Just did a search and found this post http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=697238&highlight=forging but not a lot of other content. I needed to make some shock mounts and wanted them to look period correct (late '20s early '30s) so forging was the way to go, but when asking around couldn't find anyone with the skills or the understanding to make what I needed, so I started working on some stuff myself. Been developing my skills, made some parts, build a coal and a propane forge, made some knifes, chisels and other tools and am about ready to start on my shock/headlight mounts. In the process we found out (I'm learning with my son) that there are very few people under 60 with any level of blacksmithing skills, an art that is slowly getting lost. As many of the parts we all like to love are forged, who else has the skills and tools to forge new or modify existing parts and tools?
Did some forging and fabricated my own headlamp bar setup. Made from 5/8" & 1/2" linear round stock. Thought it came out pretty good!
here is a shock mount i made for my coupe. You arnt kidding about people not knowing about blacksmithing but there are still people keeping it alive. Theres competitions and artists. Ive been trying to get some good tools but people like to put them in their home as art. I got a blower an anvil some hammers and a torch. Its some fun stuff to do in the winter when its cool outside.
That is very similar that what I want to make. So far I've made some custom shifter handles out of 304SS and they came out very nice. There is a pretty active group here in North Texas, but most members are over 65, I've been attending the monthly meetings and am learning a lot. What I've found is that most active blacksmiths will only do ornamental stuff (artsy items mostly) but won't do ANYTHING structural especially not if it's for a car.
I work at an ornamental fab shop, furniture, railings, staircases and a good bit of forged pieces get used in a lot of the projects. My boss is a full on blacksmith, went to school for it and tries to use those techniques as much as he can in what we do. The biggest problem with it is it's a slow process and people wanna spend as little as they can and have it yesterday. If there weren't other ways of getting nearly the same thing accomplished but cheaper then it would be more practical. I try and learn as much of it as I can when he's doing it. It's fun and not that expensive to start doing it. The forge we use the most is about $30 in materials plus the propane. I'll have the same setup in my garage when I get one.
I have all the basic tools, Coal Forge, anvil, tongs,leg vice (blacksmiths vice) lots of hammers etc. Have not used the forge in a few years but it is lots of fun, took a class and learned a lot. There are lots of good books out there with information that you can use. Nowdays I just use my torch to heat metal up and hammer on it.The anvil still gets regular use. Have fun.
i havent forged any car components, yet. my setup is very basic...RR track anvil and some hammers. i use a torch to heat my material for now but it gets old lighting it up every 5 minutes. looking at either building or buying an old coal forge or just building one.
I've build a coal forge out of a old hubcap (1947 Buick) and one from a discarded brake drum with a heatgun (on cold) as a blower, both work great and were made entirely out of scrap, cheap, easy and quick projects.
cool, how did the hubcap hold up? i am going to use an use an old 12" drum. the blower would be a run of the mill bathroom ceiling fan, just enough air to keep things hot. i do have a beat up hand crank blower, not sure its salvageable yet. it'd work good on a larger forge. where do you guys buy your coal?
Part of the problem with someone doing anything structually is they are probibly afraid of getting sued if it broke and you killed yourself. Find someone with close experince and run it by them.
Hubcap is holding up fine. I get my coke from the local club, wouldn't know where else to get it. That's why I'm doing it, have a industrial/mechanical engineering background, all required insurance for automotive work and a professional engineer on staff.
I guess I forge parts.....I make brackets using an Oxy torch and old bolts,like head bolt.Beat it to shape on a large vise,drill cut and grind.
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