Problem Solving

i have a client that brought in some of her dads old wrenches and wants me to make something out of them for her. they are all chromed. i know what i will make, my question is do you have to remove the chrome plating before forging or can you just start forging them? what are the dangers of forging a chrome tool ( off gas, ect...). i think heating them to forging temp will get rid of the chrome just want to take some precaution.

(not sure if this is better here or in Alchemy and Formulas-seemed good here, but moderator please move it if it is better in the other location) I have recently finished a big project for a friend's son's boy scout troop- a cooking spegalia type set-up with a dozen S hooks, and he wanted them finished with a carbon finish coated with beaswax. So, I ran it back in forth through a coal fire to get that nice carbon on it, and applied the beeswax. However, now after it has cooled overnight, it is still a little bit sticky. Is there anything I can do to keep it from being too tacky? THanks! ~RidgewayForge

I've often heard if you score a RR rail with a grinder and give it a smack with the chisel shown via a big sledge that it will part.......Well, it didn't, even after I used a large pneumatic chipping hammer w/ a chisel......Is this a myth? Btw, I already know picking up stuff off the rr siding is a crime.... ^_^

I have a few pieces of steel which have a warty build up on their surface. I chipped away a little bit on one, and it left the nice steel underneath. Does anyone have an idea as to a) what this build up is and b ) how to remove it best. Thanks! ~Ridge

I am a member of the Fort Vancouver Trades Guild. We work in, and work to support, the historic blacksmith shop at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. We are looking to ship 10+ tons of coal to the fort operations. We have two problems. 1. We do not know the best place to buy good coal 2. We are not sure the best shipping method to use. My assumption would be intermodal train and truck. Any ideas? Thanks, Craig Webster Fort Vancouver Trades Guild.

What to do with it / slow it down and not burn it up , or get rid of it / Help me out a Bit please . Sam

I'm trying to make a bellows out of a trash bag, and a pipe. But when i push down on the trash bag air goes everywhere else in the bag instead of through the pipe, and if i do manage to get the air out through the pipe its a weak amount of air, then the bag wont refill with air. Also if this helps with finding out the problem all i did was tape the opening of the trash bag onto one end of the pipe. So if anyone would let me know what im doing wrong, help would be appreciated.

I just got my pressurized sand blaster hooked up went to the store and bought some sand to try it out. to my disappointment all they had was sand that had water droplets on the inside of the bag from condensation. when I tore open the bags the sand was wet to the touch. If I try to pour this in my blaster it is gonna give me nothing but problems. any suggestions on best way to dry out about 200lbs of sand?

Thanks for any answers in advance. I've been asked to do a job that involves building a handrail for a set of stairs. Simple enough, but where it gets tricky is there are multiple different radius curves in the staircase, so its not exactly a spiral, and the builders/granite layers have cocked up the treads by making them the same depth, but the heights vary over a 20mm range. Of course the granite has already been laid, and its imported so it can't be damaged, so I can't fab up something onsite and bring it home, and the owner wants it done ASAP so he can move into his house, so I need some way of measuring the different angles and heights such that I can recreate a t…

Hello all. Just wondering if anyone has any advice or suggestions on how to deal with local building codes and authorities. I am a carpenter by trade ( all though I hope to be making the change to blacksmith in the future). I ve had a few problems with clients who want work done that does not meet our local building codes here in Canada. I know that it sounds stupid but I get trouble on a daily basis from costumers who dont want to have to get permits. I know its wrong ( according to our laws) to install anything after the fact but I cant seem to find any ways to deal with them. The main problems that I have faced are open risers..... which Ive found a way to deal with, h…

I have a Centaur Forge PB 50 electric blower, the motor is shot. Sounds like the bearings are bad, and it trips the breaker every time I pug it in. Specs are Make- Baldor HP- .2 Frame- 56CZ Has both a base and face frame mount, does the Z stand for Haz location? Amps- 3.1 RPM- 3400 Shaft dia.- 1/2" Probably made in the early to mid 1990's The impeller is mounted directly on the motor shaft end, the blower housing is bolted to the c frame. Just spent an hour googling to find a replacement, the usual suspects (Surplus Center, McMaster, Grainger) came close but no cigar. Anyone else replaced an older Centaur blower motor? If all else fails I'll take it…

Hi guys, someone has asked me to bend the long end of an allen key / allen wrench / hex key so that it can be fed onto a keyring. They are only 2mm or so, but without heat, they feel like they'll just snap under extreme bending? If I use heat, how do I ensure it stays stiff as it is to start with? Also - how would you create the keyring style end on it? Proper parallel loops or just a little loop which is closed off? Thanks for any help, Al.

Hi, I have a problem with candle spikes ( sorry I don't know the name of that part, you'll see in the picture what I'm talking about). How in the old days did they make this part, the small spike where the candle sits on. When there is a scroll under the pan, you can make a tenon and rivet it from under, but like in the picture, I don't see how without arc welding. If someone has a clue, I'm taking it because I want to make candelabras like this one and I don't want to tack it. My stick welder, even at the lowest amperage is too powerful and burns a hole in half a second in a pan of 16 ga steel.

G'Day World , as the title says i'm after some parts for a Buffalo 200 hand crank blower OZ is starved for smithin' gear & finding another blower here for parts is probably outta the question . What i'm after is the " fan " drive gear & shaft . Mine was left out side for many yrs before i got it & ants decided to use the blower for a home , causing the fan drive gear to rust away . I spent 2 hrs today attempting to reproduce the gear pattern out of epoxy ( wrapped with epoxy putty gear & cranked to get shape ) but in my excitment i couldn't wait for epoxy to dry & cranked blower only to have all my good work " mashed " between the upper gear…

So I have this Atlas cylinder I'd like to use in an upcoming build. I'm sure it has class 1 seals which means it will work fine with air or hydraulic fluids. I took the caps off and it operates easily with just my airgun in the ports. The etch on the side says it's an H025-PB2-0100-4NCSV 14.000. From what I'm able to gather it's a 2.5" bore, 1 inch rod with a 14" throw, however I'm unable to find the correct port bushing for it. There was a 0.75 bolt plugginh onr port, however I know it's not a 10 thread. I tried a 1/2" to 3/8" bushing at TSC today and it wouldn't thread in. Just wondering if anyone might have an idea what size I should be looking for. Unfortunately the P…

Not sure if this is the right forum for this question, but here goes: What kind of glue should I use to glue wood to metal? Specifically washers to metal? It doesn't need to withstand a great deal of pressure or force, it's more or less decorative, but I don't want it to be loose.

I could have figured this out 30 years ago but my higher math skills are non-existant today. So I need to put three legs on a 20" circle. I know that I could draw a circle and use a divider and get there by trial and error but I'd like to use a formula for future projects. thanks, Keith

A previous thread prompted this question, requesting a formula, not many formulae forthcoming but lots of practical (and easier for some like me) methods, So for the benefit of all, How do you mark out for your trivets?

What type of glue works well when attaching a cramic picture to steel straps? I have a friend who bought a cramic picture framed with a steel frame. There are two straps that I have to weld to the back to hold the picture in place. I can't drill as it would distroy the picture so my only thought is to glue it with an epoxy glue unless there is something better to use. If you have any diffrent ideas or suggestions please let me know. billp

I am renovating my bathroom/sauna and my wife would like a bath tub embedded in the sauna, it would then need to be raised from the floor and integrated with the woodwork. I will buy a steel inset bathtub and would like to build a frame for ti so ti can be raised so that it's upper edge is at about 110cm from the floor. This is the kind of tub, and it has small feet that comes with it http://www.idosevend.se/files/files/ammeet/svenska/SevenD_Badkar_montanv.pdf#page=6 How sturdy would one need to make such a frame, and what material/paint would one need to use in order for it to not become rusty etc. I would need to put "feet" on the frame so as not to damage the flo…

I was wondering if any of you know how, or what to use to dye antler or bone?

I have a 4 x 10 foot 1 inch thick steel table with a 24 ton rolling hydraulic press mounted on it that I built about 5 years ago. I use it every day, pressing, flattening, weld jigs to it. Lately I have noticed that all the small tools that are laying on it are becoming magnetized and are covered with grinding dust, very annoying. Can any one tell me how to demagnetize my table? Thanks Chuck

I have a *really* poorly made clunky sword like object made from a leaf spring. The hack who made it used a section of leaf spring with the bolt hole in the middle!?!?!?! I don't have my welder set up yet, but I still want to utilize this material. My thoughts are to flare out/counter sink the hole on either side with a die grinder, heat the section of leaf spring up, and then drive a length of cold coil spring into the hole and hammer the coil spring as I would with a rivet My understanding is that if I let the spring cool off it will shrink around the bit of coil spring and hold it firmly....Correct? Will it still be stationary if I continue to forge and reshape th…

First post on the forum. This should get rid of the message encouraging me to get involved I have an old hand pumper forge that is driven by a leather belt. It is a forge that I bought at my wife's grandparents sale along with the anvil. They both look like the come frome the Sears and Sawbuck catalog from about 1918. The first few years I had it I used it sparingly. The past year since discovering this website I have been using it much more. The problem I have been having lately is that the heat from the forge is destroying the leather belts. I have went through 3 sets since the first of the year. Here in Iowa I have to pick my winter days when it is above 30 to wor…

my friend wants me to straighten these bike pedals , they are cast, and i really cant understand how they could have been bent like they apparently have, he assures me they should and would have been straight, and i just wondered if it was ok to heat and try to persuade them back to straight - im happy to try but worried that the casting with crack?