Blacksmithing fun, basic, and primitive, for the beginner novice. noob or newcomer.: October 2015

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Historical Improvised fluxes

I was curious about "improvised" welding flux, so i went historical... did some web surfing...didn't;' keep links, just notes, I'll post links as i re find them
old ingredients:
Silica sand, Powdered egg shells, Powdered marble, white sand, quartz sand, any straw the bears silica in it, (rice, etc), fine steel/iron filings, ground glass, powdered charcoal (additive), powdered potters clay, powdered slag, salt

there was discussion on these above for old WI and maybe mild, but modern steels required different fluxes (thus why they faded away)
Newer:
Borax, Boric acid,
a lot of these require some mixing... the marble and eggsheel were mentioned specifically as needing some sand for example as wihtout it they for a refractory compound...

Here is an interesting article on components of old commercial fluxes...

http://blacksmith.org/forge-welding-flux-recipes/

http://www.bladesmithsforum.com/index.php?showtopic=30094

Charcoal Ash or Mud Dauber nests(they only used good high silica clay)
http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/2582-sand-used-as-a-flux/

Anyone using any of these still? it seems like a useful piece of data to have stuck in ones head...

Inexpensive Metal Air gates, for controlling your blower....

Inexpensive Metal and or Plastic Air gates, for controlling your blower....

A lot of places air gates are stupid expensive... they are probably worth it but when you are staring out you need a cheap alternative... that's what these are.. easy to get not to expensive. Obviously the plastic ones need to be kept away from your heat, and need to be on the blower end. and aluminum ones shouldn't get too hot... but this will let you control the air for a decent price.

4" Rockler on Amazon around $13

2.5" wood tech aluminum

Woodteck 3" aluminum around $13
There are more in amazon, just search "blast gate" or "air gate"

Wood stock 3" air gate on Amazon Around $20(plastic)

2.5" powertech, around $10 (plastic)

2.5" powertech around$6 (add on)(plastic)

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Putting Together an Early Period Smithing Kit

So here is my Goal

Find places to buy hammers and tools that will pass the 10ft rule to be used as early period hammers.

I'm not focusing on Viking Blacksmith, or Anglo-Saxon Blacksmith ..Just in the ball park for now... But trying not to spend all the money on custom made period style hammers.. here is one around $40,

2.2 lb basic Cross pein hammer
You might be able to find it cheaper, but when I added shipping and import taxes, this was the best.

it'll need pant remover for the head, and a little black paint to cover the modern wedge... sand off the handle varnish ( stamps, and i think it'll do ok...

Bigger simple hammer Around $26

Or

More square in shape
This one might take more work to cover the stamp int eh head, but at $12 it possibly still worth it...
Wis it didn't have the Stamp in the metal, wonder if you remove the head and put it back on upside down to hide it..

Reproduction Viking era hammer, 66-77 bucks (two slightly different designs)

You might have to handle it your self

they also have a reproduction anvil for $170 or so.

Talerwin forge

A cast ductile steel anvil, that's made by Fort Voss Outfitters, if it didn't have letters cast on the side I'd like it a lot better. You have to pull down their price list and then get a hold of them, but they make nice reproduction anvils for lots of historical periods.

Scythe anvils $16 each (They have great hammers but out of stock)

Scythe supply(Scroll down)

Expensive Picard hammers

(This shape has many names, Scythe hammer, British scaling hammer, etc)

This place is expensive, but in stock...

Here are some ok ones for a good price from the hammer supply guy..

Machinist_Hammers

Best place to get a deal on a "cheap" 2lb rounding hammer...

When I first hear about rounding hammers and watched some of Brian Brazeal's videos, I Knew i wanted to try one, but i didn't want to blow a lot of cash, just to see if I liked it... I dug around and found this is the least expensive brand.. Nordic... And this was the best priced place i found.. it might not be the absolute best now, I can't vouch for that but getting one to Try for around $30 was a good deal to me... and it still is...