choppertrike

Jim - I like the stop block idea, I will make some as soon as the weather warms up a little - my old bones don't like anything below freezing! Frosty - not portable, but with the round pipe cap base it is easily movable like an oxy bottle. John - I like working with metal for it's longevity & permanance so I tend to overbuild everything even though I'm getting old. Maybe my grandkids will take an interest, I know everything I build will outlast me!

Griley, I read somewhere that bathroom fans don't play well with dimmers, I think they draw too little juice? I would suggest an air waste gate instead. Mine seems to blow just the right amount of air for a very hot fireball, but doesn't blow ash or anything out of the fire, so I just used an inline on-off switch.

Jim, the front grill on the fan is plastic, the rest metal. I had it already so I just set it up to see how it would work, it does great. I am however going back to my hand crank Champion blower, then I have to stand there & crank. It will give me more "think time". I have burned up a few pieces of metal because I turned away from the forge for a minute to get a tool or whatever. Arkie, I like the tabs idea, my sides are just tack welded on. I'll change it and bring them around all three sides.

Thanks Guys! Chinobi, I am going to make taller dies -I did not think about a shim block on the bottom! i'll do that too, I won't cut it down. The treadle hammer idea is great. I saw a pic posted by Dogsoldat in another section of a "treadle sledge-hammer" that I want to build just for fun, now I have a better reason. '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>>

I decided that I wanted a guillotine tool for candle cups, etc. I was going to just make a small one to use in the hardy hole, but decided a free-standing one would be beter and got kind of carried away :rolleyes: The sides are a little high for the mild steel "starter" dies. I'm going to make taller dies out of leaf spring but I still may have to cut down the sides.

Dogsoldat I realy like the "treadle sledge hammer"! I may try something like that just for fun!

Thanks Glenn, Frosty! I've been lurking heavily for the past month or so (sometimes several hours a day! Work is slow.) I've found too much info to digest! I will get a notebook next to the computer. An idea pops into my head - I know i just read about that a couple days ago but where was it? Time to start making notes!

Thanks Ted! I've been back here for a while soaking up too much info. Now I just have to digest it!

I use bituminous coal from a supplier about 35 miles away from me, it comes in 50 lb. bags. The ash domp pipe is welded to a 1/2" plate with a holejust big enough to pass 2" pipe. One tuyere is a short piece of nipple with a pipe cap drilled & slotted (shown on the top shelf on left.) It sits in the pot and gives me a shallow pot for small work. (Sometimes I don't have a lot of gumption but I still wan't to do something, hooks, decorative items, etc.small fireball so this may save on fuel?)The second tuyere is a 1" piece of pipe with 3 x 3/8" pieces of rod welded across the end. Again, it just sits in the bottom of the pot, and gives me full depth for normal work. Frosty, you post faster than I can type! This is the second time I've hit the "post' button and there you are! I still have to go back & anawer the one in the other section. I am going to raise the rim around the sides & back (with a flap opening in the rear for longer stock). I do seem to lose some over the sides, it being a fairly small table. The stock rest folds down whwn not needed, and the center rod slides as needed. (rod with a nut on each end,) I may go to the sliding type if this dosn't work.

Thanks! My first try (1" x 1/4" twisted jaw) went so horribly wrong I didn't even try to fix it. Tried drawing these out of round, and it worked although it did take me quite a while.

My first usable tongs, a flux spoon, and an anvil hold-down. Made from 5/8" coil spring, the tongs are sized for 1/4" flat and are not pretty, but they work! Flux spoon is from 3/8" mild steel, I squared a section & twisted it just for practice. Anvil hold-down is mild 1/2" steel, It works, but I am going to try coil spring for the next one.

Finished my vise stand some time ago, never posted pic, so here it is. It's mounted on 2 rr track joints so I can sink it into the gravel when I do my permanent set-up.

Stand for my Peter Wright - built with scrap - 4" c-channel, 10" steel pipe, 1/2" wall, 1/2" steel plate, filled with scrap steel & packed with sand. It ended up a bit short so I added three 2.5" feet so it sits solid on the concrete floor. It took the ear-splitting ring of the anvil & turned it into a dull "thwack" .

My 1-ton van brake drum seemed to big so I welded up a firepot from 1/2" steel plate, knocked tohether a bed-rail frame with shopping cart wheels and old freezer shelves. I'm using a bathroom fan for air, but sometimes I get distracted and burn up the steel so I'm going back to my hand crank Champion blower - it gives me "thinking time" while the steel is heating. It's pretty minimal, but it seems to work well. Suggestions for improvements are welcome!

Sorry I disappeared after my first few posts over a year ago, the "Have To's" kept getting in the way of my "Want To's"! I did build a brake drum forge & tried lump charcoal, it worked pretty good. I rebuilt the forge and moved it into the garage, aquired some coal, and found out a 1-ton truck drum is a little too deep, and also found a 6"chimney pipe is to small after research here. I built another forge, on wheels, and back outside now. Heading over to other sections (Forge, Anvils, Vises etc.) with pics.