first off apologies.. I am a utter complete building noob.. so if it sounds like i have no idea what I am getting into then you are probably spot on.
I want to make something, something specific. I want to make Mjolnir, Thor's hammer from the recent movies.
I know I want it to be solid Iron.. or rather whatever alloy i come upon deciding will be best. I wish it to look and feel authentic and am totally cool with not being able to lift it but I would prefer it to not rust easily if at all.
I think the easiest thing to tackle first will be the handle of course, solid wood wrapped in stiched leather embossed with whatever designs I can glean from screenshots and filled in otherwise.
The biggest difference in my hammer in stead of the little blurb about worthiness on the side I am simply going to emboss the word REASON in some suitably impressive font and sit it on my desk.
My main issue is that I know effectively nothing about machining and will be teaching myself from scratch.
What sort of tool or machine would I use to machine a solid block of steel into the shape I want? Specifically the bevels to make it the proper shape as well as engrave the designs.
I think using a solid block of steel or iron and machining it to what you want would be incredibly difficult, Unless you could find a scrap block of steel that fits your need, I don' reckon that would be to easy to get either.
I would recommend starting with some sort of foam, and learning to paint it to look metallic. It would certainly be significantly cheaper if you make a mistake Start small, get comfortable with the processes one by one and work up.
I think using a solid block of steel or iron and machining it to what you want would be incredibly difficult, Unless you could find a scrap block of steel that fits your need, I don' reckon that would be to easy to get either.
I would recommend starting with some sort of foam, and learning to paint it to look metallic. It would certainly be significantly cheaper if you make a mistake Start small, get comfortable with the processes one by one and work up.
I am trying to source the metal itself.. Grainger has angle steel and bars but nowhere near the size I need but it must be out there.. I mean I-Beams are made out of it and what not.
And yes I will be using foam for the prototype until I know I have exactly the right design in mind, I figure I can either find or make a block the correct size and most likely "etch" it with a dremel tool. then paint it to look authentic.
Honestly it would be funny to have a foam version that I could just pick up and chuck just to scare people LOL of course it would have to look *really* authentic.
Right now for resources my dad has a workshop I can use with some basic tools.. anvil, shop air, drill press, that sort of thing, nothing like what I would need to work on a block of steel but at least a space to use. Oh and my sister is a certified welder so I plan on using her help for sourcing some of the materials, in fact I wouldnt be surprised if I could get her to whip up a quick and dirty hollow version using some sheet steel that I could use as a template.
This is all in the early planning stages, I have a few things I want to do.. like building a geodesic dome for instance, but I am trying to train myself to focus on one project until completed rather than just flit back and forth between dozens never making significant progress on any of them. :)
@Lord Kayne: Before you go too far down the block of steel route, you might want to figure out how much it would weigh. It weighs around 500 pounds / cubic foot. I don't know the exact scale of Mjolinar in the movies, but it looks like it would be a significant portion of a cubic foot and you'd probably need a dolly to move the thing around
You might be able to use something lighter, like aluminum. It's density is about 169pounds / cubic foot. It's still heavy, but is probably more manageable.
You may be better off learning to vacuum form plastics or something like that, and then getting it chromed to have the right metal finish. That blued metal finish is a bit tricky though. Then you'd have something you could actually lift, that looks cool. If you want it to be heavy, you could just put some metal in the molds in order to get the right heft.
@will: true that.. although if the silly thing *did* weight 500 pounds that would be awesome! It's supposed to be Thor's hammer right? Then i get to make alot of "You're not worthy" jokes when a friend tries to lift it. :)
Honestly tho if I wanted to go with aluminum I'll bet I could just have the whole thing made in one shot with a 3d printer and then just wrap the handle.
@CROM: I will have to find the video, but yeah maybe.. all I know if I saw a video where they took a solid block of aluminum and turned it into a motorcycle helmet looking thing all in one automated process.
Manufacturing Engineer here.
After looking at some photos from google, the way I see it you have a two options. If you're dead set on machining it from a solid piece of metal, your best bet weight and cost wise is probably aluminum. Still heavy, still expensive. You don't need to get all fancy about it either. As long as you can mount it correctly you should be able to do the bevels with a manual vertical milling machine rather than a CNC. For someone who is starting out that's probably going to be easier for you anyway.
The other option is to make one that is hollow. You could weld together a box with beveled sides fairly easily. I believe you mentioned your sister is a welder so maybe she could help you out. Just make sure that if you want to do any engraving you choose a thick enough plate. This option will end up being lighter and material wise should cost less. It should still feel solid but if you want to minimize the hollow sound you could fill the inside with an expanding foam.
Best of luck.
@Archer88: Hey thank you, that was just the kind of advice I was looking for :) I will look into that "manual vertical milling machine" and see what I am looking at in time/$$$ investment. I had a thought randomly.. as far as finding a large block of iron. Why not an anvil.. like a really big one that smiths use, and just work away all the non hammer shaped bits?
first off apologies.. I am a utter complete building noob.. so if it sounds like i have no idea what I am getting into then you are probably spot on.
I want to make something, something specific. I want to make Mjolnir, Thor's hammer from the recent movies.
I know I want it to be solid Iron.. or rather whatever alloy i come upon deciding will be best. I wish it to look and feel authentic and am totally cool with not being able to lift it but I would prefer it to not rust easily if at all.
I think the easiest thing to tackle first will be the handle of course, solid wood wrapped in stiched leather embossed with whatever designs I can glean from screenshots and filled in otherwise.
The biggest difference in my hammer in stead of the little blurb about worthiness on the side I am simply going to emboss the word REASON in some suitably impressive font and sit it on my desk.
My main issue is that I know effectively nothing about machining and will be teaching myself from scratch.
What sort of tool or machine would I use to machine a solid block of steel into the shape I want? Specifically the bevels to make it the proper shape as well as engrave the designs.
I think using a solid block of steel or iron and machining it to what you want would be incredibly difficult, Unless you could find a scrap block of steel that fits your need, I don' reckon that would be to easy to get either.
I would recommend starting with some sort of foam, and learning to paint it to look metallic. It would certainly be significantly cheaper if you make a mistake Start small, get comfortable with the processes one by one and work up.
We do not have a specific section of making physical things for now so General Discussion is fine.
Just make sure to have the the thread title say what it is about next time.
@sketch said:
I am trying to source the metal itself.. Grainger has angle steel and bars but nowhere near the size I need but it must be out there.. I mean I-Beams are made out of it and what not.
And yes I will be using foam for the prototype until I know I have exactly the right design in mind, I figure I can either find or make a block the correct size and most likely "etch" it with a dremel tool. then paint it to look authentic.
Honestly it would be funny to have a foam version that I could just pick up and chuck just to scare people LOL of course it would have to look *really* authentic.
Right now for resources my dad has a workshop I can use with some basic tools.. anvil, shop air, drill press, that sort of thing, nothing like what I would need to work on a block of steel but at least a space to use. Oh and my sister is a certified welder so I plan on using her help for sourcing some of the materials, in fact I wouldnt be surprised if I could get her to whip up a quick and dirty hollow version using some sheet steel that I could use as a template.
This is all in the early planning stages, I have a few things I want to do.. like building a geodesic dome for instance, but I am trying to train myself to focus on one project until completed rather than just flit back and forth between dozens never making significant progress on any of them. :)
@Lord Kayne: You could give this paper model a go first
- http://beholdthegeek.blogspot.fr/2011/05/thor-movie-hammer-papercraft.html
- http://beholdthegeek.blogspot.fr/2012/04/avengers-mjolnir-papercraft.html
@Lord Kayne: Before you go too far down the block of steel route, you might want to figure out how much it would weigh. It weighs around 500 pounds / cubic foot. I don't know the exact scale of Mjolinar in the movies, but it looks like it would be a significant portion of a cubic foot and you'd probably need a dolly to move the thing around
You might be able to use something lighter, like aluminum. It's density is about 169pounds / cubic foot. It's still heavy, but is probably more manageable.
You may be better off learning to vacuum form plastics or something like that, and then getting it chromed to have the right metal finish. That blued metal finish is a bit tricky though. Then you'd have something you could actually lift, that looks cool. If you want it to be heavy, you could just put some metal in the molds in order to get the right heft.
I think this point out Tested needs to make a forum dedicated to Making.
@will: true that.. although if the silly thing *did* weight 500 pounds that would be awesome! It's supposed to be Thor's hammer right? Then i get to make alot of "You're not worthy" jokes when a friend tries to lift it. :)
Honestly tho if I wanted to go with aluminum I'll bet I could just have the whole thing made in one shot with a 3d printer and then just wrap the handle.
@Lord Kayne: You mean a CNC milling machine, right? Printing something out of aluminum sounds daunting.
@CROM: I will have to find the video, but yeah maybe.. all I know if I saw a video where they took a solid block of aluminum and turned it into a motorcycle helmet looking thing all in one automated process.
ahh yes http://www.zdnet.com/blog/emergingtech/japanese-mill-carves-perfect-helmet-from-metal-block-video/2219
Here it is.
@CROM said:
It actually is a thing, well steel in this case.
@Archer88: Hey thank you, that was just the kind of advice I was looking for :) I will look into that "manual vertical milling machine" and see what I am looking at in time/$$$ investment. I had a thought randomly.. as far as finding a large block of iron. Why not an anvil.. like a really big one that smiths use, and just work away all the non hammer shaped bits?
you could cast a block of resin and then carve it and have it chromed and scuff it or something. It would be easier to work with and lighter.
Interested in an update on this, will you be presenting your progress here?