David E.

First find a long narrow oval and draw round it.;)

Sounds a little better every day, great news.:)

Health and Safety gone mad, bought a pack of peanuts the other day, on the back it said, Caution May Contain Nuts :confused::confused::confused:

Would those dimensions work for a Politician trap, it would have to be serviceable though, I have no need for wall hangers, and it would not need to be humane either. Most baits would work, a

Nice work Philip You beat me, I am still waiting for the electrician:(

I thought you were starting a debate about how long welders live for:D:D The welding plant is Chinese BTW.

I log onto IFI most days and yet have missed this horrible news until now, I have read through all the posts which have become more and more encouraging. It must have been horrendous for Deb and everyone close. When he gets better and reads this he will see just how much affection he is held in by everyone else who only has cyber contact with him,get better soon Frosty David.

Nice design, detail and texture, what are the sizes? to put that overlay into context.

If it is jetted for Natural gas get it changed to propane, it will get much hotter,the jet will cost about

Hi Chad, I'm sure I have seen those braided asbestos type gaskets with copper inserts, mind you its been some time. Gaskets have come a long way since, with more compressable materials, a specialist could supply and you cut your own. If you ever manage to find an e-mail add for Bob Alexander I would be obliged if you could P.Message me, I would love a copy of those DVD's, I am a hammer newbie and hungry for info, mine was made in 2002. Thanks David.

Congratulations Philip, My hammer is now in the shop also, no wiring or base as yet but getting there, you did have quite a wait, you must be delighted. David

More good info,thanks Fe. I hope I never need open it up but it is good to know there are folks out there with the know how.;)

Thanks for that info Phil, I just got my hammer into the shop yesterday and want to do a full check before start up especially the oil system. Need to give it a clean up first tho', thanks again David

What he said +1 :D

Hi Steve, Sorry I cant help but I was just going to ask similar question, I picked up a Sayha SSM 50 yesterday and would love to find some documentation on it, manual whatever. If I find anything I will pass it on to you. David

So that will be castaway then.:rolleyes:

All the good advice has already been given, good frame, good blades and remember the teeth always point away from you and you cut on the push stroke not the pull:D take your time, nice and steady does it.

Sam, I get TC nozzles made for the grit blasters I make, they are workable until they get sintered, then it is as everyone has said above, They can be broken down and recycled into a lower grade. I can ask my supplier for you if you want. The nozzles I have shatter very easily but last ages. David.

I once had a nice cast on my leg, but people wrote naughty things on it.:)

As JK says you have to keep it moving, just like sharpening a drill if you are using a belt sander. If you are using hand tools then keep them moving, if you file flat you get a flat spot, it is all about practise. After roughing out get strips of emery cloth/ paper, put the punch in a vise at the end of the jaws so you have room to put the length of sandpaper over the top of the punch and work each hand in an up and down motion close to the sides of the punch, this will eliminate flat spots and give an even radius to the head of the punch.

A good tip to get the angle of the drill bit pretty close is weld two hex bolt heads together, that will give you 120 degrees, the proper angle is 121, doesn't help with the flute leg lengths or clearance angle tho' you have to practise that;)

An alternative to working flat on a heavy bench is to use a length of I beam with box section welded upright at 90 degrees at one end as a datum and construct your gate in a vertical position clamping accordingly.

I have a collection of different size chain links to sink into. I am always on the lookout for large ones to use as bottom dies on my flypress and hydraulic press.

Good advice from everyone, dont rush back to forging, the next few months will fly by anyway, now is the time for the things you keep putting off. Brush up on your welding skills, whichever you are weak on, (except forge welding) drawing, design, the more you do the more things you will think of. Think Positive, this might be the only opportunity like this for the rest of your working life, hopefully. :D

Blast it or burn it. If it is bullet proof then you can always hammer flat again.