blacksmith skills

[k15n1]

I signed up for a blacksmith course. I've been wanting to do this for a while and seeing the class offering was the kick-in-the-ass I needed. Lately I've been watching videos on the intertubes. I'm amazed at what you can do with some charcoal, a fan, hammer, and anvil. Almost no job is too big or small.

I read that John Deere introduced steel plows to the midwest. I read somewhere that the procedure for maintaining the cutting edge of a plow was to put it in the forge and hammer on it until the edge was re-formed. Sounds crazy until you see how simple a forge is. Still, it would be heavy...

A forge and hammer are such primal tools. I'm sure blacksmith skills would be useful in a SHTF type situation. And those skills would come in handy on any farm even if the world doesn't come to and end.

I'm looking forward to making nails in the short term. I'd like to make some hammers and other tools. Eventually, a knife or two. Maybe I'll make an implement or two for my tractor, if the need arises.

Anyone else have blacksmith experience or enthusiasm?

 

[Joel_BC]

When I was a kid, I was part of a little night-school class. At that time, I'd never operated an oxy-fuel torch or arc welder, let along had anything to do with forges. I made a few simple things. A couple were useful, one or two attempted to be decorative but were not very elegant, as - besides just getting used to the forge, hammer, and anvil - I had no design experience.

I don't have a forge now, though sometimes when I need to do something practical I'll spend a bit of acetylene on heating up some piece or pieces of mild steel and bending, twisitng, or banging them. What can I say? It's essentially a fun thing. And you're right about it being a useful sort of skill.

It'd be great if this thread got going and some of you guys who really are into it posted some pics here.

 

[k15n1]

http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/ah635e/Ah635e00.htm

Farm-appropriate blacksmith instructions. Great illustrations.

 

[Joel_BC]

k15N1, do post pics of what you make here! You've started a good thread, and spring is the natural time for 'new enterprises'. Adding pics may move other people to post to the thread.

 

[Joel_BC]

K15N1, after your class, you're thinking to get a forge, I take it?

The problem with using acetylene, as I do, is that using a large welding tip or a "rosebud" tip, yes you can heat up maybe material as thick as half an inch (round stock square stock) into the needed temperature zone, but it uses so much acetylene to do this! So I'm generally working with 3/8-inch stock and smaller. Works okay for some projects, but it's obviously limited.

A forge is a way around that. The problem with a forge is initial investment of money - or time & money (to build one). But, if you have it, the operating cost for using it - whether fired by coal or by propane - is lower.

I've got a friend who is completely set up, and has been for years. He even taught classes in the local art school for 15 years or so. I can use his equipment, when he has it going... just reimburse him for a bit of propane that I'd use. But it takes a half hour to drive to his place!

 

[k15n1]

A forge is a super low-tech device, if I understand it correctly. Seems like a fire-proof base with a tuyere (tweer). You don't even need electrical fans to make it work. I think there was many a forge back in the day. Probably a makeshift forge on every farm. And it seems like you could make it as big as you want. Even with a single firepot, you can do large pieces. Imagine a forge with multiple firepots. Of course, you have to be able to lift the work piece...

For now, I'm working on an anvil. Got some 3" steel plate the other day from a welding shop. They only wated 35 $ for a 8" and 11" circle of scrap. Per pound, that was a deal. I welded them together, small one on the bottom so I can make a pritchel hole where it overhangs. I'm not sure about the carbon content... I have to cut out a hardy hole on the edge of the circle (weld some 3/4" bar to close the hole) so I'll have a scrap to heat treat. I don't know any other way... Anyhow, if it's not an adequate steel, I'll have to get something else to put on top. The edges won't hold up if they're not hard.

 

[Joel_BC]

Be great to see what you're describing. It's a bit hard to follow from a verbal description.

Any chance you could take some digital pics and upload them?

Here are a couple links to some tools I made using a torch, hammer, and very improvised "anvils":

http://www.sufficientself.com/threads/a-garden-tool-i-made.11553/#post-341347

http://www.sufficientself.com/threads/truck-bed-retriever-tool-i-made.12710/#post-358467

 

[k15n1]

Pictures are always a struggle. And now I'm out a computer. Had neutral go out at the house over the weekend... probably it's been a long time coming but it all came to a head this weekend. The microwave wouldn't run, some lights were dim, others flickered bright. Turns out that the neutral line (underground) failed and the power company had to come out and run a copper wire from the meter to the transformer. During one of those high-voltage surges, the power supply of my computer burned up.

I did find a neat way of identifying alloys, though. There are chemical methods and there's the spark test. When you grind metal, you're scraping off little bits, which get so hot that they burn. The color of the burn, the length of the arc, and other subtle features tell you something about the alloy. The steel I'm using for the anvil is a nice high-carbon steel. It has a big bushy pattern, starting to scatter near the point of contact.

 

[Joel_BC]

I did find a neat way of identifying alloys, though. There are chemical methods and there's the spark test. When you grind metal, you're scraping off little bits, which get so hot that they burn. The color of the burn, the length of the arc, and other subtle features tell you something about the alloy.

Have you found a good online video showing the spark pattern of various specific types of steel? I came across one once, on Youtube, but it wasn't very well made.

 

[k15n1]

I don't know of a good video. This is the article I read:

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