clinton

I am running windos xp on that computer and when you open the folder with the pictures you right click on the pic and it gives you an option to resize I have been using the med i think its 600 x 800 my other computer windos vista does not work that way thanks for the input brian d

well not my first attempt but the first finished pair I used some potato digger chain it is 1/2 inch round 13mm for metric folks. I got this material years ago and now I cant remember what it is it gives a good spark of high carbon nice tight patern. the top pair is what I used as a guide to forging they are tom tongs actually tsur tongs I believe I needed 1/2 inch tongs and they look like they will work good and they feel good in the hand. anyone know what they use for the potato diggers? also I am resising my pics can someone give me some feed back on the dowload speed and quality of the pics I am on dsl and some of the pics I look at take too long to open up can imagine the folks on dial up

should be fine what type of electrode? 6011 7018 I know the have inershield and hard wire also some cheaper electrodes have more splatter and do not run as smooth as your name brands but they work just not as user friendly

ya you get a history lesson and a few good laughs as well as some great forge work he was at oktoerfest 2008 in ca I think it was 2008 had a great time

I found this sledge a couple of years ago at a local army surplus store it was the only one that they had at 25 bucks I would have bought more it weighs about 8lbs and has a makers mark on it it was labeled "sledgehammer, swiss" I know its hard to make out the touchmark there is a guy with anvil and above looks like a snake and below there is an F. It was a bargain at $25.00 wish there were more I asked the guys and they did not even know it was there right by the front door they prob thought it was a good door stop

that was 3/4 square stock george just used what i have from material that i salvaged off the job that is about as big as i would try to do single handed the turner i did myself it is alot to draw out by hand

thanks brian they are getting better the ears are tricky and my eye punch needs work but i am having fun making christmas presents that are functional

I made a couple more openers burned one up at dark last night (oops) got it down to about 30 min to complete one also made the fuller it is coil spring forged one piece had my brother help to draw it out just need to sand and harden/ temper

I made a steak turner and fork with 3d horse heads they came out pretty nice I used my brother striking on the fork he has never forged anything but we were able to get a tapper that looks ok I could twist it to hide imperfections but I think its fine as is

right on regionalchaos going for the abstract look nice work

one more item to add to my list of things to do today,I am going to fire up the forge eairly this morning thanks for posting this brian and you guys have a happy thanksgiving

thanks to everyone for the positive response to my post and karen tell brian that i am working at the forge as much as possible and his teaching is going a long way. I have been doing some 3d horse heads using 3/4 stock and they are getting better I made a steak turner that is pretty nice. my brother came by yesterday so I used his striking to draw out a piece to make a bbq fork (cheap power hammer) a little scary though he has never struck before but we got some work done before it got dark I will post some more pics ltr

unicorn- I believe that is a fuller that brian made using spring steel and to answer your question ironstien those are brians tools I took that pic out of the gallery. I was trying to make a bottle opener recently and was not getting very good results so I contacted brian and asked him to explain to me the steps that it takes. Brian told me about the post that he put in the gallery it shows the tools and the steps to take. I was going about it all wrong I was punching the hole and using a drift now I use the slitting chisel the go to the horn on the anvil once you get close you can do the rest of the detail on the horse the eye and nose. also you want to watch the size of the hole and stop forging Right before you get big enough or you have to reshape into the oval shape that I ended up with on this one which is fine but a nice round one is better

I made this bottle opener yesterday a little on the large size could have been a belt buckle I learned this from brian brazeal

nice work bro, that forge weld is tricky

how do you remove the headstock? it seems eaiser to just get a flat belt to me there is a guy who makes them for 66 cents sq/in comes out to about 30 bucks according to my caulculation its 43 1/2''

I got this lathe a few years back I think I gave the guy around 300 bucks for it. I need to make a belt for it it is missing a flat belt. The apron was broke once upon a time but someone braze welded it back and did a real good job it travels very smooth

E A Chase is one at the top of my list Brian Brazeal and his brother Ed. Peter Fels is another great CA smith the guy is a genius can make any thing with nothing. Alfered Habermann definitely.

I find that a tripod stand is much better than any wood base you can shape the plate that your anvil sits on to fit your anvil allowing you to let a longer piece pass by your base also make holes at hardy and pritchell holes for the same reason. The tripod will sit good on an uneven surface stump can rock back and forth and every time your anvil moves you loose force off you blows notice the angle of the legs on my anvil this is a tom clark ozark patern the legs a pretty straight up not much angle very sturdy 2''x4''x1/4 tubing the plate under the anvil is 1 1/8'' use silicone caulking between anvil and base holds it together if you want to lift the whole thing and you can separate by applying a little heat

I have a hot cut that brian brazeal made using 4140 and he forges the shank so that it wedges into the hardy hole and you can get alot more done with a tool that doesnt bounce around. And I know ya-all must be thinking ( or you should be) that this is a good way to break an anvil. well beacuse the piece you a cutting is hot it takes most of the energy so your anvil is ok. the tool does get wedged in there but a couple of taps with the hammer and it pops right out

with all do respect nakedanvil I personally use ear plugs when welding because I dont like getting sparks in my ear and it has happend to me a few times. Some times the only way you can tell what you are doing is by sound because you cant see the weld but other than that I do not rely on the sound myself more watching the weld pool and knowing when to move. Ya sparks going down the ear is no fun you can hear them burning as they go down yeeowww!!!

Hey unicorn I just saw you posting on the south bend lathe it looks like the same one that I have burried in my garage I think I gave the guy around 300 bucks for mine about 8 years ago the apron was broke once apon a time but someone did a nice repair job and it travels just fine. I just need the flat belt to make it work maybe I will dig it out today I did find a guy that makes the belts online. Do you make your own belts? I will also need one for my common sense trip hammer soon

thanks for the post richard and thank you nakedanvil for the other info. I am in the planning stages of building a press using equipment that was salvaged from a forklift. I am not sure how much I will be able to get done with it but I want to build it so a future retrofit to bigger pump and hydraulic cylinder will be an easy job. working on a limited budget now so I have to use what is here already the ol lady is still crying about the 700 bucks I spent on a set of yater blocks.

allright thanks for the input guys. I got an email with more pics and the gears are in there also a couple of lathe centers and a four way turret (not sure the terminoligy) I do agree with finding a larger machine I have a small south bend lathe so I think I will watch local auctions and maybe get lucky on finding a brideport that is single phase. thanks again jimbob and mike-hr