[TheForge] tools

[Peter Fels And Phoebe Palmer]

A sweet little bedtime story indeed.
The point being, that it's altogether possible to step into 
blacksmithing with almost no money , using materials found 
abandoned in the dirt.
Back in my hippie days, I had a cheap greenwood Tijuana guitar 
that i tried to play from time to time and didn't get all that 
far. I blamed it on the lousy guitar.
One day a famous flaminco guitarist was out slumming and came to 
visit. He picked up that guitar, and suddenly stunningly 
wonderful music filled the room. Then he put it down and grinned.
All this to say;
It ain't the tools that are  most of the problem....Pete F

Jerry Frost wrote:
> I understand that reasoning. When I started I just liked building fires, 
> getting things hot and hitting them with other things. (not even always 
> hammers. <grin>)
> 
> A number of points have been covered so I'll try to build on what I can.
> 
> To get started a bean can forge can be made for next to nothing and 
> believe it or not they have been used by bladesmiths for quite a while. 
> A bean can forge is a tin can with the ends cut out, lined with Kaowool, 
> Insulwool, etc. with a hole in the side into which you aim a Bernzomatic 
> type propane torch.
> 
> About using a machinist's vise. Do NOT hit it with a very large hammer. 
> Bending, twisting and and such won't hurt it a bit but if you do much 
> heavy beating it'll break sooner than later.
> 
> Leg/post vises are designed with heavy hammering in mind. Where a 
> machinist's vise jaw is directly connected to the screw, a leg vise's 
> (moving) jaw isn't. The screw isn't rigidly connected to the jaw. In 
> addition, the jaw is further supported by a heavy hinge pin connecting 
> it to the main body and leg. Forces from hammering are taken on the main 
> jaw and transmitted to the ground/floor. Lastly machinist'v vises are 
> typically cast iron where leg vises are typically wrought iron or mild 
> steel which takes beatings with much more grace than cast iron.
> 
> 
> 
> Twist tongs. Buy, beg, find or scrounge some strip stock, 1/4 x 3/4 
> works well. Cut (buy a hack saw, sharp chisel, etc.) two equal lengths 
> somewhere between 18-24". File any sharp burs, etc. off, use a stone if 
> necessary.
> 
> Lay one on the other and clamp them together. (buy a couple cheap "C" 
> clamps, visegrips, etc.) About 4-5" from one end drill or punch a hole. 
> If you don't have a drill, buy a concrete nail, round not the twisted 
> square type and grind the end flat. Hmmmm. Better buy two concrete nails 
> so you can use one for a center punch. <grin> Mark the strip stock stack 
> about 4-5" from one end with a center punch, concrete nail, etc.
> 
> Put it in a fire, aim a piece of pipe at it through the coals and stick 
> a hair drier on the other end. When it's a nice bright orange, bring it 
> out of the fire and using the ground off concrete nail (held with 
> pliers, visegrips, etc.) and a hammer, punch a hole where it's marked. 
> Do this by holding the flattened end of the nail over the center punched 
> mark and giving it a sound smack with a hammer or large rock. As soon as 
> you get THIS close to HOT steel you'll see why you need the pliers. 
> <grin> Now, turn the stock (pieces of hot steel clamped together to make 
> the tongs) over. You'll see a dimple where the punch (ground off nail) 
> did it's job. Placing the stock over a small hole in a piece of steel 
> plate, old engine block or just a gap in the vise jaws a bit larger than 
> the nail, place the punch on the dimple and smack it again. A slug will 
> drop into or through the bolster. (piece of steel with a hole in it, 
> engine block, partly open vise, etc. used this way it's a bolster)
> 
> While the above description is lengthy, some might say windy, you have 
> to move fast to do this in one heat. Repeat heats if necessary.
> 
> Now you have the two pieces of stock with a small hole drilled/punched, 
> etc. (I didn't think I needed to explain drilling. AND if you figure out 
> the etc. method, please share. <grin>) in them. To connect the pieces 
> you could use a small bolt and nut or a rivet. (I'm not going to explain 
> a small nut and bolt) riveting is fun, buy a few nails slightly smaller 
> in diameter than the concrete nail. Buy several as you can easily mess 
> this part up though with a little practice it's really easy. Poke the 
> nail through the holes in the stock and cut it off about twice the 
> nail's diameter away from the stock.
> 
> Now place the head of the ex-nail, now rivet on the heavy thing you're 
> using for an anvil (hopefully an anvil) and pien (hammer) the cut end 
> down. When it gets close move the strip stock back and forth, like 
> scissors, the rivet is the hinge and you need it snug but not overly tight.
> 
> Now, put the nearly finished tongs (they're no longer stock <grin>) back 
> in the fire and bring them to a bright red or more. Put them in a vise 
> or crescent wrench about 1" from the rivet on the short end and put a 
> crescent wrench between the rivet and vise or other cresent wrench and 
> twist 90* being careful not to bend the bits our of line with the reigns.
> 
> Yes, now they're a pair of tongs with pivot, bits and reigns. You may 
> have to straighten them a bit and tune them up every now and then, and 
> they're not going to be real heavy duty but they'll be honest to 
> goodness, handmade blacksmith's tongs.
> 
> Well, it's past my bed time.
> 
> Frosty
> -------------------------------
> If it ain't forged
> it ain't real.
> Wrought iron is.
> The FrostWorks
> 
> Meadow Lakes, AK.
> 
> http://www.artmetalradio.com/
> 
> From: "Jesse Seipel" <jsguardian at hotmail.com>
> 
> 
>> To answer your question:  Right now I just want to take raw metal, 
>> heat it up, and shape it.  In to what?  Well, I'll tell you when I'm 
>> finished what it is that I made. :)  What I make is not important to 
>> me right now. . . making it IS.  I have alot to learn, and I have 
>> found I learn best by doing. I guess in the near future I'll be 
>> hunting down a hard surface, a means of holding hot metal, a hammer of 
>> sorts, and using my BBQ as it was never intended. :)
>>
>> As I mentioned, if anyone has extra tools the would be willing to sell 
>> or give away, please let me know.
>>
>> Also, I have a limited amount of space in my yard, and was hoping 
>> someone might have a good idea as to making a contained fire to heat 
>> metal.  Something roughly 4 foot cubed.
>>
>> Thank you,
>> ~Jesse
>>
>>
> 
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