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Location: Scrounger Training : Identifying Metals
Discussion: A word about metal working
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worldglobe |
A word about metal working
Nov 19 2009, 7:44 PM EST
I thought I'd add a small section about metal working as well. This only applies to those who have settled down in a fortWhere I live there's a place called 'Heritage Park' which is basically a bunch of buildings and demonstrations from around the depression era. I got a summer job with the black smith there. In hindsight it was kind of boring cause all I could do was burn the coal, get the furnace to a suitable temperature and do basic prep work for making horseshoes for an audience. However I did get some knowledge of that escapade and here is some of it: Coal Burning: Coal is the best material for heating metals. It burn's hot and for a long time, and comparing it to wood is like comparing a Ferrari to a ford 460 engine on a rusty frame. Not only is coal better burning, but a lot less useful material (like wood) is diverted from other projects. Beware when burning coke, (the main product of coal (it is a fuel for burning)) it releases selenium, dangerous to fish and animal life. Basic Prep work: Note: This method is for working with metal rods. Once you have your furnace to a suitable temperature (roughly a roaring fire with the presence of blue and white flames) you want to slowly heat your metal. If you heat it too fast it will become brittle and the resulting product is bad. Once the metal is cherry red, remove it from heat with tongs and move it quickly to the anvil. Bring out your hammer and bend the metal at suitable point. For Horseshoes A bend about 3/8 ,and 5/8 along the metal. This will bend it approximately the suitable amount Much more I couldn't tell you but that's what I know. P.S. I would recommend using moulds to metal work. Its not that useful in the short run but its definitely better for mass production and simplicity. Do you find this valuable? |
dAkshEN3 |
1. RE: A word about metal working
Jun 27 2010, 2:01 PM EDT
I was watching rough science on Discovery the other day and they used a car battery and carbon rods to melt gold down, so that might be useful if you have no space for a furnace.The guy just connected the carbon rods to the battery using wires, then (while wearing gloves) touched the rod ends to each end of the lump of gold, it melted almost instantly. Do you find this valuable? |
AlexHigginbotham |
2. RE: A word about metal working
Jun 27 2010, 5:18 PM EDT
Talk to Brandon Boyer, hes the resident metallurgist. I'm pretty good at fabrication, but I have no experience with smithing aside from heating aluminum up with a propane fire to make difficult bends.
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brandon_a_boyer |
3. RE: A word about metal working
Jun 28 2010, 2:00 AM EDT
"I was watching rough science on Discovery the other day and they used a car battery and carbon rods to melt gold down, so that might be useful if you have no space for a furnace.That's essentially a carbon arc torch. You can make something similar using an arc welder, a pair of grill tongs, and a pair of carbon electrodes. Electric arc furnaces use the same principle to melt scrap metal down. The difference is that they require quite a bit more energy than a car battery can deliver. Heating metal too quickly will not in any way cause it to be brittle. Cooling rate is the major factor when it comes to hardening. here's a color chart along with a equilibrium diagram for Fe and C http://www.navaching.com/forge/forge.gifs/fe1a.gif Do you find this valuable? |
Filadog |
4. RE: A word about metal working
Jun 28 2010, 9:52 AM EDT
Heres a photo of part of my shop showing my old hand crank coal forgehttp://imagehost.vendio.com/a/2300199/aview/MVC-128S.JPG Made 100s of knives and axes [amoung other things] in this forge and made a pretty good living using it for many years. Paid $40 for it. Simple low tech tools like this is all you really need For blacksmithing you should use low sulfer soft coal, is sold as blacksmith coal. You can use regular coal but is harder to light and sulpher can be bad for the steel in knives etc. Many knife makers prefer charcoal which is not that hard to make out of fire wood You need to know how to build the proper working fire, the "green" coal you start out is burned till it turns to coke and that is what you use for your working fire. Just rake it from the edges into the fire as it cokes up. A proper fire will not have a lot of flames because you are mostly working in hot coals. With most work you don't want to heat it to fast because of the danger of burning and ruining the steel . Burnt steel will have a blisted look about it and break right apart Also if you put alot of air into the fire to make it hot real quick you run the danger of the air from the blower hitting your work causing scale.Scale either from blower air or from not having the work in the coals is probably the main reason people have a hard time learning to forge weld. A slower heat with your work burried in the coals out of the air is what you want Lots to making horse shoes, not only have to be the right size but also have a groove put into them and nail holes punched then of course fitted to the horse Blacksmithing is not hard but you do have to know what you are doing and practice. While you can learn some from books, classes, videos etc. in the end it comes down to ptactice in the real world and just doing it. Do you find this valuable? |
