mike-hr

EV, I got no idea what you're talking about.. Bob, same thing, but we own 3 Ford vehicles, and if only one of them works as described in your link, I know I've got nothing to worry about...

Thanks for the follow-along pictures. I'm inspired. Awesome work.

Nice blade.. You said it was L-6 and bandsaw blade.. I thought those were mostly the same thing. What's the dark material? Are you holding out on us??

I think your aesthetics are spot on!  Everything flows real good. I get scared whenever anybody stick welds onto leafspring. The Heat affected zone is unpredictable, I would soak in the forge for a bit to help relieve weld stresses, before heat treating. I think you did a beauty piece. Personally, I would have investigated some artsy rivet work to join the two, if forge welding is out. I realize that could leave a gap here or there for bacteria to grow. Darned if you do, darned if you don't... Great job. 

mh

Those blades look so good, I purt'near swallowed my plug of Copenhagen..
mh

I'll second what SCJ said.  I've been wondering for a long time what makes some curves pretty, and others, not so.. I took a class with a well spoken Welshman a while back, and he laid it down on the table.. " It's got the same curve as a young ladies back." Pick whatever section of her back that you wish, it's all pretty. Look at any art, sculpture, etc, it's got that same curve.

Thanks. I'm teaming up with John from Gearhartiron, we're going to demo this at the upcoming hammer-in at Weaverville, CA. I'm going to do the handle and forgeweld in the bit, then John will take us thru the steps on the belt grinder to finish and etch. Should be worth a giggle if nothing else..

That's real pretty, I like it.

This thread flamed up after 4 yrs of the tool being used a lot.. It's still working, I should add, that after a few months, I took an aggresive flap wheel on the 4-1/2 side grinder, and made a flat spot on the underside of the hardy hole. That way, the triangular key seats square. It tried to bend the slots a bit untill I gave it a square place to seat. The piece is still in service, still gets used a lot.

I can see the merits of the 90 degree hit, turn. I rarely use it. I like to stomp the treadle to the floor, and pull the work toward me, then index 90 degrees, and repeat. I can't quantify this, but, why subject one's wrist to yet another repetative-use injury by flipping work hundreds of times a day for the sake of saving a small percentage of heat?

FE, that's reallly nice.

I've been goofing with rrspikes lately. I made the handle first, then split the tip and cleft welded in a bit made from leafspring surrounded by thin sawblade. It hardened up real good in french fry oil, etched in ferric chloride.
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j50/mike-hr/spike6_zps07596e86.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j50/mike-hr/spike3_zps5fd0fadf.jpg
mike

Schwiing! I know you've talked about the tribulations of the feather pattern, It's stunning, like steam rising off a pair of newborn twin calves...

I'll probably irritate droves of folks for saying this, but it's true.. Anyang 33 is a lot like a power hammer, 'cept it don't move metal very good. If your trying to knock down 3/4 or 1 inch stock, bring a sandwich. If your working 1/2 stock or less, it does okay, but I can keep up with the 33 by hand, for 20 minutes or so. I suppose if you were tapering 1/2 inch stock for 6 hrs, day after day, it would be the machine of choice. Until the oiler quit.

How about filling the cylinder full of several pieces of straight steel bar? As in, as many 1 inch square that will fit, then smaller sizes in the voids, rammed down until it thinks it's a solid chunk..

Kinyon air hammer! I've used it hard for a year now. Still has awesome control, along with an honest hard thump..

You know, I do my level best to not watch the daily news, because I just can't take all the bad stuff they try to promote. I try to live my life like you just descibed, it's a small town, be true to your craft, give an honest guy a break, and it comes around.. I broke an axle in 2 foot of snow 130 miles from town where the buzzards use GPS to get around. We stood there for 10 minutes, wondering where to find some dry firewood, when one of my old customers drove past, saw my pickup. End of the adventure, but that's not a bad thing. Carry on. 

You said the cyinder in use has a six inch stroke. It's hard to tell from your picture, but it looks like you have at least six inches of clear space, leading me to think it ain't hitting hard, because it's bottomed out before it hits the anvil...

Howdy. I'm glad you're looking at avenues of metalworking past cutting and joining. It's never wise to close your mind. I'm a good fabricator, and forgework has made me, well, half crazy, to be honest. There used to be only 5 ways to get to the desired end, and now that I'm somewhat fluent with plastic deformation, well, the answer depends on how late in the afternoon it is, and what bottle the latest customer has brought in as thanks for the last job...A couple years in fundamental training will reward you with a lifelong career in blowing customers minds. I was watching some stupid TV show last week, they had a quote..' If a craft takes a long time to learn, go ahead with it.. the time will pass anyway'.
have fun, don't take yourself too serious...

This is my first year of splitting wood with hydraulics, I can honestly say I'm not ashamed at all about that. Also, drawing a wedge taper on one end of a 16# hammer is formidable. I expect even a 200# PHammer would still not thump hard enough to not make fish lips on the end, heat after heat.

E.J. Bartell's has a store in Eugene, OR. The two castable products that I've bought from them are : Mizzou, which is hard like concrete and had a good insulation index,,, and, Cast-O-Lite, which is kind of softer and easier to scratch, but has a great insulation index. They both have expiration dates on the bag, you will need to store the unused powder in a good ammo can where they stay dry

Howdy,
I went through the thread, and felt compelled to throw a thought into the breeze..I live 2000 miles from you folks, so I feel qualified to state my position as a disinterested individual. If a potential student can't find the energy to respond to an invitation from an established craftsman in real words, I would personally go out of my way to dis-invite the newbie from my shop. Lose the text-speak.
mike

I never liked the 4 inch rule. Our son was born in 1996, and we decided to build a guard railing around the free-standing woodstove. Being of a rebellious disposition, I put the pickets at 5 inch intervals. The little buckaroo wasn't crawling for a month, and one day my wife started yelling real loud. I ran in the house, he had stuck his head in between, clear past his ears, and got stuck. I did the footbrace/ both hands trick spreading the offending pickets and was sucessful at extrication. I'm okay with the 4 inch rule now.

Very good program. I'm curious, after the steel plant analyzed your sample, what was the carbon content of the crucible steel?

I seem to be ready for a beer at 5:00 every afternoon...