|
Posted by Bruce in Bangkok on April 7, 2008, 8:26 pm
Please log in for more thread options wrote:
>Bruce in Bangkok wrote:
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>theChas. wrote:
>>>
>>>>The only method I can think of is to get a 30" tall piece of 2" pipe and
>>>>fill it with water, so when I heat a piece of 1/4" dia rod (28 inches long)
>>>>to upset, I can hold it by the hot end and quench all but the last 3/8
>>>>inches, inside the pipe.
>>>>My propane forge works well, but I cannot control it like a coal forge. The
>>>>propane forge heats at least 4 inches of the rod. Then it just bends when I
>>>>try to upset it, (to make rivets).
>>>>I guess I could just whammie the rod end just once with the wedge side of my
>>>>cross peen hammer, about 3/8 inches from the end. Then that should jam in
>>>>the plate with the tapered hole. This may be the solution.
>>>>My instructor showed me how to do this (upsetting using a coal forge), but
>>>>like I said, propane is all or nothing. I tried to heat a different piece
>>>>of metal outside the propane forge, just in front of the mouth and
>>>>firebricks I use as a gates, but it did not heat.
>>>>I am frustratingly slow and it takes so many heats for me to accomplish
>>>>anything that it ticks me off. I am hurting for decent tongs, and that is
>>>>mostly what I am up to now. But the SOR is killing me, using a 4 pound
>>>>hammer. Got to find a lighter one, and build a trip or power hammer.
>>>>At least I'm having fun, and it keeps me off the streets.
>>>>Any imput would be appreciated...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> Hold the rod in a vice, heat the end with a torch, form as required.
>>>
>>> Or drill a hole through the side of your forge for the end to stick in.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Definately get some lighter hammers. You will find you have better
>>>control and you will enjoy yourself more, if the hammer is approriate to
>>>the size of the work. Ball peen hammers are cheap. The peens can be
>>>reworked to provide you with other shapes, if you want. Grind the faces
>>>to the shape you find best for you, too. For some work, a flat face is
>>>nice, for others, a really rounded face works best. I like to radius the
>>>edges to avoid sharp marks though.
>>>
>>> I find I like to choke up on the hammer handle. It's more comfortable
>>>for me. Last time someone snivelled at me that I should be holding the
>>>hammer handle at the end, I cut the handle off where I wanted it to be.
>>>Worked for me. :-)
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>> Trevor Jones
>>
>>
>>
>> Back in the days when Blacksmiths were a working breed all of their
>> heavier hammers had a longer then normal handle so that while they, in
>> a sense, "choked up on it there was a normal length of handle in front
>> of their hand. The longer handle extended behind their hand and rested
>> along their forearm to brace the hammer when it was being raised.
>>
>>
>> Bruce-in-Bangkok
>> (correct email address for reply)
>
> I've run across a few self proclaimed experts, that were pretty
>adamant that the ONLY hammer one could use was a 6 pound square faces
>hand sledge. "'Cause that was what grandad used to sharpen plows".
>
> You can tell some people, but you canna make em listen.
>
> There's always room for another set of tongs, or a different hammer,
>on the rack.
>
> Some days you need the mass to strike with, and others, it just keeps
>you from seeing what is happening...
>
> I found that I would slowly migrate from one hammer to another as my
>needs changed, and the work I was doing changed. Some days I found that
>one or the other of two apparently same hammers, was "the" hammer to use.
>
> I never did any commercial production, either, so I did not have bills
>to pay, and could afford to take time, too.
>
> Cheers
> Trevor Jones
I'm not a blacksmith but I am old enough that when I was a lad many
farms had a blacksmith shop and my father had a forge in the corner of
the workshop. When I was 12, or so, I used to work 'till bedtime
(actually bath time), making "indian" knives.
But, anyway. As I remember, all blacksmith shops had a multitude of
hammers, ranging from little ones to two handed sledges and the smith
would use the hammer most appropriate to the job. Tongs were usually
hung on a long rod what ran down the side of the forge so you could
grab the right set easily.
One of the things I find a bit pretentious with the "white shoe"
smiths is the preconception that things MUST be done this way or that
way when back when it was just a job, people did it any way that they
could to get the job done. I once say a smith build a large bonfire
and keep it burning for a day and a night to get a large "I" beam hot
enough to straighten it.
Nail making was a winter job. Not much going on when there was 6 feet
of snow all over the ground so the smith made nails, or maybe tools
like hoes and shovels (although by the time I was around most of that
kind of stuff was store bought).
Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct email address for reply)
| 
XML site map