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Re: Blacksmithing and forging

Originally Posted by Poleframer

What kind of things do you keep in stock for general use?

I stopped keeping things in stock. I tried that, but the demand was so random that it soon just wasn't economical I'd make up a dozen of X because folks were ordering it, but then they'd stop ordering it and want bunches of Y.... leaving me with a ton of fuel and time burned up making all those X!!

I guess it depends on how you're using the stuff. If you're going to use it in your own projects and aren't offering the customers a wide selection, making things ahead of time is pretty easy. For me, it was guess as guess can as to what people would want at any given time. One month, I'd be making hooks from railroad spikes, the next month it'd be flat bar hooks, then round bar hooks...

Never did get good at the artsy hang-on-the-wall kind of stuff. I keep meaning to give it another try, but I just don't seem to have the eye for it. If someone gives me a blueprint, great. Leave it up to me, though, and my brain just doesn't think like that.

For door hardware, you might find this tool a useful addition to your shop.



Thomas' channel doesn't have a lot of videos, but the guy is a gentleman in the truest sense of the word. I have a pair of his scrolling tongs and they are fantastic examples of the trade!

You never know what little tips and tricks you'll pick up from his videos, so I always make sure to tune in.

If I had to pick one thing that I like to do, it'd be a toss up between making dishes and making decorative rivets and washers. I like carving letters and runes into steel for decoration, too, but there's something about dishes, rivets, and rosette washers that just strike my fancy.

Re: Blacksmithing and forging

Thx Vaughn, I dont fire the forge often enough, sometimes skip a winter like last year. So I try to stock up on things I'll use in the next year or so.
I usually need at least a few days to get back into it, stuff on day one goes in the scrap bin, stuff on day two gets better, and around day four I'm in the groove, and keep at it till I need to get back to making a living.
I see by your profile pic you forge, what kind of things do you make?
I sometimes do some experimental stuff like the door pulls below, but mostly just do 8-10 things repeatedly. J hooks of various sizes for coat hooks, towels, kitchen stuff, s hooks for hangers, and stuff to incorporate into gates or railings, that usually involve a branch, surrounded by twisted or fullered bar with some scrolls here and there.
Any suggestions to things to add?
I like to stick to things of use, no so much the artsy wall hangers.
Sometimes I do stuff on request, I have a guy thats having a custom front door made that he wants forged door hardware for.
What kind of things do you keep in stock for general use?

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Re: Blacksmithing and forging

Originally Posted by Poleframer

I see nobody has posted here in a while...

Folks are getting mighty lazy around these parts!

You do good work. It's sure not easy to make a bunch of one thing and have them all turn out so nicely matched. Excellent hammer control and a keen eye for detail!

Re: Blacksmithing and forging

Originally Posted by Poleframer

TY Whtbaron, no rest for the wicked.

My hats off to you

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Re: Blacksmithing and forging

TY Whtbaron, no rest for the wicked.

Re: Blacksmithing and forging

You have been keeping busy.... nice work.

Re: Blacksmithing and forging

I see nobody has posted here in a while, here's some of my work in the last couple weeks.
I mostly do construction work, and grab the time in the winter when I can to stock up a bit for eye candy I like to spice jobs with.
some J hooks, s hooks, drawer handles, more leaves and stems to use, some fullered and twisted bar to work with, and a potrack I just finished for the job I'm on now.
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Re: Blacksmithing and forging

Originally Posted by psacustomcreations

Like eating a really big booger.

Exactly. Safer than sucking boogers straight from an ox's nose, but I can't imagine the texture or flavor would be any different.

Re: Blacksmithing and forging

A couple more of the dogwood branches are complete.

I used a piece of rebar as the center branch. This piece was found at Virginia Beach about 12 years ago and has some really interesting texture to begin with.






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Re: Blacksmithing and forging

Personally, I think oysters are disgusting. Like eating a really big booger. I have tried them three or four different ways, and they are still.nasty.
But if people buy these, I will keep making them.


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Re: Blacksmithing and forging

Originally Posted by psacustomcreations

On to some oyster shucking knives with integrated bottle opener.

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Wouldn't wanna be caught without a beer when you're shucking oysters.

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Re: Blacksmithing and forging

On to some oyster shucking knives with integrated bottle opener.

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Re: Blacksmithing and forging

Thanks 52 and Vaughn. I have some cold blue and used it before on a whaling spear I made for my Dad. I did not realize it was the same stuff.
I will try it out on some other items.

Re: Blacksmithing and forging

Originally Posted by psacustomcreations

Where are you getting the selenium dioxide and how are you applying it?

As 52F said, it's the active ingredient in Cold Blue solution. Also called Oxpho Blue or Super Blue or Brass Ager.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/381984195018

How to apply? Depends on the look you want.

On forged steel, I just spray the metal down with some brake cleaner or other solvent to get any grease and grime off of it. Then use a q-tip to apply the bluing solution. The color change is instant so you can see what you're getting and can re-apply as needed.

The more polished your metal is, the deeper and more consistent the bluing will be. However, I find that I rather like the patchy look that comes from not cleaning and polishing the metal before bluing. Sure, get the heavy grime off so you don't have finger prints, but other than that, I just go with the flow. You can always remove the bluing with steel wool, evening out the finish before you give it a topcoat of oil to seal things up.

Works on copper, brass, iron, and even zinc-plated nuts and bolts. It's a great way to "antique" hardware you're using for a project without having to cook the plating off and all that.

I usually buy a small jar of the Cold Blue at the hunting supply store or such places. It might not seem like much be if you're only doing little bits like darkening screw heads... that little jar will last a year or more.

https://www.grinnell.edu/sites/defau...ster_Part2.pdf

Seems like everyone has their own particular recipe, but I think they all work the same.

If you haven't seen Jason's video on the many different patina sprays available, it'd be worth your time -

Lots of different ways to go. The small bottles of Gun Blue or Cold Blue are an economical way to test the waters.

Re: Blacksmithing and forging

Originally Posted by psacustomcreations

Where are you getting the selenium dioxide and how are you applying it? A quick search turned up a bunch of vitamins.
About the only other thing I could find is some stuff on Amazon that costs $584 for 500 grams and it is out of stock.

Google "Cold Blue". I believe the stuff I bought is Birchwood Casey Super Blue, I'm sure there's a more cost effective product out there. I bought it to touch up a rifle and had a bunch left over.

I bought mine a Green Top (local gun store), but Cabelas, Bass Pro, etc. carry it.

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Re: Blacksmithing and forging

Where are you getting the selenium dioxide and how are you applying it? A quick search turned up a bunch of vitamins.
About the only other thing I could find is some stuff on Amazon that costs $584 for 500 grams and it is out of stock.

Re: Blacksmithing and forging

Sure looks pretty, don't it!?!?!

Re: Blacksmithing and forging

Originally Posted by VaughnT

One thing I'm starting to like is to wire brush the piece with a wheel to get all the scale off. Then hit it with Selenium Dioxide to blacken it uniformly. A touch with some 4 ought steel wool will shine up the corners and edges, but in a soft way that looks nice. Finally, a coat of paste wax that's warmed in with a heat gun to seal the metal.

So... this?

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Re: Blacksmithing and forging

These two 200 pound swage blocks were wire brushed they sprayed with WD40




it photographs well and leaves a nice dry protective finish for my “sale” items…….[emoji857]








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Re: Blacksmithing and forging

Finishes are one of those finicky things and everyone has their own preference.

One thing I'm starting to like is to wire brush the piece with a wheel to get all the scale off. Then hit it with Selenium Dioxide to blacken it uniformly. A touch with some 4 ought steel wool will shine up the corners and edges, but in a soft way that looks nice. Finally, a coat of paste wax that's warmed in with a heat gun to seal the metal.

Of course, that's a lot of work for something that'll be priced low.

For the more economical protection, paste wax applied while the metal's hot from the forge has proven durable enough and quick to do. Not the best for outside applications, but also not as messy as using BLO, imo, even if the BLO does last longer out in the weather.

Another coating that's gaining some favor thanks to Black Bear Forge's recent videos about it is Pine Tar. Applied much like BLO or Paste Wax, the Pine Tar provides a very durable and black finish for ironwork that'll be outside.

And that brings us back to things like "Boat Soup", a mix of Turpentine, Pine Tar and pure Linseed Oil. This is something that was regularly used on ships during the Golden Age of Sail, preserving all their wood and iron against the ravages of the Deep Blue Sea.

With Shellac flakes added to the mix, the Soup creates a long-lasting finish that has some shine and really makes woodwork pop. On ironwork, the shellac isn't necessary.

Since the Linseed Oil polymerizes as it dries, you get a very durable finish, but it's the anti-microbial properties of the turpentine and pine tar that really work to preserve organic materials against rot.

You can also add mineral powder to the mix if you want to create a genuine paint. This is why our barns are Red, and it's a good tradition to keep alive, I think.

Re: Blacksmithing and forging

I have also wiped BLO on larger steel projects and then “brushed” it with a torch flame.

I am unable to speak to as if it created a better or worse finish opposed to wiping onto heated material but iirc I didn’t hate it. [emoji849]


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Re: Blacksmithing and forging

These bottle openers were heated then coated with BLO.
I do use that when the item is hot and like the finish it produces.

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Re: Blacksmithing and forging

Another project for building up inventory - hooks with integrated nails. I like to make them in two or three sizes. Smallest having about a 1" opening and largest having about a 3" opening, though I've made some larger ones to hang fire extinguishers in the shop.

Helps to start with some nearly-to-size round stock, taper a point on both ends, then make your bends with scrolling tongs, then square up the "nail" end on the anvil. If you make them in batches (taper them all, then bend them all, then square up the nail end on all of them, then dunk them in BLO), you can knock out a lot of them fast.



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Re: Blacksmithing and forging

Originally Posted by Lis2323

that's MY style [emoji481]

"if you can't be consistent make it look deliberate"


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I'm sorta surprised I don't have more pictures of my work on my phone... I have like 100Gb of pictures on it.

Anywho, here's a nailset I made from a broken 1/2" socket extension. IMO, twists make for good "handles" on punches and chisels.

Edit: think I actually posted that picture before... [emoji1745]

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Re: Blacksmithing and forging

Originally Posted by psacustomcreations

Thanks for the advice.
I could probably twist a couple of dozen an hour.
I have a three burner forge that gets plenty hot and has room for a half dozen or more spikes at once.
I chose to use my bridgeport to mill the slot. That operation takes about as much time as twisting them.
Pricing these is always a challenge. I am the featured artist at our gallery next month, so I am trying to build inventory. Some nice/expensive items, some like this, etc

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When I finish a part like that, I usually wipe them down with a rag dipped in boiled linseed oil while the part is about... ehhh
... maybe 450F? I dunno. Hot enough that the oil turns the metal black, but not so hot that it burns off. That finish is fairly weather resistant. I know people who are using some of my forged hooks in their garden, and they're still holding up fine after a few years.

After the BLO finish, on twisted parts, I use a fine grit belt on the belt grinder and polish the edges. Gives a nice contrast. After that, I wipe it down with BLO again, at room temp this time, then let it dry.

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