Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Blacksmthing Books Summary post
This post is just to hold links to the other posts on books in one place like a table of
contents for posts on books
Short simple 3 books to start with
More books
A metric buttload of free books some pay books, but good ones
TOO MANY BOOKS, JUST WANT TO READ A COUPLE.. OVERLOAD..Help....
Okay my previous post had mountains of books, but where should I start?
1. If you buy one book, buy this one, it covers the basics and is good, I like it so much I bought the video series...
2. Read this free book
http://www.webpal.org/SAFE/aaarecovery/6_pioneer_methods/Basic_Blacksmithing.pdf
It was written for teaching 3rd woulrd vilager how to black smith to rebuild thier community.
it's heavy on diagrams and light on words... But like almost every other book it jumps over stuff
covered in #1 above.
3. Read this free old school book with lots of info..
http://blacksmith.org/blacksmith/wp-content/uploads/digitalbooks/BLACKSMITHS-MANUAL-ILLUSTRATED.pdf
See the books summary page to find more book posts
Monday, January 26, 2015
How to flute armor... barely... (basics)
1. fully shape your armor first, then go back and flute...
Video (not mine)
http://www.ageofarmour.com/education/fluting.html
You don't have to be this fancy...but it shows the basics...
go get one of these flat dasco chisels, they are hard as the dickens.
(They carry them at home depot)
take
a grinder and a flap wheel and make it curved instead of flat so the
end looks like this on it's side ) instead of like this ].. and make its
edge rounded so it will not cut the metal.. put it in your vice so the
curved end is up and the hammering end is resting on your vice... put
the metal on, take a small rounded hammer(I like a plastic tear drop
mallet) and tap on the metal barely to one side of the stake, where it's
un supported.. you'll dish down the unsupported side and the part held
by the stake stays up... the closer you get to the edge of the stake the
sharper the line between the two will get ... There are more steps to
make it look perfect but this is enough to get you started...important
addition, the curve of your stake has to be tighter than the curve of
the metal you are fluting, or the corners just make ugly dimples....move
the metal around on the stake with the line of your design resting on
the stake...to get a fully pointed flute, } you work both sides...
If
you look at this gauntlet (not min) the fluting around where the thumb
meets the fingers is done only on one side of the stake, the rest is
done on both... to get it started quickly, you can rest the line on the
stake and whack it with a rubber mallet.. then go back and refine with a
hammer and back again to planish and crisp up the lines.Here is a simple example of a jig called a "flute o matic" or at least that's what i've always called it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj6UiIsqVOc
if he rounded the chisel it'd curve better
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj6UiIsqVOc
if he rounded the chisel it'd curve better
Anvil restoration
I decided to start collecting resources for anvil restoration...
http://www.anvilmag.com/smith/anvilres.htm
Better to Blow than Suck... advice on airflow to your forge, from somone on a facebook group I'm in...
this guy pretty much nailed it, so I'm just copying what he says...
from Matt Looker
from Matt Looker
Ok,
here's a piece of advise for newbies building their first forge. I just
finished typing this out for someone, so it's a good opportunity to
share it.
A lot of people advise new people to use a hair dryer for a forge blower. It seems to make sense up front because everyone seems to have an old one laying around and the round end fits nicely into the end of a piece of pipe. However, I never advise people to use a hair dryer or a shop vac. They're popular because they're cheap, but they both suffer from the same problem- noise. I can't stand being in the bathroom while my wife blow dries her hair because of the noise. I find blacksmithing relaxing, the high pitched whine of either of those blowers would be counterproductive. Not to mention that they are both noisy enough to necessitate hearing protection.
If you're looking for an inexpensive, off-the-shelf blower, one of the best and easiest to find options is a bathroom exhaust fan. The kind that mounts in the ceiling to vent steam and odors. They can be had most anywhere, they're already set up with a 3 or 4 inch exhaust port, and I've seen them for as little as $15 brand new (saw that particular one at Menards). They are also designed to run quietly. Some are noisier of course, but they are rated by the amount of noise they produce. Actually they are rated by airflow vs noise, but even the ones with the least airflow are more than enough for an average size forge. Another bonus: they are square, so even a guy with limited wood or metalworking experience can build a box for them pretty easily. To control to airflow, you can simply make a swinging plate to damper the inlet side, which is easier on the motor than putting a damper in the tube. Dampening the tube creates back pressure which forces the motor to work harder, ultimately shortening the life of the motor.
Another consideration: these blowers are made to last through years, even decades of daily use. Even more importantly, they are designed for easy disassembly so the working parts can be cleaned as needed. That's something that you rarely find with any of the other makeshift options. Hope this helps some of you who are trying to get started on a budget.
A lot of people advise new people to use a hair dryer for a forge blower. It seems to make sense up front because everyone seems to have an old one laying around and the round end fits nicely into the end of a piece of pipe. However, I never advise people to use a hair dryer or a shop vac. They're popular because they're cheap, but they both suffer from the same problem- noise. I can't stand being in the bathroom while my wife blow dries her hair because of the noise. I find blacksmithing relaxing, the high pitched whine of either of those blowers would be counterproductive. Not to mention that they are both noisy enough to necessitate hearing protection.
If you're looking for an inexpensive, off-the-shelf blower, one of the best and easiest to find options is a bathroom exhaust fan. The kind that mounts in the ceiling to vent steam and odors. They can be had most anywhere, they're already set up with a 3 or 4 inch exhaust port, and I've seen them for as little as $15 brand new (saw that particular one at Menards). They are also designed to run quietly. Some are noisier of course, but they are rated by the amount of noise they produce. Actually they are rated by airflow vs noise, but even the ones with the least airflow are more than enough for an average size forge. Another bonus: they are square, so even a guy with limited wood or metalworking experience can build a box for them pretty easily. To control to airflow, you can simply make a swinging plate to damper the inlet side, which is easier on the motor than putting a damper in the tube. Dampening the tube creates back pressure which forces the motor to work harder, ultimately shortening the life of the motor.
Another consideration: these blowers are made to last through years, even decades of daily use. Even more importantly, they are designed for easy disassembly so the working parts can be cleaned as needed. That's something that you rarely find with any of the other makeshift options. Hope this helps some of you who are trying to get started on a budget.
Saturday, January 10, 2015
More free blacksmith books to download.
More free blacksmith books to download,
a few are in my previous posts, but some are not. good stuff here
http://www.bamsite.org/books/books.html
Other posts on this topic
Great free pdf
The big momma jamm page of free stuff
See the books summary page to find more book posts
a few are in my previous posts, but some are not. good stuff here
http://www.bamsite.org/books/books.html
Other posts on this topic
Great free pdf
The big momma jamm page of free stuff
See the books summary page to find more book posts
A free, really simple book that teaches alot of basic blacksmthing in a short amount of words
I was watching a youtube video on making a bit and brace,
and it referenced a gov't handbook, that is desigend to gotot 3rd world countries and teach folks how to use blacksmithing to make the tools they need to rebuild after a disaster..
Pretty cool, very simple, very straight forwards...
It could easily be used as a primer to teach yourself blacksmith, going through the projects in the order in the book, and at the end you'd have a nice set of tools, and some skill.
The PDF
See the books summary page to find more book posts
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Build your own forge blower
If you need a blower, I suggest a 12v fan out of a car,
or a bathroom fan...
or a hair dryer wtih a "cool" or "no heat" setting
but if you really want a centrifugal blower, you can build them pretty easy... the impeller is shown below, after you make that the rest is easy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBY1TServiw
or here:
http://www.rayrogers.com/blower.htm
or here:
http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/album/328-home-made-forge-blower/
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