Kitsune-52

Hello blacksmiths of reddit, I've come to ask about kitchen tools and appliances

How do I keep the things that I make kitchen safe, like if I were to make a knife for a restaurant what would i have to do so that the restaurant couldn't say that "it's a health safety hazard"

Also a second question would be what are some of the easier tools and appliances that I could make, preferably out of copper

Hello, I've been having problems with casting copper ingots. When I cast them into my graphite mold they usually come out layered and I'm not sure what to do about it. The molds are big enough to make ingots about 4-4.5 lb

Hello blacksmiths of reddit, I would like to know if there is a specific way of forge welding that I could do to copper. And yes I already know that if I'm forgewelding it should be with quality steel. I would still like to try and see if it's possible because I think folded copper would look cool

I also have another issue this would help solve. I cast my own copper ingots but they have a tendency to make layers instead of a solid block probably because it's open top but I don't really have any other way of doing it.

When it's formed like this the layers start breaking apart when i try to work them so I'd like to know if they're something that i could do to remove the layers.

Hello blacksmiths, I was wondering about anvils. Also my anvil is the 55 lb blue one from harbor freight

What are some ways that i should be taking care of my anvil?

When my anvil gets rusty should I always clean off the rust or is there something else I should do?

Do these cleaning methods apply to other tools like tongs, or is there a different approach i should take?

Thanks in advance blacksmiths

Hello blacksmiths of reddit, I've got a new question for you

I wanted to try my hand at coin making so i could make small gifts for friends but I don't know hwo to make coins, so I need some advice.

I was going to make the coins out of aluminum bronze for a golden color. I hope it's fine for doing this because my only other option is copper

How do I put engravings into the coin?

How thick should the coins be?

Whats a good size for a coin

Anything else I should know?

Hello casters of reddit, this is my second post in quick succession because I felt the need to split the topics. Now I have questions about alloys and metals

The metals that I have are:

Copper, brass, aluminum, and lead (that's what I have that I can melt) i also have a little bit of zinc but not much

Are these good ingredients to interesting and useful alloys? If so what are they and what are their uses?

Also, what would it take to melt iron and steel? I have a lot of scrap metal that falls under the probably cast iron category but I can't melt it with my propane foundry.

What would it take and are there and suggestions on what to buy to make this possible? Thank you to all the coming replies!

Hello semi and Profesional casters of reddit I've got some questions about sand casting?

Is it a good idea to cast glass onto a sand cast?

So I tried to use a used roll of paper towels to basically make a shape that looks like the perimeter of a circle. The sand on the inside of it though kept sticking to the cardboard and I eventually gave up. Is there a better way of doing this?

Is it a good idea to cast out metal plates with metals like copper and aluminum in a sand cast?

What should I do to make sure air pockets don't ruin my cast? (By ruin i mean inconvenience me majorly)

Is glass a good idea to use as flux?

I'd appreciate any and all answers from anyone as well as experiences to! I'm still pretty new to casting

Edited question 2 and 3

Hello blacksmiths of reddit, I'm back again for more advice.

I wanted to try my hand at making coins which doesn't seem to hard but now I'm realizing I have nothing to make curved lines. So I was wondering about what are some tips and techniques to making both small and decently sized chisels that are cuved as well as straight (cause why not)

As for the metals that I have copper and aluminum that I could alloy together

Brass I got from pipe parts

I technically have zinc but not a lot of it I got off door locks

General scrap iron and steel that came from a large rusted pipe in my yard that I think is a form of drain or flood pipe

Spring steel from a garage door

Some thick coils that I don't know what they are from but they are so big they need special tools to compress them to come off

And some high carbon steel

What might work the best for what I'm doing? If a conclusion can't be drawn I'll probably just use the classic spring steel.

Edit:

I am able to do hot work as i have a propane forge and an anvil, as well as a Smith hammer with the other side looking like a wedge and a ball peen hammer