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sixide posted:Does anyone have any good advice on making square holes? I need a ~9mm hole (23/64 would be close enough) about 1.5" deep. Right now I am planning to bore it and file it square, but I'm not particularly fantastic at filing. Filing blind into a small hole will be a challenge. Blind square holes? Depends on number of holes and how square it needs to be. Wire EDM might be an option if you have a capable shop near by.
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Apr 28, 2014 09:44
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sixide posted:I don't know about a forge, but if you want to save the coals try spreading it out. Would be best on a metal sheet or similar that can suck the heat out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n1r5XfVkyk
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Apr 28, 2014 11:20
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If the hole is blind then that wont work. If it's a one off job and you have access to a lathe you can do it like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR1pvQYFFck
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Apr 28, 2014 12:41
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Grinding a broach assumes I could get a piece of hardened 9mm square stock. I haven't been able to do that. Mr. Pete's internal keyway cutting method will work perfectly. I can certainly get a tool blank and make a tool to index the 4-jaw at 90 degree angles.
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Apr 28, 2014 13:16
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ReelBigLizard posted:If the hole is blind then that wont work. That is a good trick! I had no idea what he would be doing until he cut the taper square.
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Apr 28, 2014 17:53
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sixide posted:Grinding a broach assumes I could get a piece of hardened 9mm square stock. I haven't been able to do that. https://www.ebay.com/itm/171150257206
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Apr 28, 2014 18:00
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ReelBigLizard posted:If the hole is blind then that wont work. Tubal Cain is the best.
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Apr 28, 2014 22:24
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I got my welder hooked up. Had to buy a plug adapter to make it work with the receptacle I have in the garage. Thirty bucks at a local hardware store, thank goodness SOME big box places around here have a legacy of actually helping people DIY important poo poo still. Don't worry, I'm not going to leave it like this, I'm going to get a hanger for all the cable, probably a garden hose reel  BUT IT WORKS. I DIDN'T DIE. gently caress, I've not TIGged anything in like 5 years, let's see if I can still do it.  The gas wasn't working on this one.  There, that's a little better.  Ehhhnn, lovely.  Fixed a weeder that my dad loves. Broke it years ago.   Feels good and solid again.  Gotta do a shitload of practice, but I think this'll do nicely.
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Apr 29, 2014 04:22
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Brekelefuw posted:Tubal Cain is the best. i wish he was my grandpa
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Apr 29, 2014 05:06
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I got my little blacksmith shop set up. I'll take pictures, but you gotta promise not to laugh at the ridiculously small anvil I found (I think it's 20 lbs?) but I've been practicing basic things like drawing out, etc. I picked up some scrap steel and some new steel. I've had very good luck with the new stuff, it's 3/8" round mild steel and I can shape it as needed. The scrap is bigger, ranging from 1/2" square up to even bigger stuff. I tried forging some of it, and even at a yellow hit, it does not want to move under the hammer. Even a huge heavy swing doesn't make much of a difference. I'm starting to wonder if it's some weird alloy, so here's my real question. It's magnetic, but when I cut a little notch out of it with my angle grinder, I got no sparks. Not a little, not a lot, but none at all. The mild steel I've been working with produces a decent amount of sparks when I cut it or grind it, but not the scrap. What does that mean?
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May 1, 2014 13:54
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Pagan posted:I got my little blacksmith shop set up. I'll take pictures, but you gotta promise not to laugh at the ridiculously small anvil I found (I think it's 20 lbs?) but I've been practicing basic things like drawing out, etc. Are you sure it isn't cast iron? That's the only thing I can think of that wouldn't spark at all. If it is, stop hitting it. It won't forge and can just crumble, throwing hot metal everywhere.
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May 1, 2014 14:42
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Uncle Enzo posted:Are you sure it isn't cast iron? That's the only thing I can think of that wouldn't spark at all. If it is, stop hitting it. It won't forge and can just crumble, throwing hot metal everywhere. No, it came in bar stock. So I'm pretty sure it isn't cast iron, unless cast iron comes in long bars of even dimensions. I'm not hitting it anyway; it's pretty drat hard to work, and I'd rather spend what time I have being productive.
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May 1, 2014 18:29
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iirc all ferrous metals, even cast iron, should spark at least a little bit. Are you doing the test in a darkened space? Have you tried the spark-test at night, when ambient light in general is diminished? If you can see mild steel sparks fine then the lighting probably isnt an issue but "no sparks at all" is odd. Have you tried doing a quench with a hot bar yet, to see if it's hardenable or not? Also irt the lack of forgeability, the alloys that contain molybdenum tend towards red-hardness, which means they don't like to move under the hammer even when very hot. I've been burned on scrap 4140 before.
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May 1, 2014 20:50
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Ambrose Burnside posted:iirc all ferrous metals, even cast iron, should spark at least a little bit. Are you doing the test in a darkened space? Have you tried the spark-test at night, when ambient light in general is diminished? If you can see mild steel sparks fine then the lighting probably isnt an issue but "no sparks at all" is odd. Have you tried doing a quench with a hot bar yet, to see if it's hardenable or not? I will experiment with it more, but at the same time, I've been blacksmithing for... 4 whole days? So I'm the definition of a novice. I'm still working on the basics, like drawing out and flattening, and turning a piece of round stock into a piece of square stock. When I can do that sort of thing without taking forever, then I might try heating up some of these pieces of scrap again and see what happens.
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May 1, 2014 21:03
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Pagan posted:It's magnetic, but when I cut a little notch out of it with my angle grinder, I got no sparks. Not a little, not a lot, but none at all. The mild steel I've been working with produces a decent amount of sparks when I cut it or grind it, but not the scrap. What does that mean? No iron-material won't spark if you grind it. Not even cast iron or tungsten steel. Are you sure it's not an uranium core?
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May 2, 2014 16:28
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Nickel alloys are heavy, extremely tough, often magnetic, and I don't believe they spark (or at least not much). It's hard to believe you'd come across something like that in a scrapyard though. Cast iron also makes really small dull sparks in my experience. Were you doing this, say, outdoors in full sun where dim sparks might not have been visible? Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 19:41 on May 2, 2014 |
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May 2, 2014 19:37
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I just ground through more of it, and did see small sparks when in a dark area. I cut off a small piece and was able, with a lot of heat and a lot of hammering, to forge it into a chisel. I'm hoping this will be a good hot chisel for hardy cutting. I'm treating it like high carbon; it's annealing in the ashes now, I'll rough cut it into shape, and then temper it and see how it goes.
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May 2, 2014 20:47
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I've been in school for welding & fabrication + industrial maintenance for a full year now. I ended up getting a really great deal on a Miller Thunderbolt XL 225/150 AC/DC buzzbox for only 450$ brand new and I still can't stop burning rods. Oh god why is welding so much fun. Burn all the rods. And burn my clothes. 
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May 2, 2014 23:08
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Kiyanis posted:I've been in school for welding & fabrication + industrial maintenance for a full year now. I ended up getting a really great deal on a Miller Thunderbolt XL 225/150 AC/DC buzzbox for only 450$ brand new and I still can't stop burning rods. Oh god why is welding so much fun. Burn all the rods. That looks like when I caught myself on fire last week while welding a candle stand. Kinda freaked out a bit.
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May 3, 2014 00:14
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sixide posted:I don't know about a forge, but if you want to save the coals try spreading it out. Would be best on a metal sheet or similar that can suck the heat out. Sinker EDM would work well for this, though it could be expensive. Wire EDM won't work if you want a blind pocket.
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May 3, 2014 21:25
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Big day in the shop for me. I finally rebuilt my tube drawing bench and gave it a test run. Result? Successful tube drawn to size! Here is the bench. Sorry there is my lathe and a dent machine behind it. The drawing machine is mounted in the vise.  Here is the mandrel I used, and the tube after drawing. The tube was a 5/8th tube which was drawn down to .510" O.D. and .469 I.D.  I also started my radius turning attachment for my lathe. This is the bottom part that will attach to the cross slide. I had to mill the block square, and then spin it on the lathe to do the male bearing circle. I don't have an independent-jaw chuck yet, so I had to get it bang on for my fixed-jaw 4 jaw chuck to hold it. I have to drill and countersink the holes for the t slot screws still.  This design is based on the Steve Bedair radius tool plans, but redone to fit my Sherline.
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May 3, 2014 23:53
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Sagebrush posted:Nickel alloys are heavy, extremely tough, often magnetic, and I don't believe they spark (or at least not much). It's hard to believe you'd come across something like that in a scrapyard though. Yeah, my first thought was Inconel, but that tends to come less in bar stock and more in turbine blade shapes.
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May 6, 2014 12:36
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Bad Angus! Bad!
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New welder time- cross posting from my auto thread: A few weeks back I went to use my Miller 210 and the feed was acting up. I went and talked with the local welding supply and of course they had another batch of demo units. (I bought my dynasty as a demo.) I thankfully did not have my credit card on me and I was even more thankful when I got home and did some price shopping. They were only knocking $50 off what weldersupply.com offered it for new! I can't wait to go back in there and ask them what the hell they were thinking. Anyways, Monday morning someone posted a Miller 252 for $1600 just up the street. They even bought it from the same local welding supply shop. I went and tested it out today. $1400 cash and I dragged it back home. Clean machine. Not as clean as my 210, but the 252 will do 1/2" in one pass. Ironically I started to clean up the 210 for listing on CL and found my feed issues were just a overtensioned spool/roller. Oh well, I should be able to get $1000 out of the 210, so I'm not complaining about a $400 upgrade. Oh and it welds beautifully  . I bleed bluuuuue. Who want's to buy my 210?  
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May 7, 2014 03:36
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I'm looking to buy an anvil, and I've found two on kijiji in my price range. this or this. The first one is cheaper, which I like, but looks like it might be to rusted. Opinions?
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May 7, 2014 17:51
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Jewcoon posted:I'm looking to buy an anvil, and I've found two on kijiji in my price range. The first one is already sold, but from the tiny photo it doesn't look like the rust is that bad. The second one is a decent anvil but at only 44 lbs it's far too light to do serious blacksmith work on. It might be useful as a portable anvil if you wanted to travel with it, or if you had some way of very firmly securing it to a very heavy thing. Otherwise I'd be looking for something at a minimum of 75lbs, and 100+ is best.
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May 7, 2014 18:26
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44 pounds is about perfect for a general-purpose light-duty bench anvil but will bounce around a whole lot with serious forging work, yeah. My biggest is only 77 lbs and it's never been Not Enough Anvil so far, but i've never tried to forge anything bigger than 3/8" hotrolled on it, and very little of that to boot. The face is definitely smaller than I'd prefer for larger-scale work, at any rate.
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May 7, 2014 19:00
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Also- I'm finally writing that post on chasing/repousse for the OP, so I took a picture of the forty repousse punches, liners and texturers I've made/modified that aren't lost or destroyed yet to throw in there when I'm done. (I also use a 25-piece professional set, and a 20-piece dapping set to fill out my round punches) Chisel-type punches are called liners, and are used to trace the outline of the project into the back of the sheet, leaving a raised and work-hardened border to work within and around in the next step. Repousse punches are heavily-crowned punches in simple shapes, used to do the bulk of the metal-moving from the back of the sheet- the flat faces move metal without stretching it too much, and are ideal for raising the project up to its approximate final dimensions. Modelling punches come in all sorts of shapes and are used for finer shaping on both sides of the metal. Liners, stamps and other punches can be used for this, too. Planishers are punches with flat, polished (mine are hella dusty and scratched because I am a NEGLIGENT CRAFTSMAN) faces, used for smoothing and evening-out of surfaces distorted through repousse. Also sometimes used as a comprehensive late course for thinner repousse, to squeak a little extra work-hardening out of the metal. Texturers are used to give, well, texture to plain surfaces. All sorts of implements fit this bill- pointy things, chiselly things, even that old rock or cast-iron scrap over there will impart interesting texture if you hammer metal onto it. Special tools of note: the extra-bright round punch on the far left is a matt punch, heavily roughened with sandpaper for Extra Grip, for working at oblique angles the punch wants to slip off of. Pockmarked punches are texturing punches made by hammering a sharp centre punch into the red-hot face of the punch until it cools, reheat, repeat until satisfied. much superior to commercial texturers, imo- creates no visible patterns or repetition in the metal. star punch salvaged from a printer motor gear thinger and then modified. The punch you see head-on with the line running down the middle is actually a rounded-off wedge with a ~60-degree angle used for undercutting, or pushing the outlines of a repoussed form under the raised portion as seen from the front, to create the illusion of the raised form 'floating' off the backing sheet.
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May 7, 2014 21:31
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My silversmithing teacher grinds his chasing and repousse tools out of square nails. Cheap, and effective.
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May 8, 2014 00:49
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Mine are mostly O1 drill rod, with some mild steel in there too from earlier on. The mild steel ones have gotten significantly shorter from when I made em from the stricken end mushrooming, being ground down, mushroomed out again, etc. I've always wanted to make some brass repousse tools because they apparently tend to deform towards giving a very smooth and natural shape for whatever you use them for, like brass pushers/sleds get the right leading edge for easily working your way across a piece without worrying about leaving deep dings from hard corners resulting from my amateurish toolmaking, that kind of thing. But I haven't gotten around to it. Also they're consumables in a way steel punches aren't. e: Your silversmithing program is at George Brown, right? Ambrose Burnside fucked around with this message at 01:20 on May 8, 2014 |
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May 8, 2014 01:18
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Jewcoon posted:I'm looking to buy an anvil, and I've found two on kijiji in my price range. I bought the second anvil from this same guy on ebay. It's in good shape, and although I know it's not heavy enough really, I figure it'll be enough to help me decide whether I like smithing enough to buy a heavier one. Plus at the rate anvils sell on kijiji I know I can get rid of it easily. Making a forge has proven more tricky though.
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May 8, 2014 02:44
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Ambrose Burnside posted:
Yeah. Casa Loma campus. It is Wednesday nights 7-10. This semester's class was cancelled due to low enrollment. I am going to take it again in September. Sign up so there is a better chance of it happening. $285 for 10 weeks. The teacher is fantastic, and knows a ton about just about everything related to metalworking. He showed me a picture of a Mokune Gane teapot that he made that was insane.
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May 8, 2014 02:53
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Ambrose Burnside posted:Also- I'm finally writing that post on chasing/repousse for the OP, so I took a picture of the forty repousse punches, liners and texturers I've made/modified that aren't lost or destroyed yet to throw in there when I'm done. Awesome, you want to post it in here or PM me when you're finished so I can add it? Totally cool with just linking your post in-line if that's what you'd prefer.
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May 8, 2014 06:45
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FoE posted:I bought the second anvil from this same guy on ebay. It's in good shape, and although I know it's not heavy enough really, I figure it'll be enough to help me decide whether I like smithing enough to buy a heavier one. Plus at the rate anvils sell on kijiji I know I can get rid of it easily. I made a forge out of a roasting pan and an air mattress inflating pump, like this one : http://www.target.com/p/coleman-high-performance-electric-pump/-/A-11115253 My forge isn't great, but it works. The only real problem is without a "proper" tuyere, I don't have a good way to remove clinkers and ash. I end up emptying it out every few hours and starting a whole new fire. But it gets hot enough, and I think I spent maybe $50 building the whole thing. Here's a good example similar to what I did. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Make-A-Bladesmiths-Forge/#step0 Pagan fucked around with this message at 19:55 on May 8, 2014 |
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May 8, 2014 19:48
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That looks sweet. I haven't got much yard space though, so I'm trying the ever popular coffee can forge, but I'm terrible at molding the plaster mixture. Does your forge produce much smoke? I'm concerned that if I burn coal in the backyard the neighbours aren't going to like it.
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May 9, 2014 02:00
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FoE posted:That looks sweet. I haven't got much yard space though, so I'm trying the ever popular coffee can forge, but I'm terrible at molding the plaster mixture. Does your forge produce much smoke? I'm concerned that if I burn coal in the backyard the neighbours aren't going to like it. It produces smoke in the beginning, and whenever you add fresh coal. But it's not too bad, and after two weeks of forging and 80 lbs of coal burnt, no-one has complained yet. I use a fan to disperse the smoke; a proper chimney is on my wish list, though. Use this stuff : http://www.homedepot.com/p/Oatey-1-2-Gal-Furnace-Stove-Cement-35515/202078154?keyword=furnace+cement Pre-mixed, and much better than anything else I tried. It's thick enough that it stays in place and holds things together very well. I tried clay, plaster, and refractory cement. None of them worked as well as this stuff, and it's available at my local hardware store. Also, invest in some clothes! This is the dirtiest hobby I've ever had. Two hours at the forge and I look like a cartoon caricature of a chimney sweep. Pagan fucked around with this message at 02:28 on May 9, 2014 |
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May 9, 2014 02:07
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That furnace cement will be on my shopping list for forge v3.0, hopefully this weekend I'll be able to bang out a coat hook with the forge I have now.
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May 9, 2014 02:31
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Brekelefuw posted:Yeah. Casa Loma campus. It is Wednesday nights 7-10. This semester's class was cancelled due to low enrollment. I am going to take it again in September. Sign up so there is a better chance of it happening. $285 for 10 weeks. The teacher is fantastic, and knows a ton about just about everything related to metalworking. He showed me a picture of a Mokune Gane teapot that he made that was insane. Whoaaa with David? He's a super rad dude. I just finished the 3 year jewellery program there and have spent the last year hammering metal with him. He makes chasing tools out of square masonry nails, the ones in canada are weird and textured/not square for some reason so we ordered a 50 pound box of them from the states. Should last for a while :P http://www.tocl.ca/ that's his store downtown, he showed us that mokume teapot as well which is just nuts. I have problems making a 2x3inch mokume billet and he made one big enough to make a teapot from.
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May 9, 2014 19:08
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Yeah with David. He is a great teacher. I spent most of the classes chatting with him about my own projects and getting advice. I was doing the Wednesday night course, but this current session was cancelled due to low enrollment. I'll be back in September to do it again though.
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May 10, 2014 02:59
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So I finished forging a little present for mother's day today. Akward shaping of a piece of 1/4" rod.  The first one was pretty easy to make, because I was just winging it. Matching the next two ones was much harder.  Tack welded and getting the idea a bit more fleshed out. Needed some major leg adjustment to make it level. Next one I make will have 4 legs, because making the three legs have the same angles was really really tough (I failed).  Finished product. Filed/sanded most of the visible area to shiny silver, then took a torch to it to make it blue/purplish. Wound some black steel wire around the stem to hide the welds and add style. 
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May 10, 2014 04:01
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I have been in crazy workaholic mode and have really missed this thread. Burklefuw, I would love if you had some video or imagery of drawing out tube and more of you shaping it. I think your abilities are on par with wizardry. the spyder, I use the same Miller and it is one trusty machine. Someone mentioned that it was not a good idea to use 4140 for knives, and I would have to disagree. In worked one bladesmithing class used only 4140. This cleaver was made from 4140.  Pagan, I would advise against using unknown metal for a chisel. You won't be able to properly heat treat it. The business end needs to be nice and hard, so it won't bend. The other end can be hazardous if it is not tough enough. I don't know how so many of you can work on such small anvils. I guess if it works, it works. I couldn't imagine working on anything under 200lbs. So, I have officially been making a living off of blacksmithing for 6 months now. I am a much, much happier person than I used to be. I just need to work on getting faster. I finished my first stair rail. It is 68 inches long and I couldn't be more pleased. There is a handrail that fits along the wall for 11 steps. Everything was the absolute perfect length and the breaks were all 90 degrees to plumb. I tapped and drilled the long rail on site to ensure the brackets were aligned with the studs.  Now I am finishing some curtain rods for a salon. After that I have a table commission. So, in an attempt to become a professional, I am acquiring good tools. The next thing I would like to invest in is a good set of taps and drills. Any recommendations for a quality set at a reasonable price? Edit: I am looking for drill bits, not drills. ArtistCeleste fucked around with this message at 16:42 on May 10, 2014 |
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May 10, 2014 05:28
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