David E.

oops, didnt see the other posts.

ss is just short for stainless steel Angus.

REEEEEEEEEEEESULT:D Nice pics too. So is the secret to make a space in the workshop all ready and then the good fairies come up with the goods?

Good luck Frosty, every cloud has a silver lining, your Mother would be happy to know you were going to get something to make your life easier and more fulfilled. Hope it all goes OK. I have been looking for a hammer for years and I am still looking. As Henry Ford said, "If you need a tool, Buy it, because soon you will find you have paid for it, and you still don't have it".

Interesting thread, I run a DS 230 Flamefast chip forge alongside a Swan Mother both use Propane, I have not gone into the workings of the chip forge too much apart from changing the jet from Natural Gas to propane. There are inbuilt solenoids and valves controlling volume and pressure of air/gas which I dont know the figures of. The mixing is done before the plenum as far as I can see and the holes in the grate are about 3 mm dia, there are about 25 approx over an area of approx 6" dia.BTW I think a full load of ceramic chips from Flamefast is about 12kgs. My perception is the grate does offer a restriction to the free flow of the air/gas mix and this keeps a positive pressure inside the plenum and also keeps the fire on the chip side of the grate. I stress this is only my perception and may be totally wrong. I enjoy my forge which easily gets hot enough for welding ( tho' I keep my attempts to the Swan) My only reservation is the blower does encourage a lot of scaling, my fear is that if I cut back the air volume to give a richer burn, I might poison myself:o I need to speak to the very helpful technicians at Flamefast for reassurance. There were several negative remarks about these forges on the other thread which I think are misplaced, perhaps they were powered by Natural gas at a lower pressure IMO. Anyway best of luck to the pioneers amongst you who are experimenting and building your own versions:)

If you think that you need all the tools and have to read all the books before you can blacksmith, then you will never make anything. Just do it.:D

60 feet to the workshop, same again to the nearest neighbour,but it is a pub and the pub garden goes right up to the shop wall, so I have to show a bit of restraint in the summer;) Regarding noise and smoke,some times I have to tell the wife to turn down the TV or stop burning the biscuits;):D

Thanks for that Chrispy:D it gave me a good laugh, I must try those, I usually find a good cure for toothache is a kick in the bolleaux, you are right, though, it does stop hurting when the pain goes away:D:D

1/2" !! Thats not a pit, Thats a young hole :D

Hi Philip, sorry I am late on this, I have a 300 amp oil cooled unit that would weld what you need, it can be run from a 60 amp 1 phase supply, 3 phase supply or like me from a split phase supply (also known as 2 phase) which is 2 (two) single phase supplies =480volt (2x240vac) Input is usually by a 3 core cable with different bridging options to cater for your supply (L1 to L3) etc etc A 250amp oil cooled unit would probably do as well. If you chose a phase converter, a 7.5 kw /10hp would give you enough juice to run 300 amps, any bigger than 7.5 kw converters usually have electronic sensors to give a boost during start up and this fluctuation can damage any circuitry in a welder so make sure any converter you chose didnt have this HD booster or you will have to get a manual bypass fitted, (ask me how I know) So a 250/300 amp oil cooled unit, 7.5 kw ph converter or get another separate 240 volt single phase supply from the nearest transformer to give you 480 volt split phase, hope this long winded reply helps.

Al, as I said the procedure you propose has as good a chance as any, go with that first.You will find out fairly quickly If the rods are compatible, short runs only, each end, then in the middle,then split the difference until you have it done without too much heat build up but cooling it as slowly as possible and gently peening as you go, just as you said. If the rods are not compatible then grind away any deposit and try stitching it with the mig, just little tacks, the mig is cooler. the 309 for dissimilar metals might be worth a try with the tig. good luck.

What you propose is a sound procedure for attempting to repair cast, so long as your rods are compatible with the metal, note I said "attempt" as it might not work even then. Take dimensions in case you want to fab one similar in mild steel. In a last try scenario you could stitch across the cracks with heavy wire or tack up with the mig after turning the amps up and cleaning out the cracks with the grinder. Whichever method you attempt to weld with just try a series of tacks evenly spaced to keep the HAZ small as possible. good luck.

Ragnarok, unfortunately, when I enquired about the 15kg back in November, the exchange rate had resulted in a price increase to

I have one similar, with crossover straps which I find much more comfortable than those with neck straps. These look as if there is not much between them, If it was me I would go with the cheapest, the price is OK. BTW I wear mine everyday and love it, it is from Weldas in USA.

I started off with one similar, only it was a back blast and not bottom as in picture. The hand crank is a bit of a pain as you do not get a rest between heats:D but they do have their place, demo's etc. as they are portable, they used to be popular in the shipyards or army for rivetting. FWIW I was pleased to see the back of mine:D

Hi Sam, I think Roger Barnard down in Plymouth had one for a while, give him a ring. How are you keeping? I think I met you that weekend on the Globe gates, years ago.

After 18 months of saving up my pennies for a 3ph converter and a 25kg Anyang imagine my disappointment when John told me of the price increases:o from

It is a single blow striking hammer, not a power hammer, it does a different job from a Big Blu albeit effectively.

Hi Frank, nice doors, is that MS rectangular box section you have for the frame? how did you attach the copper sheet? 25mm round SS, did you forge it by hand or with power hammer? How thick is the glass and are the panels hinged or removeable? Good job!

AH ! Blair Atholl, How lucky you are, I am envious:

So how boring am I?? My workshop and house are "The Forge" the house dates from 1690. I dont know how long they have been "The Forge" but there has been a smithy here at least since 1850 as somebody carved that date in the timber above the door. I don't dare change the name or do anything else for a living:D BTW I'm also a Scotsman:rolleyes: must be something about strong in the arm and thick in the head. Glenn, I did enjoy the quip about "If it aint Burroak, dont fix it":D

I'm not much of a fund raiser, in fact never raised a penny for charity in my life, but I have to say that I am impressed with the sense of community and fellowship the Chinese have shown during this horror. If there is anything allbeit small I can do to help, let me know. My son is an Olympian and all the family will be in Beijing to support him, so we do have a small vested interest. Perhaps raise awareness? Anyway, Good luck Philip.

Well I think the test is a good idea:p Yes I know they all have rated values but I dont think for a moment anyone thinks all hammers of the same value are identical in performance, everyone has their favourite, based on their subjective , good control, footprint, supply reqd, price, etc That is the point of this test, it is an objective view on one aspect, if there are enough examples, we can make an assumption on averages if need be. Personally I expect to see a difference between the one piece air hammers (sahinler, Anyang, Striker, Kuhn, etc) and the others. ;)

Ah ! my mistake John, I thought I read it was 2.2 kw for the 25kg. I shall maybe make enquiries to see if I can get a motor here to power the 25 kg, perhaps off my split phase supply(480volts), might be another sale for you:) A tig like the Dynasty would be big enough for what I want, then this thread would be redundant, thanks all David

Chris, that is what I can't understand, 3.5hp 240 volt 1phase is about our limit here:confused: