[TheForge] forging steel bamboo

[Fiorini & Skiles]

Thanks Michael and Ron,
    (I almost missed those messages coming through on the digest version.)
The steel bamboo is all forged now, not welded.   I have to give a lot of 
credit to John Adams of Minnesota who explained it to me a few times.  I'm 
doing the standard method of fullering and upsetting.  I use a smithin' 
magician' for the fullering part, with dies tapered to a rather narrow, 
maybe 3 to 4 mm peen.  We use propane, so for the upsetting,  I use 
oxy-propane to heat each joint.     I got to the point where I could manage 
a 5 ft long length of 7/8 pipe on my own, but anything heavier is too much 
for me to manuever.
Here's a bunch that I finished 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/knitsteel/1641512424/ and blogged here 
http://knitsteel.blogspot.com/2007/10/more-nature-inspired-art-in-progress.html . 
Those are 5 ft lengths of pipe with outer diameters close to 7/8, 1/2 and 
3/8.  (I don't have the exact measurements written down nearby.)
I need some for a commission, but the rest will turn into tables, mirrors, 
or just wallpieces in a few months.

The bronze bamboo is staying as it is.   I think it would be much trickier 
to upset bronze tubing and haven't been motivated to buy more.  I am making 
the pieces that I have into the mirrors.  I'll post pictures when they are 
done.  I only have the decorative fronts done.  I still have to make and add 
leaves and then the mirror holders to the back.

Thanks for bringing this topic back and for the input on the mirror 
hardware.

-Kirsten
http://knitsteel.blogspot.com - art in progress
http://knitsteel.com - handcrafted gifts and tools

> Message: 6
> Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2007 07:41:45 -0700
> From: Michael Horgan <lughaid at earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] forging steel bamboo
> To: Sponsored by ABANA <

> Love the latest steel bamboo, Kirsten. I like it much better than the
> welded steel. What is the work load like, though? Looks like less
> grinding and cleanup, but a lot more hammer work.
>
> > Michael D. Horgan , lughaid at earthlink.net
> http://members.aol.com/lughaid/
> posting from
>  A BRAZEN FORGERY
> Blacksmithing and Metalwork
> Claremont, Ca.
> Message: 9
> Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:17:12 -0400
> From: "Ron Childers" <munlaw2 at hcsmail.com>
> Subject: [TheForge] TheForge] forging steel bamboo
>
> Kirsten, the "bamboo" mirror frame won't care as long as one plane of each
> side of it is relatively flat to cover the glass. You can tweak it with a
> wooden mallet, but be sure to mark the "flat" sides before cutting the
> notches and cut undersized so the final fitting is by file work and the 
> cuts
> don't overlap. This makes a much neater project. You might try bend tabs 
> to
> hold the mirror in place on a small seam of clear calking laid between
> strips of masking tape then cut and remove the tape. This won't show but
> will insulate the glass from the steel.
>
> Ron C
>
>
>