LtMayhem

Hi all from pretty much the NW tip of the continental US. Having a bit of a hard time finding shops, classes, or just friendly old-timers in my area. To make matters worse, I don't work a traditional work week, so all the classes, hammer-ins, or other goings on, are out of my reach. They seem to happen on weekends, and I have Thursday/Fridays off. If there's anyone in my area, drop mea line. I'm setting up my new charcoal forge right now, using an old single horn 120# farriers anvil. Post leg vices and decent sized anvils seem to be in short supply here locally, and buying them online...well, one word, shipping... Anyway, I've done some basic "smithing", in that I used to resize and reset my horses shoes when I was a young man, and I've done a fair amount of shade tree fabrication when I was big into off-roading. I have access to quite a bit of steel, mild or tool grade, as my dad's old diesel repair shop was sold to my cousin, and I can pretty much pick through his scrap and busted parts piles at will. Lot of good steel in a single busted axle from a semi... I'd love to find someone to hang out with and do some work, swap ideas, brainstorm problems, etc. I know, I know, join NWBA... I'm gonna, but I still run into that non-standard work week problem. Thanks for being a great group that is so free with information, opinions, and advice!

Spark test only at this point

I'm running a "recycling" program at work. I'm offering $10 off of bed delivery when a customer brings in their old metal bed frame for "recycling". It costs me $2.50 to offer the ten dollar discount, and yields me about $80 worth the angle iron, if purchased as stock at HD. So far, I've gotten 8 assorted frames, and 4 of those have tested out as High Carbon steel. Lots of hinges, hangers, and decorative scroll in my immediate future...

My favorite spots are the ones that do recycled building materials. My "haul" the other day was: (2) craftsman 16 gallon wet/dry vacs with standard "blow" outlets for $18. A single basin stainless steel sink (24"x18") (my new forge pot) for $10, a very heavy King sized bed frame for $4.00 (frame for my new forge). and (2) 8 lb splitting maul heads (going to try to reforge into a flatter and a ball peen) for $6. I resold the "tighteners" off the king frame for $10, to some guy who had lost the pieces for his adjustable frame. Most folks have these places around, if they know where/how to look. A king size bed frame is basically $45 bucks worth the angle iron, if you buy it from Home Depot. I suggest never passing up free or cheap bed frames, they are a great source of mild steel. And, if you get the type that have thin mild steel boxes to hold the wheels, they make great boxes for canister Damascus.