Blacksmithing tools

[whtbaron]

When I put the Hardy in the railroad fishplate on my upright I used a similar method to yours by drilling out the corners, but I got lazy and cut most of the straight sides with a hummer disc in a die grinder. I'm still playing around with the old junk under the welding bench and made a couple of tools out of old forged loops. Not sure if they'll ever get used but I was thinking you could put a hot rod in them for bending angles. You can see a shorter version of my chisel is also in the works.

[clive]

When I was an apprentice back in the 60's our company employed two blacksmiths and all the appprentices spent a couple of months with them. In 2000 my wife and I went to London and one of the museums had a display of a Roman smithy. The tools were pretty much the same as our guys had, just shows we're no smarter than our ancestors we have just accumulated more knowledge.

[raf]

Doug,
Those are some beautifully made smith tools, very inspiring.
I have a nice propane forge , chile habanero, but no real anvil, just some long pieces of 135lb RR Track, on end.
I do have a 3' long piece of 3.5" round S-7 hardened tool steel @ 54-55 rockwell hardness,
Just need to make a stand for the s7 and the post leg vises.
Thanks for posting all of those pictures and explaining how you made them. Awesome!
Regards,
Raf

[DSW]

That's a nice size chunk of S7. If I had that I'd be tempted to take that into class with me week after next and play with a good size chunk of it under the power hammer. I could see part of that turning into the top section of a nice bick. S-7 hardly moves when heated even to a yellow heat. I know the hammer eye punch that was used under the power hammer shown earlier is made of S7. Even when red hot from being used in that heavy stock, it still kept a sharp edge. A piece that diameter would be a real b!tch to forge by hand.

I have a few thoughts for stuff to make when my class comes around in 2 weeks. I'll probably make up some more tools between now and then depending what I decide to make this year.

[raf]

Doug,
Here are a few picts of my post anvils with and without stands and my propane forge.
Thanks ,
Raf

[Mudman]

Sweet The Habanero! I have one also. Been so tied up with other things, that I haven't been able to do any forging in well over a year.

[whtbaron]

LOL....took me a minute to figure out why you were chaining the railroad iron to the wall! Guess the pic could have been flipped....nice looking forge!

[DSW]

I just got done with this years blacksmithing class and have a few new tools to add to the list.

1st is a bark texturing die I made so I can make vines for the wine rack I spent the week working on. I'll add more picts on the wine rack to my forgery thread later. I thought I had a better detail shot of the textured rods. I'll take one and add it when I do the wine rack posts later. Die is made up out of 1/2" x 1" hot rolled that I welded a piece of 1" to to match my hardy hole. I used a piece of 1/2" round as a swage to start the die, then ran two cold tig beads down the center to create the texture pattern ( tough to make "bad" beads after so many years of making sure I do them right... " Then I took the stock I wanted textured and heated it and beat on it in the die with my hammer turning it and moving it as I went. For part of the "vines" I took some 1/2" round and tapered it down to a very long taper ending in a point, then textured it.

[DSW]

Stupid new Verizon box won't connect to my wireless extender so I'm having issues posting tonight, so bare with me if it takes awhile to get all these in.

2nd tool is simply a scaling hammer I reground to use as a veining / leafing hammer to make the leaves for the project. Leaves were cut from 16 ga with my Hypertherm 1000, then textured with the hammer.

[DSW]

3rd set is for doing the collars that I used to join the rings and cover the tack welds I used to hold things in position while I worked.

1st is another bottom swage made similar to the bark swage. In this case I used a piece of 3/8" square to develop the shape and beat it in about 3/32". I'd hot forge 1/4" round on this down to 3/8" x 3/32" for stock for my collars. Shown is a scrap piece of collar stock sitting in the swage.




Next set is a group. It consists of a bottom die used to form the collars, and a top punch made up of two pieces of scarp ring material welded together with a handle added. The collar material is measured and cut ( 2 5/16" in this case), then driven into the die as shown. Then the rings are dropped down onto the collar, and the punch is used to seat the rings in the collar ( Not shown, I'll add that pict later ). Then the collar is hammered down over the back to close it tight. All of this is done cold.

[whtbaron]

My Explornet connection goes to crap on the last week of every month too, so I feel your pain. Nice work on the wine rack... will you paint it or leave it in a metal finish?

[DSW]

It will get a clear satin wipe on urethane. I picked up a can today and will do it later next week if I get a chance to do the missing collar. I want something that they don't have to worry about taking care of and that's what the class instructor suggested.

[DSW]

Next tool is a dishing cup. It's simply a piece of pipe with the edge heated and rolled on the anvil with a piece of angle iron welded to the bottom so it can be held in a vise, or a shank added that will fit your hardy.

1st pict is the tool in the vise. 2nd pict is a few bowls or ladle blanks that were done as demos on how to use the tool. Next is the pear the instructor did using the dishing tool and stump by chasing and repousse. Last is the "pan" one of the students in my class made using it.

[raf]

Thanks Mudman and Whtbaron,
I love my Habanero forge.
Raf

[raf]

Doug,
Those are really nicely done. I love the bowls, and the pear is very cool.
I thought I saw a finished pic of your wine rack.
Is that a different thread?
Take care,
Jon

[DSW]

I thought I saw a finished pic of your wine rack.
Is that a different thread?

Yes. Those picts are in this thread.

http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...rged-wine-rack

[7A749]

Next tool is a dishing cup. It's simply a piece of pipe with the edge heated and rolled on the anvil with a piece of angle iron welded to the bottom so it can be held in a vise, or a shank added that will fit your hardy.

1st pict is the tool in the vise. 2nd pict is a few bowls or ladle blanks that were done as demos on how to use the tool. Next is the pear the instructor did using the dishing tool and stump by chasing and repousse. Last is the "pan" one of the students in my class made using it.

That's pretty sweet Doug. I've used a large V block in the past to form domes, then finished them on a trailer ball fixture that fits in the hardie.

[DSW]

That's pretty sweet Doug. I've used a large V block in the past to form domes, then finished them on a trailer ball fixture that fits in the hardie.

We had a small "mushroom" stake that went in the vise very similar to that hitch ball in the hardy. I have a hitch ball I need to rig up for my hardy at some point. I've also got a large swage block with different shapes in it that can be used for forming like your V block.

I thought I had more picts of this shovel the one guy was working on. In the last pict the instructor is showing him how to fine tune the bottom on the flat top of the big floor cone the studio has. He's working both the flat bottom on the top of the cone, and the tapered sides on the edge of the cone.

[raf]

Yes. Those picts are in this thread.

http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...rged-wine-rack

Thanks Doug,
You are an awesomely talented man, and a very nice person, which makes you so likeable.
Regards,
Jon

[whtbaron]

I was at the Austin Thresherman's Reunion in Austin Mb. at the end of July and shot some pics of the various tools etc. in the blacksmith shop. Unfortunately I forgot to change my outdoor camera settings so a bunch didn't come out very good. It was the last day of the fair and the temps were 90 plus outside, so there wasn't much activity in the shop when I got there.

[whtbaron]

Couple more shots from the same day....

[DSW]

My thread on forging tongs.

http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...1-Forged-tongs

[pantelones]

Funny how you can convert other tools right?

Yeah, that is a good idea.

[DSW]

Thread on suggestions of where to buy swage blocks for forging.

http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...ll-swage-block

[pantelones]

Thread on suggestions of where to buy swage blocks for forging.

http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...ll-swage-block

I can't believe how much those block go for...


I took an old ball-peen and made it into a leaf forming tool... I'm thinking of grinding it down more and do a SI-Brz build up to not make dents like it does now. I didn't realize that leafing and veining were two different process's until I started this

IMG_0635 by Los Pantelones!, on Flickr

IMG_0634 by Los Pantelones!, on Flickr

Also my first time doing a handle... I used a freshly squared stone wheel to shape the "neck" I guess you would call the part that fits into the hammer head. I used the stake and a 2-part epoxy to really keep it in place (I hope...) Then sanded using a D.A. and 80-320 grit. Pecan stain and a light wet sand.

IMG_0633 by Los Pantelones!, on Flickr

The more I look at it the more I don't like it... but I know what to do for the next ones

IMG_0629 by Los Pantelones!, on Flickr

IMG_0626 by Los Pantelones!, on Flickr