It followed me home

[irnsrgn]

I think if you will check brake drums more closely, you will find that a good many of them the outside only is cast iron and the center is steel as it is thin and needs to have the ability to hold the outside cast part without breaking and thin cast will not hold up to that much stress, Large Semi truck and trailer drums may be all cast.

If you want a nice almost complete firepot, get the rear bolt on housing from a rear axle, they are usually cast iron but occasionally cast steel, the ones from cars and light trucks are pressed steel. Or find an old 40's ford rear axle from a car or light truck and use one side of the housing as your firepot, they were cast iron and the two side piece with the axle tube were bolted to a center cast section that held the pinion. Just cut off the axle tube the proper length and put a gate on it to hold the ashes, clinkers, etc and weld an air inlet pipe to the side at a convienent location, there is even a row of holes around th top lip (mating surface) to bolt it in place.

[irnsrgn]

Keep your eyes peeled at factories and other places that use a lot of Large V belt pulleys, they wear out often and need to be replaced and make excellent bases for stock stands and third hands

Whenever possible use a scrap piece of plate or other iron to bolt the standard (upright pipe) used to mount things on big brake drums or V pulleys as there are no welds to fail expecially if you are an inexperienced weldor and its easy to unbolt and alter or replace the standard withe something else if need be.


The easiest vise mount with a very small footprint for a permanent vise location is a piece of pipe with a weld on or screwed on flange as shown in this picture. One of the holes needs to be enlarged maybe for the vise's post leg and concrete anchors in several of the other flanges holes.

[Frosty]

I've never run into a composite brake drum, steel and cast iron. I turned a lot of them in my mechanic days 30+ years ago and we're currently breaking up a bunch for an iron pour and none have had steel in them so far anyway.

This doesn't mean I'm right; the guy who donated the drums may have separated them first. And there's a 30 year gap in my experience and things change.

Or so I've been told.

Frosty

[KYBOY]

Ill probably use a drum in next forge but it will be a drop in firebox for a table. Not a stand alone. A saw two forges for sale this weekend with blowers. The guy thought they were worth WAY,WAY more than are though

[Archie Zietman]

Today two of those squiggly raidroad clamps, a big wire brush, a small hacksaw, and a ten pound chunk of steel which would make a good cutting block all followed me home for free. Yay!
I also spent the day forging s-hooks and nail-hooks and drying hooks and coat hooks for the summer craft fair, good fun all in all!
be merry,
Archie

[Glenn]

A while back I had a bucket of wheel weights find it's way into the truck of the car on the way home. I finally got tired of the bucket splitting the weights spilling onto the floor.


Now the lead can be stacked on a shelf, somewhere, as I have not figured out just where to put 150 pounds of lead ingots.


Maybe paint them gold, box them up in 50 pounds to a box, and hide the boxes in deep storage for someone to find one day. (grin)

[KYBOY]

Glenn I just sold 50 pounds fo those ingots on ebay for $50. I still have two five gallon buckets left to smelt and mold. Lead is high right now. My buddy owns a tire station and hooks me up. I cast a lot of sinkers But $50 buys....well a little steel anyway 50 pounds will fit in a flat rate box too.

[KYBOY]

Found this ASO gouged out of a piece of RR track today at a yard sale..Picked it up for $10..Didnt really need it but thought I may use it when I didnt want to abuse my anvil. I knocked a pritchel hole in it and welded some square stock on the back to form a hardy hole in case I needed to use a hardy in it..threw the stand together out of scrap laying around the farm..

[larrynjr]

This followed me home back in the early 1990's from Italy but I didn't know what I had till I "rediscovered" it in my box of "stuff" Seems like forging like that could be painful.

So the missing photo was of a Italian 50 Lira coin with a naked smith (probably HEPHAESTUS) hammering at his anvil.

[Bentiron1946]

Nice coin, but isn't this just a little risque having some blacksmith forging just what only heaven knows and burning just what while bare butt naked on a family friendly forum?