[TheForge] Precision Forging

Tue Jun 4 06:11:01 2002

Bob;  I'm not big on math, so I go for a way to figure these things that is
easier, and gets me in the ball park.  I have sizes of braided rope hanging
on my shop wall, from 1/8th up to 3/4" and lay these on my drawings to get a
good idea of how much stock to use. I know pretty much how much the drawing
takes out for different scroll end treatments take, so I leave that amound
off the computed measure and away I go.

The above technique usually gets me close enough for what I usually do,
without having to do it over again.  Like that old saying   "Close enough
for Government work"  ;-)

Harry Foster
Rusty Dog Forge
http://pages.infinit.net/rustydog/home.htm

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Bob Rackers
Sent: Monday, June 03, 2002 11:53 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [TheForge] Precision Forging

I can understand the logic of making test pieces, but what I'm asking isn't
specific to a particular piece.
If I make a 90 degree bend in 1/2" square today, I ought to be able to count
on
it taking the same amount of stock tomorrow.
If today I make something 6" long, and tomorrow it has to be 8" long, I
doubt
I'll spend time making a practice piece 8" long to figure out how much
material
the piece is going to take.
(I don't think it makes sense to make test pieces every time I go to forge
something.)

I have a friend who is a carriage-maker, and I know that every time he makes
a
wheel of a different size he doesn't make a practice wheel first to figure
it
out.
He has his particular rules of thumb which work for him, though someone else
may figure things out differently for themselves.

Now if I'm trying to figure out how much 3/4" stock it takes to make the top
of
a Suffolk latch, then a test piece makes plenty of sense.
But what does that teach me if I don't at least try to figure it out in
advance
and seeing how close I am to my figuring?

If you don't at least make an educated guess, then you'll never know if what
worked out in practice would have worked out in theory as well.

Besides, we're not talking about forging something with an irregular shape.
All we're talking about is figuring out how much length is required in
making
certain types of bends.

Actually, though, what I'm looking for specifically IS the theories and
their
relationships to the realities.

Bob

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Mike Linn
Sent: Tuesday, June 04, 2002 1:19 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Precision Forging

>This is easy..... make test pieces....   What works in theory does not
>always work out in practice.

mike

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