Shop Tips n' Tricks

Hi, I am new to this forum, but have really appreciated the wealth and experience available on this site on metal work. I am a Knife-making hobbyist with an equipment problem. I recently purchased some used, custom build right and left hand thread arbor extenders which are 5/8" in diameter. ( See photos) My Jet buffer arbor is 3/4" in diameter. I need a right and left hand reducer, 3/4" to 5/8" and can't seem to find them anywhere on the internet. I would appreciate any suggestions or recommended vendors. Thanks.

i have built a few of these for my steel rack for short pieces 3' - will post a pic of the cleaned up steel rack later this is a pic test LOL

Just curious whether anyone's got any workshop "must haves" that aren't essential for a workshop? E.g a punch bag? A newspaper? A lucky mascot? When I finally get a water tight shop with electricity a radio will be one of the first things in there, I always have BBC radio 4 on in the background.

I cold twist 3/8" Square Hot Roll stock 10 feet at a time. This gives an even twist the whole length. Cold roll doens't twist evenly. The tool is a large Tap holder.

When testing how hot a workpiece or tool is that has been cooling or just quenched, use the back of your hand, in the case that the piece is hot you can still continue working. The front of most people's hands is much more sensitive than the back.

I heard old folks used to said, if thread is rusty and you can't unscrew screws.To hit a with hammer on handle of hardriver.I dont know is this true or false.

This rail warped when I did some welding after I unclamped it from the bench. I have used this method to straighten many things. I usually use a bottle jack, but at this shop they had a porta-power. I had to make a small adapter to keep the chain on top of the piston. The shop owner liked the idea, so I thought someone else might be able to use it as well.

I was working on a hammer out of some two inch stock from an axle today, working by myself, and just couldn't manage to keep the stock in the right position. My anvil's missing the heel, so no hold down in the pritchel or hardy. And of course every time I'd try to hit the punch against the stock it would roll, even after putting a bit of a flat on one side. So.....I put a little bit of a taper on one end where the peen is gonna go, and wedged the tapered end into a piece of square tubing. It worked a lot better, and if I was working something a different size, I think I could just bend the tubing to fit. I suppose you could work it in the vise.....but this seemed …

yesterday i had to cut a piece of 1 5/16 round stock. when i put it in the vise on the bandsaw i couldnt get it tight enough and it kept spinning. i cut a piece of old inner tube and wrapped the stock with it and then clamped in vise. it held nicely and i was able to complete the cut.

O,K so here it is.. i took a old pick up tail gate.. made a couple brackets for the bottom to pivot on kinda like what would have been on the truck but with some flat plate so it could be anchored to a wall. Then a couple brackets to attach the arms to mount to. Now when i want a bench i just fold down the tailgate for a easy bench.. when i am done i just "close" the tailgate.. Its against the wall and out of the way...

One time, I made 8 funky scrolls to help me with my designing. They are S-scrolls and C-scrolls. A guy could also make a few single scrolls. I put them on the floor and started moving them around, and they were helpful, being back to back, belly to belly, and staggered. Sayings and Cornpone "Nothing happens unless first a dream." Carl Sandburg

Forgot to leave a fan running in the shop yesterday and overnight and have never seen it this bad. Temps went from low 30's to 64 today. Every hunk of metal has condensation and the LG has an interesting silvery sheen to it.

Greetings all, It's time for ( why didn't I think of that ) It's been a long time without IFI so I would post a few of my famous shop tips. Hang your magnet on a rope close to the forge. It's easier to test for critical when bringing the temp up for hardening. It's a lot easier than trying to bring the magnet to the work.. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings All. Yet another of my famous ( WHY DID'T I THINK OF THAT ) SHOP TIPS Trying to weld a small part is sometimes quite a challenge so a few years ago I built a top die for my treadle hammer . I used an old large ball pien hammer and welded it to a top plate.. The bottom die is just a small removable brick. The big advantage is the target area and only touching the bottom die with the material until your are ready to strike the weld.. ( no heat loss on the anvil ) It works well for the first set . I normally finish the weld on the anvil. Flower stems are a breeze. Just heat and put the stock on the target.. ZAPP I wish you all well and have fun …

I was reading on another forum the possibility of using a left handed drill as an aid in removing a broken or stuck screw. This is fine and may even work but you don't have to go out and buy a special left handed drill bit. Just sharpen an ordinary right hand drill of the appropriate size left handed. That;s right. Sharpen an ordinary right hand drill left handed. Take a look at a drill point. It works, I and many others have done it. The only thing a right handed drill which has been sharpened 'left' won't do is eject chips since the flutes are going the wrong way. So take little bites, back out, use a shot of air to remove chips, and nibble nibble nibble. A…

I generally don't recomend HF tools but I like this one. The handles glide out to a respectable 10.5'' or fold in to 5''.....The rachet is a treat for starting holes or if you use 2 flute production taps you can just go for it....Nicely fit and finished.....$20

Anyone have a trick for getting the letter to line up when you stamp them. It is frustrating to make something, get it looking pretty good only to stamp crooked letters on it. Thanks Randy.

Here's some pics of my double-bick Peddinhaus anvil. I've been questing for some time to come up with a good holddown. I made several hairpin-spring pritchel holddowns, but the pritchel hole is situated too far forward to have much room left to work once the hot piece is dogged down. I made this low profile tee-shape holddown from two pieces of 1 inch square and a chunk of leafspring from a '58 Chevy haytruck. The leafspring was 2-1/4 inch wide and 3/8 inch thick. It determined the dimensions of the slots for the hardy post. I milled slots on both axis, so the holddown will grab North-South, or East-West (Mcraigl thought up that idea). I forged a Vee in one side of …

Roaming around you tube I found this delightful vid on katana making. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmRCCy7Bta8 10 min in it shows him heating up what looks like a block of rosin and using it as a clamping device for both reposy & carving on small bits Anyone have more specifics on this method?

Looking for tips on adding a bark texture to the face of a hand hammer

I am forging a bunch of tools right now and one of the last steps is to nip off the cutting edge. I have my small hydraulic press set up with top and bottom 90degree cutting edges. The edge is only just over 1/8" thick but is 2" wide. I can easily cut 1" square in one shot with this setup but the extra width and the fact the heat dissipates so fast because they are so thin, I need a really good heat to cut these off in the thin narrow pieces and even then I have to bend them back and forth a couple of times or quench them and break it off. After the first 75 or so I decided to try lubricating the cutting edges with a mixture of oil and graphite. Now some of th…

One way to hold a piece horizontally is to clamp the work in the drill press vise within the larger vise. This is especially handy for draw filing. For odd angles, one can use the "chamfering vise" (Blacksmith Depot). My other two chamfering vises are homemade, one from a leaf spring and one hinged. These devices allow one to better see when edge filing, and they put the body in a better position at the vise. On the Depot vise, I brazed on some copper jaw faces.

My wife's Great-Uncle was a smith many years ago. She was going through some of her things the other day and found a few of his old books. This was in one called The Anvil's Ring from June 1979. It seems like it would be a handy thing to have. Just wanted to share with everyone. Scott

Gotta love Matchless Antiques for their ability to find interesting things. $(KGrHqFHJCcFCdPcNQ9EBQoqjwj,b!~~60_57.JPG $T2eC16hHJGIE9nnWsyHeBQoqksJpvw~~60_57.JPG $(KGrHqJHJEsFC,mG4d)yBQoqkrprUQ~~60_57.JPG I'm going to run down to the local big-box store and see if they have any in stock!

Bought a multicolor pack of electrical tape the other day. Makes it easy to tell which plug is which without tracing it back to the tool.