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I have an enormous sack of refractory cement but it's only rated to... 1400-1700 degrees iirc, I forget which, but it isn't considered "adequate" for the hardfacing of a forge. I'll probably end up using it for an aluminium casting furnace liner or something eventually, you know, an application that doesn't involve steel-welding temperatures. Ambrose Burnside fucked around with this message at 18:14 on May 7, 2013 |
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May 7, 2013 18:11
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:Using nothing but castable refractory is not necessarily a bad idea. There are both insulating and non-insulating castable. Many people make crucible furnaces using nothing but castable, sometimes all non-insulating, that's fine, especially say your burner is using waste motor oil, and you are only dealing with aluminium or maybe bronze, and have plenty of time to let it sit there and soak. Meanwhile the outside of the furnace will be very hot. I don't really see myself doing much forge welding with that setup, and it's not really been something I've needed to do very often at all. And once I have the Reil burner made, I intend to make a few forges of a few different sizes so that I can make differently szed pieces more efficiently without putting unnecessary wear and tear on just one forge. Also I assume smaller forges can be more thermally efficient in many cases, especially with smaller projects. I want to get enough insulating material to make three forges for now, and make a much larger one down the road. I want to make the largest one out of a 3' tall oxygen tank I have in my workshop, and make the smallest one out of an empty propane blowtorch bottle. I don't know what I'd make the medium one out of yet, but you get the idea for the size of what I'm thinking. Thanks for the help, fellas
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May 7, 2013 18:22
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Crazyeyes posted:I was inspired by this post and would like to try my hand at making a lamp out of an old trumpet I have sitting in my attic. What would be the best way to affix the bulb socket to the neck of the trumpet? It is pretty thin material. Hey I know that other guy wasn't happy with us Instrument Defilers or whatever (can't quote his post right now for some reason) but don't worry about the haters, playa... Really, you don't have to ruin the trumpet. The Saxophone lamp that I made had no permanent modifications/changes, despite being a piece of junk learner's sax that would fetch $150 if it were not already dented and had the finish ruined so who cares if you drill holes in it or not. At least it's being used instead of rotting in a basement/attic somewhere. But anyway, I was able to run the cord up through one of the "sound holes" (??) at the part of the sax that met the marble base, and managed to find a rubber stopper that fit perfectly in the top of the sax where the mouthpiece would ordinarily go. This allowed me to mount the socket for the bulb in the rubber stopper, requiring no modifications to the sax. There is a loop on the back that a neck-strap was supposed to hook to, so I made a steel frame around the marble base with an upright in one corner. At the top of the upright piece of steel I welded a tab with a hole in it, and the saxophone bolts to it with a nice brass bolt and nut. To do the trumpet, I'd do basically the same thing. You should be able to mount the bulb socket where the mouthpiece would go, with the bell sitting down. If you weighted the bell somehow you might not even need a base. For extra points you could dremel out an actual mouthpiece to mount your bulb socket in it, to complete the look. Research the trumpet first, but if you can find a way to do it without modification it doesn't matter if it's some heirloom trumpet worth a gajillion dollars. Can you imagine finding your grandfather's old trumpet lamp in a box and checking it out only to find that it was a sweet expensive trumpet? It might have been thrown away if it hadn't been a lamp, because who the hell wants some kid blasting a trumpet in their ear all the drat time anyway. [rant off]
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May 7, 2013 18:37
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For the record, there is a big difference between furnace/refractory cement and castable refractory. The cement is meant for repairs, or putting fire bricks together. Castable refractory is actually poured and worked like masonary cement and can take much higher heat.
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May 7, 2013 19:08
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:For the record, there is a big difference between furnace/refractory cement and castable refractory. The cement is meant for repairs, or putting fire bricks together. Castable refractory is actually poured and worked like masonary cement and can take much higher heat. Yeah, I use refractory cement to put the parts of my coal forge together- I have to make repairs every now and then because the cement doesn't hold up to repeated firings.
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May 7, 2013 19:11
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Going to weigh in here since I have built several propane forges over the years. Just to give you an example, I will list the specs of my current propane forge. The firebrick is a removable shelf that I cut to fit the rounded contour of the bottom of the forge, so as to protect the bottom of the forge from the caustic molten flux. It reaches forge welding temps easily. Freon tank with one end cut open. 2 inches of Kaowool ceramic insulation 2 coats of ITC-100 3/4 inch Ron Reil-style propane burner Soft firebrick shelf Do not use furnace cement in a tub from Home Depot/Lowes. Seriously. It sucks. Buy a good insulating castable refractory.
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May 7, 2013 21:38
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:The Proc, About 5 x 1 1/2" with a 13" radius, and close to 20 hours counting the milling to size, drilling, reaming, sawing, filing, and starting over three times because I'm terrible. Edit: Now with more effortpost. The whole thing clocked in at 151 hours.     
shame on an IGA fucked around with this message at 23:22 on May 7, 2013 |
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May 7, 2013 22:57
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apatite posted:Words I'm not against him doing anything to the trumpet. I am just saying to check the brand and model before you do it. Why build a tacky lamp when you could potentially have something worth $1-4000 to sell? Most people who do trumpet lamps put a nail through the bell to stand it up, and then drill a hole through the bell right at the top of the crook to feed the wire and socket. Getting the wiring through the bell crooks, valve block, main tuning slide, and leadpipe is a pain in the rear end.
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May 8, 2013 01:11
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Your work is beautiful and an inspiration to us all. This is also cool. Do you have plans for this? I want to make my own. When I have the time, of course. And the space. And the money. 
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May 8, 2013 01:45
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ductonius posted:This is also cool. Do you have plans for this? I want to make my own. When I have the time, of course. And the space. And the money. I would also love to see plans if you have any, although I will mostly just fantasize about making one for myself.
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May 8, 2013 13:23
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Did a practice character to get back in the chasing/repousse groove for a commish I'm doing. I really wanna do something in Fraktur somewhere down the road so I did a humble lower-case G.  It's probably 2/3rds done- I'd like to anneal it and sink the character deeper so I can undercut it more on the sides and make it look like it's 'floating' off the backing sheet, and then even out all the bumpies that make the surface of the G ugly right now- but I'm gonna leave it for now. Not too bad for 2 or 3 hours' work. Although my linework is still god-awful, look at how crooked the top-right downward sloping line is
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May 8, 2013 16:46
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That's awesome! Do you have any resources for learning chasing / repousse? I use a ton of sheet copper in my glass castings, but I mainly use it for 2d stencil work - cutting out sheet with shears and a jeweler's saw. It then gets glass poured over it, and sits on the surface of the glass. I would love to add a 3rd dimension to the sheet copper! Any thoughts for a good website or book, and some recommendations on tools? On a side note for the thread, I started working at a high end furniture fab shop in Brooklyn that works a much more precise way than my usual MIG welder / angle grinder backyard style. It's really cool to learn how to use a Bridgeport / do much more precise metalwork - and really, it just comes down to setting up accurate guides / backstops. I'm learning a ton!
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May 9, 2013 00:00
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Money Walrus posted:On a side note for the thread, I started working at a high end furniture fab shop in Brooklyn that works a much more precise way than my usual MIG welder / angle grinder backyard style. It's really cool to learn how to use a Bridgeport / do much more precise metalwork - and really, it just comes down to setting up accurate guides / backstops. I'm learning a ton!
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May 9, 2013 00:05
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Money Walrus posted:That's awesome! Do you have any resources for learning chasing / repousse? I use a ton of sheet copper in my glass castings, but I mainly use it for 2d stencil work - cutting out sheet with shears and a jeweler's saw. It then gets glass poured over it, and sits on the surface of the glass. I would love to add a 3rd dimension to the sheet copper! Any thoughts for a good website or book, and some recommendations on tools? Chasing and Repousse- Methods Ancient and Modern by Nancy Corwin is my go-to, and probably the best modern book on the subject from what I've seen/heard. There are at least a couple full-length books on the technique available that are old enough to have passed into public domain, google around for em, but they're really dated- assuming you can work in wrought iron sheet, and assuming that you'll be making your own pitch with a different blend for different seasons and types of weather like people had to do back in the day, that kind of stuff. Ganoksin has decent free articles on the subject- http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/directory/library/subject/79 This article is a pretty good overall primer, if a little superficial as it's just one section of an entire goldsmithing manual- http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/repousse.htm My own tips- -You will be making all of your own punches, and the range of punches you have determines the work you can do. When you have a very limited array of tools starting off, let the tools determine the scale and nature of the work rather than forcing your desired project onto them. The results will be much less kludgy and awkward. -The backing medium is important. Pitch is ideal and can basically fill every role, but tbh even though I have good high-quality pine pitch it's usually not my first pick. You have to be good at controlling the pitch temperature to get the pitch firmness and support you want, and I'm really bad at that so usually I end up working on it when it's too hot or too cold. You can do a TON of work with a softwood block, a rubber/urethane block, and firm plasticine. That G I did above I did solely on the rubber block. I use plasticine a LOT because there's virtually no cleanup and you can take the project off the plasticine frequently to see how it's coming along, which you can't do with pitch, and (important for me) the support it gives is consistent and not predicated on how much you heat it up. (please don't heat plasticine it will burn trust me) -Copper's definitely my favourite medium, excepting MAYBE very thick pewter. It work-hardens nicely while still giving you plenty of time to work in-between annealings, and is much more forgiving than brass or aluminium or steel in terms of giving you lots of warning before it cracks or tears. -I greatly prefer wood punches to steel for most general shaping- It marks up the sheet far less, doesn't thin out the metal nearly as much if you're working on a hard backing, and the tools themselves are so much faster to make. Plus, 1-inch dowel is, what, an old broom handle, whereas inch-thick tool steel rod ain't nearly so cheap or accessible. I also use nylon rod which is even better, but still comparatively expensive and hard to find. However, you still need steel for liners and any other thin or delicate punch design. You could never do 1/8" punches in wood, for example. Polish your liners to a mirror finish and leave your modelling tools matte. Liners have to slip along the metal for the lining process to work properly, and modelling tools need a bit of hold to be able to settle on and not slip off of that weird bump in the metal or what-have-you. -THE PROCESS TAKES A LONG TIME. It's really neat and rewarding to see whatever image you can dream up rise up out of boring metal sheet, but it's not a fast thing to do. Again, that single G, maybe 3 or 4 inches tall, took about 1.5-2 hours of shaping, and another half-hour at least for cutting/annealing/polishing/texturing/etc the raw stock. There are very few ways you can really expedite the process. Non-repousse techniques like silhouette die forming are fast as poo poo and highly replicable but severely limit the range of stuff you can make- it depends on what you're interested in doing, adding a bit of pop to something you make 20 a day of or making really nice individual pieces. Ambrose Burnside fucked around with this message at 17:36 on May 9, 2013 |
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May 9, 2013 17:31
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Proc, that bench shear is awesome. What did you make the business end of the blades out of? Ambrose: loving the G. Make an O, combine them for OG metalworking bros medallions. Three guesses as to what lunacy I'm up to next.  Hint: a magnet sticks to whatever is in this stack of bags somehow. 
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May 12, 2013 06:10
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Iron ore? Are you going to build an iron crucible? I am hoping you're going to try out a bloomery process because that's fuckin' badass.
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May 12, 2013 06:49
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Slung Blade posted:Proc, that bench shear is awesome. What did you make the business end of the blades out of? They're 1/8" A2 steel filed to shape, heat treated, and then surface ground. I'll try to get the drawings scanned later today, there are many.
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May 12, 2013 09:51
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Slung Blade posted:Three guesses as to what lunacy I'm up to next. It involves lots of heat and fire. 
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May 12, 2013 12:03
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AbsentMindedWelder posted:It involves lots of heat and fire. I have no idea why it holds a magnet, but those are raw materials for a glaze are they not?
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May 12, 2013 15:46
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Slung Blade posted:Ambrose: loving the G. Make an O, combine them for OG metalworking bros medallions. Haha yeah someone already suggested that to me, I'll probably end up doing that b/c it's the shortest route to turning it into An Actual Thing instead of just a Fraktur font proof-of-concept that'll sit on a shelf forever. Probably something along the lines of- do the O on a separate sheet, cut both letters out, and then solder or rivet them to a second brass backing sheet- from which I can raise two dots a la O.G. if I want. Either that or find someone whose name starts with G who could use a kinda-strange gift.
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May 12, 2013 17:39
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Whatever it is you're doing with thermite, make sure to post video of it.
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May 12, 2013 19:26
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Who wants 37 pages of bench shear specs? http://www.scribd.com/doc/141042245/Bench-Shear-Prints?secret_password=29to30aydcn6cuxs3z8m
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May 13, 2013 01:49
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The Proc posted:Who wants 37 pages of bench shear specs? Me me! I do. Thank you!
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May 13, 2013 02:10
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These three items here I picked up from the internet at what I would consider very reasonable prices. My side cover has a couple cracks and is missing the lug that bolts to the gearbox. My door it turns out has a crack, and the latch piece is also broken. I was missing the chip feed cover. I've removed the lables and hardware and will drop these off at my media blaster guy today and pick them up later in the week.  I had planned to get alot more done by now, but I've been fighting off an infection in my lower leg the past 6 days which affected my muscle making it painfull to move or stand, which put a damper on my lathe activities.  In any event I've been healing up nicely and have even been able to get some stuff done.At this point EVERYTHING except the three items pictured above, now have two coats of paint. I do have some polishing left. I got plenty of kerosene, now it's time to start cleaning the internal gears, shafts, etc, and start doing some assembly! Stay tuned... The Proc posted:Who wants 37 pages of bench shear specs? Thanks for posting these!
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May 13, 2013 14:48
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Leperflesh posted:Iron ore? Are you going to build an iron crucible? I am hoping you're going to try out a bloomery process because that's fuckin' badass. First post after mine was correct! So much for my veil of secrecy. So yeah, gonna try a bloomery smelt with magnetite ore as soon as possible. Also a BBQ. 
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May 13, 2013 16:27
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I have a question about grinding/polishing. I'm putting an edge on thus knife I made, and have read that paper wheels are best for the final edge (assuming I'll use a stone later). What is a paper wheel? Is it used to remove burrs from the edge?
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May 13, 2013 17:42
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areyoucontagious posted:I have a question about grinding/polishing. I'm putting an edge on thus knife I made, and have read that paper wheels are best for the final edge (assuming I'll use a stone later). What is a paper wheel? Is it used to remove burrs from the edge? A flap wheel? 
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May 13, 2013 17:56
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Slung Blade posted:First post after mine was correct! So much for my veil of secrecy. loving yes I want to do that so bad. So so bad. I can't possibly do anything that pyrotechnically involved at my suburbuan house with its small back yard and its neighbors with houses and stuff, and in any case I don't have anything that I'd need to do it. But it's gonna be loving badass. You will need help, though. It's a minimum 2-man operation, 3 is much better. I suggest having a fourth person there just to operate the camera. Right now you are my hero.
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May 13, 2013 18:21
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QPZIL posted:A flap wheel? I think it's one of these. http://www.woodcraft.com/PRODUCT/20...CFUPc4AodAxQAZA In any case, flap wheels are terrible for putting a fine edge on things in my experience.
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May 13, 2013 18:27
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Backyard Blacksmith posted:I think it's one of these. http://www.woodcraft.com/PRODUCT/20...CFUPc4AodAxQAZA Yeah, this is what I was talking about. Is that a common practice?
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May 13, 2013 18:56
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areyoucontagious posted:Yeah, this is what I was talking about. Is that a common practice? I've personally never used one, but now I kind of want one. I assume it's not uncommon at all, but others will likely be able to elaborate more.
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May 13, 2013 19:21
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Backyard Blacksmith posted:I've personally never used one, but now I kind of want one. I assume it's not uncommon at all, but others will likely be able to elaborate more. I was reading some blog somewhere on the vast reaches of the internet that you can only get a really nice convex edge with a paper wheel, but nowhere near my house sells one.
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May 13, 2013 20:03
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Ever see the mousepad and sandpaper trick?
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May 13, 2013 21:43
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I put the edge on all my knives by hand. Not being snotty about it or anything, its just what I prefer. I rough file, then step down between coarse, medium, fine, ultra-fine stones, then go to an old leather belt with valve lapping compound on it. I don't make many knives so time isn't a huge problem. I used to use a belt grinder and it was just too quick and dirty and still required a lot of hand finishing. Aside from that, I have never even heard of a paper wheel like that. I'd be interested to see how effective it is, although I don't know that I would ever buy one.
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May 13, 2013 23:11
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How expensive are those stones? Does the "fineness" work like grit for sandpaper? I guess I'm not well-versed on sharpening techniques. Time to go figure poo poo out on the internet!
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May 13, 2013 23:34
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For sharpening my knives, I like the Edge Pro System.
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May 13, 2013 23:36
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areyoucontagious posted:How expensive are those stones? Does the "fineness" work like grit for sandpaper? I guess I'm not well-versed on sharpening techniques. Time to go figure poo poo out on the internet! Yea its a very similar concept. I use oil stones myself, but they aren't explicitly necessary. The manufacturer recommends cleaning them with kerosene when they get clogged, but I use brake cleaner and it works much better. Just apply some light machine oil to the stone and start working. this is the stone that I use for the medium/fine stages of refining the edge. The site says coarse/fine but I have a coarser stone than that so I consider it medium. My method is quite time consuming but it is also very relaxing.
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May 13, 2013 23:43
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I use waterstones to sharpen my knives -- they don't last as long as oilstones, but they cut faster and are cleaner because you can clean up with water. Sushi chefs will keep a waterstone on the counter and sharpen the knife rapidly before every sequence of cuts (note, I am not a weeaboo). Remember to soak the stones in water for half an hour before you use them, and it's good to also have a flat piece of granite or glass or something you can lap them against when they get hollowed.
Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 23:53 on May 13, 2013 |
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May 13, 2013 23:51
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The Proc posted:Who wants 37 pages of bench shear specs? That's the poo poo right there. Many thanks for the effort, noble goon.
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May 14, 2013 00:26
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Sorry if this isn't the right place to put this, but I'm running out of ideas, and it does involve metalworking. I'm a larper, and I use steel plate armor. A cuirass with a seperate breastplate and backplate, to be precise. It is ill-fitting, and I need it refit/altered if possible. Is this possible? I tried googling it, but all I got were several pages worth of video game bullshit. I'm pretty sure the first problem, ie: when it closes it's too large, can be fixed by cutting some metal off of the areas where the parts combine. However, there is another problem where the chest area is slightly too big. Would it be possible to alter it for a skinner person? If this is possible, could you tell me how you would do it, or point me towards someone in the New York/Long Island area who would be willing to do this type of work?
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May 14, 2013 05:00
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