Metal forming.

[Retired]

Hi,

I've just been browsing "You Tube" and came upon the following video which might be interesting to other members like me who love to play around with metal.

I've not used hydraulics on metal since I left the pit where we used to straighten/bend items such as lumps of RSJ.

This kind of work holds a powerful fascination for me; if I had a warehouse I'd fill it with lots of machines and a forge just to play around with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qGHWZm0C-o&feature=related

Kind regards, Col.

[pwdrive]

Thanks Col. I often wondered how they did that.

Lawrence.

[Yorkie]

Excellent promotional video Colin - amazing how those machines have the power to make solid steel behave like Plasticine!

[60 oldjohn]

I made my 14ft Garden gate out of that twisted bar. Never knew how it was made.

Thanks Col.

[Yorkie]

I made my 14ft Garden gate out of that twisted bar. Never knew how it was made.

Thanks Col.

And having seen it John, I have to say that it's a very fine gate too! Maybe you could post a pic of it on the forum, unless modesty precludes you from doing so!

[60 oldjohn]

Thank you for your kind comments David, I will take one when the sun is shining. Then try to work out how to post it.

John.

[Retired]

Hi,

I like this forum because I'm allowed to add threads covering what I'm interested in but has nothing to do with radio/TV such as the above video.

Over the past few years I've noticed more and more wrought ironwork appearing as fancy gates and railings and the video demonstrates how some of the shapes are produced.

I agree David these machines make working this iron look effortless; handling the iron will be heavy work but it must be most satisfying to turn out items with such a basic beauty that will grace homes for many generations.

Many years ago I had a friend who used to produce wrought ironwork as a hobby; even then he was telling me that he was thinking of packing it in because of the cost of the raw material even though he could sell all he made. Many DIY magazines used to feature jigs for wrought iron work and "Scroll-former" springs to mind. I too am finding the cost of materials to be a major factor in many projects I do. It's only a few years ago I could enjoy a day out at our local scrap yards returning home with a car load of useful material paying for it by weight and it was very cheap. Unfortunately most of the scrap yards no longer exist and the last one I visited to obtain my 3 phase transformer had become nothing more than a joke due to the health and safety laws.

I used to clamber around piles of scrap being careful not to encroach the areas where the cranes were working and I felt totally safe and very happy. Now I find I need to wear; high visibility jacket; hard hat; safety shoes; eye protection and of course gloves. I also took along my expensive ear defenders just in case I had missed anything out. Having visited scrap yards for many years the only safety equipment I would consider necessary would be safety shoes and a pair of rigger gloves.

To buy bits of new bright mild steel (BMS) these days brings tears to my eyes when I hand over the money. I know companies need to make a profit to remain in business but when I look at what I have in my hand after handing over a tenner makes building even a small project an expensive affair. Throw in the cost of bearings; pulleys; drive belt and motor then why bother?

I still manage to build projects for very little monetary outlay; I now use black iron offcuts which I can obtain locally at a tenner (£10) for a car load. I have a stock of electric motors and friends also give me motors they find; pulleys I like to make only buying new as a last resort. Shopping around I can still buy bearings and drive belts cheaply so I'm not yet beaten. I wasn't at all amused when I tried to find a leather honing belt supplier here in the UK and after spending hours surfing the web ended up buying the belt from America. I consider such a belt as a basic thing that should have been readily available; at 50mm x 915mm abrasive belts are available so it's a standard size.

One downside is that the black iron I now use retains its scale making it very dirty material to work with; on the plus side though it tends to be heavy section so arc welding is dead easy. Fortunately I have a metal cutting bandsaw that takes a lot of work out of cutting; I doubt many people would regard cutting through 2" square 1/8" thick box section using a hacksaw as fun. I don't mind doing this for a one off but cutting a few would tire me out for the day.

How many of you can remember your first ever power tool? Mine was a Wolf Cubmaster 1/4" single speed electric drill bought when I must have been around 11 years old (1958); I still remember my late grand mother running a catalogue as many did in those days and I would hand over the weekly payment taking care of my pocket money; I think the cost was spread over 20 weeks. I've been interested in machines ever since.

http://objectwiki.sciencemuseum.org.uk/w...Drill.html

I too would like to see pictures of your garden gate John. Did you rivet or weld? I'd put money on it that once made you didn't pop it onto your shoulder to carry it into position.

I'm rambling because this miserable weather is putting me off pottering around in the garage.

Kind regards, Col.

[Yorkie]

Crikey Colin, It shows how old we're getting when our 'state of the art' (as they were back then) Wolf Cubmaster drills are now exhibits in the Science Museum!

I bought a Wolf in 1960 which I guess must have superceded the Cubmaster. It had a circular saw attachment which came with 'wobble washers' that fitted onto the saw-blade arbor to intentionaly make the saw blade wobble from side to side as it rotated, to cut slots in timber, which even back then, seemed a dogdy concept. (I think I only got rid of that Wolf Drill about five years go). Back in those days, the DIY market was in its infancy and the cheap power tools that abound the days from the Far East, such as routers, chop saws, bandsaws, circular saws, hammer drills, sanders etc didn't exist, neither did r-chargeable tools. I remember orbital sanders coming out and the DIY magazines such as Practical Householder (one of FJ Camm's offerings, in addition to Practical Wireless, Practical Television, Practical Mechanics etc) reviewing them. Barry Bucknall did much to popularise DIY with his TV series in the late 1950s.

Happy days!