[TheForge] forging steel bamboo

[Mark A. Pesetsky]

Is there any way that you could post pics of the fullering/magician
aspect of this method that you are using? I am really interested in
having a hand at making some of this beautiful stuff but I am having a
dense moment in trying to visualize the process.

Thanks
Mark


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-progre
ss.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.