Bwilloughby

So I went to speak with the owner of the scrap yard. I take back anything that I might have said deroatory about him, he's a pretty cool ol dude! He said he had 7, Count em 7! of those acorn tables. A fellow from the NC coast came by one day and said he needed 6 to make a bridge for his crawler(I suppose his heavy machinery, bulldozers and such) He said he has that last one left and he's had them for about 5 years. His price is .26 cents on the pound, at about 2100lbs thats around $550.00. I will ask if I can give him a deposit and pay him a little at a time. But my next perdicament is, do I really want that table just yet as I'm not at what I will call a permenent location, and in maybe 6 months may find myself getting another shop. Do I wanna have to haul that thing around with me? Hmmm!

Good ideas guys, I'll give em a try. Yea, I think maybe has safty on his mind. I'll ask Thanks again.

Good thinkin. I do buy stuff from him, he had a 3'x4'x3/4" piece of sheet steel and several RR track sections. That totaled over $150, that I produced on the spot. I think maybe he's a little worried about liability. I will go ask, see how he receives the question.

I went today nosing around the local scrap yard. Turns out this yard is in 2 sections... some in the fenced in area, and some out just in an unenclosed yard. So I went wandering around the unenclosed yard(I didn't see any "No Trespassing" signs). This area of the scrap yard is maybe 5 acres of Steels, Irons, gears, pipe, solids, ETC everything. I wandered over to an old semi trailer and lo and behold was an old Acorn table, In FANTASTIC condition, beside some surface rust. Now from past experiances of trying to talk with the scrap yard owner(Least I think he's the owner) he's been rather cold, when I ask if I can wander around the yard to look for material he gets a little T'd and say absolutely not, but I just figured it's cause he has heavy equipment out there operating, and he kinda keeps eyeing me whenever I would come around. So my wonder is do I approach him and ask if he would like to sell it? or do I say heck with it let it rust, as that man will prolly want top dollar for it, or not want to sell it to me anyway. What would you do? I'll get some photos of it if I can.

Honey Mead is Incredible!!!! That and Hard Cider!! I never got into the taste for beer. I had this brand and it was like smoooooooth honey candy http://homepage.eircom.net/~bunrattywinery/ Edit

Thanks guys. For some reason Glenn I didn't think to look in the Blueprints section, Man that becomes more usefull everyday .

Can anyone explain a easy way to tell if a chunk of steel has is high carbon or has carbon in it? I read something about the grinder wheel thing where high carbon will have more sparks over mild steel, but to me seems a little hard to determine.

Hey all, I found a scrap yard here in Greenville NC that will sell his metals. He gave me a price at .20 cent a pound, it looks to be structural steel (round and square bar stock, sheets of steel, 3ft lenghts of RR track, I beams(various sizes and lengths) Angle(all kinds). How does this price sound?

Thanks for the information guys, that give me someidea of what I need to do. Should I route it thru the roof or thru the wall, or does it not really matter?

Anyone got any diagrams on building a forge hood for indoor use? Or know where I could purchase one?

Thanks so much for the info.

What are the rules to transporting empty tanks to get refilled? I know you gotta have the valve caps in place, but is there rules to what type of vehicle you can carry them in? I just bought a Oxy/Acety setup from a machine shop here who has been bought out and is liquidating everything. he has a 30' Lathe, and a nice hydrolic bender that will be hitting the auction block here in Greenville, N.C. If anyone is in the area he has ALOT of stuff not just the few I listed here, I can post when and where the auction will be.

Web link page I'm somewhat of a space nut, and this seems pretty interesting.

ya Know I was comming on here to ask about belt sanders, heh. Wut a Beaut!! Grizzly - Knife maker

heheh, Glenn thats good stuff. I had a few of the pound in hooks I learned to make in Madison (I would make some each time I light the forge, just for warm up) till my mom happened by and was looking at my workshop. I need to go get more material and make some more. I am awaiting a new sensor for the car and I ran out of mild steel, I have afew RR spikes and some chunks of track left. Though I dunno what I'm gonna do with the track. It's 2 peices one is about 4" long and the other is about 6".

Thanks Dan, How many times in ones life do you hear "If I only knew then what I know now." I will be the first to tell anyone that I need practice. I am in no way trying to force all the information and technique into my head at once. It will only lead to disaster, hurt feelings and force me out of this trade. I have been looking into finding a Smith I can Apprentice with when we finally get to North Carolina.

Understood sir.

Good thinkin, so say if a new Blacksmith tried to learn Horse shoeing, Knife makeing, and Home designs. hes in for a lesson of biting off more than he needs. I will keep that in mind. I have been focusing mostly on decoration type things, thing that will/can go on gates and fences.

Great information Thanks alot fellas :)

I was thinking today about what I should do when we finally get settled in North Carolina in July/August. One thing that came up was how would I attract work. Do I just make stuff and Ebay it? do I post fliers at store Bulletin Boards in hopes to get some work. Do I put ads in the local Newspapers to attractr work. How do those of you that do this for a living attract customers?

thanks, I epoxied the wood blocks to the handle section. then drilled and tapped the holes. then ran the brass screws into the holes. I used a 80 grit sanding disk on a 4.5"grinder. and then used some 150 grit sand paper to finish it off.

I'm sorry but you used a term thatI am unfamiliar with(scales). Could you please let me know what you see? is what you are looking at on the handle or the metal? Or are you referring to the entire shape?

Great Idea. I doubt he has used it yet or will in the next few days. I'll get that going, thanks.

Ok so it's done and handed over to him, He liked it from what I could tell Its a tool I think he could use while doing his wood crafting. he needed something to scribe lines and nail points. it will also help him in his boating as he comes across tight knotted wet rope often and can't get his fingers to make the rope loose, so he can use the spike at the end to help untying knots. the other end of the tool is sharp for making lines in wood and cutting rope. It started as a piece of 3/4" round mild steel. The handle is red oak with a Mahogany finish. and the pins are Brass screws, that is why one end of the pin looks larger than the other side. This is the very first thing I have made like this so its not perfect. For those who can input, What do you see that I could have improved with a few simple steps or more care?

K Thanks Woody.