Barrel forging & Pattern Welding Steel - Videos & Pics

Bookie

Bookie

Joined
Mar 25, 2014
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Ye Corn Patch kami is throwing another blacksmithing seminar this weekend. The place was packed tonight with folks from all over creation. The BS was flowing hot and heavy and so far, a good time has been had by all. Tomorrow we'll start by forging a large pattern welded steel billet to make a custom Bowie knife. Going to try a buckshot pattern and we should hit 512 layers easy--of course with the Good Lord willin' an' th' crik don't rise. Have a famous movie producer here to film. Actually started today. Said he was gonna make me a star. Git some feller from out West to be my stunt double. Believe he said his name was Rock Bawanna or somethin' like that. At any rate, The shop was getting prepared for tomorrys onslaught so we could start off on the right foot. He took this photo of me. Wish the HI kamis could see this one of Lord Vishwakarma and me talking things over. . Will have other photos for the next couple of days. Stay tuned.
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Can't wait to see more photo's and this bowie, I love it already.

All them license plates around I can't help but think your actually working out of Folsom.

You look cold to me, still winter down in Corn Patch? Wife's gonna pin your ears back wearing your good jacket out in the shop. Warming up nice here in the NW, time to take my jacket back to the Salvation Army where I got it.

Love
Rock
 
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I misread the title. I thought "seminar" was "scimitar" :eek:

That's so cool though:)
 
First off there are a couple of shots Blower Man Dan took of a bunch of layers of different kinds of steel being glued together. The one steel is proved to be not super compatible with the rest of the in-homogenous mess at hand, but at least she's tacked together, and HEY! WTH, it ain't gonna be MY knife when she's done! Can you tell it's getting warm in the shop?
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The next shot is me trying to do ever thing nice and neat---at least startin' off. Pretty soon this nice oblong shape is going to grow all out of proportion and become a rather large flattened mess, but at least I've got the edges all tucked away for a while. Going to try to post a talkie later tonight. Maybe two!
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A knife is gonna leave your shop what ain't homogenous! I'm plumb appalled I tell ya.

How do ya tell if the metal is homogenous or not, it don't flow or melt like the rest. I suppose once you got it in the mix you can't get it out neither huh?

At least ya took off your good jacket, probably save ya a beating right there.

Where's everybody else at in these photo's? They watch from outside and take turns or room to stand around without getting burned up?

You keep Cutie Curls locked up hiding someplace, don't want none of these metal pounders moving in on my girl.
 
Wooo Another action thread in my favorite style. I am looking forward to this one already.

Umm Bookie, question, I thought you used coal to heat your forge, not BS... so is "The BS flowing hot and heavy and so far" a good thing? Does hot BS make the forge temperatures hot enough to "burn" the steel? Maybe that is why that one steel isn't compatible... too much BS heat!

:D
 
Me thinks your onto something Shavru. Bac Si .......BS.......hmmmm. In LE this is what we would call a clue.
 
Dai uy, Yes, I am Burning Stoker coal for today's operation. Tomorrow will be a horse of another color, though. There are many people watching & awaiting their turn to play in the fire, but the world famous motion picture producer (whom MUST remain anonymous) wanted to file me doing real work ans giving instruction as I go for several different, but related videos. (It would amaze you to know who has traveled all the way to cool & chilly Corn Patch to film this.) Shav, I wish you were here. You'd definitely have a ball. One fellow brought his 1873 Winchester to show me. Can you believe a factory made singe shot in .22 short?! It does not operate like any Winchester I've ever seen or owned. It looks like a Winchester carbine in .44-40, though!

Below is a video (I hope) of me trying to flatten out a wrought iron wagon wheel rim. It's awkward trying to manipulate until it's flattened out and kind of comical, but it's worth the effort. The hammer is my little 12 pounder. Click on the link. Hope it plays. Will post a second.
[video]http://vid10.photobucket.com/albums/a109/sbooko/MOV05565.mp4[/video]
 
Here is a second video cull to tickle your demonic laughter. Here we are cupping the straightened wagon wheel rim to start forming the tube with which to create a rifle barrel. There is audio with this one, too. The temperature was 32 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Inside, next to the main door, would you believe a comfortable 91? Ended up that we all took our coats and long sleeved shirts off. Hope this one plays, too. Might need some time to load for you, though.
[video]http://vid10.photobucket.com/albums/a109/sbooko/MOV05566.mp4[/video]
 
Thank you, Kamidog. Took 20 something videos today with various lengths of time. Must listen to them before posting as some might be XXX rated. Some might have non-political correctness verbiage, and some just show FUBARS or practical jokes being played. I'm afraid we wasted mucho film for the man, but we did have a good time and he did get some great footage anyway. Here are three pics I'll share with you tonight. Perhaps a video or two tomorrow--after I catch up on my beauty sleep.
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[/URL][/IMG] This is a large bronze bearing that will one day magically turn into a hand guard for a big Bowie knife. It's getting heated up to soften the material for sawing. Maybe wind up in Texas.
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[/URL][/IMG] I'm pounding metal in this shot forming the tube for the rifle barrel.
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[/URL][/IMG] Here is the barrel to be about half way through the cupping operation. The flat end was getting too hot for me to hang on to, so the barrel was quenched in water to cool it down a mite. Then the forming was completed.
 
Awesome progress doc! Do you use a mandrel when you weld the seem? OK....OK... Hold your horses Kamidog and you will find out?
 
Wow a Winchester 1873 in 22 short? I was so enamored with the pictures my brain was creating about that I went a poked around on gunbroker until I actually found one that I think must be similar. though it wasn't a single shot it was a lever action that does indeed look exactly as I imagined from your description. I would say that is one gun that I wish I had as a youngster. Squirrel and rabbit stew and the occasional roast raccoon would have been even more tasty with that stylish rifle assisting my fledgling hunting skills. I used an old model 62A when I had .22 shells and a slingshot when I didn't. I guess you would say I was a tom-boy considering my mother couldn't get near me with a comb and dress all through the summer. Other seasons, Saturday nights was the terror of my young life. Having had a bath and then HOURS of mother hot ironing my hair straight for Sunday school and the entire time her yanking out new chunks to iron and telling me I had BETTER not embarrass her this week. LOL, poor thing, she never stood a chance of not being embarrassed and I am positive she knew it and made me pay with every pull of the comb for what she new was coming the following morning.

I have enjoyed the pictures and videos, but I think your striker in the one video needs some practice. looks like he got a touch confused about when and what to hit :D But so far you have another great start on a barrel. Can't wait to see more, but meanwhile enjoying re-watching what we do have.
 
Yes, the Winchester was made originally a single shot that loads from the top. The .44-40 magazine is just for looks as is the ejector slot. Pretty neat little lever gun.

Next is a video that is almost a minute in duration. The barrel is being cupped and persuaded into shape by a little 6 pounder. It may require some down load time for your system and I hope it plays for you. Sound on? Here is a link:
http://vid10.photobucket.com/albums/a109/sbooko/MVI_0036.mp4
 
Dai uy & Kamidog, this one is for you. This little video was taken with my own little camera and it's one minute and 25 seconds long. In it, you'll see the barrel being finished up as far as a tube is concerned. To get to this point required me to pound hot iron for a tad over 5 hours and endure temperatures of over 120 degrees when the variable wind tossed the fire back at me. Lost a little hair on me arms, I did. A couple of dime sized blisters on my neck are just part of the days work. Drilling the bore with 4 foot hand made drill bits comes next and then reaming with a 4 foot long square file with a wooden shoe attached. Rifling and breeching follow that. All great fun! This is the last one intended to be posted in this thread and here's the link. Hope it plays well. Oh, and I almost forgot.....did I happen to mention this thing was hot? http://vid10.photobucket.com/albums/a109/sbooko/MOV05582.mp4
 
Wooohoo 2 new videos. A good evening :)

Thank you for sharing the fun with us Bac Si. So at this point is where you sent the last trainee home to make a whole mess of drill bits to drill out the bore and get it ready for reaming right? Maybe some day one of these barrels will come back to visit you so you can show us where they went from there.

So last one of the videos for the Barrel that you can show us, but you aren't going to leave us with just a little teaser about a pattern-weld Bowie knife are you? All we know is it is going to have a bronze hand guard and the blade MAY delaminate it's self if you don't kibitz a bit on the forging your seminar attendee's work. I am betting you can salvage their troubles and get a good solid weld, can't you? Or does it really have nothing to do with skill and they just got some steels you can not use together without a risk they won't weld properly?
 
I have one of the said 1873 Winchesters in .22 Short. I fetched it from the estate of the Niles, Illinois FD Cheif when he passed near twenty years ago. He was a huge Winchester collector. I scored some great items. However, money as it is, you only have enough expendable at the moment. Two in this instance got away, a pristine early '86 take down in 45-70. The other a WWII double barreled Nazi SS marked flare gun of bright steel (perhaps early stainless?) and the finest of walnut. Actually, I got double crossed out of the later. Oh well, can't own them all.
 
Dude lets see some pics of that 73 when you find the time. That's a very cool thing.

That 86 take down had to cause a few tears, would be sad to miss something like that too.
 
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