PeteH

Thanks, guys... good to know I didn't buy TOTAL junk. -PeteH

Piggyback question: Is this one a "real" Vulcan? It's a small anvil, only 45-50 lbs; I bought it as a "bench" anvil - wanted something heavier and flatter than my railroad track, and in the house. This is an ungraceful lump if ever I saw one, but it rebounds well (hammer comes up at least 1/3 of the drop distance, 3/4" ballbearing comes up about 80%), and it even has a little ring to it. SO... whaddaya think ? -PeteH

A few weeks ago, I got lucky and found a power hacksaw locally. Real basic, a Jefferson 601, capacity is 4" x 4" I think. Not especially fast, but does a nice job. Plenty for anything I'm likely to need, although I may still buy a vertical bandsaw for shape-cutting. I also found out that they still make these things. Company called Keller Saws, in Alabama. The photos on the website look just like mine, except mine doesn't have the safety guard over the bull gear. No surprise - the paperwork that came with it is pre-Zipcode ! (Which probably makes it pre-OSHA, too.) Pete

When I was a kid (middle of the last century), boric acid solution (5%, I think) was commonly used for eye-wash. Later turned out that enough of it got down the throat (via the nasolacrymal duct) that some kids got poisoned by it. We still use boric acid powder (with some kind of free-flowing agent) as an ant poison - it isn't very effective, btw. Borax, though, is really not very scary stuff, and people have been using it for a long while. I think reasonable care will be adequate - don't eat it, don't eat your sandwich without washing your hands after handling it, and mainly, stay upwind of the fire. Chances are that burning off the sulfur in some of what passes for coal these days is going to be more dangerous to your lungs. Fluorite fluxes, on the other hand, can be seriously dangerous. WRT brazing disease - I did that to myself once, back around 1975... I was building a sculpture, and liked the color effect of burnt brazing -- so I coated the whole piece with braze, and burnt it as I went along. Next day I had a fever, aching muscles, cough, and nausea. Thought it was 'flu. I didn't find out otherwise until I got back to work and talked with a guy who used to be a welder, who said it used to be called "Bell-founder's Ague" because the people who cast bells used to get it a lot. Not a lot of fun, I'll tell you. I've also read that cadmium fumes can kill you. Not because cadmium is so toxic (it is), but because the oxide will cause a kind of chemical pneumonia. Check the MSDS on any silver-solder before using it. Many of them contain - or at least USED to contain - significant amounts of cadmium. PeteH

I just found this forum, quite by accident, and it looks like it will be very interesting. My name's Pete, I live in north-central Noo Joizey, and I'm a retired chemist. I studied ironworking at intervals in the 70's and 80's, and now that I'm retired I want to get going at it again. Not here - this is a little suburban hamlet, and they'd ticket me six ways to Sunday if I started hammering iron - but I'm planning to relocate. I'd put my (former) skill level at slightly past "beginner": I've made hooks, pokers, flesh forks, hinges, flint strikers, and one lousy piece of pattern-welded steel, about 1/4 the weight of the stack I started with. PRESENT level... well, let's just say "rusty". For the moment (after posting this, that is) I'm going to "lurk" for a while and try to catch up on what's been going on. PeteH And that, as they say, is that.