Problem Solving

Alright y'all, I'm looking for some ideas on this one. I have a customer that wants a curtain rod for a sliding glass door. The door measure 80" wide, and the overall length of the rod would be 92". The catch is they want to be able to slide the curtain all the way to either side. That means the wall brackets have to go on the very ends with no center support. I'm having trouble coming up with something that can span an almost 8' distance without sagging in the middle. Solid rod is out, and I'm not sure tube would make that stretch either. It might, but I'm not sure what diameter and wall thickness it would have to be. Any other suggestions?

So, I haven’t posted in a while, things are going ok, getting a few jobs here and there. I need some help. I am making a pair of roof brackets, 34”x 30”, of 2 1/2” x 3/16 flat bar. The client wants a dimpled or ‘Peened’ texturing to multiple surfaces of the project. The flats are pretty easy/straight forward. I am having difficulty with peening/dimpling/texturing the scrolled ends. I have tried texturing before scrolling but, this pulls most of the texture out. I have tried texturing after scrolling but can’t get the entire surface textured and this process throws the scrolls out of proportion and distorts them to a point of near ruined. I can’t s…

hello, sorry for the unusual and odd question, I should close a terrace a flat concrete floor, to eliminate water infiltration when it rains, to overcome this inconvenience we had thought of installing a metal roof, or pillars in the H beam and metal trusses. the truss would have a span of 14 meters, the surface to be covered is about 240 square meters, the attic is on the second floor at about 12 meters above the street level. for logistical reasons, we would like to avoid using a truck crane or forklift, I was wondering, is there a self-erecting solution such as stage for concerts or circus structures, with structure pulleys, winches and hoists, a do-it-yourself solutio…

mine started to blow air back into media tank. cleaned everything, nothing clogged. is gun bad? thanks

This is not strictly a question about my gas forge, as it has never done this before and I do not believe it's function plays into the question. Today, upon first firing up the forge, a distinct green flame curled up from the gas forge door. I have never put copper or zinc in any form into this forge. I avoid anything but plain steel. I was working on the same pieces yesterday, with only the good orange flames licking up. The only variable today was a full night of rain. My shop has concrete floors, but water comes in through the bottom and through a couple of pinholes in the galvanized roof. There was standing water around the pieces I put i…

Is there a good ratio for a split curl (hopefully that’s the correct term)? I’m working on a few decorative crosses for Mother’s Day presents. The plan is to use 2x1/8” flat bar, split the ends down the middle and curl them back towards the bar. I’m having trouble figuring out how much length to add for the split though. I want the solid parts of the bars to be 24” for the vertical piece and 12” for the horizontal piece. Picture of the idea in case I’m using the wrong term. As always, you’ll have to forgive my art skills.

I was gifted several lengths of square tubing by the neighbor. They are various lengths but I want to say they are all roughly 1/2 inch wide. I know that would be a really small billet at the end of everything, but would that be sufficient to practice on? Or would it be too small? I am just looking to practice making canister Damascus, so it wouldn't be used in anything critical (like a knife). I could get MAYBE 3-5 nails in it due to the size. Just not sure if this would be too small to even be decent practice.

Hello Everybody; I recently got a box of these (literally a couple dozen). I handled 3 (long handle; medium and short) and parked them in the garden shed; but how many does anyone need .... Goofing around I already made a warhammer from it, but this is more cutting parts off and grinding some. But it's good steel (I guess C50, as it hardens in water and it's somewhat the standard steel of the supplier), so I wonder; can you forge this thing into an axe ?

So I've got this old 40 ton hydraulic ram with a leak where the shaft goes in and out of the cylinder and I'm having trouble getting it apart. It's a 5.5 inch bore wire spring cylinder and I have been unable to find the Grove filler of that size does anyone know where to find one or something to fill the Grove with. Thanks

I'm aspiring to repair an old broken rim lock in our house. The internal part that turns when one twists the doorknob has broken in two: That lever is supposed to be attached to the hub at the arrow. Here's what the part looks like in a good lock: The part is firmly fixed to the lock's base plate, although it rotates - there are no other parts holding it in place. On the outside of the lock you just see a rotating ring, flush with the face of the lock: Dissection was required. I cut the broken hub in half to figure out what held it in. Turns out it's a glorified rivet: The hole in the lock base plate is chamfered: it's 0.5 inche…

I did a search on the forum but couldn't get a good answer. Also called my gas guy and he couldn't tell me much except that he can't fill my propane tank with propylene. I can readily forge weld high carbon in my gas forge but low carbon mild steel is very borderline. Has anyone used propylene in their forge and can you tell the difference. If there is a difference, I think having a switch over valve from propane to propylene, since propylene is more expensive, for welding and then switch back to propane for forging. OK, I'm ready for answers. Thanks.

Hello All; I took apart a sliding door (about 2 meter wide total; each "cart" had a door hanging on it). Theres very little play on the carts (like none) but it still moves very smooth. The bar itself is about 10 x 10 cm (4 x 4inch) square It's a hefty aluminium rail with steel reinforcements, with 2 carts that move in opposite directions with a rubber belt driving both. One side has a coupling for a motor. I couldn't get the motor; but what can you do with a rail like this ? I could take it apart, and have a simple rail with 2 carts, but what can these be used for ? Surface grinder ? It's not really a load bearing rail I suppose (door were about 20 …

Hi everyone, I've recently acquired some garage door springs from my parents-in-law. I want to make some small tent pegs (I think you call 'em stakes in the U.S.) out of some of it because it will be a little harder wearing and won't bend so easily for the same diameter as cheap mild steel ones. Should I quench and draw a deep blue temper for toughness, or is this still likely to crack from being struck with a hammer? Would "as-forged" still be strong enough compared to same diameter of mild? I know in practice this is a real "it depends..." kinda question but I'm interested if anyone has any first hand experience of this or a similar sort of scenario.…

My friend works at a pulp mill and got a salvage ticket for these things from the boneyard. Originally he wanted to use them as the front and rear of a forge opening, but we've been enlightened as to how much of a heat bridge that will cause and are in the middle of re-designing to use much lighter steel in a much smaller enclosure. Someone mentioned making an anvil bridge out of these, or a swage. I can definitely see the opportunity for a swage if we need something with about the diameter we already have. What else would someone make out of these? I haven't spark tested them yet, but I kind of think they're going to be mild steel. They're beefy, about 3.5" …

I apologize if this is the wrong place. I have 2 new in the box coil springs from Moog. They are painted black and not powder coated which makes life easier. The spring is 5/8" in diameter. So, my question...how large does the diameter need to be to draw out a 1.5" wide blade? Will 5/8" be enough? Using math... The area of a rectangle of .125" x 1.5" is 0.19 (l x w) The area of a circle of .625 / 2 (.3125) is 0.31 (Pi x radius squared) So, if I can flatten it without drawing out the length and just draw out the width, the math suggests it is possible. It seems like an impossible task to only draw out the width using a forge and anvil…

hello, sorry if I disturb, I should make a boom pole for a small tracked power shovel it is a fiat allis fl 5 weighing 8 tons, 90 horsepower engine 3.97 meters height of the bucket discharge pin bucket capacity 1 cubic meter, keep in mind that a meter of gravel weighs about 1.5, 1, 8 tons as weight. how should I conceive it, what material I use, how to attach it to the bucket, how much can protrude from the bucket to prevent the machine from overturning, for the stability of the center of gravity of the mechanical shovel, how to reinforce the bucket the fiat fl5 is the same in size, weight and power as the caterpillar 931. thanks sorry if I disturb you. the boom w…

Hello, I did a search on old posts, but I did not find a post that solved this, forgive me if I missed the one(s) The quick and dirty is that my welds are very weak, The long details are below: I have been struggling with forge welds being very weak. I am welding in a gas forge (single Venturi burner, side entry 3x4 cross section about 12” long), I think the flame is very close to neutral based on the color of the flame being right on the edge of transitioning from green to blue when I adjust the choke. (maybe there is a way I can test that better?) The weld I am working on is a faggot weld of 3/8" square bar to itself. Either bent back in a loop and sca…

I have been building gates and railings for years but I am considering the challenge of doing a large scroll work for the top of a gate. Probably 2" x 2" stock. I have a tube bender, tubing roller, and have cut tubing in multiple sections and welded it back together for sharp curves but that is different (I think) then what I have seen in the old scroll top driveway gates. I used to have a forge and have purchased a new one (should have it soon), but am not all that good with forging. Done small scrolls, flowers, twitted pickets, but never over 1/2". Any ideas? I have heard of using sand to fill the tubing, but for a large bend that sounds difficult. …

Hey guys- so I’ve posted about this one before but I’m revisiting with more detail because I must be doing something wrong. Everything I’m making but especially the smaller stock stuff (3/16,1/4,3/8) has this terrible coating of very thin scale. I have a good butcher block and I’m going after the scale as hard as I can but it’s still there when it cools. Maybe the finish in the pictures looks ok but if I were to drop one of these pieces on the driveway for example, a little piece here and there would chip off. And you can see they are not smooth at all. So before I put a paste wax finish on I’m having to file/sand almost the entire piece to bare metal, then bring it to a …

I want to make spheres out of expanded metal roughly the size of a softball with very little distortion for a future project, but I am stumped how to do it. I have 11 gauge or 1/8" in mind. I have heating cutting and welding capabilities but how to form it into a ball... Any pointers or ideas would be great. I thought about forming them around a wood ball and burning it out but not very practical or fun... Thank you very much!

Hey all, I need some design/safety advice and a sanity check. I know the title sounds a little sketchy, so let me explain. I mooch shop space off my landlord. He's cool so long as I don't get in the way. I have a rail anvil on rectractable casters and a wire shelf on casters. My gas forge lives on the shelf on a bed of hard refractory bricks. The shelf is starting to get in the way and I want to move it into storage before it becomes an issue. For me, storage is up an outdoor spiral staircase. I weigh about 140. Point is, if I want to do away with the shelf I need to be able to move the new work surface up a spiral staircase in the dark. I'm planning to build a small…

how to make a kettlebell at home with recycled material and a few tools. guys excuse me if I disturb, I am closed at home because of the covid, as time passes I would like to build a kettlebell, the pastime does not consist in using it by training, but in building it some suggestions thanks sorry for the inconvenience.

I'm needing to forge a split cross 24 inches tall. How long does my starting bar length need to be to achieve the 24 inches? Thanks!

So, due to a project at work, we now have about 1400 lbs of magnetite that we don't need; I have access to as much as I want. What are your favorite uses for magnetite?

Came across some RR spikes marked "MC". Now I know that the "HC" spikes are high carbon (or higher carbon, compared to the plain spikes). But what does the MC indicate...medium carbon...manufacturer's mark...??? Not a biggie, but inquiring minds want to know:confused: