Laertius

great work -- Would you mind showing the drift you use post punch? Ideal with a rule behind it to show dimensions. Thanks.

The coal I use is pretty much powder when I get it, not sure exact specs, but suspect it is anthracite as it is what some power plants use up here. The only difference I find welding with this stuff vs. bituminous, is that it is more 'work' to keep the fire clean, and if you like a cave style fire. For the cave, I mix the powder with water and do the usual 2x4 chunk routine, but once it is solid --and I am welding, I toss handfuls of wood charcoal in the heart as it burns down - otherwise if I feed it more coal, it tends to get klinkery before a couple of heats and I end up ruining the cave by cleaning. That said, no issues with heat in your normal open fire assuming adequate air supply!

thanks!! They have been fun so far! received_10159062675220386.mp4 We destroyed that target pretty quick and mounted the block of wood in prev pic soon after!

Some throwers made out of old carpenters hammers. Each is different, as experimenting with shape- the one closest is my sons fav- he's 17 and was the striker and helper. Eyes were drifted bigger, trad hammer wedge - next set i make will be tapered eyes like a pick axe/ regular hawk. Rudimentary heat treat in oil from critical, tempered by heating eye till the edge was brown- not very hard a file will bite but still hard enough to resist a bit of misuse. The short handle is from old hammer and the other 2 were the bar from a closet. Rasped, hand sand, fire and oil finish Great fun so far- not my nicest work, but we just wanted to play!

File card, then an Overnight vinegar bath, followed by baking soda, rinse in water then blow dry with a super light spray of wd (or whatever is on bench) has done the job well for me -- takes all the rust and crud out and brings a bit of new life to old files -

Late Reply -- but thanks for the suggestions... Will have some time off from school in March, so will let you all know how it goes when I get back in the shop!

Hello Guys and Gals, Long Time no post for me, but I still check out all the awesome advice and posts! So, Life has changed for me recently, in that I am now a medical student at the Northern Ontario School Of Medicine, and as such, my hands need to look and stay healthier than in the past: patients don't want a doctor with blacksmith hands, and open sores are a no-no for surgery scrub in etc. So, I am asking for advice on gloves: I have always been a no glove for smithing guy unless hot punching etc to protect the tool hand from burn. And before I went back to school I was able to keep my hand calluses up to a point where it took quite a lot to make a real mark -- Last time I went in the shop, I seemed to cut and scrape on everything as I have not done 'real' work in a few months -- white collar problems, sigh, I know ; ) I have Tig gloves and standard welding gloves - and they do those jobs well, but lack the dexterity needed for fine work and filling etc. will obviously not wear anything flammable, so looking for options that are similar to golf or baseball gloves (would these be my best options?). Looking for something that I can put on when I enter the shop and not take off till I leave. Amazon.ca is my main shopping centre, so any advice would be welcome. The main role of the gloves would be to protect from the 'light' abrasions. burns, cuts and scrapes we all get when we come back to the shop after a hiatus. thanks for any and all advice : ) Jon

well done!

Lol ... agreed on all fronts.. if i had the time I'd do another - just for direct comparison

And i was reminded how much i want a bottle for the mig... flux core splatter is a pain lol Thanks for reply frosty! I had several scetches with and without the upper and lower 'spirals' I have done a lot of succesful spirals, but for sone reason the penney messes with my eye! The uneveness was intentional as the numbers and spirals are also not spot on.... was hoping to distort the post as well but as it is 2 pieces of angle welded together I am worried about busting the ground down welds... We shall see tomorrow!

Thank you... and i had read thatand as you know from your writing style, there is ahuge diff between THEORY and PRACTICE so.... going to prime and paint tomorrow it is not perfect in my eyes... but good enough for now! Will update with final pic once up! And i was reminded how much i want a bottle for the mig... flux core splatter is a pain lol

Thanks

Thanks! I was looki g foryour feedback so no worries. I am thinking i will print one to scale to get the ratio right

Hmmmmm.... I am not quite sure i understand your comment on the scrolls? Do you mean the ends are not done correctly or that the scroll ratio is off? Or both? I can sharpen the ends with a round or half round file.... but if i have to coil them out again as well i could just re-forge. As this is an outdoor piece with mild and bed spring steel, I was thinking white painted numbers and black everything else... As to the copper - would it work and look alright if done After paint? Thanks for feed back. One win today was that folding and forge welding the lower pointed scrolls on the bed frame pieces went very well and i now have it all boxed to look like a large bar split and then scrolled. Will show pic after clean up tomorrow. And the background will be my house...grey siding

Been working on this for a couple of days..... first time doing freehand scrolls. Still need bit of tweaking. A question..... how would you go about attachibg the numbers? I plan to weld the scrolls and hide them with copper collars... my street name will hang from lower scrolls on a wood board....