Rev. ... 2002-12-15, 2003-02-08, -06-21, -08-28
2004-12-10, 2005-01-06, 2006-08-14, 2008-12-05
I became interested in forging out of glass work in part because of wanting to make some metal shapes to blow into. (Also, Foundry work.) In particular, one of the variations I wanted to try was to twist up stems from steel that would look like the exposed roots, trunk and limbs of a tree and blow glass into the shape formed by the limbs.
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| The piece shown uses part of a piece of wire rope (about 15 feet long I found by the road and dragged home in a big loop on the bus) that has 7 wires, a central straight wire and 6 twisted tightly around it. This is the natural tight pack. (By counting on a copper stranded wire, the next layer apparently has 12 wires in it.) |
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I explored other packs for having choices in design and having a central wire for grip if I needed it.
| Number of wires | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Center wire dia. (fraction of D) | 0.151 | 0.407 | 0.707 |
| Center wire gauge for 9 gauge wire | <24 | 17 | 12 |
| Two images taken with different cheap video cameras (one a USB digital link, the other an X-10 analog remote cast camera.) |
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| An attempt at twisting up a piece out of (much too thin) 18 ga. stainless wire. It blew ok, but barely stands up. |
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| Punty built for wire stem goblets - there is a hole in the soldered core of the all-thread pipe the size of the center wire, so the middle wire of the stem is centered on the foot plate/floor flange at left. There is a hole drilled in the side of the all thread (on the other side) to permit running a wire down the inside to hold a leg of the punty, but both so far I have used light wire twisted through one of the holes in the plate to hold the wire stem, cutting it with diagonal cutters just before putting it in the annealer. |
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This is the third goblet blown into wire, a smaller gauge than above, using part of a batch of wire found being thrown out and bent up with a plate with 7 holes drilled into it
Additional goblets have been made with cast feet and stems. |
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Back in the distant past (4 years?), I started collecting stuff so I could do some forging. I found a place over in Ft. Worth that sells actual hard coal for blacksmith work, bought a couple of tools, read several books, built a flat tray on legs to hold coal and take in air and attended a couple of meetings of the blacksmiths and bought a small anvil. After a bit of fooling around that is about as far as it went.
Here is the anvil newly mounted on its 5'
pecan post after the previous 5 foot whatever wood post turned to punk.
I had to take a tree down in my backyard and carefully cut the
longest section of trunk for this purpose. The top of the anvil
is about 26" off the ground, so about 3 feet of the post are
in the ground. The anvil is held to the post with a thickish
steel strap across the feet with drilled holes and long (6-8")
3/8" lag screws into the stump. The top of the stump is
treated with boiled linseed oil. Since the anvil is outside, to
the right is the rough sheet metal cover that protects it when
not in use. 2004?
This is only a 65# anvil, but it seems enough for me, especially when fastened to the post instead of loose. The post was carefully positioned and the top trimmed with a router to make sure it was level. The worst thing about the anvil is the 3/4" hardie [square] hole for which no one makes fittings so I am forging my own.
This fall (2008) the pecan had turned to punk, so I contacted a
tree firm and asked if I could put in a request for a bois d'arc log 8-10" in
diameter and 5-6' long, which I could. Only a few days later they reported they
had one. They showed me a 9 foot long log and I pointed out where I wanted
it cut to my length and they loaded it. Very, very heavy and hard to move
with a hand truck over dirt. I dug out the old pecan remains. After
trimming one end flatter and considered taking off 6" of the log with long
branch blade on recip saw and quickly decided to dig hole deeper.
Installed, the log looks much like the pecan shown in the picture.
Boi d'arc (horse apple, indian osage) is native to this area and has spread up
the midwest. It is very dense and very bug resistant. The pots
supporting my house are about 80 years old and in good shape. It is a
yellow-green in appearance. 2008-12-05
| These two tools for use in the 3/4" hardie hole were made from 3/4" solid bar stock, round and square to have smaller surfaces to work on than the anvil. I had tried gas welding pieces to tubing, but broke it free on pounding. These two were worked in the coal forge to bend in the middle and square, reduce and fit the lower end. 2005-01-06 |
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This is the forge. The coal forge design was scrounged from a couple
of online descriptions and is basically a square pyramid welded of 4 pieces of
1/8th
inch steel and turned up side down. What would be the point of
the pyramid has a square tube welded for air intake, coals
shaker, and cleanout. The tray was lined with concrete. A lip on the back and
side restrains coal from getting out. To show you the pace I sometimes work
at, when I went to my webpage on forging I found a note from 2002 saying I
should try the push button on the blower and here I finally did it!
If you don't mind a small lecture, the problem with coal forges is
controlling the air, which controls the temperature. Continuous air burns
coal very hot and wastes coal. Manually valving the air distracts from
working the metal. What is wanted is a fixed rate of air that "coasts" for a
while and then dies off.
The traditional blacksmiths bellows has three wood panels making two
chambers with flexible leather sides: the lower half supplies
continuous smooth pressure and the upper half is lifted to renew the supply,
flap valves handling the cross over. The blacksmith can do a short lift for brief
air and a long one for more.
The portable way to do this (bellows being big) is a cast squirrel cage blower
that geared so when the handle is turned, it keeps spinning for some time.
Costs a fortune. I had actually cut a pair of 6" plastic tubes to make a
bellows, but the button works just fine now that I have used it. My air is
coming in the back of the square column in the center (which takes ash away.)
The handle blade was made some time ago and the handle riveted on in this
session.
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| Unfortunately, my simple design for a shaker is bad and the air flow is hard to step up and down. I simply use one of the blowers from my glass work. Either I need a manual device that gradually slows down (a bellows, pipe pump, or hand spun blower) or I need to counter weight my valve so that when I open it, it gradually closes when I ignore it. [I am thinking a foot switch to turn on the blower briefly might be useful 2002-10-12 Worked very well 2004-12-09.] Legs and cross bars are welded under the tray so that it sits on a level surface, most importantly in the BBQ grill space where its surroundings are fire resistant. |
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This is the spiral shaft after forging. The 1/4" rod is threaded into a
tapped hole in the end of the 1/2" shaft of the fan blades. Forging was about
as much of a challenge than I expected, getting the twist in place and working
it smooth, and getting the balance was a challenge. Even cold, I had to
jigger for several minutes of bending to get it centered.Many blacksmiths and most farriers (horseshoers) use propane forges more or less all the time. I have built a cylinder for use as a propane forge and gloryhole, but have also done some coal work. I hope to do more.
A required catalog is from Centaur Forge http://www.centaurforge.com/ which has blacksmith, tinners, and farrier tools as well as equipment, books, videos, and coal (if you can afford the shipping.)
A major source of information on the web is anvilfire.com - Blacksmithing and Metalworkers Reference
In the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, most of the resources are near Ft. Worth. Texas Farrier Supply 603 S New Hope Rd Kennedale, TX 76060 (817) 478-6105 has tools and coal has anvils. Verified 2006-08-14
