mike-hr

What I made for presents this year, some bottle openers, and bookshelf brackets with sliding bookends. Edit: photo code adjusted to show image

Merry Christmas all, and may everyone get more than fair market value for their work in the upcoming year. Thanks to Glenn and his more than patient family for keeping a nice place for us to exchange ideas! Thanks to all the folks that contribute to the site. I've been making most of my income from forged work for the last couple years, folks like Irnsrgn and 'Doc' Dick Sargent have added dimensions to my shop that have saved years of 'hard knocks'. Blueprints like the Multi-pin Bender and the Tapers Refined Power Hammer Die, have helped me compete in a tough trade, where most of my customers didn't even know that forged work was an option. Thanks All, Mike

Don't stick pointy things into a wire wheel.

Irn, just read your stories of the barber, and brazing in the airfield. Excellent work, you have a gift for the narrative. You throw in enough tech stuff to keep my non-liberal-arts brain enthused in the story. Don't stop now, I want to hear about you working with your family after school as a youngster, more explosions, and working your way through tough days with a clipboard screwball staring down your neck. If you could slow down for 30 minutes, I'm sure some gov't official would be happy to hang a national treasure medallion around your neck.. Thank you mike

Karl, Good story! Thank you for sharing it with us. I used to spend summers on my Grandparents cattle ranch when I was 8-15 years old. My Grandfather would always involve me in his day. We would work together solving problems and fixing broken things. We formed an intense bond with each other, and I always think of him when I work my way through a tough challenge. I know exactly how you feel.

What model is the blower? I have a partially disassembled #400 blower, and might be able to help with some pictures. If i remember, the jackshaft is tapered, only comes out one way. You can check with calipers.

Check the library of your smithin' club for a set of Clifton Ralph video tapes. Somewhat long and non-existant editing, but very informative and inspirational.

Wishing you the best, Ralph.

Thanks, Irn. Good story, glad you didn't get hurt.

An old oxygen cylinder (not acetelyne) makes a great firepot. Cut the top off, leaving an extra couple inches of straight cylinder for extra depth. Use a holesaw and low rpm and cut a 3 inch hole where the valve was. A chunk of 3 inch driveline tube, or 2 1/2 inch pipe will fit in the hole. The one I used was 1 1/8 thick at the valve, should last for a while.

I've tried but no luck. I had to cut a sheet to 4 x 6 with unsquare corners to fit a concrete hole for a well house in a driveway. It potato chipped (warped both ways) as soon as I cut it. I used a pile of oxy-acet, trying to heat warp it to flat, and quench in place with a wet gunny sack. I used chains and a bottle jack to try to warp it back. Then I used oxy-acet and the bottle jack. Then i went and got a 12-pack. I think I tried welding small stringer beads from the backside, but i don't remember how that worked, cause the 12-pack was getting the better of me. It got to the job still warped, and I tapped holes in the angle iron bed, and bolted the sonofagun down. I'm very interested in what other folks have done in this matter.

I moved a 10 x 10 shed a while back. I think early 1960's Rambler cars had a front spindle that unbolts easily, four half inch bolts, and she's in your hands. I got a set from somewhere, lag bolted the spindles to the floor joists of the shed, and mounted the wheels. I bolted a chunk o' pipe to the floor in the doorway, welded a ring to the pipe that fit around the hitch on the pick-up, and away I went.

I have a Mcgowen & Finnigan 'Perfect' 80# mechanical hammer. Pat'd 1907, machine #75. It uses a stack of leaf springs instead of a coil spring. I can detune the toggle bolts to get a single soft hit, or a series of semi-unpredictable very hard hits. It also has a turnbuckle connecting the eccentric wheel to the ram, so the height adjusts about 4 inches. There's also ability to move the bolt to different holes in the eccentric wheel, to change the stroke length. 3 x 4 inch flat dies. We get along good.

Howdy Dan, I would suggest welding classes, and a lot of ART classes. I'm a pretty mechanical thinking guy, machinist/welder trained, and was 95% lost when i started thinking about art smithing. I took some art classes at the comm. college. It really helps to be talking to a customer and be able to know why groups of three things looks better than groups of two things, etc. I agree with Ralph about the waiting on the power hammer. I found an old 80# mechanical hammer and have had it running almost two years now. It took me a year or so to get to know it's personality. When I first got it running, I turned it on and asked it to make an eagle catching a salmon out of 3/4" bar. The hammer decided to make a flattened lump instead. We made flattened lumps by the ream for a lonnng time! We're getting along pretty good now, I would be sad if it broke. I've been making a lot of railing components out of one inch square stock, and couldn't do things like that without the old doll. Some college metal shop classes would be good, as would getting a job in a fabrication shop. You can get seriously maimed with a power hammer, and learning how to work safe in a shop with big equipment can help get you keyed in.

box of Borax, ripped off the top, and slung it all over both of them. She made a rash comment about how James should know that bath day wasn't 'till next Saturday, and it's good manners to let the ladies and children clean up first. I just kept my head down untill she was out the door. After she left, I broke out laughing so hard, I stumbled and hit my head on the....

...my jug of medicinal bourbon. I wish he would bring it back because my toe still hurts from yesterday when my young helper Jeb tried to...

This is a great thread! I got so energized when I finally understood this subject, I almost burst into the 4th state of matter! Okay, so I ate a can of chili for dinner, my wife said it's not inert gas... Thanks for diving into this, folks. I learned a lot.

"That guy could mess up a train wreck."

Do the numbers correspond with degrees, in a circle?

Nolano- I'm glad you found Conrad, He's a great guy, really like him.. Tell him Mike in Klamath Falls has a pile of freon cans for his tripod stew pots, if you would.

When I'm doing off-site fabricating, I keep a big abc extinguisher at an arm's reach. Also, a 5 gallon bucket of water with a big gunny sack (burlap potato bag) soaking. The wet sack does good at pre-wetting an area, also a good first defense of batting down small grass fires. Never had to use extinguisher for anything but gasoline fires yet...

After forging a long piece that ended up crooked and bent, lay on the anvil, look for spaces, and "Beat the daylights out of it". Eventually it ends up straight.

How about a conical coil spring, that when rotated, grabs on the bar. I think folks that work on water wells use something like that for mistakes.

Nolano, There's a few very good smiths in the Eugene area. David Thompson is amazing. There's an old hippie named Conrad(can't remember his last name), who would be happy to work with you for an afternoon. There was a guy at saturday market who made good stuff. An afternoon with another smith is a great learning tool for both involved. Look around, they're out there.

When jump welding, sometimes it works good to scarf as normal, then blind rivet the two (three, four) pieces together. Drill a 1/8" hole thru both pieces in alignment, countersink the holes a bit, and cold rivet a 1/8" pin into the countersinks. Now you're only handling one iron in the fire, and have guaranteed alignment. The rivet dissappears into the weld.