Museum of America: Blacksmith (part three)

Museum of America host Mannie Gentile continues his exploration of the world of Blacksmithing. In this installment the subject is forge welding. This thirty minute video has been edited into three (Youtube friendly) segments. By the time this is over you'll want to break out the LAVA soap and hit the shower!

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Blacksmith
• blacksmithing
• smithing
• welding
• forge
• danger
• sparks
• anvil
• chorus

[liobeking]

Sometimes things need to be hardened, it's done by cooling in water to capture the carbon in the iron molecules. I never see them reheating it (to a lower temperature for a while) so it gets less brittle. Was that done by a blacksmith or was that invented later?

[mannie1952]

Actually the more gradually the metal cools the more hardened it will become. Quenching is something I use only to control the heat in specific areas of the metal.

mannie

[wasd0ne]

CAN U use a grill as a forge?? if u have a blowdryer to blow air to thw cole??? what kind if cole do u have to use? where can u get it? can u use grill cole?? some 1 pleasw awser me!!

[mannie1952]

I would think not, unless the grill is very thick cast-iron.

Mannie1952

[MADdwarfWorkshop]

Love it :)

evokes that old colonial blacksmith feel.

great video!

[fishkiller41]

Hey Manny... I don't feel "LAVA-SOAP" grungy,,,,yet.. :)

[Breathor]

@wasd0ne Pack some sand into the bottom to insulate it well, works for me

[CTBlacksmith]

Actually when you cool metal gradually it will become softer. This is because all of the molecules are allowed to relax and align. When you quench metal at the critical temperature when it becomes non magnetic you are hardening it  and trapping the carbon molecules, just like liobeking said. When you quench a piece with a high carbon content it becomes very brittle so you need to temper it by heating the metal up and drawing the correct color to the working edge then quenching it.

[herbstjh]

borax, seashells (ground), climax welding compound, all of these work well, i prefer borax that i bake at 200 degrees for 3 hours then bottle in mason jars, (to rid the moisture) the borax turns at highter tempatures into a glass like barrier that prevents oxidation inside where your joint it, without it inclusions and cold shunts would result, resulting in a failed joint, in a proper weld no seam should be visable, your sparks flying are mostly that flux being expelled, look into abana, & local

[herbstjh]

look up abana or artists blacksmiths ass of north america, and find a local state chapter then attend workshops and you will more often then not find older smiths who will have extra anvils and tools that they will sell at a more then reasonable price once you prove you want to learn this art..

[herbstjh]

either you see people who don't know what they are doing or you are missing a key factor.... when i treat my handled cutters after forging i anneal, and then heat treat and temper, however i only quench the tip on a tool like this because it is going to be struck on the back, the residual heat in the mass will allow me to draw my colors back into the tip, key temperature is non magnetic, blacksmiths did know this, but they did not know the science behind it

[sgtkhumm]

IF you want to teach him more when he gets older you can build a forge that osts nothing, just frome adobe or mud and a couple nails to block coals from falling in the tuyere and a home hairdryer. The forge im building i a big 3x5 foot coal/coke forge made from 3/8 inch plate and the whole thing may cost me 80 $. You can also get RR rail for a decent beggining anvil and hit garage sales for hammers and such and a pair of vice grips will get you through most sized stock

[aprilsparrow]

Thanks! Used it for teaching Blacksmithing to my homeschooled 3rd grader. He really enjoyed watching you work. He says "I enjoyed the whole thing."

[starguy9]

totally awesome and well done