Glenn

Chuck, looks good to me, and just the right size for the forum too. :wink:

Bob, to post an image in your reply you have to put after the url with no spaces, and the forum does the rest. The best size for the image is 400 pixels wide. Much greater than 500 and you stretch the forum causing it to extend past the edge of the page to the right. If in doubt just post the url and the admin will fix things for you. You did it right. :wink:

Be sure and wear your steel toed tennis shoes when you go to talk to him. If you gain access, have safety glasses in your pocket and gloves in your back pocket at the ready. Also ask if you need to get your hard hat from the car. Surprising what a little safety on your part does to lower the fear-factor on his part. :wink:

Sandpile, send them to my email and I will post them for you.

This is a tough crowd. Miss a step in helping Sandpile get a knife photo posted and you folks take a simple word like "test" and start a whole new thread in another direction LOL. Note to self: If fat finger creative spelling is used in one place, that same creative spelling must be used again to locate the file. Knife is spelled with an "i" as in kn"i"fe, and not knofe as you (Glenn) spelled it when you (Glenn) put it on the server. No wonder the computer could not find the fole - file - filder - WHATEVER !! :?

Jerry tell Carol we have her on our list.

BP0155 Nut Cracker and Pick

Ralph, I had a bearing race wreck a chisel one time. I think the race was fighting bare knuckles as they are a tough bunch of steels. I too would be interested in why a chisel could not take on a grade 8 bolt and win.

This brake drum forge is 13" across with a 30" x 30" forge table. The edge has a 1-1/4" lip to contain the coal and coke. To build a fire, it will use half a 5 gallon bucket of coal, with some, on the table. The fire pot on this forge is about 3-3/4" dia and maybe 3" deep. The forge table is flat on top with no lip. All supports are on the under side. It only takes a couple of double handfulls of coal for a fire. It was designed so the "sweet spot" is at the same level as the top of the table. This was for heating the middle sections of long stock for twists. The difference in the two forges is more apparent when you heat say 1/4 x 1-1/2 x 20 inch stock. The small forge will heat just the end for 4" or so. The large forge will heat the whole length of the stock where it is uncomfortable to hold before the end gets to working temperature. . . Examples of pan type forges. The one on the right is 4" deep and is the now famous 55 Forge Blueprint BP0133. I have clayed the 13" brake drum (in the photo above)to change the shape of the firepot and it made a real difference in the type of fire it produced. I have also altered the 55 Forge to a side blast forge configuration and the fire there is very different from the bottom blast configuration. There are many other examples of forges out there that work. Some folks will say go with the "old design cast in iron". That is good to, but realize they used those forges 10 hours a day and worked then hard. The fire was designed to do what they needed done with the type and size metal they used in their shop. Part of the joy is building a forge and then adjusting it to the work you do in your shop. Build a 55 Forge and then add bricks and clay to duplicate the design your considering. Remember that the air inlet needs adjusted, as well as the size and shape of the sides, and the height from the floor to the forge. When you have a forge design you like, either purchase or build something simular from metal.

Ian, ask the smith's you work with what signals they use to "talk" to the striker. Blueprint BP0038 Signals to the Striker is a good reference for signals. I am sure each smith has his own but it would be interesting to compare notes.

Track plates make good feet for outdoor legs on tables and such.

How flat? Perfectly flat, reasonable flat, or close enough - it's flat ?

It was used in situation where 2-3 day classes on blacksmithing were taught. There were some week long classes, but those were not the norm. The wear period was 18 to 24 months I was told. As different instructors taught different classes, it went without any serious attention until it became a real problem.

I am told this wear to a Little Giant power hammer was caused due to running the machine loose. A shot of grease and tightening that loose bolt is a small price to pay. This one cost the air hammer that was purchased to keep the shop running while the LG was being repaired, the cost shipping the LG both ways and the cost of the LG repairs. And throw in the time to tear it down and bolt the LG back together.

For those following this thread, the edit was made to the post and Strine was sent both an email and a personal messange through the site to notify him of the change to his post. He was also invited to discuss this action with me at any time. The IForgeIron sites are clean sites where children are encouraged to read the material and the knowledge contained on the site that is placed there by the contributors. This post contains material written in a different time, somewhere around the 1700's, some 300 years ago. Because of the subject content of the off site material referenced blacksmithing, and was presented as humor with a proper warning that "children may need parental guidance", I felt it proper to remove the hot link directly to the off site page and replace it with a google search string. Nothing else was changed, no other edits were made, and no content was lost or removed. This now allows children to continue to view the site as before without being able to accidently open doors to places and materials that may be inappropraite for them. For the rest of us, using a google search is not a lot to ask to insure the safety of those children. Strine, I see nothing wrong with your post. It was blacksmithing related, and you placed the proper warnings up front as a courtesy to others. To the others viewers to the post, I hope this better explains why (and how) some edits are made.

Really, I was just in the "neighborhood" of the scrap yard and promised myself that I was "just going to look". There amoung all the rust was 3 pieces of douple wall galvanized pipe. Don't like galvanized so I moved on. As I moved on down the line of rust, the sun reflected off something and caught my eye. I walked back to the pipe and son-of-a-gun, it was lined with the prettiest 12" diameter by 4 foot long liner you ever saw. No magnet so it was take it or leave it. So here is the problem, what do you do with 12 feet of mirror finish 12 inch diameter "stove pipe"? I can NOT use it in the shop as that would mean sweeping the floor and everyone knows that sweeping the floor will eventually lead to cleaning followed by curtains on the windows. :shock: I gotta quit going to those places.

It was a judgment call, and after some head scratching, I brought it home anyway. 1000 feet or so of 7 bundles of 19 wires galvanized 1/4" cable. The bundled section is better than 350 feet. Yes, that is the bottom 1/3 a 55 gallon drum that it is stored in for now.

Thank you to everyone that made a leaf for this project. The project is now closed.

Read the article by quenchcrack BP0078 The Metallurgy of Heat Treating for Blacksmiths There is also an application called "packing" that may be of interest. One of the metallurgy folks will have to explain that one to you. It is usually associated with chisels and things as I recall.

The business end of the power hammer. This thing could just tap a piece of steel or completely pound it to death, it was tuned to perfection. Hardly surprising given the years of experiance the two brothers have. Now this is a little beauty of a power hammer, I saw it running and its as smooth as silk, but packs a xxxx of a punch. Its isolated from the rest of the building so it doesn't bring the roof down. The makers mark, and the weight. 40 kilo's is over 80lbs if I remember the conversion rates properly (2.2lbs to a kilo?) This was a NICE hammer. The rest of the story is on Ian's World Tour Report - Zeven Huizen

9,000 BTU's is considered land fill in my location. Generally it is thought that blacksmithing coal needs to be 13,000 BTU or greater for the forge. I was fortunate (ok it was free) to get some coal mined locally that was on its way to a power plant before the truck truned over. At the power plant, they pulverize this to dust and blow it into the furnace at the plant. It is a controlled explosion for lack of a better term and does burn. If I run the stuff through a 3/4" opening screen the fines do well in the forge. The black things that look like rocks and shale can be used in the big forge with a lot of air and a lot of fuel being feed to the fire. The fire needs to be about 1/3 to 1/2 deeper than normal in size. Of course that means a whole lot of junk and it only makes a workable heat, but no where near forging heat as rocks don't burn well. The fines can be brought up to forging heat with increased air flow. Compared to coal at 15,000 BTU's, the same set up will almost melt the fire pot. Again, this is my set up and the sample of coal I have to work with here. Your mileage may vary.

Ron, thanks for taking the time to chase that mistake down and letting us know about it. I have corrected the spelling and created a hot link so you just need to click to go to the site.

Dawn, great news. We are still pulling for you both.

From the email: I'm pleased to be able to give GOOD news about Ralph's condition, for a change. We went up to OHSU to get the newest tumor -- in his left frontal lobe -- zapped out with "radiation surgery." We have been told for some time that they couldn't do anything with the one on the right, because they couldn't see it well enough (that's the area where he had had the bleeding, and there was still a lot of swelling and gunk in the way). The radiation surgery was scheduled at 8:30 PM, which seemed kind of strange. His doctor finally came out at 9pm and told us the great news! The latest MRI that Ralph had with contrast (he's had so many!), showed the melanoma cells very clearly in the right side, too, so they could zap BOTH of them! What a happy surprise!! So he had both of them taken care of in about 45 minutes!! And NO SIDE EFFECTS, except for some slight swelling and headache. We just went right back home. So as of now, Ralph's brain has no more tumors! The melanoma is still there, but it's on a molecular level. They don't know when it will start growing again, could be just months, BUT it could be as much as one or two years!! Wouldn't that be fabulous?! However long it winds up being, this surgery has definitely bought us some time, and I'm very grateful for it. And very relieved for now. A great big THANK YOU for everyone's prayers and support! Blessings and my warmest regards, Dawn

BUD SNEED is going to M.D, ANDERSON hospital in Houston on Tuesday. They have found a large tumor in the bone of his upper right arm. They will see what they need to do. Bud is the kind of guy that everyone wants for a neighbor and member of their communities. He is on the church board and school board. He helps with all of the kids projects, such as 4H and FFA., Scouts. Any where he thinks he might be able to help out. I sure would like for you to put this on the Prayers list. Thank you so much. Chuck