[TheForge] forging bronze/re:brass hand rail

[John Emmerling]

not too long ago i bought several bronze propeller shafts for next to 
nothing. i'm not sure what the composition is...maybe someone could 
chime in on this?
anyhow, i learned a lot about forging it and here are the main 
considerations: first, a somewhat darkened atmosphere is necessary as 
judging the color of bronze is extremely important. a very dull red is 
just about the end of the world. beyond that and the first blow is your 
last for that piece. too long in the forge and the molten bronze 
remanents leave a nice color on the next piece of steel that you put in  
:) . copper can handle somewhat of a more reddish color.  second, bronze 
work hardens much quicker than copper and re-heating continually is 
necessary to keep from cracking the material. i think the working range 
is much smaller than stainless steel in both time and heat. hard blows 
are not necessary to move the material and can sometimes cause 
cracking.  and third, imho it could be one of the most physically 
beautiful materials smiths can find to work with. the caveat, 
unfortunately, is the price of beauty.
like reis, i would suggest forging some (a lot of) practice 
pieces....maybe some leaves that include drawing out the stems. any 
thing that is going to give a  good cross section of the various 
processes one intends to forge. i only say a leaf as you can at least 
make a key chain ornament out if it and not feel as though you've wasted 
the material. take some pieces and see how far you can push them before 
they destruct. like i said, i got a good deal on the 10' shafts and feel 
as though i can play and not feel overly uptight about mistakes. its 
been a good learning experience. hope this helps.
je