the sheriff yells, “That’s against the law!” The fellow hands the sheriff the dynamite and says, “Are you gonna fish or just complain?”

To be clear, I want to state that I’ve never fished that way, which I learned as “using a DuPont spinner.” I thought of the story when I was in a state of frustration about the conflict between trying to keep the web page updated and trying to get client work completed for sale and finding it really impossible to do both well.

I’ve opted to budget my time almost entirely toward doing the blacksmithing production and being tardy with the web page work. This decision was based on the obvious economic reward difference and the fact that I didn’t have the knowledge required to edit the web page myself. However, I was really happy to discover how easy it was to manage the blog edition without outside help. This allows me to give somewhat of a real time feel to the site and not feel so guilty that the gallery is several years out of date.

The web site was set up initially to be the store front for my business and a substitute for an actual brick and mortar facility. Additionally, I felt the internet was the way to go to reach a wider audience of potential clients. In actuality though, most of my commission work is still within the state and the best advertisement is still word of mouth.

While The Blacksmith’s Journal was publishing monthly issues their website featured a Top 50 Blacksmithing sites button. When I got a notification that my web site would be considered I applied and was later listed. It seemed to be a frequently updated list of websites ranked by traffic, presumably reflecting popularity. I don’t think we ever got any business related to being listed but then my page was mostly in the second 50 on the list, page 2.

That all stopped when Jerry Hoffmann ceased publication of the journal. Loss of his publication was a big disappointment for me. I have all the issues and refer to them several times a year. At http://www.blacksmithsjournal.com/links/ I found this message:

“To find the best blacksmithing sites, we recommend visiting the Top 50 Blacksmith Sites at www.blacksmithing.toplisted.net If you have a blacksmithing related website, you can join too.” So, I visited the site and filled out the application and eventually our webpage appeared in their listing. A button was placed at the bottom of my pages which says, “Check out these blacksmithing sites!” and has a rectangular gray button to click. http://blacksmithing.toplisted.net/index_25523.html

Since I have been trying to establish a habit of making frequent posts to the blog I have been checking to see, out of curiosity, where my site ranks. They don’t publish their ranking algorithm and I have no idea what it is. It is interesting to see how much the ranking varies from day to day. Since there is a counter on my own page I don’t learn anything more from their traffic count.

I can’t say I’ve ever gotten any business as a result of being listed here either but the same goes for the phone books too. I have visited most of the other sites which have registered and enjoy doing that. There are many more worthwhile blacksmithing sites which have apparently not yet registered. Maybe those smiths are too busy hitting hot iron to fiddle with more web page work.

Milwaukee Points of Interest

2011-07-02T05:55:00.000-07:00

By coincidence I left for a short vacation the morning after the September 11, 2001 twin towers attack. One of the places we visited was Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum in Milwaukee. Built in 1924 in Italian Renaissance style it displays some of the historic ironwork from the Milwaukee studio of master blacksmith Cyril Colnik. I think the collection was well worth seeing as was the recently constructed Neptune Gate at the garden entrance. http://www.villaterracemuseum.org/collections.html

The next day we visited the Milwaukee School of Engineering, MSOE, where Lauren was working on her engineering degree. She introduced us to a recently donated art collection which was being temporarily stored in the student union. This was the fabulous Grohmann collection. I later was given a copy of the book, Man at Work: 400 Years in Paintings and Bronzes: Labor and the Evolution of Industry in Art, which beautifully describes the art work. The collection now has new museum quarters which I have not yet visited.

From the books rear cover: “This volume presents the Eckhart G. Grohmann Collection at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. The collection consists of more than 400 paintings and bronzes, depicting work and industry. It comprises a time span of 400 years and allows a comprehensive insight into the history of individual labor, trades, industry and technology as interpreted by a large variety of artists in many countries. This volume is directed to those with an interest in the historical evolution of human work.” It is also available on a CD. A significant portion of the art is related to iron production and blacksmithing.

I recommend that artists and blacksmiths put these museums on their “points of interest” list when they are traveling in the area.

http://www.msoe.edu/about_msoe/manatwork/museum.shtml

http://www.amazon.com/Man-Work-Paintings-Evolution-Industry/dp/B000E4KV1U

Five Clout Nails

2011-06-29T05:44:00.000-07:00

One of the projects I usually did at demonstrations was nail making. Even so I’ve probably made only a couple of hundred nails and the intermissions between sessions were lengthly so I’ve never gotten very good at it.

The first time I ever saw hand forged nails was at a Saltfork Craftsmen conference in Guthrie, Oklahoma in 1999. Peter Ross was one of the featured demonstrators. As he introduced himself he worked making five clout nails. It looked very causal, almost effortless, as he tapped out one after another and scooted them off the anvil. After just a few minutes the opening exercise was finished and the nails were picked up and laid out. When I got a look at them the experience was something like seeing a magician finish an act. There were a dozen or more virtually identical and perfect small nails.

What seemed like a small thing was no small thing. It is always a pleasure to watch a master craftsman work. I have had the pleasure to watch Peter several times and always enjoy his skill as well as his expert narrative about the history of our craft in America.

Probably, I should spend more time making nails. It may be one of the best ways to practice controlled hand forging. Each nail is a test of skill and the series can serve as a measure of progress over time.

Here is a site which features building products for restoration of historic buildings in the UK. There are images of traditional nails and more.
http://www.periodpropertyshop.co.uk/acatalog/Floor___Wood_Finishes.html

A Pete Stanaitis article:
http://www.spaco.org/Blacksmithing/Nails/Nailmaking.htm

Another article about how nails are made:
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-2/Nail.html

And three more:
http://www.glasgowsteelnail.com/nailmaking.htm

http://www.anvilfire.com/21centbs/anvils/making/RR-rail_anvils.php

http://www.sedgleymanor.com/trades/nailmakers2.html

Interesting photos of a historic Halesowen, Dudley, UK nail shop:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42006966@N00/2857863875/in/set-72157607298525867

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42006966@N00/2858693810/in/set-72157607298525867

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42006966@N00/2857863337/in/set-72157607298525867

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42006966@N00/2857863337/in/set-72157607298525867

What is a blacksmith?

2011-06-28T05:17:00.000-07:00

Someone once told me the world was divided into two types of thinkers, lumpers and splitters. That was the opinion of a splitter.

Thinking about classification of crafts and trades I always had in my mind that the name of the largest set was “metalworker” and the subsets were “blacksmith”, “machinist”, “Goldsmith”, “Tinsmith”, etc.
Then there were the subsets of blacksmithing such as Farrier, armorer, bladesmith, etc.

I tried out some Wikipedia searches to see how others thought about this and was somewhat surprised to find that the metalworking article had almost nothing to say about blacksmithing and was almost entirely about what I think of as machining. My thinking was refined a bit more when I checked out the bladesmith article and noted the contemporary distinction between bladesmith and knifemaker.

The question, “What is a blacksmith?”, or “What does a blacksmith do?”, and many related forms of the question often comes up at demonstrations. The answer is usually tailored to the imagined sophistication of the enquirer. But, what about the blacksmith? How does he or she think about how they are defined?

For me, the craftsman is defined by the tools and processes of the craft. The blacksmith uses heat metal with fire and shapes it with hammer and anvil and other forming tools.

Given the way our minds work, we often think in terms of bipolar opposition or contrasting pairs, synonyms and antonyms. So what best contrasts with blacksmithing? I think it is machining. That goes along with how I’ve thought about this ever since I heard an instructor say, “Blacksmiths move metal while machinists remove metal.”

As a practical mater, I announce myself as a blacksmith, yet I frequently use the tools and processes of the machinist, so maybe, to be honest, I should just say I’m a metalworker. My approach to work is to get it done “by any means necessary.” I think it’s good practice to give credit to the source of an idea or a phrase but do I have to say I borrowed that one from Malcolm X who borrowed it from Jean Paul Sartre?

Check out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut. Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, grilles, railings, light fixtures, furniture, sculpture, tools, agricultural implements, decorative and religious items, cooking utensils, and weapons.
Despite common usage, the person who shoes horses is a farrier, rather than a blacksmith. Many farriers have carried out both trades, but most modern or engineering smiths do not...............The term "blacksmith" comes from the activity of "smiting" iron or the "Black" metal - So named due to the color of the metal after being heated (a key part of the blacksmithing process)..............Forging is the process in which metal is shaped by hammering. Forging is different from machining in that material is not removed by it; rather the iron is hammered into shape.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machinist
A machinist is a person who uses machine tools to make or modify parts, primarily metal parts, a process known as maching. This is accomplished by using machine tools to cut away excess material much as a woodcarver cuts away excess wood to produce his work

Making Step Sets

2011-06-26T05:42:00.000-07:00

I call them step sets because they illustrate the step-by-step sequence of a project. I’ve also heard them called story bars or story sticks.

It seems akin to how some teachers help children make a somewhat complicated line drawing by breaking it down into a series of smaller elements the child has already mastered. Step sets have a key place in teaching beginners step-by-step planning. I believe the sooner a student learns to forge with precision the better. It is encouraging to see intention become product.

This deconstruct, analyze, form test pieces process is also a powerful tool for defining how a complicated project can be evaluated for bidding.

Forging step sets helps me maintain the discipline of record keeping and for doing work in well defined and precisely ordered sequence. It helps me keep track of the parent stock and each forming operation and it it is often the easiest way to explain to an assistant exactly what needs to be done and what the standard will be. I archive quite a few of these on wall hooks in the studio while others are stored in the project box with the other tools and jigs that go with that job.

Oftentimes I document a job with a series of digital images, especially if it is a one time thing. But, being three dimensional objects, the information captured in a step set surpassed the photograph. In my chess set board pieces the knight is the most complicated piece and a step set has been almost essential in recording the creative process.

Last week I made about twenty blow poker fireplace tools. It is a small functional item which has sold well for me for several years, usually in the fall and winter. Anytime I find myself making a thing again and again I start devising special tools and jigs to speed up that process. To do this with the blow pokers probably added three or four hours to the project this week but will save more than that going forward. Creating a step set for the poker tip was one part of that work. It’s kind of like saying, “The jobs not done until the paperwork is finished.”

Cutting Choices

2011-06-25T04:58:00.000-07:00

I finally came across an image I made of the broken round stock shear I described in May, so there it is - the price of unnecessary quenching of mild steel or failing to keep mild steel rod and tool steel rod segregated.

Most decisions about cutting stock are intuitive and don't take a lot of consideration of alternatives although of all the shop operations it has the greatest number of tools and methods to consider. I set up the entire work environment so I am throughly familiar with the possibilities but when a new helper is working they need some instruction so I prepared these thoughts about cutting strategies. The choices largely depend on stock size and whether we are working cold or hot.

I estimate that I use the small bandsaw most often for cutting. This is largely determined by the most commonly used stock which is flat bar 1/2" thickness or less, round bar under 3/4", square bar 1/2" or less, angle under 2", etc. It is set up at bench height, quiet and can be left unattended while cutting. It has the advantage/disadvantage of a 90º cut surface finish. The large bandsaw is reserved for cutting thick stock or gang cutting multiple pieces.

If the stock is really small I may use the hydraulic forging press with a cold cut die with 1/32" stop. I like the quiet operation and the "V" pinched sever line which is ideal for welding or tapering. The stop prevents complete separation for good control and leaves the thin connecting point which is easily snapped.

Four cold shears are available. The Edward's floor shear is seldom used but the vise mounted round rod shear is used often - frequently with a stop to assure multiple cuts have the same length. It is quiet and good for cold work, leaves a 90º end but can only admit stock up to 3/8" diameter. The throatless shear is used for cutting prototype patterns with curved lines in sheet metal up to 14 gauge. Above 14 gauge I use a torch or plasma cutter. There is also a bench mount straight blade shear which is used infrequently.

The oxyacetylene torch is used several times in a typical day and it would be hard for me to imagine being without it. It is one of those systems where redundancy assures no down time, two torch outfits, multiple industrial gas cylinders, etc.

A Zip disc in an angle grinder is used at least as often as the torch but almost entirely for small pieces in the vise.

I seldom use the chop saw unless the cut is 45º because that is where it is set. I don't like the noise and the abrasive dust.

Likewise, I seldom use the cold saw. Again, the noise and also I reserve it for stock which has at least 1/2" minimum thickness and it seems best suited for large rounds. It is very accurate and cuts cool leaving chips and no dust similar to the bandsaws. Seldom do I have projects which use such material.

When working hot we use the hardie hot cut a lot and use a handled chisel under the treadle hammer a lot. The hydraulic press recently fitted with one of Old World Anvils scissor tools works well. I have another one set up to use with the power hammer.

Since tapering is probably the most frequent operation, I try, as often as possible, to sever stock at an angle to help avoid cold shuts when drawing out. Stealing a phrase from the fabric working industry I call this “cutting on the bias.”

Very Sharp or Very Dull

2011-06-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

This phrase occurs to me from time to time. I heard it used by a demonstrator at a conference. Unfortunately I can’t recall that person who said that blacksmithing tools generally fall into two categories, the very sharp and the very dull. I also recall a blacksmith who emphasized the importance of keeping punches sharp. These phrases usually come back to me when I’m dressing a tool face or making a new tool or perhaps relieving the edges on a die.

It is pretty obvious that cutting becomes fullering at some ambiguously fine line. Hammers, too, are essentially fullers until the face radius is zero in which case they become flatters.

Neither dull cutting edges or sharp fullering edges are very useful. What ever the working surface radius it seems to work best when highly polished. That is where the progressive smoothing from coarse wheel grinding to belt sanding to silicon carbide wheel preliminary polishing to hard felt wheel and buffing compound finish polishing is important. The highly polished surface seems desirable no matter whether it’s a face tool or and edge tool.

The forging atmosphere is a corrosive one. I can easily see that the rust forms on steel surfaces fastest in the forge room. Every spring die which was once polished is today rusty because it has been affected by the humidity and the chemicals in the coal smoke. It’s just not practical to keep all the tool faces mirror bright so it’s always a matter of thinking through the work process and deciding what is “good enough.”

Hardy Hole Hammer Holder

2011-06-23T05:47:00.000-07:00

This idea provided a nice example of alliteration and a handy work habit. In the basics phase I learned, as part of the “do your thinking in the fire”, to lay the hammer on the anvil in the position where it would be picked up when the hot work piece came out of the fire. Good advice for efficiency but there are numerous opportunities to knock a reclining hammer off the anvil face onto the floor which contribute to inefficiency.

Several years ago, after picking up a hammer one too many times I used a bench grinder to shape the handle end to a diamond which would fit in the hardy hole. “There now, stay put.” I liked the way that worked and subsequently modified my most frequently used hammer handles in a similar manner. Initially I had some concern that the changed shape would have some downside, but I haven’t identified one.

It still seems like good advice to lay the hammer in the position where it will be picked up in the next cycle but when it is put to rest I stick it in the hardy hole where it will stand at parade rest.

Machines on Lights

2011-06-21T05:37:00.000-07:00

Usually I expect to hear the phrase "the light on the machine" referring to the common practice of building a machine such as a drill press with a work light. Some machines don't have such lights so I turned the phrase around and built my workstations with the machines on lights. Actually this just applies to my belt sanders and grinders.

I wanted each work area to have plenty of light for reasons of safety and to favor doing good work. Plugging the machine and the associated work light into a shared heavy duty power strip assures that to power up the machine the power strip switch must be closed first and this action turns on the work light. After that the machine switch can be activated. It takes a little attention to shut down in the reverse order. If shut down is done only at the power strip the the next use will simultaneously start the light and the machine. I get it right most of the time and it helps me avoid working in the dark.

Not a Tool Collector

2011-06-20T05:19:00.000-07:00

When I was doing woodworking I collected a few tools which had more of a historic interest than a modern usefulness. In the days when they could be found in a flea market or antique shop for a modest price searching for them was fun.

By the time I became interested in blacksmithing the price of tools was going up a lot and the supply was getting picked over too. Now it has probably been over ten years since I was in an antique store.

About that same time I explored eBay and bought a few items. Within a year I had acquired all the tools I couldn't build myself and lost interest in following the auctions. Everything I bough I intended to use with one exception. In 1999 I bought a handled set tool for beading-grooving which Francis Whitaker had touchmarked. It came with a letter from Bill Gichner who owned and operated Iron Age Antiques. As I recall the head was made in 1944, the number is stamped on the head, and was later modified by Francis for a specific project.

These thoughts about tool collecting occurred to me recently as I was using a pair of scroll pliers made by M. Smyth Boone and bear the M.BOONE touchmark. See - http://www.booneshooks.com/boone.html

Mike sold them to me when I was at a conference in Carbondale. They had a wonderful feel and he assured me the tool steel was tempered perfectly. They are gracefully made and a real pleasure to use. Today they are still one of my favorite tools.

As I pondered the significance of the touchmarks I decided the significance is in the eye of the beholder. The makers placed their mark to identify and proudly claim it as their work. From my perspective I wouldn't have purchased the beading tool if it did not have the touchmark as I had no real use for it. On the other hand, I would have purchased the pliers even if there were no touchmark because of their masterful construction and utility. Still, it is nice to notice the touchmark from time to time and recall the times I've watched Smyth demonstrate and our conversations.

Dreams of a Shop

2011-06-19T04:39:00.000-07:00

Both my grandfathers had workshops. My paternal grandfather, Gus, called his a doghouse. He built it after he retired from the railroad. It was a low ceiling shack extending from the back of the garage to the alley. There was a row of windows along the west which could swing out and be propped up to provide some ventilation. A few bare bulbs hung overhead. There was a long work bench and lots of drawers filled will countless tools and hardware accumulated from various auction sales.

It was mainly a place to refinish furniture and do mechanical repair. It smelled like turpentine and varnish and oil. It was a wonderful space and I dreamed of having something like that for myself some day.

Granddad's health wasn't the best but he got a lot done at his pace. A heart condition was the governor of his speed. I was, on the other hand, always wanting to speed up because it was all fun to me. He would caution me to, "Just slow down. This ain't a rat killin'." I never spent enough hours in the doghouse and, with his protective oversight, never got to operate the dangerous equipment.

Eventually the property passed to other owners and the doghouse was removed but I look when I drive by I look and almost expect to see it there. It lives on in my mental registry of historic places.

In my retirement I built my own workspace and spend as many hours there as I can. I suppose I always knew I would.

Documenting Work

2011-06-17T05:17:00.000-07:00

As I work through a project I assume (1) I'll do this again someday and want to remember how I did it and (2) I won't remember how I did it. Therefor I try to document my work as I go through the day.

I take an old brief case to the shop. It contains an old digital camera, correction pens, ink pens, 1/4” ruled graph drawing pads, some files of currrent projects, the things I use to document work on projects.

The camera is dedicated to the studio. It's taken a lot of abuse and has some annoying faults related to the abuse but If I had a good one there it would soon suffer the same fate. The images are usually good enough to record a series of steps more exactly than my writing would and it is faster to accomplish. I'd guess I usually snap a half dozen photos a day.

I’ve never found it a problem to pitch extra notes but it is a problem to try to remember what stock I used on a project two years ago when the customer wants another one just like it made. I try to be seriously methodical in writing notes, clearly noting the stock, measurements, tools, dies and mandrels used in the forming process and the finishing. I record the approximate time required in each step. This is essential for pricing.
When I am satisfied with a design and plan to make it again, the dedicated project box is one of the easiest ways to document that work. For instance, I recently made about thirty Conestoga wagon wing nuts for a project. I pulled out the pressboard cover file made a few years ago and went to the cargo trailer to get the plastic box which contains some blanks, the step set and most of the required tools. The finished hardware pieces must look self similar and this method takes all the guess work out of process.

When any work is completed I reflect on the experience and identify how it might be made to look better, or how I could create it more efficiently and record those thoughts too. I then print up a report and hang up any useful test pieces in the studio. Those are my “sketches in iron” or the library of visible solutions.

Kerf Bending

2011-06-16T05:08:00.000-07:00

I was working on a plant hanger design and decided to make a template to form the arc of the swing arms. I have a large collection of radius firms of differing dimension but I like to keep the tooling associated with a project dedicated so I made a new form on a 7" radius jig.

I selected 1" square tube in 14 gauge since I have a large stock of this material. When I was building the studio I bought a bundle to get a good price and still have some left. I marked every inch with a presto pen dot to make about 14 segments. With the bandsaw I cut each mark down to the back wall then clamped the tube to the radius form so it conformed well. I tack welded the base of each kerf on the top and bottom sides making sure the tube stayed flat. Finally I welded the angle cross brace from end to end. One arm of the angle fits in the vise to hold the jig when in use.

I wouldn't say this is any better or more accurate than making a similar jig from solid bar in the forge and bending to the form but it is lighter, cheaper and can be done cold.

For many years before I took up blacksmithing I did woodworking as a hobby so I was familiar with kerf bending with a tablesaw. For anyone who wants to know more here is one link - http://stusshed.wordpress.com/2007/07/17/kerfing-bending-wood-on-the-tablesaw/

Bill Fiorini

2011-06-15T04:49:00.000-07:00

My wife checks all the e-mail and reads the newspaper and clips what is important for me to see. Today, sadly, she gave me an e-mail from ABANA saying Bill Fiorini Passed Away on 4 Jun 2011.

I only met him once at the Rocky Mountain Smiths conference in 1999. I didn't have much experience at the time and wasn't really interested in blades or pattern welding but I found his presentation compelling and I watched it all and a lot of what I still know about those things came from his demonstrations. In my estimation, he was a masterful craftsman, artist and teacher and the craft will miss him.

There are some photos of Bill demonstrating at the Houston Area Blacksmith's Association in 2003 at -
http://www.habairon.org/Hammerfest/bfphotos/index.html

Another link at American Bladesmith Society -
http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/index.php?/topic/297-passing-of-master-smith-bill-fiorini/

Tumbler Details

2011-06-15T04:44:00.000-07:00

I did a brief cost analysis after using the tumbler a while and concluded that it had easily paid for itself in the first year. This was based on the fact that I had probably saved 250 hours of labor and saved over $300 in abrasives such as flap discs and knotted cup brushes.

The timer is an Intermatic FF30MC 30-Minute, Spring Wound Wall Switch type, with Brushed Metal finish. My usual run time is around 20 minutes.

I made a latching tool to assist opening and closing the doors. I feel it is desirable to require this force so opening and closing is a very intentional operation and never an accidental one. I started with a straight piece of pipe and in several steps modified it to it's current shape. The socket end fits over both the handle and spring lever of the draw latch and the slot end fits over the wall of the door. The lazy S shape seems to give the best leverage.

Tumbler Plans Introduction

2011-06-14T05:50:00.000-07:00

I built my tumbler after considerable research and planning and I use it every day and I am quite happy with it's operation. Like most other machines it's construction process and it's operation is inherently dangerous and requires considerable skill to mitigate risk. This information is made available as an explanation of "how I did it" and is not intended to be a recommendation to others. It is offered without charge but if anyone finds such information useful and wants to send me a few bucks to keep me encouraged about making this sort of post - Super!

Back in September 2010 I published an article on using the tumbler. Now I will post illustrations of how it is constructed. My current machine was my design based on three previous experimental machines but I paid another local company to build it. If I ever need another version I plan to build it myself. I like the feeling of confidence I have when I have done all the construction and fully understand the piece and have no hesitation about makings modifications if needed. Coincidentally the welder who constructed the machine later came and did work for me so he got to see his creation in operation.

I’m just starting the sixth year of using my tumbler. So I think I understand its’ capabilities and limitations pretty well now so I felt it was time to share my experience.

When the tumbler was delivered to my studio the chain hoist moved it from the truck to a concrete pad outside the garage door space. It only took a few runs to conclude that noise was going to be a problem and an indoor location was necessary.

After further use I made a few modifications. First I added base plates on the legs so they could be anchored to the concrete floor with screws. Next I added the square lugs on the non-motor end plate and made a wrench to aid turning the tumbler so the doors are rotated to the top for opening. A swing arm post was added with an electric hoist for lifting a secondary tumbler which was used for tumbling smaller delicate items with smaller aggregate. The original motor mount eventually broke and was replaced with a more sturdy one. I glued on some foam insulation to see if it would suppress noise and found it was essentially ineffective. Finally the catch pan and tarp cover was added to help contain scale, dust and other debris.

Design features:
The Frame: Heavy duty is self evident.

The Motor and Mount: As sturdy as possible. The powerful motor, chain drive and heavy load creates tremendous start up forces which broke the original mount.

The Cylindrical Drum & Axels: Sized for the majority of the type work I do. It might be nice to have a 10' length so all nominal stock could be tumbled to remove mill scale and burrs before storage but that would add a lot of cost and greatly enlarge the space required.

If I built another one the reinforcing ribs would be placed on the outside of the cylinder and I would have a center hole milled in the non-motor end axel to accommodate a vacuum fitting.

The Doors: I think they need to be a pair as the weight and leverage of a single large door tends to rotate the cylinder and dump the contents. The heavy duty draw latches have worked well.

The long continuous hinges became very stiff as the cylinder, ever so slightly, ballooned with use. I cut the pintle rod in two places on both hinges and got some release. I decided to accept that stiffness which requires me to use a slotted cheater pipe tool to pry the doors open and shut, but has the advantage that they won't fall and perhaps catch a finger and they will remain in the position I select.

The Swing Arm Hoist: Originally built to assist some heavy lifting, the electric hoist has been moved to the overhead frame on the acorn table and the swing arm is not currently used.

The Clamshell Dust Container: This helps contain dust and debris in the bottom catch pan and floor area in the foot print area of the tarp. A vacuum system hooked to to the timer might be nice.

The Aggregate: Steel is the only thing which has worked for me. I keep about 100 pounds of punch drops, carbon steel balls, and miscellaneous short drops aboard all the time.

Noise Suppression: Probably not practical.

Next - more of the details.

I Keep the Aloe Handy

2011-06-13T06:14:00.000-07:00

May 15th is the last frost date for us unless the year is a record setter. The aloe vera plants can go out to stay for the rest of the spring and all of the summer. I’ll position them just outside the studio doors where they will be handy for use in the event I get a small burn wound. The rest of the year I place them indoors all around the studio in pot hangers on the window grille frames where they get enough natural light.

The plants are nearly care free to grow. Probably the most important caution is to water infrequently. They tolerate dryness well but not wet soil. The plants propagate by putting out offsets around the perimeter until they eventually overcrowd the container and benefit from dividing.

Their efficacy in treating burns seems a matter of debate but I am a believer based on years of experience. I have often repeated the phrase, "You don't get burned on red hot iron - you get burned on black hot iron." On a falling heat black can still be 1000º F. In an inattentive moment I occasionally brush against such a piece and get a small second degree burn. An aloe plant is seldom more that a few feet from where I am working so I can tear off a sprig and squeeze the juice on the wound and the pain ceases almost immediately. If Ice were as available I'd use that too.

Perhaps it's only my optimistic imagination, but I believe this treatment prevents the wound from getting as bad as it otherwise would and it heals faster. I've never gotten a burn bad enough to interfere with working but I've had one on my right forearm which was a nuisance for a couple of weeks. Once burned, twice shy.

The Last Old Time Demo

2011-06-12T06:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Ken and I set up my collection of blacksmithing tools which represent the late 1800's and did a short three hour demo to augment the activities of the Symphony in the Flint Hills event.
See http://www.symphonyintheflinthills.org/

The location was on the grounds of the historic Richard Howe house, a two story Welsh farmstead completed by the stonemason owner in 1867. It is constructed with eighteen-inch thick limestone walls. The interior has a parlor fireplace, black walnut woodwork, native oak floors and some original furniture, china and clothing.

This early settlement house has been preserved in its near original condition by three generations of the Howe family who occupied the home for 140 years. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The 15 acre property was willed to the Lyon County Historical Society in 1995 by Sarah Howe, the granddaughter of Richard Howe. The homestead also includes a well, low stone walls, and a barn, which contains a collection of antique farm tools and masonry equipment. The house is open for tours by appointment.

A couple of links:
http://www.prairiepathways.com/Howe_House/
http://kansasflinthills.travel/sites/richard_howe_1860s_welsh_farmstead

We set up, as usual, under the shade of a large tree covered with virginia creeper near the barn. In the time allowed we never seem to get much completed even though we bring all the pieces and tools needed for a couple of period items. Yesterday it was a hearth kettle tilter and sawtooth trammel. We displayed some cooking utensils, fat lamp and dinner bell set made on other occasions.

Our demonstration was the fifth one we have done at this site and ends a ten-year string of similar shows. I have decided to decline future invitations although I will continue to demonstrate in the studio.
It has been mostly enjoyable, working outdoors, visiting with the spectators about the history and techniques of the craft and showing the basic processes. There have some unpleasant days of drenching rain, oppressive heat, or pesky wind, but the real limiting factor is the difficulty of loading, transporting to the site, unloading and setup, loading again and transporting home and finally unloading again. All this takes a lot of heavy lifting and the better part of three days.
These are unpaid, public service events. They have become very tiring as advancing age erodes physical power and they have never garnered much profitable business. More than anything, I think, they have preserved some interest in the craft and I can always identify with the person who comes up and remarks that the smell of the coal fire is a pleasant reminder of such and such from their childhood. Nostalgia is a sweet treat.

Foot Rest Assembly

2011-06-11T03:49:00.001-07:00

I find a foot rest separate from the pedals to be useful. This can be designed a number of ways to suit the user.

1. Top Segment:
Cut 2” of 2” square tube.

2. Remove one wall of the tube to form a “U”.

3. Drill a 9/16” hole in one side and weld a 1/2” hex bolt over it to accommodate the locking bolt.

4. Cut 10.5” of 1/4” x 2” Flat Bar to make the Foot Rest Side Plates (FR2), (2).

5. Mark 6” from the ends and heat along this line and bend 90º to form the “L”.

6. Weld the L’s to each side of the Top Segment.

7. Cut 3” if 1/4” x 2” flat bar for the gusset stock.

8. Cut the gusset stock on the diagonal to make two gussets.

9. Weld each Gusset (FR3) to reinforce the right angle Foot Plate bend.

10. Insert the Locking hex bolt to complete the assembly.

Cutting/Purchase List:

FR1. Foot Rest Top (1), 2” of 2” Square Tube.

FR2. Foot Rest Side Plate (2), 10.5” of 1/4” x 2” Flat Bar.

FR3. Foot Rest Gusset (2), 3” if 1/4” x 2” flat bar.

FR4. Locking Bolt/Nut, 1/2” x 1.5”.

Seat Bracket Assembly

2011-06-11T03:41:00.000-07:00

Assemble the Seat Mount:

The mount can be constructed a number of ways as long as accommodation is made for vertical and horizontal adjustment with sufficient strength.

1. Drill the appropriate bolt holes in the Seat Bracket Plate.
2. Drill the hole for the locking bolt in the Seat Bracket Sleeve.
3. Weld the hex nut for the locking bolt over the hole in the Seat Bracket Sleeve.
4. Weld the Seat Bracket Sleeve to the Seat Bracket Plate.
5. Bolt the Seat Bracket Plate to the bottom of the Padded Seat.

Assemble the Seat “L” Bracket:

1. Weld the SB4a Horizontal Leg, Square Tube to the SB4b Vertical Leg, Square Tube at a 90º angle.

Assemble the Seat Stand-off Bracket:
1. Drill the hole for the locking bolt in the SB5a Vertical Sleeve
2. Weld the nut for the locking bolt over the hole and insert the bolt.
3. Weld the SB5b Horizontal Leg, Square Tube to the SB5c Vertical Leg, Square Tube at a 90º angle.
4. Weld the Vertical sleeve with locking nut to the horizontal segment at a 90º angle.

Seat/Anvil Mounting Sleeve:

1. Weld the Seat/Anvil Sleeve with locking bolt to the Anvil Post.

Cutting/Purchase List:

PS1. Padded Seat, 17” width x 16” depth x 10” height, Purchased.

SB2. Seat Bracket Plate, 1/4” x 6” x 6”, four holes
SB2a. Seat Bracket Hex Bolts (4), 5/16” x 1” with lock washers.

SB3. Seat Bracket Sleeve, 3” of 2” square Tube, (Drill Locking Bolt 9/16” Hole).
SB3a Locking Hex Bolt/Nut, 1/2” x 1.5”.

SB4. Seat “L” Bracket
SB4a Horizontal bar, 12” of 1.5” Square Tube.
SB4b Vertical Post, 12” of 1.5” Square Tube

SB5. Seat Standoff Bracket
SSBS Seat Post Sleeve, 6” of 2” Square Tube.
Locking Bolt/Nut, 1/2” x 1.5”.
SSBa Seat Standoff Horizontal Bar, 5” of 1.5” Square Tube.
SB5c Seat Standoff Vertical Post, 10” of 1.5” Square Tube.

Hammer Assembly

2011-06-10T04:28:00.000-07:00

1. Drill the 5/16” hole near the top of the hammer tube on the back side for the safety chain.

2. the Hammer Tube (H1) to the Hammer Face Plate (H2). The tube is centered on the platte and positioned with it front sets one inch back from the front edge of the plate. This must be a continuous weld bead that is “water tight” so molten lead will not leak when it is poured.

Consider using 3" square solid or fabricating a solid steel hammer head as an alternative.

3. Drill the 3/4” holes in the Swing Arm Mounting Plates (H3) for the Swing Arm Bolts (H5) in proper position (3.5” above top of hammer tube and 3.5” above the bottom of hammer tube.

4. Weld the Swing Arm Mounting Plates (H3) to the Hammer Tube (H1).

5. Place the assembled unit on a scale and add lead pieces until the scale registers 25 pounds. Melt the lead and pour into the hammer tube. (H8) (CAUTION! Observe appropriate safety precautions.)

6. Cut open one link of the Safety Chain (H7) and slip it throught the hole (step 1 above) and weld it closed.

7. Attach the Hammer to the Swing arm with the Swing Arm/Hammer Bolts (H5 & H6).

8. Adjust the turnbuckle to

Cut/Purchase List:

H1 Hammer Tube (1), 10” of 3” Square Tube (.1875 wall).

H2 Hammer Face Plate (1) - 6” of 1” x 4” mild steel Flat Bar.

H3 Swing Arm Mounting Plates, (2), 10” of 1/4” x 4” Flat Bar.

H4 Lead Mass Fill (1) sufficient to bring the total hammer head weight to 25 pounds.

H5 Swing Arm/Hammer Mount Hex Bolts, (4), 3/4” x 6” Grade 8.

H6 Swing Arm/Hammer Mount Hex Nuts, (4), 3/4” Nylox.

H7 Safety Chain (1), 14” of 1/4” Proof Coil Grade 30 Chain, Purchased.

Lug Bracket Assembly

2011-06-10T04:24:00.000-07:00

1. Cut 6” of 1/4” x 4” Falt Bar to make the Upper (ULBP) and Lower (LLBP) Lug Bracket Plates (2).

2. Gang Drill the Four 5/16” corner Holes in the Plates. Make sure the holes are wider than the swing arm bar.

3. Cut 4” of 1/2” x 2” Flat Bar to make the Lower Lug Bracket Tang (LLBT).

4. Chamfer the Lower corners of the tang (LLBT).

5. Drill the 3/4” axle hole in the lower end of the tang (LLBT).

6. Weld the Tang (LLBT) to the lower plate.

7. Assemble over the Lower Swing Arm Bar in the proper position. When the center of the Upper Yoke Axle Bolt is 5” from the back edge of the Hammer Swing Arm Mounting Plates. Also check to see the Hammer-Anvil Gap is about 10”.

Cut List:

ULBP. Upper Lug Bracket Plate, 1/4” x 4” x 6” Falt Bar.

LLBP. Lower Lug Bracket Plate, 1/4” x 4” x 6” Falt Bar.

LLBT. Lower Lug Bracket Tang, 1/2” x 2” x 4” Flat Bar.

LBHB Lug Bracket Hex Bolts, 5/16” x 1.5”, (4).

LBHN. Lug Bracket Nylox Hex Nuts, 5/16”, (4).

Swing Arm Assembly

2011-06-09T04:59:00.000-07:00

1. Cut the Upper (UL)and Lower (LL) Swing Arms (2) 1/4” x 2” x 18.5” 1095 Flat Spring Steel

2. Cut the Pipe Bearings (4) 2.75” of 3/4” 3/4” SC40 Standard Black Pipe

3. Drill a 3/16” oil hole in the center of each Bearing.

4. Weld a bearing with oil hole up at each end of the flat steel springs.

5. It i.d. of the pipe bearing is .84” and the diameter of the Grade 8 Bolt Axle is .75” so a Copper sheet bushing can be consider to snug the fit.

6. The Mounting bracket gaps are 3” so the 2.75” bearing width allows insertion of the 1/8” thick nylon washers.

Cut List:

USA. Upper Swing Arm:
UL. Upper Leaf, 1/4” x 2” x 18.5” Flat Spring Steel
ULFB. Front Bearing, 2.75” of 3/4” SC40 Standard Black Pipe, o.d. 1.050”, i.d. .8424”, wall .133”
ULBB. Back Bearing 2.75” of 3/4” 3/4” SC40 Standard Black Pipe

LSA. Lower Swing Arm:
LL. Lower Leaf, 1/4” x 2” x 18.5” Flat Spring Steel
LLFB. Front Bearing 2.75” of 3/4” 3/4” SC40 Standard Black Pipe
LLBB. Back Bearing 2.75” of 3/4” 3/4” SC40 Standard Black Pipe

SANW. Nylon Washers
Copper sheet bushing is optional.

Spring System Assembly

2011-06-09T04:53:00.000-07:00

SS1 Place a hitch pin in one end hole and slide Spring Pipe Axle SS1 into one of the Spring Axle Bearings BF8.

Slip the Lower Extension Springs onto the ale and feed the free end into the other BF8 bearing and retain with the second hit pin.

Hook the top loops of the lower extension springs to the “J” hooks on the Bottom Spring Mount Bar F3.

Hook the Upper Extension Spring to the Spring Mount Bracket SS5 on the tower then stretch it to attach to the “J” hook on the Spring Mount Post F2.

Cut List:

SS2 Hook Bolt, Round End, 5/16” x 4”, (3) (Purchased)

SS3 Extension Springs (3) 1.5” x 11.5” x 0.135” (Purchased)

SS4 Humpback (Hairpin Hitch pin) Retaining pins (2), .156 wire, 3/4”

SS5 Spring Hook Bracket:

Cut 16” of 1/4” x 1.25” for the Spring Hook Bracket (SS5). Drill a 5/16” hole for the 4” Round End Hook Bolt (SS2). Bend to form the “J” shape. The length allows bending for tension adjustment as desired.

Drill 3/16” through-and-through holes 2” from each end of the pipe to accommodate the hunchback hitch pins (SS4) inside the frame.

Anvil & Post Assembly

2011-06-08T04:36:00.000-07:00

Anvil:

1. Cut 5” of 1” x 5” flat bar to make the Anvil Face (A1a).
2. Cut 2” of 3.5” solid round (tube would work too) to make the Anvil Tang A1b).
3. Center the tang on the bottom of the anvil face and weld it in place.
4. Cut three pieces of 3/4” x 1” flat bar 1” in length to make the Tang Spacers for a snug fit.
5. Mark the 0º, 120º and 240º positions on the perimeter of the tang near the bottom and weld a spacer at each of these positions.

Anvil Post:

1. Cut Anvil Post (AP1) - 37” of 4.5” Schedule 40 pipe or tube..

2. Drift Window - This feature prevents anything from falling to the bottom inside the post. I previously made an special anvil to facilitate drifting. Being right handed I wanted the drift to exit to the right where it would be easy to pick up.

Use the parabolic template to mark the hemi-elipse line in the proper position. In my case it is on the right side. Torch cut the line to create a flange to fold inside the post. Torch heat the base line of the flange and hammer it inward to close off the lower part of the tube and create the window (AP1a). Weld the perimeter as desired or close the gaps with epoxy or a sealant such as silicone caulk.

3. Weld the base of the anvil post to the base plate in proper position and perfectly vertically.

4. Cut the four post braces.

5. Weld the four Anvil Post Braces (AP2) in proper position to further stabilize the post.

6. Cut the Seat Bracket Sleeve.

7. Drill the hole for the locking hex bolt and weld the hex not over the hole. Insert the hex bolt.

8. Weld the Seat Bracket Sleeve (AP3) to the anvil post in the proper position.

9. Cut the Front Flywheel Stop, AP4. 1” x “ square tube.

10. Weld the stop in the proper position.

Anvil-Post Cut List

AP1. Anvil Post (1), 37” of 4.5” i.d. SC40 Standard Black Welded Pipe.
AP1. a Drift Window, torch cut and fold

AP2. Anvil Foot-Post Braces (2), 1” x 1.5 x 12”, square tube.

AP3. Seat Bracket Sleeve, (1), 5 “ of 2” Square tube.
AP3a. Locking Bolt/Nut, 1/2”-13 x 1.5”.

AP4. Front Flywheel Stop, (1), 5.5” x 1.5” square tube.

AP5. Anvil Back Post Brace, 16” of 1.5” Square Tube.

AP7. Anvil Foot Spacers, 1.5” square tube (2)

AP8. Anvil Foot, 3/8” x 3” x 14” (2)

A1. Anvil
A1a. Anvil Face (1), 1” x 5” x 5” flat bar
A1b. Anvil Tang (1), 3.5” x 2” solid round
A1c. Tang Spacers (3), 3/4” x 1” x 1” flat bar