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

all "hobbies" have associated costs.

 

Yup.

 

The best part about it your wife shouldn't complain because she's the one that got you the smithing classes for a present!

 

Yeah it is to start. Once you get the tools all you need is steel and away to heat stuff up! Depending on what you're making you can get your material for pennys on the dollar at local scrap yards. As for other hand tool that you need you can make them.

 

Neato blade from motorcycle chain

 

that is really cool!!!

 

That is cool! I haven't got too much into forge welding but would like to practice more so I can get better and make cool stuff like that!

 

I’ve got a couple saw chains I’ve saved for some day, but I think they wil need serious cleaning before I try it.

 

There has to be a lot more than meets the eye on these knives.

Chains have many layers, contamination of oils, dirt, etc. Forge welding can be done, but the risk of inclusions is definitely there. The leading edge looked very clean and maybe they used a separate billet that the chains were forge welded onto. they are pretty sweet looking.

 

click the the link, you'll see the cutting edge is a clean piece of metal.

 

I see what sorcery they did. At the beginning of the video, it shows the stack of chains welded up to the rod. The bottom piece is mostly likely high carbon steel which will be the future cutting edge. It also looks like powdered steel was sprinkled over the billet to fill gaps during the hammering process. Power hammers can be you friend.

 

I made a set of hinges for Armbru84 as an extra thanks because he really helped me out and gave me some good deals on a couple of saws!

I used some 1/4" X 4" flat stock and 1/2" round stock for the pins.

Well here's the pictures.








This mark is at 6 7/8" because where his door is going it is right on the end of the wall. It was quite the challenge to get that precise bend freehand on the anvil but it appears that I have achieved it! I just hope that these hinges go up ok for him as he lives in Michigan me in PA so I wasn't just able to swing by and take measurements. Fingers crossed!


Now onto the next set of photos.

 

Starting to take shape now.


The 6 7/8" bend that I was talking about to go around the corner.


A side view of the bend.



Drilled the mounting holes so I can square punch them for carriage bolts.



Sorry I didn't get take any pictures of the pins that I made. I don't have a rivet heading tool so I just upset them on the anvil inserted them in the pritcel hole and peened it over to form a head. Put the hinges together inserted the pins and put the whole thing in the fire to heat up the end that I still needed to peen. No one is popping these pins out, they'll have to cut the whole hinge apart!

All done. Cleaned them up with a wire wheel so he can put whatever finish that he wants to on them.

 

Lifetime hinges there Joe. Nice clean work.

My shop is packed away for now, so I'll watch what everyone else is up to...

 

Thank you Jon! They'll definitely last a little while anyways.

 

Man those look sweet Joe!!!! Can’t say thanks enough for doing them. Look forward to getting them installed.

 

You're quite welcome Cole! And thank you! They are squeaky because I didn't oil them if you decided to put a coat of paint on them, otherwise it wouldn't stick. I just cleaned them up with a wire wheel.

 

Those are beautiful!
The marriage of wood and steel is a beautiful thing.

 

I saw this hand-forged hay hook at an antique store last week. It looks farm made. The wooden handle is long gone. I didn't get a good look to see if the handle "u" was split from the hook or forge welded on. I might have to go back for this one. It looks like wrought iron. It is a work of art in my eyes. Sorry about the fuzzy pic.

 

That's pretty cool!