No Pipe!

Before I developed an interest in blacksmithing I frequently drove past a fabrication shop and occasionally noticed the sign which said “No pipe!”  In those days I didn’t understand the significance of the message.  Today I can imagine the conversations which prompted the posting.

When I started putting together my shop I made frequent trips to a local scrapyard where I was allowed to wander about and pick out pieces of metal.  Looking back, that was a lucky opportunity no longer available nearby.  I was able to stock my shop with most of what I would use for several years in round stock, sheet and plate, angle, channel and tool steel.  

I also brought home quite a bit of pipe in diameters up to about 3”.  Sometime later I learned the distinction between pipe and structural tube.  In the subsequent years the pipe has been used in shop building projects or otherwise has been disposed of.  It was really round tubing I needed not pipe.  I wrote about this once before.

http://persimmonforge.blogspot.com/2011/08/pipe-or-tube.html

The round tube is available in exact outside diameters in 1/8” increments from 3/8” through 2.5”.  That covers almost everything I use.  I recently came across the chart of round tubing sizes at this site

http://www.tottentubes.com/tubing-pipe-products/hss-round-tubing

I was surprised to see two sizes I hadn’t noticed before - 1-2/3” and 1-9/10”.  I know there must be a good reason for offering those dimensions but I have no idea what it is.  There is always more to learn.

Workmanship of Risk

As I recall it was at the Saltfork Craftsmen conference in 1999 when I heard Peter Ross suggest reading David Pye’s books on craftsmanship and design.  I took his advice and read them  both.

Recently I started thinking about those subjects again and decided to take another look at the books.

Pye was a skilled wood artist. He suggested that craftsmanship might mean “using any kind of technique or apparatus, in which the quality of the result is not predetermined, but depends on the judgement, dexterity and care which the maker exercises as he works.  The essential idea is that the quality of the result is continually at risk during the process of making;”

He designated the process of craftsmanship “the workmanship of risk.”  The contrasting idea is “workmanship of certainty.”  Quality machine manufacturing certainly has it’s place.  The wide availability of inexpensive standard machine screws and other hardware is an obvious example.  Hand-crafted can’t compete in that venue.

Pye goes on to discuss quality of workmanship and how finished work can vary from idealized designs and to discuss craftwork in terms of being free or regulated.  In all of this there is a lot of middle ground and the ends of the spectrum are essentially theoretical.

In my forging and other metalworking projects I am responsible for both the design and the forming - the craftsmanship.  I like working that way.  As I work through a project from design to finish work I think about the visual impression I’m targeting.  Every project involves modifying some parent metal stock using various tools.  It is often my intent to arrive at a finished piece in which it is not easy to determine what the parent stock was and what tools and techniques were used.  Some element of mystery seems to increase interest.

I was recently engaged in a conversation with some members of an art-craft co-op gallery regarding what types of work could be displayed.  I think one firm criteria was that skilled hand work would be obvious in the finished piece.  I think Pye would agree with that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Pye_(furniture)

http://www.amazon.com/The-Nature-Art-Workmanship-David/dp/0713689315

http://www.amazon.com/The-Nature-Aesthetics-Design-David/dp/0713652861/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y/192-5497689-0151811

A Palm Tree Sculpture

This has been a really busy summer.  I have had little time to think about writing.  When I haven’t been in the studio working on sculpture construction I have been working on design for other projects.  I just finished a couple of projects and felt I should get some notes written about them before the details slipped away.

I finished a coconut palm tree sculpture which was to fit in a space about seven feet tall and thirty inches wide.  The client sent me several images of the space in their gulf coast residence.  Living in Kansas, I don’t encounter coconut palms on any regular basis, so I had to do some research to see how I might interpret that botanical motif.

Since this was to be mounted on a wall and could not really project out into the room and obstruct traffic, I needed to work out a rather flat presentation.  Also, I decided, early on, that it would involve hollow forming to reduce weight.  I decided to make the trunk a half-round form so the back would be flat on the wall with a keyhole slot for hanging on a lag screw.   At the bottom would be another hidden screw hole so a long utility screw could be inserted to prevent the piece from rotating around the hanging point.

Another interesting challenge was my decision to make the piece a modular construction so it could be disassembled for shipment and reassembled by the client with little effort and no confusion.

The finish was to be “black iron” so I decided to work with the materials I use the most - 10 to14 gauge HRS and hot rolled bar stock.

I first made my drawings and worked out the proportions and dimensions for each part.  The next step involved deciding how the main components, trunk, fronds and coconuts would be rendered.  I try to design as much as I can to utilize the power hammer and hydraulic forging press as much as possible to avoid physical wear and tear on my body.  The hammer and anvil work is the most pleasurable but takes it’s toll.

I began by working on the trunk and calculated what width of flat 14 gauge sheet I needed to end up with a half-round form of proper width.  I found that width would be 4-6” depending on the section of the trunk.  I could comfortably work a length of sheet up to about 30”.  I wanted the trunk to have a slight taper and a slight undulation.  I ended up with three sections to work with; a short wide section for the base flare, the lower trunk and the upper trunk leading into the terminal bud where the fronds emerge and the coconuts form.

Each piece of sheet was vertically textured with coal fire heat and a bottom texture die in the power hammer.  To create the irregular transverse raised lines of the frond scars I made a set of dies for the press.  The third step was to produce the cupped volume.  I used one of my cupping dies in the power hammer for that.  Finally, I joined the three half-round trunk pieces by MIG welding.

I had the back face outline cut by water jet from 10 gauge HRS and added the keyhole slot by drilling torch cutting.  The touch marks were added at this stage on the back.

The, potentially, most difficult job is to get the cupped face welded to the flat back without adding twist to the back.  In retrospect I probably should have provided more internal bracing to the back plate.  I did end up with a little twist.

With the trunk completed I turned to the coconuts.  I made them using three different methods before choosing the easiest.  That involved forging one solid steel coconut and getting that form just as I wanted it.  From that master I made a coconut top-half die and a coconut bottom-half die for the forging press.  The dies have to be relieved to accommodate the thickness of stock which will be formed.  That stock turned out to be stamped pipe caps from a ranch store.  They are probably made from a deep draw steel and were easy to work.  

Each coconut was constructed by MIG welding together the top and bottom pressed pieces which had been torch trimmed to remove excess material at the cap rim.  Three coconut groups of 4-5 nuts were made each with a stem.

The frond ribs were formed by making long round tapers in round stock.  The fronds were water jet cut from a single pattern.  I would consider using straight, left-curved and right-curved frond patterns.  The round tapered ribs were sunk and plug welded.  The surface texture was added with the press and the edge slits were made with a throatless shear.

Each frond and coconut bunch was stamp numbered to index it to the modular assembly.  The final step was to group those pieces to the trunk.  Each piece fitted into a socket made from a short piece of 1/4” tube.  I built that step by step keeping in mind the idea of the terminal bud of the palm plant.

The palm frond ribs, intentionally left too long initially, were shortened and the male end forged to fit it’s socket as the final position for each was determined.

The finish was applied and the clients came and picked it up and got the instruction about disassembly/assembly and it left for a new home.  I’ll look forward to seeing a picture of it there.

Trunk texture test

Assembled coconut palm

Coconut bunch detail

A Spring Gate Latch

I’ve been clearing out old items from the shop to provide more working space.  I found this model I made for a gate project.  It never got real finish work or a protective coating so it is a bit rusty but the design should still be easy to see.

I remember this type of gate latch from my childhood.  It seems so familiar and I can fee the satisfying positive locking of the mechanism.

I remember them as all being factory made but back then I wouldn’t have recognized forge work.

The short latch spring bar in my model is made from a piece of 1/2” mild steel square bar 19.5” long.  I sawed a split about 2” at one end and opened the split so flat tapers could be forged.  Scroll tongs were used to create the grip finial shape.  The section just below the finial was left 1/2” square to show the parent stock.  The 4.5” below that was chamfered to roughly octagonal shape.  The rest of the bar was flattened and drawn out to create the spring section which is about 11.5” in length and angled to create the offset needed for the spring to function.  Two holes for the mounting lag screws were made near the bottom end.

The keeper-catch and the guide hoop were formed from 3/16” x 3/4” flat bar.  The hoop needs no forging only bending to shape.  The keeper has a center portion forged the-hard-way.  A kerf is cut out and filed there to catch the spring bar as seen in image 06.

In an actual installation I’d check the performance and if I felt the spring needed to be a bit stiffer I’d heat the flat spring section and quench it.

The rusty model.

2" split.

Partially forged spring bar.

Finials finished.

Long and short spring bars with offsets bent.

Rough forging of the keeper-catches before notching.

Guide, spring bar and keeper-catch in locked position.

Spring bar mounting.

Grip finial detail.

Here is a commercial example.

http://www.hooverfence.com/woodfence/8326.htm

Peter Parkinson’s DVD’s

I recently watched a pair of DVD’s titled Artist Blacksmithing, Techniques in Action.  I really enjoyed his presentation.  Of course it is always a pleasure to see a master at work.

I thought the instruction, which covers all the basics, was very efficient and the filming is quite good.  It is especial good when he is showing fine details of work such as two ways to temper tool steel working tips.  Occasionally the audio volume was a bit soft but always understandable.

In addition to carefully explaining each process, he also gives some nice tips on design.  These will probably be more noticeable to the advanced smith who recognizes that after the techniques are mastered it will be design which sells the work.

In my opinion these would be great aids for beginners to view quite a few times.  Peter makes the work look very easy and the beginner won’t find it so easy to accomplish.  Remember the old adage, “Everything is easy when you know how.”  The master knows how and the beginner doesn’t know how yet.

I picked up a few new ideas.  I marvel at the inventiveness of individual smiths in figuring out how to accomplish tasks.  Using some electrical cord the same size as the round bar to calculate a decorative wrap join is clever.  The hanger he attached to the gas torch welding tip to use with his gas saver was new to me.

He gave quite a few tips about heating metal in the forge fire but there wasn’t much about fire management itself.  The reason it is not an issue seems to be the constant perfect coke fire in his vertical draft forge.  I wish I had such a fire.

http://www.bookdepository.com/Artist-Blacksmithing-Peter-Parkinson/9781861269775

Business Cards

Things change, including opinions.  When I started my blacksmithing I started thinking about marketing strategies.  One of the first things I did was design a business card on my computer and print a few to carry in my wallet.  I thought this gave me just one step up in credibility above the smiths who didn't have a business card.

A bit later I decided to get some professionally printed cards on better paper to give me just a step up in credibility above the smiths who printed their business cards on their computers.

Over the next 18 years I handed out a couple of thousand cards and I'm not sure if any one of them ever brought me any business.

A couple of years ago we decided to drop our landline phone and all advertising.  I went through the remaining supply of business cards and lined out all his old phone numbers and handprinted the new cell phone number.  That took me a while and as I work on the project I pondered how I once thought that the practice seemed somewhat tacky.  

However I was now operating on the basis of actual experience and I was not interested in spending any more money on business cards that didn't actually yield business.  My opinion now is that the hand-edited card sets me one step above the smith who just jots down a phone number or scrap of paper.  Eventually I may work my way back around again to using that method.

If I were going to get new cards printed, this would be the design.  It has the correct cell phone number.

The Replacement Forge Flue

The current coal forge flue and accelerator sections have been used since January 1999 - over 14 years.  It is deteriorating and may fail soon. From time to time sheets of rust fall off the inside surfaces onto the ash pile in the smoke collector.

I made the original flue from 18 or 20 gauge sheet and MIG welded all the seams.  I don’t have the time to do that again so I’m asking Kan FAB to cut and bend 16 gauge panels which will bolt together to form the flue.

This will be an experimental design. The smoke chamber was replaced several years ago with bolt-together 10 gauge panels and angle. That design has worked very well. http://persimmonforge.blogspot.com/2012/05/my-side-draft-forge.html

I designed the new flue panels so they can be assembled from the bottom, where they attach to the smoke collector, upward to terminate in a Vacu-Stack chimney topper. There will be five sections; the smoke accelerator, three rectangular duct sections and the adaptor section to mount the Vacu-Stack topper.  Angle tabs will be welded to provide linkage between the sections.  I plan to seal any gaps with silicone caulk

I haven’t decided whether to make the flue sections with four separate sides or with two-side units which would require just half the seam sealing but double the weight of the panels.  Another alternative  would be to form the back and sides as one piece and just bolt on the front.

Also, I haven't made a final decision about incorporating a damper.  With the ability to remove individual panels that could be added later.

The way this year is working out I will not get this job done until it is cooler and drier in the fall.  I plan to borrow a scaffold  from a chimney sweep friend and set it up outside the shop.

10 gauge and angle smoke collector.

Five-section replacement flue.

Vertical flange and angle-tap joinery.

Smoke accelerator

Vacu-Stack mounting section