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9:34 am
March 26, 2010
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Current project is some forged silicon bronze handles.
I needed to make some covers to hide the fixings.
Options were 1. Spin, 2. Lost wax casting 3. turn on a lathe
I went for #3 but didn't want to buy in an sheet of (expensive) 5/16 or 1/4 bronze so decided to squash down some 22mm bar I was using for the handles.
I guess I got the bar "billet" a bit too hot for the first go. The photo was taken with flash and just doesn't show how "pretty" it looked when still glowing. I heated it in the induction heater and obvious didn't let the heat soak to the core, hence the piece with a bit of integretity in the middle!!
1:34 pm
January 18, 2011
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Nice, I'd like to see one finished........I figured you would still be taking it easy at the Costa Brava sipping a Margarita after that last one.......
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."
— Dr. Seuss
3:18 pm
NWBA Member
September 25, 2010
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Kinda looks like the bloomin' onions at Outback Steakhouse. Its a Bloomin' Billet! 😀
Now, correct my ignorance, but I had a friend who always said silica bronze had the same melting temperature as Steel, so he always worked it in the forge the same as mild.
What are the properties of silica bronze regarding heating and hot work?
Regards,
Tim
Let us make a special effort to stop communicating with each other, so we can have some conversation.
Mark Twain
3:41 am
January 18, 2011
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lordcaradoc;11303 wrote: Kinda looks like the bloomin' onions at Outback Steakhouse. Its a Bloomin' Billet! 😀
Now, correct my ignorance, but I had a friend who always said silica bronze had the same melting temperature as Steel, so he always worked it in the forge the same as mild.
What are the properties of silica bronze regarding heating and hot work?
Same melting temp???......no way, steel 2,500f +-, alloy 655 1,800+-......I have found if you run your gas forge flat out, like for steel, you wind up with a lotta scrap bronze$$$$$, I tune it way back. At a certain crossover point they kinda have the same forgeability, but bronze can never be heated to above a dull red, never the lemon yellow that really unlocks the plasticity of steel. 655 is tough stuff for bronze, and is nowhere as easy to forge as alu bronze(but it doesn't anneal and is bitchy to weld)or naval bronze (forges like butter, anneals,but doesn't weld near as nice as 655. The way I describe the wrong heat to forge is if the piece to be forged has a red color with NO darkness, turn off the forge and don't move it at all till it cools a bit, otherwise..:poop:..dull red only...
...There's allot more nuances you'll have to learn yourself, I like the stuff.
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."
— Dr. Seuss
4:03 am
March 18, 2010
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I know what you're talking about David, sometimes when it comes apart it looks like the inside of a geode. A beautiful crystal structure. Nice stuff to work with once you get used to it. I used to make a lot of marine fastenings with it.
“There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot,
but then there are others who, with the help of their art and their intelligence,
transform a yellow spot into the sun.” ~ Pablo Picasso ~
5:43 am
May 14, 2010
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Hey David. I'm just finishing up another bronze handrail job. I'm feel like I'm finally getting a half-decent feel for working with it. Don't go much past dull red and you'll be fine. I sneak it up just barely into orange if I'm feeling frisky. Heat it slow enough that it gets even temp all the way through or you'll have cracking. I run my gas forge as low as it will go without huffing out (about 1.5 psi). It really is beautiful stuff, well worth putting in the time to learn it's intricacies. And the best part- NO PAINT!!! :happy:
6:58 am
March 21, 2011
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David Browne;11326 wrote: And the best part- NO PAINT!!! :happy:
But do you polish it? How much work is that?
8:31 am
March 26, 2010
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Tom, it's not really a question of saving work. It's a question of not having to mask the "as forged surface" with dirty great gloops of paint. Both the as forged forged surface and the patina that slowly develops have an inherent beauty.
Personally the finish I like is "half polished" I give the surface a going over with a scothbrite wheel to remove a bitof the "scale" and follow up with really heavily pressing the work into a well loaded buffing mop. It kinda polishes the highlights but leaves a lot of the fine forged texture.
Note the photos are test pieces. One is Aluminium bronze (rich golden yellow) the other silicon bronze (more red). They work in very different ways.
I'm still finding my way round with bronze but it seems the aluminium bronze (CA107) has to be worked hot from dull read up to a max of orange-ish ... it doesn't work cold. The silicon bronze I'm using (CS101) seems to work abit colder and it also seems to work ok up to a low orange .... possibly this could be called red .... colours are SO subjective and depend on the workshop light (my forge is a dull part of the room).
I've tried phosphor bronze (PB1) and "leaded" bronze (LB4) with no luck all either hot or cold. I've also tried PB102 phosphor bronze and this does seem to work around a dull red and less but needs frequent anneals.
I've got a LOT to learn about bronzes and welcome any advice and am going to put in the hard yards cos it sure is a lovely material. Yellow aluminium broze, red silicicon bronze mixed with stainless steel make wonderfull pallette of colours
1:30 pm
January 18, 2011
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I'm still finding my way round with bronze but it seems the aluminium bronze (CA107) has to be worked hot from dull read up to a max of orange-ish ... it doesn't work cold.
I found out this little factoid the hard way.........Awhile back I bought 6 or 8 1'' round bars of the stuff for a super good price. A job came up where bronze was needed for about 90 scrolls of bronze and color wasn't critical, and ah ha, I've got tons of bronze already......I'm gonna save big bux on material. So I forge ALL the scrolls to ball park dimensions and go to fitting them up cold, no way in hell......:stomp::banghead:They all had to be fit with a torch. It put me in such a state my helper quit......oh well...
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."
— Dr. Seuss
2:30 pm
March 26, 2010
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Bruce Macmillan;11348 wrote: [QUOTE=david hyde;11345]
. So I forge ALL the scrolls to ball park dimensions and go to fitting them up cold, no way in hell......:stomp::banghead:They all had to be fit with a torch. It put me in such a state my helper quit......oh well...
Ouch!
It's amazing how strong a metal this mainly copper stuff can be. I did try some nickel aluminium bronze (CA104) as well and boy oh boy is that stuff STRONG when cold.
I've playing round with different bronze as much to explore the different colours and patina on offer.
What is the consensus on 3% silicon bronze (CS 101 this side of the pond). How low can you work it? and what is the safe upper colour? If you overheat it (good orange??) is it ok to work it when it cools down or is it buggered from there on in?
3:33 pm
March 26, 2010
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David Browne;11326 wrote: Hey David. I'm just finishing up another bronze handrail job.
Pictures please David:)
Your projects always seem to be interesting/ educational/ inspirirational
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