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    Blacksmithing Projects
    Blacksmithing Projects
    Blacksmithing Projects
    Ebook168 pages1 hour

    Blacksmithing Projects

    By Percy W. Blandford

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    About this ebook

    Is blacksmithing a lost art? Not according to this master craftsman. It might be one of the world's most ancient crafts, but it remains an exciting and essential one today. Percy W. Blandford presents twenty-four different projects: some are for novices, requiring only a few tools, improvised equipment, and a single propane torch; others call for the skill and equipment of an experienced smith. Projects include:
    Punches and chisels
    Traditional candlestick
    Door latches and bolts
    Garden tools
    Weather vanes
    Fences and railings
    Tables
    Wheelbarrow
    ... and many more! A book of ideas and suggestions, rather than an instruction manual on blacksmithing techniques, this volume features eighty detailed figures and diagrams. It also includes lists of materials, step-by-step instructions, and suggestions for variations in design.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDover Publications
    Release dateApr 9, 2013
    ISBN9780486319100
    Blacksmithing Projects

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      Book preview

      Blacksmithing Projects - Percy W. Blandford

      Projects

      Blacksmithing

      Projects

      Percy W. Blandford

      Dover Publications, Inc., Mineola, New York

      Copyright

      Copyright © 1988 by Percy W. Blandford

      All rights reserved.

      Bibliographical Note

      This Dover edition, first published in 2006, is an unabridged republication of 24 Blacksmithing Projects, originally published by Tab Books Inc., Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania, in 1988.

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Blandford, Percy W.

      Blacksmithing projects

             p. cm.

      Originally published: 24 blacksmithing projects. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, c1988.

      Includes index.

      ISBN 0-486-45276-X (pbk.)

        1. Blacksmithing. I. Blandford, Percy W. 24 blacksmithing projects. II. Title.

      TT220.B42 2006

      682—dc22

      2006046819

      Manufactured in the United States of America

      Dover Publications, Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, N.Y. 11501

      Contents

      Introduction

      1Set of Punches and Chisels

      2Wood-Cutting Tools

      3Garden Tools

      4Plant Pot Hanger

      5Plant Stands

      6Yard Seat

      7Trestles

      8Outdoor Table

      9Glass-Topped Table

      10Pokers

      11Door Hinges

      12Door Latches and Bolts

      13Simple Wind Vane

      14Ornate Wind Vane

      15Exterior Lamp Bracket

      16Domestic Hook Hardware

      17Fireplace Smithing

      18Boot Aids

      19Coat and Umbrella Stand

      20Small Gate

      21Scrolled Gate

      22Fences and Railings

      23Wheelbarrow

      24Traditional Candlestick

      Index

      Introduction

      Blacksmithing is one of the oldest crafts. Ever since man discovered how to produce iron he has worked it hot into useful and decorative things. The techniques of the craft have changed little over thousands of years and a modern blacksmith, whether professional or amateur, carries on the tradition in ways that a blacksmith of earlier times would recognize.

      In industry today much metalwork is done by machinery. Mass-produced items have a superficial resemblance to the products of a traditional blacksmith, but they lack the individuality of a hand-forged piece of metalwork. The traditional blacksmith often combined his skill with that of the farrier, in shoeing horses. This is now a very specialized craft, and not one that would be lucrative sparetime work.

      The modern blacksmith may use a forge with a hand or electric blower, or rely on propane or other gas for heating. For work requiring heat over a large area, a coal-burning forge cannot be equaled, but it is possible to make a large range of projects with the more limited heat from gas flames. The same applies to tools. You will need the anvil and basic hand tools, but with a few more general metalworking tools—particularly a drill press or hand electric drill—a great many interesting, useful, and decorative articles may be made with comparatively limited resources.

      What to make might sometimes be a puzzle. This book is intended to offer ideas that are complete in themselves, but that can also be modified to your needs or act as starting points for articles you can finish differently. The projects described range from those that can be made with few tools, improvised equipment, and a single propane torch—to others that will require all the skill and equipment of an experienced smith. Blacksmithing is a skill that requires coordination of brain and hands. Only practice brings the ability to fashion steel into the forms you want. Anyone still learning should select fairly easy projects and concentrate on producing the best possible results, then move on to more advanced work, still aiming for quality in the finished product. In that way, the traditions of this long-standing craft will be carried on through another generation.

      This is an idea book, not instruction on blacksmithing techniques. The book is complete in itself, but anyone requiring instructions in craft and methods of blacksmithing should refer to the author’s Practical Blacksmithing and Metalworking, Second Edition (Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: Tab Books, 1988).

      Blacksmithing

      Projects

      1

      Set of Punches and Chisels

      A metalworker, whatever the particular branch of metalwork that interests him or her, needs a variety of punches and chisels. It might seem that there is never a large enough variety, that there are always different sizes and shapes that would suit a particular job better. Some of these tools also have uses, as they are or slightly modified, in working wood, leather, stone, and other materials. The blacksmith is able to make all these tools for his own or other craftsmen’s use, even if his equipment is not as comprehensive as he would like. It should be possible to make most of the tools in this project with only a propane torch as a source of heat and an iron block as an anvil.

      The material is high-carbon steel, which may be round, square, octagonal, hexagonal, or almost any other rod section. It need not be new and can be salvaged from discarded tools, springs, and similar things. Some commercially produced punches and chisels are made from special alloy steels. They need precise heat treatment unavailable to most individual blacksmiths, so these steels are better avoided. Ordinary high-carbon steel can be hardened and tempered satisfactorily with simple equipment.

      A few punches, but not cutting tools, can be made from mild steel, which cannot be hardened and tempered, because it is unaffected by cooling in water. Remember not to do this with high-carbon steel; cooling in this way not only hardens it, but makes it brittle. Until you intentionally harden the steel it should be allowed to cool slowly.

      Although short pieces of rod can be held with tongs, it is always easier to work on the end of a long rod, which can be held and then cut off. Where possible, do not cut the steel to length until after shaping its end.

      If you wish to make something from high-carbon steel that has previously formed something else, it is advisable to anneal it to remove its temper and make it as soft and ductile as possible before reforging it. This is done by heating to redness and allowing to cool as slowly as possible. Leaving it in a fire overnight to cool is a good way of achieving ultimate softness.

      A simple project is a center punch (Fig. 1-1A). Use rod of any section about ½ inch across. Draw down the end to about ⅛-inch diameter (Fig. 1-1B). Cut off to 5 inches long, and either forge or grind the top with a bevel all round (Fig. 1-1C) to minimize spreading when being hammered.

      File or grind the tapered part to a bright finish. Finishing with emery or other abrasive cloth can follow, because the better the surface polish, the easier it is to see oxide colors when tempering.

      Start from the end and heat about 1 inch to redness. Hold with tongs and plunge vertically into water (Fig. 1-1D). Be careful not to let the steel go in at an angle, which might cause cracking. Brighten the end again with abrasive cloth. This could not be done if it had not been previously polished; because the point would be very hard and brittle.

      To temper, use a propane torch (Fig. 1-1E) or similar flame and heat between 1 and 2 inches from the point. Watch the spread of oxide colors towards the point. Heat will continue to spread, even when you take the flame away. The slower the heat, the greater the widths of the oxide colors, and the greater the width of steel at a particular temperature. The first color to reach the end will be a pale straw, which will deepen. When

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