Problem Solving

I have been asked to make some wooden crosses with some iron work attached. Crucifixes. I have some old weathered barn boards that I think would look perfect for the project, but the board would have to be ripped to 1&1/2 in. width.....maybe 2 in. Well, the problem is, on every piece there would be a' fresh sawed' side that would not match the rest at all. Since I know there are a bunch of woodworkers out there, and I have 3 or 4 months to come up with an idea....... How can you artificially age or weather a piece of wood?....In this case, oak? Any info greatly appreciated!

hi i am looking for a blower for my coal forge i made in school i would prefer a hand crank blower but will settle for an electric one. if anyone knows where i can pick one up for a low cost or knows somewhere i can just get one let me know thanks Grant

Hi, I have been doing a bit of forging recently with a thrown together arrangement (offcut of 5 inch dia pipe sitting on a grille with the blower pipe underneath) it does the job but I would like to build something more suitable and more 'forge like'. Im inspired by the washtub forge idea. I have got access to my natural local clay (which is brown like milky coffee, and fires to a nice reddish terracotta colour) charcoal ash and portland cement. My question is: Would I need to make sure the forge was free of moisture every time I fire it up? I do my forging outside, I could store the forge in my workshop, but that is still a damp environment. I am concerned …

No I don't want to fix it. It is a chinese shop vice and not worth the effort. The broken jaw will probably just go on the scrap heap for ultimate re casting. That leaves me with a turntable vice base. Can anybody think of a use for that? I can't at present which is unlike me!

I am in the process of making a bellows based on the little red book "HOW TO MAKE A BLACKSMITHS BELLOWS" by Robert Heath The plan calls for leather for the "bag". Has anyone out there built a bellows using CANVAS? I have some 10 ounce "sunforger flame resistant mildew resistant canvas and was thinking of using it in place of leather. how 'bout it folks? Any other tricks hints or ideas GRATE FULLY accepted Kansaspiper Mulvane Kansas

I got interested in blacksmithing because I wanted to forge my own fish gigs, and so far have had little success. I am using leaf spring cut 6" long and 2 1/2" wide. I make 2 cuts 3" long forming 3 prongs. I bend the outside prongs 90 degrees to the center one and then can draw out all 3 to about 5" long with sharp points and cut a beard on each about 1 1/2" back from the point then bend them back around so it looks like a 3 pronged pitch fork. The other end is what is giving me trouble. The oposite end from the prongs needs to be drawn down to about 3/8" (basicly forming a cross) and used to make the shank and socket. Here is my problem; as you draw down the end from th…

Where can I find information on Champion blowers(especially handcrank) I'm curious about model numbers mainly.I did some surfing and searching and came up empty handed. I have two of the old things and have no idea what models they are. I need pictures, or at least drawings if possible. James

What does one do if one has an anvil that had a hardy of 3/4 and is now worn out to 13/16+- I know MSC has 13/16 cold drawn bar but that would be expensive and defeating to start making specialty sized stakes that only work in one anvil. Do people normally bore it out to 7/8? Is that unheard of? :confused:

Have you found anything better for cleaning up the metal when it is odd shapes? Do you use small ones on a drill to get to the innards that the wheel wire brush can't get to without ripping the piece form your hand? thanks kevin

Well, on Friday I bought a 100lb tank and have been using up old 30lb tanks I have around. I hooked up the 100lb today and the forge was runnin funny. I pulled out the burner and tried to light it out of the forge. I got a few wiffs of flame but no burn. I then hooked up the old tank thinking maybe something was wrong with the burner, but it worked fine. Any ideas before I go back and xxxxx at the guy that sold me the propane?

Say you want to forge a spear point with a socket for the wooden shaft. Or maybe a hoe or rake. The socket would have a conical section which transitions into a cylindrical section. For the socket I guess I would first forge a solid conical section and then flatten it out to form a truncated triangle to be rolled over a mandrel leaving enough steel for a shank. I suppose one could calculate the volume at the start of the cone and the end plus any transition points. Then with these numbers figure the volume of the solid cone (before flattening) to have the right amount of steel in the right place. There are variables as to how the cone is flattened. (Cross peen, round…

I've been asked to make some chisels for a local stone mason (sculptural carving). They mostly use a hard limestone,. but occasionally granite as well. I'm thinking for best results they should use seperate chisels for each rock (that way I can temper them differently ) The chisels will be hand tools and struck with a hammer, so not jack hammer bits. My question is then, what type of steel would be best for making chisels from? thanks dave

I need to make a sheet metal cone to put on top of a large bird feeder. I do not know how to make the cone. The cone is 19" round at the bottom and the top is to a point. The height of the cone is 12" top to bottom. Thanks for any help.

Hi all. Please bear with me on my unsophisticated terminology. I want to take 20 gauge stainless strips measuring approximately 1 inch by 6 inches and bend them into roughly a "C" shape. The curve is not of a constant radius. Also, there needs to be a slight dome to the item. What I mean is that if you look at the "C" shape from the side, it is not flat but rather has a curvature which is regular and is elevated about .25 inches in the middle. If that is not clear, then think of a piece of steel which would fit to the surface of a 4 inch diameter ball. I am looking for an efficient and economical way to do this. My thought is that I could have dies made for an a…

I've had a few post in here about my blower. So here goes another. I've put to heavy of a grease in the grease caps and probably to heavy of an oil for winter use. I would like to clean the inside without trying to take it apart. Seems as though I've read this in here somewhere, so if so I apologize for asking again. I'm thinking kerosene. Is this right or wrong. I've thought about filling the tank with it and cranking till it all runs out. Maybe do this a couple of times. Then start over with the right lubrication for cold weather. Thanks for all advice Billy

My anvil is pretty old and sat in a barn for quite a while, and as such is rather dinged up. So I was wondering if there is a way to resurface my anvil without going through the whole process of actually putting a new face on the anvil, without ruining the integrity of the anvil itself?

Here's one for you. Some time ago I bought some EN47 steel for bladestock. Trouble was that when it turned up it was in sheets (or is that plate?) :mad: The sheets are mostly around the 1/4" thick mark and vary from 5-15" wide, in 4' lengths What suggestions are there for me to cut the stuff unto strips that I can then forge blades from? I've no gas torches, so gas axe is out. No plasma cutters either. I have angle grinders, which is what I must've had in mind when I sent the driver on his way after it all arrived. I can forsee a lot of grinding coming up unless there is a cunning alternative? One thing that did cross my mind was maybe a bench shear? Or maybe maki…

My son works at an auto recycling center(junk yard) he has brought me several Torsion bars from Chevy and Ford trucks...they have hex ends and ar about 1 1/8 in diameter and about 5 feet long. My question is what are they made of. looking at Junk yard steel list such as BP0002 Junk Yard and Rail Road Steels (all the list that come up on the web are the same as this one). it does not list Torsion bars.

I have a good bit of torsion bar steel, I want to make some hammers. the steel is 1 1/4 in dia. now say I want a hammer head 1 3/4 dia. and 4 1/2 " long, so how do I figure out how much extra I need to cut to bump it up to 1 3/4" ?

Hey guys, I'm in a real bind! I'm at work, brazing some real bad welds someone else did on a fuel tank, and I ran out of acetelene. Is it possible to braze with propane?? If anyone knows, please answer quick, Thanks in advance.

I had posted on a small forge that I build, and was going to use a hair dryer, but have run into a tech problem with this ( burn it up) so I went looking for another source cheap. Could not find anything that suited the need or the pocket book. Was kind of talking out loud trying to figure what I could scrounge, when my son suggested the fan to keep computers cool, I have and old computer that I will take a part later today and see if I can make that fan work, Don't see why I couldn"t hook a reostat up to control the fan speed? If this works could have a endless supply of fans from old computers. Gary

I'm currently building my first propane forge. I'm to the point that I need to wire up my blower and for the life of me can't figure out how to do it. The blower is a squirrel cage affair I bought from surplus center. This is the Blower in question. The plate on the side shows how it should be wired. There are five wires. 2 black. 2 blue. 1 yellow and green. The plate shows that the yellow and green wire is ground and the two blue wires go to the 4 MFD (capacitor). That I understand. The problem I run into is that it says both of the black wires go to "line". My question is, Do the two black wires both get attached to the incoming "line" wire (and if so, where does t…

Yep. I'm on a roll! So many questions; I know! Anyway:rolleyes:, I am REALLY considering making bellows, and I wanted to know if this kind of canvas (cotton) would work for the "leather" part. 100% COTTON 70 INCH WIDE 8 OZ. NATURAL CANVAS FABRIC - eBay (item 120370809678 end time Feb-08-09 10:46:49 PST) Canvas fabric, black, 100% cotton, 60"wide, per yard - eBay (item 310092365132 end time Feb-12-09 11:50:31 PST) If not, then what would be the best leather substitute?:confused: Thanks again!:D

internal spline into a square block of metal (steel) like this: image 1 image 2 I'm trying to figure out if i have a 6"X1.5"X1.5" piece of steel, in which i need to put a 5/8 OD spline centered in the middle, how would one be able to do this??? How would i be able to heat forge the spline shape into the piece??? Or is this something that blacksmithing can't do???

Does anyone know of a good source for fireplace screening? Thanks