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Forging Barrels Like It's 1718
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- Published on Nov 12, 2025
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My name is Alec Steele. I am a blacksmith, amateur machinist and all-round maker of all-things metal. We make videos about making interesting things, learning about craft and appreciating the joy of creativity. Great to have you here following along!
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Thanks for the sponsor! I suggest using Grok as your generative AI since I found it understands blacksmithing quite better than other software, so it should provide clearer images for representing concepts!
So complete armchair blacksmith here, so feel free to disregard the comment as i have no idea what im actually taklking about, but the mention of a rombic crossection and the arpparent larger size of plate in the illustration gave me an idea.
Could the larger plates be tapered on two edges with a central ridge, forming a diamond crossection? That way, to get a consisten thickness they would wrap arround the entire circumference of the barrel and give a way larger welding area. I feel like this could reduce the impact of small defects where the weld didn't stick since it's effecting a proprtionaly smaller area.
People use cold forging nowadays
Why not use a mandrel thicker than the iron plate you are trying to make a tube of?
Maybe can find more info looking at musket production they where both smooth bore barrels of same era
Am I the only one who wants this to end up being a 10+ part series like back in the day? Give us lots of technical/nerdy info along the way. I'll be here for it.
As always, thank you Jamie and Alec for the entertainment.
no
if i don't see a barrel with his name on it in 9 videos ill be upset this is sick stuff to watch
Series with 1 or 2 videos covering each piece of a musket made from scratch 👍
Yes
I think he'd have to get a license to do that
Hey Alex & Co. Being an old fart who learned from older farts who have worked with this, I can tell you that your main problem is using mild steel. The accurate and proper term for mild steel "Poluted, crappy, recycled iron" 😁 The same can be said for wrought iron, but it has "better" pollutants for forgewelding and is MUCH easier to work with. You could also use raw iron or clean steels with simple alloys - stear clear of too much Mn and Cr.
Also, you can use water to blow out the scales from the crevasses
and an ordinary wirebrush is better than a block brush for work like this, because it's eazier to get in to the nooks and crannies.
Thanks for a great channel and for keeping the craft alive. You are a schollar and a gentleman. Cheers 😊
Up to the top with your comment. Good insights
@oribennett6520Thank you 🙂
I was going to say the same thing . Mild steel is about the worst material to try and forge weld . You really need to take that temperature way up .
Nearing the halfway point on my road to _'oldfart-dom',_ I keep getting astounded by comments like this one bringing me back to this one realization:..
We *are* standing on the shoulders of giants
@adamparker9765 Actually wrought has to be worked hotter, but it welds MUCH easier - If it's a decent quality. But low alloy steel is propparbly an easier way to go, in a propane forge.
Someone once told me "If you don't have a massive frustration tolerance, stay away from experimental archaeology" - I guess the principle applies here too.
You have to realize that nothing you do is a failure when you do such things, just paying for your education
Click spring is making the antikithera mechanism using experimental archeology. Fascinating series.
@zebdeming That mindset is incredibly helpful for learning anything new. Instead of seeing mistakes as failures, look at them as part of the learning process itself. It's called "trial and error" afterall, not "trial and instant success".
@sethkeown5965 Clickspring doesn't count. He's not human somehow.
@andersjjensen He's an old-school watchmaker which requires absurd attention to detail as a basic entry condituion. His archaeological projects are just.... yeah, not human. Dude's an alien.
And now you know why cast brass cannons were so popular when they appeared. Forging barrels was considered one of the absolute peaks of blacksmithing.
yea forging a barrel for a whole cannon would hav been almost impossible
@petermacris8260A lot of early cannons were indeed made by forging strips of iron to form, using longitudinal iron strips bound by iron hoops. This construction was reminiscent of wooden barrels, and is where the term “barrel” comes from.
@Pilotmario no. Most early cannons were cast not forged.
@ObservationofLimits I never mentioned it was to the exclusion of casting. Casting pre- and post-dates hoop and stave construction, and was used to make larger cannons like bombards until iron casting technology could make those bigger guns.
@PilotmarioMons Meg, with her 20in barrel had to be built with the hoops method. I don't think we could make cast barrels that big until the mid/late 1800s
Please keep doing these historical builds, this is fascinating.
He should also reach out to some archaeology departments that have professors who do experimental archaeology. Said profs would probably love to have access to Alec’s skills and workshop
@niall_sanderson yeah that would be absolutely dope!
You have to imagine that the very highest quality pieces of metalwork you see in a museum or collection probably represents years of highly skilled labour (and decades of practice). Truly incredible what our forebearers were capable of.
The stuff that makes it to museums in one piece usually come from royal collections and if you're making stuff for royalty then you're likely a master of your craft
Always wonder how many barrels were discarded as not good enough to make such a high quality piece.
reminds me of the construction of the Saturn V rocket which was used in the apollo missions, we definitely had way more advanced manufacturing techniques back in 1960 but to say that the engineers of the Saturn V pushed those techniques to the absolute limit would be a massive understatement, it almost shouldn't have even been possible..
inb4 alec makes the nozzle of a rocket thruster
I JUST realized that the whole cartoon effect of the barrel of a gun peeling back like a banana is because of wraught iron
Modern steel will do the same thing, I have a shotgun barrel that was borrowed out and came back that way, went under water duck hunting and then fired with the barrel full of water
I know someone who got an ice plug in the end of a .22 cal barrel and fired without realizing it. They said the barrel peeled back several inches following the rifling.
@zebdeming. Water is surprisingly hard when you smack it with an ounce of metal going 1200 feet per second.
Just so
Legit I had the same exact thought thanks to Elmer fudd
Hi Alec, as a gunsmith an long time fan, I want to let you know that your final tube, while not the ideal you were looking for and maybe not as clean as the masters of the 18th century, would absolutely hold up to the old black powder loads of that era. Barrel makers are a very specific trade that bridge the gap between blacksmithing and gunsmithing, and they are incredible people. Ive had great opportunity to work with some amazing smiths and barrel makers. Love your work alec, Ive been watching your channel since I was a Junior in Highschool, now Im a Gunsmith with several years in the trade, Ive learned a lot, and the biggest lesson Ive taken is just how much I still have to learn. Love your channel, keep being you and doing awesome work
From what I heard, back then when the barrel was finished they would take it outside and double powder charge and double roundball it, and if it handled that it was ready. Is that true?
@ATruckCampbell - AFAIK, multiple balls in the chamber next to each other was rarely done if it was "powder, more powder, ball, second ball on top". Some guns had "powder, ball, second powder, second ball, ... Xth powder, Xth ball" and multiple touch holes so you could light them from muzzle back one at a time.
Adding extra powder to a load could be done for sure, but anyone trying to shoot accurately would possibly notice a change in how the bullet flies through the air from the different pressure.
If either of the balls in the "powder, powder, ball, ball" situation jammed (which might be easier if they are making direct contact), the pressure buildup in the barrel could be dangerous and probably destroy the gun. It might be safer in a smoothbore gun with a bore wider than the ball (with something cushioning the ball like a sabot so it won't roll back out), but one with rifling would be extra tough to eject and really risk jamming.
I'm no historian, but I watch a lot of Ian's work on Forgotten Weapons - he demonstrates a lot of guns trying to get the lower weight of one barrel but better shot capacity, and describes a lot of the issues with these. If you're not already watching that channel, it could be a real good source of cool old gun lore!
@ATruckCampbell Yes and no, the double powder double ball sounds more like a specific type of proof loading. Proof loading is an old way of testing barrels. British firearms are still proof tested to this day as are many other companies. British law requires proof testing while some american companies like Colt do it for tradition. Infact on british firearms, you can decipher the proof stamps to determine exactly which load the gun was tested for.
Double charge is basically a minimum proof test that all guns are expected to handle. If a barrel cannot handle a double charge, its absilutely not safe. Triple charge is very normal for smokeless powder rifles but handguns and especially revolvers are usually only tested to double charge.
The most famous proof loading was actually a cannon proof which is 4 times whatever powder load is recommended plugged with a wooden or cork plug. Its actually meant to simulate the stress of a powder detonation and if it survives, thats good. See powder is supposed to burn, not detonate, but black powder if it was ground too fine, could actually detonate like TNT and it would blow up many older muzzle loaders. This is why the british army actually told their troops to not work with loose powder and absolutely not to grind it unless they were trained for it. But with the invention of smokeless powder and metallic cartridges, that became a non issue and so its unnecessary, but many barrel makers in the UK actually take pride in being able to make a cannon proof barrel
Rambling like a madman while scribbling strange drawings right on the floor. Love it, never change! I could really see this as a very nerdy list of episodes!
That’s a true craftsman in his natural state
The geometry is simple but his presentation is indeed funny
My father was a crazy genius that explained everything with a basic sketch with engineers chalk on a bench
Alec! Very cool to see this, as a historic shooter old firearms are my love in life and the craftsmanship that went into them back in the day was insane. If you haven't seen it, the documertery "The Gunsmith of Williamsburg" was a 1969 production showing the techiniques of a gunsmith in colonial America in the mid 1700's, including the forging of a barrel from Wraught Iron
I have watched that like 10 times, what a craftsman.
I think speaking of old firearms and this method being the "cheep" option, it's important to point out how bad you can make a black powder firearm barrel, I've seen some awful examples of muzzle loader barrels that are functional
I've only forge welded twice and that was an accident when I was forging my first tongs. Went to rivet them using a coal forge. Welded them together. I kept them as a reminder.
I want to see a 300 ton hydraulic press cold forging steel
@tomholroyd7519I could be wrong but I think the hydraulic press channel did that years ago
"The greatest teacher, failure is." - Yoda
Do or do not there is no try @jaidsaviero
@tomholroyd7519 It just splits I think
This is amazing. I am fascinated by the fact that certain (extremely useful) geometries were so hard to produce historically. Making something like a heat exchanger is easy now with factory made copper tubing, but making something like that in the past was nearly impossible.
Good to see you here! I hope life is treating you well.
Don't forget bell makers! Now that could be a fascinating video! 0:38
Those frequencies are needed now more than ever
Omg I would love to see him make a bell that’d be great
“Bell metal” is also quite unique… I have a 1797 English ‘cartwheel’ Penny I found metal detecting (they were only made of bell-metal for this one year) and it’s in perfect condition despite being underground for 200+ years.
Jazz and iron working. wow. 52 years old and never thought i'd see the day. Thank you for keeping the tunes alive.
I'm so glad someone has shown this process. Some tips I've picked up is start your fold and weld in the center of the barrel and only weld three inches at a time. Weld down one side then switch back to the other. That way there is less of the mandrel in the work at one time. There is much more but im so glad to see someone showing this.
A video about book recommendations on blacksmithing, machining, jewellery and the history of these crafts would be amazing.
I feel like an Alex Steele field trip to Williamsburg, Virginia is in order. They are still making Kentucky Long Rifles there the colonial way. At the very least, their videos may be informative.
I literally just got back from there yesterday. What an amazing place.
I know one of the gunsmiths there, they have much they could share with Mr. Alec here ;)
have a link to their youtube channel, or the name of the channel.. would love to check out their videos.
There is an old documentary Gunsmith of Williamsburg (1969). The official channel is Colonial Williamsburg. Just search Colonial Williamsburg Gunsmithing and you will find most of it.@terrydavis7389
That brings back memories. I remember watching a vhs tape of them building a rifle from raw materials in my high school machine shop class.
Please please make this a massive multi part series! Again pushing the boundaries of your skills and hopefully presenting an insane gun barrel, just like that insane Titanium Axe.
15:00
It was at this point that I realized what you were doing wrong, but I'm sure you did too.
The taper on the mandrill is causing the end OD to be different then the OD of the work-piece closest to your hand.
Basically, you need to hold it backwards. The part you are welding should be at the largest point in the taper, and not the smallest.
Otherwise the difference causes the deformity to keep progressing back and forth from end to end.
Exactly, thats why the striker in the old video had the mandrill and not the smith.
I could also imagine that they use same coal dust too prevent oxidation in areas close too the weld
*mandrel
I feel this is correct. Right now they are trying to weld but are just folding the bits over each other. They need a bigger diameter surface to strike against and once welded work it down to the correct diameter for the barrel.
That's why the helper had the mandrel in the old drawings! Cool!
Dont tell me... 0:46
To be honest Alec your attempt at making damascus steel barrels is remarkable, sometime in the future, your videos will be used as reference for some young blacksmith to create Damascus Steel barrels, you are keeping the old ways alive
Ai slop
Very true
@Thardris What the hell? lol
@LZS.Tempest you think someone is a little jaded? 😄
It only took a few years for people to fully accept that nothing is real due to AI we are so cooked
I'm really glad you posted the full almost unedited version with all the failures.
I have the same the difficulties of Forge Welding. Every time the steel goes in the fire, there's more slag created and you lose material to oxide.
I like the idea of cold working the steel first.
14:05 I think you are looking at this kinda wrong. I know colonial gun smiths forged with a mandrel smaller than the target bore then drilled out to dimension. The next operation was to grind or draw file the octagon on. This would in theory give you a chance to remove defects you saw when you cut the tube up.
How did they make this straight enough and precise enough for a gun? it's madness!!!
Gunsmiths where the best craftsmen back than. Took years of training just for the barrel. Rest of the guns was peanuts compared to that
I suggest you watch the yt video "gunsmith of Williamburg" or sth like that, about a modern 20th century barrelmaker in the us, the process of boring and calibrating of the barrel is shown there quite nicely.
By, in essence, inventing entire sciences of measurement, esp. those of calibration and bore. Also blowing things up.
A fuckin lot.
@emanueliratliff4263 Yea... there's a reason more high energy firearms of the period could be prone to exploding wholesale if the manufacturer cut corners.
Smooth bore? By eye lol. Smooth bore plus ball ammunition was more "that direction" than target shooting
17:02 im sorry to say, but its not the mustache thats missing! 😅 its obviously the pipe you refuse to smoke whilst hammering on your steelrod 😂
hows he gonna do that? all his pipes had cracks and delamination
It's both!
The pipe smoke keeps the seam free from contamination. Well known scientific fact
My dumb ass saw the title and assumed he was building wine barrels…
Я тоже так подумал
This cracked me up 😂
Me too lol
Same
Well that is the historical basis for firearm barrels being called barrels so you get a pass.😊
3:07 Man Nigel has everything; I dont think there has been a single time you have shown up were he didnt have what you were looking for
4:17 "...Portuguese blacksmiths, Smyth and Stryker..." It's amazing that they had those names, being in this profession.
If you are going to use wrought iron I would suggest forge welding at higher temperatures, for mild steel it may work too, since the carbon content is low. I have expirience with forge welding and re working wrought iron, making steel from bloomery iron, tamahagane, smelting etc. And for a weld like this I would usually heat it up to a point wher first sparks start to appear ath the seam, for re working sheets, or folding traditional steels (yes, even high carbon ones) You'd want the whole piece to "boil" and throw sparks all over you and your shop floor, under the stirke of a hammer. Also you may want to switch to solid fuel forges, I would strongly suggest charcoal (as, btw. It would have been used in the 18th century), correctly controling the airflow will give you very clean welds without the need for flux.
That reminds me, I have a reprint of a blacksmithing book from probably the 1800’s, and it never once references flux for welding. It always just says ‘Take a welding heat and weld the part’. I wondered about that, but you’ve clarified that with the right conditions and skill, flux is optional.
Yeah, in the last video you could see the French smith's barrels throwing off sparks as you took them out of the forge, I think he missed that
@Vikingwerk it for sure is optional, tho historically many fluxes other than borax would be used. I've worked with sillica rich clays, used as a slurry, poured over hot metal. You do need to find a clay that sticks, and have the right proportions for your slurry, but it works, melts just like borax, but only at much higher temperatures (around 1000C). In the 1800's in europe, pure sillica powder, or other sillica, or calcium rich minerals, or chemicals would be used (such as burned crushed shells or even burned bone powder which were used historically since pretty much the beginning of ironworking). Sometimes those would be added also during smelting, thats often why wrought iron, especially puddeleisen has a high sillica content which helps with further welding. Some bloomery steel and tamahagane too, but in that case the sillica comes primarly from the smelter's walls eroding, tho most of it ends up as slag, and doesnt diffuse into the iton, so its far less noticable. Tho sometimes flux was also used in smelting, before the industrail revolution (shells in some parts of japan, and other types of flux in 15th century germany just to give an example) The main problem with those fluxes, and the reason why I often use borax alongside clay slurry, is the beforementioned higher melting temp. Which means you can not use it in the same fassion as you would borax (sprinkling it over the steel at lower temps) and that is why it is less effective. They also
create a much less predictable "glass" over the material, and are harder to get off after heating. (Thats why I tend not to use those traditiona fluxes on the welding surfaces themselves, but on the seams (sides) of the weld, becouse they can actually create a barrier just like slag or forgescale) also, as Alex correctly pointed out in the video, steel filings or shavings were commonly added for scarf welds and other common "constructing" welds, ni mai, and san mai constructions, etc. (haven't heard of it being common for reworking material)
I rarely comment but seeing you using techniques from my country even if its just this small part it means so much to see our small country being seen and appreciated.
Waiting for the next part!
When I forge weld, I always use a small hammer and use rapid light blows. Otherwise, you’re moving steel as you are trying to weld it together. Love the video Alex, and I liked the Nigel cameo!
I'm Portuguese and you made me really proud of my ancestors right now.
Congrats, this looked so hard to do and you certainly created a true proof of concept! Now let's practice for the barrel and, who knows, maybe the rest as well 😉
Thank you for teaching me something I didn't know about our own history and achievements.
You and the majoroty dont Now, Because the traitors in the power dont want it
@Rodrigues-xg3lnAt some point the Portuguese stopped taking risks and got left behind now all they have are memories
@ALOOALOO-d3r2zall they no. All we. I AM portuguese to.
@ALOOALOO-d3r2zwe got left bewind not because risk, we take all the risk before everybody in europe. But because traitors that sold to europeans interesses
23:35 lmao gotta love that "please don't do me like you did Phillip Luty" disclaimer 🤣
Philly Luty did nothing wrong
@robmurphy806Goddamn right.
I bet there wont be a whole lot of people that get that reference
@me3333and it's a damn shame
His book should be on a shelf in every home.
11:40 Maybe you're having difficulties because you're not wearing the frilly jacket and knee pants shown in the book.
This man is onto something.
Keep on rediscovering the old ways of making damascus barrels and good luck on your journey of making a classic hunting rifle
Watching this young man exploring and experimenting as he takes us on this journey as if we are fellow pilgrims, I keep having to remind myself he is already a master craftsman in his own right, and I am just a passenger along for the ride. This is some of the best content I have seen on RUclips. Thank you!
Seems like you need a coal forge..... Keeping the scarfs clean enough to weld. Would be historically correct as well.
This is VERY interesting. Keep up the good work. Best regards from Denmark 🇩🇰👍.
That’s actually a good idea. Especially with mild steel or Wright iron. Maybe even with alloy steel if the heat and fire is perfectly controlled.
Or purging the forge with inert gas even co2 but coal would be cheaper
Totally this. Every time I have done forge welding, I've tried to keep a REDUCING fire.
Alec, RUclips just recommended this video to me, that's why I'm 9 days late with this comment. "Gunsmith of Williamsburg (1969)" is an old video (still available both new from Colonial Williamsburg and here as an old [probably from VHS video tape] on YT) produced by Colonial Williamsburg (Virginia) about their replica Colonial Gunshop showing how the wrought iron flintlocks were built in Williamsburg in the mid(?)-1700s from a piece of wrought iron through drilling/reaming the barrel bore, including how the barrel was/is tested to ensure that it would be safe to use in a rifle (they still do this today). They didn't/don't make "pattern welded" barrels like you guys are learning to make though.
One note: After the barrels were/are welded, they were drilled/reamed until the barrels "cleaned up" internally, whatever diameter that size ended up being, became the rifles' caliber. The video shows this process too.
the clippys are freaking everywhere, what a sight to behold
In the same historical vein, it would be cool to compare modern belt sanding tools with old grindstones!
Fun fact: early (and large) cannons, called bombards, were often constructed with metal bands added down the length of the barrel in an attempt to prevent those exact failure modes. It's interesting to see that at some point, someone basically said "Hey, uh, why don't we just make the barrel out of bands?"
idk if it was just camera stuff but Jaime helping and the double hammering seemed to really make a difference...
11:10 "It wouldn't be interesting if it was easy!" Instant flashback to an old guy I used to work for 20 years ago who always said "If it was easy, everyone would be doing it!"
I remember seeing a living history documentary on an artisan blacksmith forging and furnishing an early american flintlock rifle and proofing it, it was fascinating and the concept stuck with me for years.
Gunsmith of Williamsburg (1969), the gunsmith's name is Wallace Gusler, still alive, though retired (and deservedly so).
Came here to say this. This film is maybe the most impressive display of artisanship I've ever seen. And they are indeed forge welding a complete barrel.
Is this the start of a classic 39 part, labor intensive build series??? I sure friggin hope so! An Alec Steele project, building a classic flintlock over the next 6 months would be a dream come true! ❤🎉❤ WHOOOT
Alex, each video from you is a technical, historical, art class. These videos make my day. Thanks a lot for all the knowledge!
What the pictures don't show is that the 1700's blacksmiths had learnt to breathe in a pure nitrogen atmosphere
That's fantastic. 😂
does wrought iron release nitrogen? im a little lost here.
@PostalPatriot556the forge consumes a lot of oxygen and makes it hard to breathe if not well ventilated. I assume that's what they're talking about
3:30 I appreciate using the forge to cook food. Neuroscientists often work with lobster neurons. You know why? I can't resist saying stomatogastric ganglion, but also lemon juice
It’s true what they say about neurologists, isn’t it? 😂 always with the jokes
This video is AWESOME!!!
I've only ever seen this done once before. That was at the Historical Williamsburg, Gunsmith shop. One thing that they did differently was that instead of welding the entire length simultaneously they only welded about and inch - 1/5 in at a time. Started at one side and working their way to the other. This allows you to forge a barrel of any length with the same mandrel. I don't know if this way is better, but it may help in getting the weld to hold. The other possible reason for this is that as they use coal they can only heat up small sections at a time, so they aren't able to bring the entire piece up to welding temperature.
Amazing video, amazing work!
I love the jazz music in the background.
I would imagine that an 18th century Portuguese gunsmith would find that first attempt quite admirable for someone's first attempt at a gun barrel but would absolutely not want to be anywhere near it when it's given a proof firing for the first time. :D
I love the path this channel is taking.
This was absolutely fascinating! I never leave comments, but I had to this time. Please make more videos about traditional gun barrel making - I’d love to see more! 😊
I am really stoked about this series! Love it. 🔥
One thing to remember is blackpowder does not generate the same cylinder pressure as modern powder. Modern barrels can contain cylinder pressure as high as 65000 psi where as blackpowder can vary wildly from 5000 to 20000 psi where the breech is located. As the projectile travels down the bore pressure drops because there is more space for the gases to expand.
16:31 THAT'S... WHAT... SHE... SAID!
15:41 too lol
Don’t forget 6:30 😂
I was about to do exactly this, except vertically and with the timestamp to each accompanying beat he said it... lol
I'm glad I'm in good company! 🍻
This part always gets me 23:26 I say to myself who cares if you're making a gun barrel such a weird thing to even mention, then I remember I'm an American
2:18 - so you're telling me Tom and Jerry and all other Looney Tunes barrel explosions were realistic? lol
Yes :)
More realistic than Hollywood😂
@captaincannabis3321take a shower dude
For this being your first couple attempts, I am very impressed with how well the weld seams progressed. Says a lot about your Blacksmithing abilities. Very interested to follow this video series progression. Have always had a fascination with antique firearms.
Alec making the Stengun like his ancestors did hundreds of years ago.
Damascus sten gun.
Toob remains undefeated
Alec takes a very Analytical approach to these projects, he does the research and integrates the academia into these passions and projects. I believe this is a big part of what captivates his audience. The ability to be a great educator is not gifted to all people's, Alec reminds us that learning can be fun and trial and error is an essential process for mastering any skill or talent. Great work that is highly appreciated here in the U.S. much thanks from an American Fan of the channel.
It's men like you that will keep our histories alive.
Did you know if we ever needed to build a Saturn v rocket just like we did in the 1960s we wouldn't know the first step how. It's so easy for knowledge of the past to be lost in the future.
That's just straight up untrue. Some of the specific techniques used directly by the workers may be lost to time, but the technology is simple and easy enough to recreate. It's the skilled workers that are gone, not the tech.
Totally false, they -wouldn't- build it today because we can build much much better ones for much less, it's old, outdated technology that would need to be handmade, but it is 100% possible, please don't spread misinformation, it's men like you that make history muddy, by spreading falsehoods such as this.
Oh yes, I enjoyed this. I've had a swage block, (known to me as a Tinmans Anvil), complete with accessories, in my shed for the last 30 years and I've never used it.
Your video has inspired me to do exactly what you did. I'm going to wire brush it and make it nice and shiney. Thanks..
Just wanna say - i really appreciate you showing your failures! I'm trying to pick up leather working and computer graphics but everytime my piece is not AT LEAST decent i'm getting discgourage from doing it beating myself that maybe im not good enough, BUT seeing you - pro smith - strugling with new concepts in that matter, is really showing me that its not about how good you are from the start, but how much time and effort you are willing to give to it! Thanks a lot!
Keep it up man! Music is that way but you just gotta keep on going!
When you are happy to show your failures, you'll become better.
One thing tube makers did that often gets overlooked is the frequent removal and reinsertion of the mandrel. Helps prevent unintentional welding of the mandrel to the tube. Learned that from my granddad "way back when." Also, while I won't swear to it due to fuzzy memory, I seem to recall him wiping the mandrel with beeswax periodically.
Jamie is 100% right a moustache is needed!
But he forgot about the pipe to smoke
the modern world 100% does not need more moustaches.
There are very few people in the world who are trying very hard to keep these kind of classic midevil art still alive, Much Appreciated 👍
Video idea!!! Since you were worried about losing valuable titanium damascus in the grinding room when you made your axe, you should see if it’s possible to make canister titanium damascus from the titanium damascus chips. If it worked I bet the patterns would look insane
Deer Alec and team
Your productions are excellent!
I love that you tackle difficult projects and not just “make knives”.
It truly sets you on such a magical level compared to other content creators!
Cheers
0:49 oh no not the ai art, cmon you show so much respect for the traditions of craft surely you can show a bit of that for visual art as well
This. Have some self-respect and don't use AI.
Probably my favorite thing I've watched you do. It's just so difficult and requires so much technique, to make something we can buy for a couple dollars a foot. The history of metal is the history of civilization, and this really drives home that without the monumentally vast series of technology building on technology that we have today, even a simple foot of steel tube is weeks of work by a series of skilled craftsman (ore to steel to plate to tube). Amazing video.
Ugh not the AI art
I knoww
fucking ai art is OBNOXIOUS
Ai “art”
If you ever find yourself in Sweden, I'd recommend the Husqvarna factory museum in Huskvarna. They explain the different methods of forging barrels. It's also jam packed with guns, motorcycles, chainsaws and sewing machines.
0:47 Are these images AI generated?
They seem off
Who cares?
@Andy-oc3ewA lot of people actually
@kingofpigs6630why?
@Andy-oc3ew There's a bunch of different reasons for different people. For some it's the further degradation of our shared sense of reality, for some it's the high energy/CO2 costs of powering the hardware that runs the image generators, for some it's the theft of images and art that these companies do to train their generators, for others it's the devaluing of art and artists themselves that it enables by removing the presence of human effort and intention, for others still it's the further flooding of online spaces with low quality slop and bots, and etc and etc. There's a huge number of reasons not to contribute to the problem by using these machines to just replace other humans' work
Hey Alec, mediocre farrier here, try applying your flux onto steel with an orange heat. Helps it melt into the gaps. Always helped me at least
Disappointed to see AI slop images (0:45)
So, just me thinking out loud;
On that final attempt, where the scarf seam was looking good, instead of cold working it closed again, keep it open and flux in for better flux penetration, and close it during the forge weld. Either the seam will weld, or it'll self seal with the flux inside, keeping it cleaner until the next weld heating. Also, I might think about putting that flux in a shallow and small trough, so you can then just lightly roll the barrel seam in it after pulling it out of the forge to scoop a smidge more in there, before working the seam.
Anytime I made Damascus in the past, I just got in the habit of fluxing before the heat, and then right before working.
0:45 Why did you need to use AI for that?
Love learning about the history of blacksmithing 😊 you make blacksmithing fun and interesting 😁
Don't use AI art in your videos man, just, why? You can support artists in your community or use images of artifacts or even draw something yourself. All would be better options than using a technology that robs humans of the ability to create, which you should recognize as a kind of artist yourself.
This just shows the sheer amount of practice required to learn these techniques.
We saw how much progress was learned in these attempts. Imagine how good they would be after arming half a battalion under the guidance of a master.
small tip about hammering the mandrel out, when you hit it at the tip towards the barrel, you induce compression and the madrel will expand slightly, making a tighter fit, if you smack it from the other end at that handle away from the barrel it will be in tension and shrink, think of a rubber band stretching
PLEASE don't use shitty ai images in your videos
As a jeweller, taking a flat sheet of metal and making a tube is a very specific skill and feels extremely counter intuitive (for me at least). It's nice to see someone with so much experience with metal working also struggling the same ways I do.
please dont use ai slop 😭
I ran all three of the examples at the start through a detector and none of them were flagged as AI generated. Maybe if you spent less time playing "Holier than thou" and more time fact checking, you wouldn’t so eager to blame.
@PugnaciousProductions ah yes missing nails, messed up eybrows, messed up propotions are definitly not slop
JUST LOOK AT IT FOR 5 SECONDS. uhh i used a detector!! USE YOUR EYES
@PugnaciousProductionsDid you actually look at them?
@PugnaciousProductions "i used ai to detect ai" Genius...
@PugnaciousProductions If you can’t tell with your own two eyes that these images are obviously AI generated, your brain is clearly non-functional lol. That or you’re just trolling, which is equally likely.
I just love this educational and practical video.
Especialy with the physical demonstration and production value!
please don't use chatgpt for your demonstrative images like for the greek and roman and egyptian pictures in this video. they look terrible.
@roundo-c9mYou do know what comments are for… right?
Hey Alex, when welding, try to weld it all in the same direction. What can happen is if you weld from the 2 outsides by turning it around in the forge, you'll get more expanding material (minimal) in the center
Why did you use AI art to show regional historic tubing 💀
Whaaaaa!!!! AI!? Whaaaaaaaa!!!!
Ludite.
Becuases it’s incredibly simple compared to hiring a designer and animator oh also cheaper
@HeiligerGrimmnirI REALLY don’t think you understand who the ludites were or what they stood for 😂
In my early 20's I worked in a factory that supplied parts for the Honda plant in the town just north of us, I got moved around a lot as temporary labourer and one of the more interesting stations was a hydroforming station. You had to make sure the seam on the steel pipe you fed the machine was pointed up and off by no more than a few degrees from vertical otherwise it would split like a hot dog skin during forming and make expensive noises.
I love your videos, so please stop using AI images in them. I would like to continue loving them
Agreed
Agreed
Agreed
Many old barrels made somewhat like old pipes, but were made of 2 thinner layers, all forged together, offset so there was solid material over the seams.
The AI use is very offputting
i love antique shotguns so much, you are my hero now for doing this
Ew, AI
Genuine genius coupled with great talent and knowledge - well done for trying all these techniques to educate and entertain us
AI in the first seconds, yuckkkk. Just do a soyjak in paint instead pls
Fr
Some ideas for less frustration on your next try:
The smiths I’ve seen making barrels this way use a butt weld, not overlapping. They put the stock up on edge and strike the edges to upset them. Then they U bend the stock and bring the inner corners of the two sides together a couple of inches at a time, weld, then a couple more inches. You end up with a V groove a couple inches long with an open U either side.
They use a mandrel that is sharply tapered on the end so only a few inches is in the weld. They start in the middle and work towards the ends.
Don’t worry about the initial inside diameter. It can be really small. You’ll drill it out later.
In 18th c UK and America they would weld wrought iron barrels with the grain lengthwise and make up for the weakness with mass. Thick barrel walls. They only ended up doing spiral skelp welding for thin shotgun/fowler barrels.
When making the rifle they would put the welding seam down so it would be hidden in the stock.
I hope this helps.
Sorry but my god, can you piss off with the ai immages
it's always the people you most expect who are whining in the comments about ai.
@_B_E Is that supposed to be an insult?
15:50 we love blacksmith jamie