Re: Speaking of Blacksmithing

"Bob La Londe"  wrote in message news:102kc6t$ao1q$1@dont-email.me...
Yeah, not really.  I was just bending some rod using a rosebud to heat
up the bend points to make a new handle for my roll around compressor.
I was always paranoid to just grab the rod with my hand and bend it, but
after watching a gazillion and three blacksmith videos during my morning
coffee over the years I decided to give it a try.  I think point heating
the bend points with a rosebud puts less heat down the rod than welding
does.
Clamp the rod in the vise.  Make the bend point glow red (little past
dull red) grab the end and bend.  After several bends it started to get
a little hot where I was grabbing, but that's what the wash sink outside
is for.
I know.  I know.  You all knew this already.
One thing that would make this go faster is to make a hanger for the
torch, so I can just set it aside and leave it burning when I need both
hands to move something around, or hold the part while I loosen and
tighten the vise.  Still it was pretty fast.
Now I need to do it all over again with a piece of stock that is
actually the right size.
Bob La Londe
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In the class I straightened part of a yellow-hot truck coil spring by hand, with the hot end in the anvil's hardy (square) hole. The effort was wasted when cracks appeared, but it showed how weak hot steel becomes. Instead I forged the blade from an old leaf spring from home. His anvils were mostly mounted on bases of angle iron.
Pipe over the rod will help you bend a tighter corner.
3/16" steel TIG/gas welding rod is great for quickly bending up custom tools like the torch support. It's fairly easy to bend with a vise or anvil, stiff enough for long fireplace rakes and pokers and hard enough for single-use punches when a nail would bend.
I also use 5/32" stainless rod to make parts for outdoors, like removable hinge pins. I bought some of all available sizes in steel, stainless, brass and aluminum, those have been the most useful.
Supporting clamps and hangers etc are available for pipe and conduit but not fractional-sized rod. I think floor flanges and these are the most useful for assembling temporary supports:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/AMERICAN-VALVE-1-in-to-1-in-dia-Galvanized-Split-Ring-Hanger/3223515?
My 36 Lb (0-1-8) anvil may have been meant for tinsmithing and other lighter tasks, it's plenty heavy enough to flatten and shape sheet metal and removes the temptation to hammer on the mill table, or lathe tailstock spindle as students did to mine. It's a London pattern forged wrought iron antique, apparently an English Wilkinson though a step in the uneven surface stopped the lettering at Wilkin. My leg vise is also relatively light for hot forging, they make a good pair.