JeremyP

My apologizes to the language police. Gentle reminder, these are just words on a page which represent noises that come out of our mouths. We have had strong language since the beginning of time and yet humanity continues on.

One reason, I think it have something to do with the fact that someone else is demonstrating instead of them. Perhaps they feel threatened by that. Blacksmithing is very unique skill set these days because it's so rare to see. I think a lot of smiths get a charge out of being the only one who can forge a leaf. I myself have come across that when I went to a county fair, there was an old guy demonstrating and he was making some fire pokers and selling them for $10 each! I am not going to lie, I was kind of jealous of the attention he was getting, especially since he was phoning it in with his fire pokers. 10% of me wanted to steal his spotlight and let him know he wasn't the only smith in town. Fortunately the mature side of me won out and I simply congratulated him on his work. He flashed me proud smile and I walked away. Post edited by moderator

I had a full apron for a couple years that I never actually used because it felt so heavy on the neck. My pants do take a major beating from the UV and IR radiation plus the slag and sparks and all that, so finally I tried wearing the apron just at the waist, with the top part folded over. Eventually I cut off the top part of the apron, sewed some pockets on the bottom part and made it a half apron, much like OP. Much more user friendly for me.

being completely self taught is definatly taking the long road, but it's still possible to learn a lot just experimenting. I've taken a few weekend coarses to learn various techniques and you learn so much in those few days, not only the hands on instruction but also watching others do the same techniques. Discussing with others the various problems that arise. The last coarse I took, was on techniques that I've already been working on for a while, even so I learned a ton just by being able to watch the master do the work, by being able to ask him questions as well as collaborating with the other students. I highly recommend finding someone close by to learn from, it will fire up your passion for the art even more!

I didn't realize this until I visited a friends shop and he turned on his self contained. I have my air compressor in the middle of my shop so when i start using the hammer, the clanging plus the compressor running is pretty loud, but that self contained was every bit as loud and doesn't shut up unless you constantly turn it on and off. But like my buddy told me. none of this forging business is quiet anyway

Very good advice. I have a dozen notepads full of drawings from all my years fabricating. One of the people I was working with suggested it to me 10 years ago. I need to start taking pictures though, because a lot times what you draw doesn't end up exactly as you originally designed, or sometimes your dimensions need to change to make it work. Also what I've noticed with blacksmithing is, recording dimensions halfway through forging such as the length of taper you went with before scrolling it.

I have welded these same type of quick connect ears on several loader buckets, no doubt those ears will see a lot of dynamic stress. Be sure your welds are sound. if you have doubts don't be afraid to grind it out and go again. warping shouldnt be an issue unless you find yourself having to reweld it a couple times. if you can roll that bucket flat that would definatly make it easier for you. Grinding out the slag between each pass will help on your next pass application as well. I've only used 7018 DC for that, but I've used 7018 on a friends AC machine with good results Good luck

yea you raise some good points glenn and dsw. I was also thinking about the problem of having the return air being so close to the exit air. I wouldnt mind running the system in my shop if it wasn't too loud. I will try running the motor and see how loud it is. I've looked into getting those welding fume extractors as well, because I do a lot of welding in my shop, but they are loud and expensive. This fan however was free

I have a 35 x 50 shop that I want to build a filter system for. I was able to get a large industrial 240volt squirrel cage fan and motor that will hopefully replace the shop air fairly quickly. I havent heard it run though and I imagine it will be quite loud, so Im hoping to mount it outside of the shop and have it suck air out but I also want it to return the air back into the shop especially during the winter to preserve my heat. Has anyone built anything like this? what do you think of just using the normal house furnace filters, perhaps stacked 2 or 3 deep? Mostly need it to take away dust when i'm belt sanding and grinding but also welding smoke when I'm stick welding lots.

in general, more time to forge, continued good health and for the jobs to keep coming in. Tools wise, I need to make more tongs, more hardy tools for the anvil and some spring swages for my power hammer, I also want to build a tumbler and find a good belt sander

just watched a 150lbs anvil go for $100 dollars on Kijiji a couple months ago, but previous to that I had to talk down a lady from $500 for a 4" post vice. she thought I was a collector but when I explained to her that I would be using the tool as a blacksmith she agreed to go down to $200 which I still had a hard time with but I caved and grabbed it lol

your story reminds me of a gentleman I know who puts a lot of ego in his abilities as a craftsman, despite being a very good carpenter and welder/fabricator, once he caught wind that I was starting to forge he decided he needed to get into it as well, and he said to me; "Yea that blacksmithing your doing is pretty neat. I'm on the hunt for an anvil now as well, a really good one, cast iron. Then I'll show you whats really possible!" He didn't think much of my welding or fabricating abilities either, not sure if he ever did get his anvil, I should check in one day and see :rolleyes:

That was my excuse last year :lol: but wont your forge warm it up? This year my excuse is I dont want to burn out my forge lining and empty my propane tank if all im doing is making something small. "Ill make that pair of tongs when I start on that larger project" I say.. 2 weeks later I have a dozen small things on the list and I run outa time to do any of it :lol:

Kickstarter is such a great site for those needing to start up a brand new idea or innovation. But as always it gets gross when people see it as an avenue for free money. I actually seen a fella posting on facebook for a kickstarter to launch his smithy shop. Seemed pretty green at the trade promising a bunch of trinkets for those who donate. I would rather suffer with my homemade building with my homemade tools than beg for money.

how loud is it? I was looking at one the other day as well