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Advertising ?

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 16:36:42 -0700

Just wondering about the new advertising, what's the story folks ?

Quote from the home page.
"The Metal Artist Forum operates on a speedy, dedicated server thanks to the generous donations from some of our members."

Electrical Question ?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:58:39 -0700

Hey All,
I would like to control the speed of one of my angle grinders. I would like to know if anyone has wired up a dimmer switch to operate a plug. I was thinking perhaps to put a duplex plug and a rotary dimmer in a gang box and run a cord to plug into the wall from that, then you could plug the grinder into the dimmer controlled plug in the gang box.
Has anyone ever done this or is this a warm up to a Darwin Award ?
Thanks.

Making the base part of “Emergence”

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:03:10 -0700

This sculpture, "Emergence", was a big project, so I’m breaking up the process into several parts. The base was the first part I made, and the first attempt was a failure. I did not realize that the stem portion needed to be bent into its final almost-upright position before closing up and silver-soldering the form. One very large piece of bronze wasted.

The material is 1/16″ silicon bronze, which is much more resistant to forming than the 16 gauge brass that I’m used to. I had to devise a way to bend that neck, something that could exert a great amount of force in just the right way. What I came up with is a large block of maple, carved out in the shape that I wanted to have the piece conform to. a clamping device was added to hold the piece securely. There’s a 1/2″ bolt going all the way through the block to provide the clamping force. The pictures below show how it was used. The steel rod extended out about six feet, and I had to push down on the end with all my weight to bend the metal as shown.

[attachment=13353] [attachment=13354] [attachment=13355]

After bending, I hammered out the kinks with the piece still clamped in the jig. Then the piece was annealed and formed on a cone-shaped block as shown below, and on a variety of stakes. The pictures below are actually further along in the process. I had to bend, anneal, hammer-form, anneal, several times before I was able to get the desired shape.

[attachment=13356] [attachment=13357] [attachment=13358]

Once the piece was closed up, it could be silver-soldered. This was done in several stages, as it is impossible to close up the entire seam all at once. It has to be closed in one place, clamped and soldered, then closed some more, clamped and soldered, and so forth. The curves in the neck were done after the piece was silver-soldered. For the larger part near the bottom I clamped the piece in in the jig and put a piece of 1″ black poly pipe over the stem, then a piece of larger steel pipe over that to do the bending. The smaller part of the neck I was able to bend by hand. In the last picture the piece is mostly done, polished up some and ready for some final planishing.

I have a spin-off in mind for this (since I went to all that trouble I’d hate to only make one): A lamp base, with a hand-blown glass shade.

[attachment=13359] [attachment=13360]

A historic metal forge destroyed by a fire.GROVE CITY, Pa

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:13:24 -0700

Quote:GROVE CITY, Pa. — A historic metal forge that made ashtrays for the ill-fated German airship the Hindenburg and did custom work for Walt Disney has been destroyed by a fire.

Fire destroys Historic Pa Forge

Quote:Saturday's fire at the Wendell August Forge workshop and gift shop is believed to have started in the workshop, where lacquer was sprayed on bronze pieces such as awards and trophies, spokeswoman Danielle Elderkin said. All employees and customers escaped unharmed.

Mastercrafts Blacksmithing on BBC iPlayer

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 07:16:43 -0700

For anyone interested there is a tv programme called mastercrafts here in the UK on BBC, it is available to watch online on the BBC IPlayer see link below, however, this is just for uk residents so if you are in the states (or else where) and cannot watch it directly, you can still watch it but will have to go via a uk proxxy server, try it and see

the link to the programme is:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00...ksmithing/

Enjoy

Moderators, this was the most relevant topic i could find, if this is in the wrong place please move it to the correct one, many thanks

Search Craig's list real time app

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 04:51:49 -0700

Search Craig's list real time application for Mozilla's Firefox browser.

Search Craig's list results

There are a number of other search engines that have apps that can be added to the drop down menu box under the search engines box upper right of the screen.

Google Books
ThomasNet Industrial search (equipment,materials and who does stuff)
World cat (world wide library book search)
Item look up (ISBN/UPC/EAN Barcode Number.)
Amazon.com

And 100's of others, they also have country specific search engines for Mozilla Firefox's browser. They probably have them for other browsers as well.
As I only use firefox I have no info on them.

For those that may not know, An add-on can be a new time-saving toolbar button, a shortcut to search, a themed look, and more. Add-ons make browsing easier.
This is the link to the English/US version

They have other sites with other languages

Irish Artist Blacksmith Association's new website

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 07:41:27 -0700

Here is the new IABA website:

http://www.irishblacksmiths.com

Please take a look at it, we would welcome feedback and ideas.

Brazing and Welding Alloys Manufacturer and Distributor

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:44:15 -0700

FAQ's about stuff you might only need to know once !
What is Brazing?
What is Welding?
What is Metallizing?

Brazing / Soldering Procedures
Aluminum Welding Procedures
Stainless Welding Procedures
Cast Iron Welding Procedures

Brazing and Welding Alloys Manufacturer

Happy Birthday ArtWerkz

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:27:51 -0700

A big Happy Four-Oh to ArtWerkz today!

[split] Ducks glory hole and glass equipment build

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:43:00 -0700

Duck,
NOW you got my attention.......
sounds like your going from "lampwork" to a Hot Shop.........I LIKE IT. Can't wait to follow the progress. 18" glory hole...........is a "big'un". Can we assume that you'll also be building your own melting furnace, annealing ovens, blowers bench, marver table.... etc? Man I wish I lived closer.

(03-04-2010 07:28 PM)Duckworth Wrote: Good stuff PT, ordered this one tonight http://www.pineridgeburner.com/

I thought about some of you guys today, and I'm gonna try and keep up with a photo play-by-play build of an18" Glory Hole I started today....the Gory Hole is alot like a forge......

Glass furnace plans site

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:43:00 -0700

Interesting site for burners, and other glass and furnace related items and plans.
Site with some plans and sells bits and pieces for burners

Hello from Vancouver, Canada

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:03:40 -0700

Just want to take the time to introduce myself. My name is Erick and
I have been playing with metal (blacksmith and casting) for a number of years and am always looking to improve my skills. Here are some of my latest...

More can be seen at: Sprockets & Cogs

Thanks
Erick

New Hammers are in

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:41:16 -0700

Just received a new shipment of hammers. Have added the 55 lb hammer which fills a gap between the 33 lb and the 88 lb. I have not used this hammer before, but I understand from John Nicholson, the importer of Anyang and owner of the Massey power hammer company that the 55 is one of the best. I have more to unload and get organized but I decided to line up what I had to take a picture. Can't wait to hook up the 55 and start pounding some steel. Am also working on building my new coal forge hood. Get these projects done, then I going to start making video's on using power hammers and how to videos on how I make my sculptures/art.

Let's Talk About Warranties

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:24:58 -0700

Warranties - (Not Warrent ) What do folks offer and how? Do you give specifics in writing? Just for ornamental such as railings or for sculptural work also? What's the difference from a warranty and a guarantee?

1st Tongs

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:55:41 -0700

I made a set of tongs for holding flat bar on Thursday. I will be making some more now that I have a better understanding on their construction.
[attachment=13304]

Harbor Freight Propane torch #91899

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:34:10 -0700

This is the one from the patina torch thread, that I was going to pick up this past weekend.
Harbor Freight Propane torch #91899 Their model name is Propane Torch with three burners!
[attachment=13290]
This is the case it comes in with the 3 flame spreader tips not really separate burners. Along with the soldering solid tip extension.

Well it isn't what it appears to be on the web site or in the box.
It has only one burner and nozzle fitting. Whether it is the round standard tip, the pipe soldering tip 3/4 Round flame spreading one or the fan shaped flat flame spreading tip.
[attachment=13291]

The burner tip is in two parts, the one that comes attached to the torch handle,The fitting with the gas nozzle hole in it. And then the second part that has the air holes in it.
[attachment=13292]

This is the part that has the air flow control band, Silver band around the tube. It is so flimsy that it bends out of shape and as soon as you start to move it. It has no spring to it. This part comes attached to what they call the soldering tip (brass round flame tip)

[attachment=13293]
Shows the part between the red marks to get any of the torch tips to work.

That was my friends problem, as he didn't know about the changing it when he changed the flame spreaders. As they have a different thread size on the the three spreader tips that only fit the second part of the burner assembly. The thumb wheel at the flame spreader is the give away. Of course they didn't mention this in the instructions manual. Which he claims none of the 3 units had in their boxes at the store. Even in the one I downloaded from their site it makes now mention of this important point.

So I solved the why of "why he couldn't get it to work", and it is going back to him. As I have a number of cylinder/bottle pressure propane torches. Both small ones and a gentec quick change High BTU one.
I will say that even for occasional use this set isn't worth it, even with a 25% coupon. For a hose and handle torch for plumbing work get any of the ones that are carried by the Big box home stores.

Copper prices spike !

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:44:13 -0700

Well it didn't take long for the predators, to jump on the quake in Chile and hike the price of copper 8% for future orders up to 3 or 4 months out. Even with the mines in the far north of the country,and nothing known on how or if the distribution of the copper will be effected. They say with the rebounding dollar value against the Pound and Euro along with the quake that the copper prices will be rising some more.
They did say that it has dropped down quicker then in the past to around 3-4% increase.

Then combine that with the increase in building demands for it, in China that they don't think the price will drop back down and only increase!

When has it come back down to the previous level, after a supplier has increased the price. And some suppliers have already increased the price to offset the costs of material in the coming months.

So If you are thinking about calling in an order, you may want to do it sooner rather than later.

"Emergence"

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 06:45:45 -0700

That's what I'm calling this for now. It's based on a quick doodle that was probably subconsciously inspired by Dr. Seuss. After it was done, I tried to figure out what it is, and it seems to be about birth, or the emergence of a seed in plant terms, since it looks mostly plant-like, but the seed, with a little imagination, looks like a baby. It's a much larger scale than I'm used to working with, and It's made from 1/16" silicon bronze sheet, so my poor hands got some major abuse. Every part of it was a challenge, and I had to make some new tooling along the way. In the days to come I will post some pictures of the process. The whole thing is 21" tall and 9" across. The "seed" is not attached and has a large steel ball (about 2-1/2") inside. The bowl pivots somewhat, so that the seed can rock back and forth, making the bowl move slightly along with it. I may be making a motor driven wobbly base to go with this, see my other thread in Kinetic Sculpture.

[attachment=13287][attachment=13288][attachment=13289]

Things Mom never taught Ya!

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 04:58:41 -0700

Welding on rims/wheels with the tire on. Now it is a long video 10 minutes as it explains what happens and answers some other questions that people have brought up.

A degradation process called pyrolysis that causes the tire to decompose and to generate heat. In the confined space of the tire it doesn't take much additional gas to over-pressurize the tire.

Would never have thought to do it, with the tire on the rim. Also for those that don't watch the complete video. Removing the valve stem and air pressure doesn't matter, as it is strictly gas generated from the tire that generates the pressure so fast. That even with one side of the tire loose it has reseated it self and gone boom.

Some things I've done

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:25:36 -0700

Its been some time since I posted so I thought I would share some of the progress I've made.

I've gotten some good hammer time in and made a few things. Some good. Some, eh. Using coal in my forge these days and really liking it. Its expensive here but that's nothing new for central Alaska. I made some fire place tools. A few pokers of different styles. I made a pair of tongs too. They ended up in the, these will be leaves someday bin. Not my best effort. But I did learn a thing or two so not a total waste.

I also got a couple of tools. Some nice wolf jaw tongs so I can make tongs. An Anvil. A very nice 242# Papa Rhino. It's a beauty. I Can't wait for the weather to change enough for me to get it on the stump and get to hammering on it. I also got a 2x42" with 6" disk Craftsman sander. Great for grinding things down, sanding things smooth. Very nice little sander. I'm very happy with it.

So, I've been some what busy. Hope you enjoy.

[attachment=13282][attachment=13283][attachment=13284][attachment=13285][attachment=13286]