"Backyard Blacksmithing" pounding iron on the forge this evening!

Yes you can make new plow points. Cast iron or chilled iron when put into a hot forge and hammered seems to crumble because of the small air pockets in the cast. This obviously depends on the quality of the cast. If you want it to be more original you would need to get sheet iron, if you can find it it's usually very expensive.

Your best bet would be to get some new plow points made of a high quality high carbon steel, such as the type used on bulldozer blades.

There is and art to setting plow points. If you don't get the angle right the plow will run to deep or to shallow depending on what type of soil you are plowing!

I do have a blacksmith book that I got from an old blacksmith that was published in 1913. There is a chapter in the book about making plows and plow points. But it's just an overview, though it doesn't go into too much detail about actually setting the points. I guess this is just something that was learned through trial and error by the local blacksmith at the timein that area!

If you like I can take some pictures of the pages out of that book and post them for you.

 

Very cool! I've been thinking of getting a hold of newer frogs to set the plows up for newer style high speed replaceable steel wear parts it would just be easier all around with less worry if I broke something. Pics of those pages would be cool to see

 

Ok if Scotty Overkill doesn't have me to busy with trees today I'll see if I can dig that book out and take some pictures for you!

 

Sounds good no rush Old iron rocks!

 

Was just out in the barn and figured I'd snap a picture the top/left one is a new reproduction from the Amish the other is the original that is missing the holding finger

 

Did the Amish make it or did you just buy an old one from them?

 

@J Dirt, there is 22 pages in the plow chapter. Would you like me to post them all for you on this thread?

 

For all the bigger they are I don't think it would be to difficult to make duplicates from the pictures that I see. As long as there is one to copy off of to get the angles and contour right.

 

I bought them from a guy at our local Deere dealer who said he knew a guy who was Amish that had made some that he could get me so I bought a pair for about $125 this was almost 10 years ago now. Guess I couldn't be sure weather they were bought elsewhere or hand made

 

I've read that cast iron was cheaper to produce and deep chilling made cast stronger. I also wonder if cast was used to break easier than damage other parts on a plow. A cast piece I would think would break before a harder piece of steel. I wonder if they were ever drop-forged in a die later on.

 

I am not sure on that, could have been a possibility of pieces being drop forged. I do know that the only way to drill any kind of cast iron is that it need to be heated first due to the extreme hardness of it, which is probably the reason they used it for plow points less likely to wear down. I am just going off of what I read. If I am wrong please correct me, I don't like looking like an idiot! Hahaha.

 

Industrial History: Chilled Cast Iron Products:Plow Moldboards and Freight Car Wheels

I have little knowledge of this but I don't mind reading and learning. All very interesting to me.

 

Started the rat tail meat skewers tonight using the soup can forge. It works great on the small stock. The points and first twists on the business end are done.

 

We occasionally have to drill cast iron. It's typically soft and easy to drill and tap.

Ductile iron pipe is about the same, but sometimes you'll get a length of pipe that is really hard to drill and tap.

 

Nice skewers, Jon.

 

Thanks Al.

I finished them up this afternoon. I ended up welding some stock together to make a holder for the rods in the forge. It cut my time down greatly and there was always a piece hot and ready to work.







Into the woodstove for a few minutes to burn the oils off the iron.




I finished them with food safe finish as they were cooling down. It darkens the iron, helps prevent rust and evens out the color a little.

 

Always beautiful work as usual Jon! Every time I see something that you have done makes me want to get to the forge and make something! Right now I have alot of irons in the fire (non pun intended ) Scotty Overkill has me busy with tree jobs and I am starting to gear up to redo my kitchen in the spring. My wife keeps telling me that she doesn't want me to do it because it will take to long! So I am trying to get all my ducks in a row like getting rough cut lumber to make my own trim . My plan is to have the trim made stauned and finished waiting to be installed! Redo the plumbing and finish leveling the floor as it drops 2 1/2" to 3 " in the middle of the room.

I know I got a little off topic here. Oh and I have a nice load of wood that needs split and stacked for my new old wood burner that I just got. This will all be done with a maul and sledge as I do not yet have a splitter!

 

I hear ya on other things to do. Good luck with the projects, but make time for the forge if you can. Winter is my quieter, indoor time with not too many projects to do. I get the most shop time now.

I ran into a buddy today who is taking an intro to blacksmithng class in a few weeks. I'll get him over some nice weekend and get him started and maybe make another knife. I miss the one I just made.

 

Sounds good. To the best of my knowledge we don't have any kind of blacksmith classes of any kind around here. I am fortunate enough that a friend of mine retired as a blacksmith from the railroad. He's taught me alot! Iam sure that you know as well as I do that there is a lot of tricks to the trade.

Some of the stories that he told me about when he first hired are pretty interesting.
Like for instance he was operating the big steam hammer. The one journeyman was sleeping standing up and the other fellow told him a certain way to operate the hammer. Little did he know that how he was told to operate the hammer that it would shoot a stream of water right into the guys face who was standing there sleeping. He did as he was told and that guy got a face full of water. Needless to say that large man chased him around the shop, when he couldn't catch him he picked up a 3 lb hammer and threw it at him. He said he felt very lucky because he felt the wind from the hammer pass by his ear! Of course everyone else in the shop though it was funny!

Thise old blacksmiths really knew their equipment. Another thing they would do was to ask the new guy for their watch. If they didn't give it up they would hold them down and take it. They would put it on the large anvil of the big steam hammer take the hammer down to the face then raise the hammer all the way and bring it down fast as to smash it. He said they would stop that big hammer just shy of the face of the watch. He said the it was so close that you could probably put a couple pieces of paper between the watch face and the hammer! If that's true that's pretty amazing!