Sprockets&Cogs

From Lee Valley Tools Website: http://www.leevalley...t=3,41306,41324


Square-Cut Nails




Besides having the advantage of being historically accurate (they are made the same way now as they were in 1819), these nails are superior to conventional nails. Cut nails have two features lacking in wire nails:

1. They are near constant thickness but tapered in width. Aligning the parallel sides of the nail with the grain, the square tip shears fibers and the nail then bends fibers downwards as well as compressing them as it is driven. The fibers then act like a featherboard on a table saw, preventing the nail from withdrawing.

2. Because the square tip shears the fibers, there is no wedging action across the grain; you can nail near the end of a board with no splitting. A wire nail tends to split the wood.

The decorative wrought head and common rose head are ideal for rough-sawn siding, face-nailed floors, batten doors, and framing. While both brads are popular for cabinetmaking, the slender headless brad excels at furniture repair and picture frames.

Approximate nail count per box listed in brackets below.

The wrought-head nails have a black oxide finish; the others are unfinished steel.

Sheet Metal Forming Stakes/Anvil

Not mine...

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/pml/tls/1784305220.html

Found this one on craigslist...a bit delusional to think there aren't any other LG in BC.... $2000 CDN seems like a fare price.

also has an anvil listed

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/pml/tls/1784297484.html

I am not affiliated with the seller, yada yada yada.

I do realize their are copyright issues and I suppose I should have added in my initial post The Blacksmith Journal would know what we are doing. How do librarys work? They have copyright material that they lend to people...

Is trying to save the issues for the blueprint section something we could collectively do? Essentitally there are 232 issues available at $4 each for a total of $928. A bit pricey for one person but as a group this large and passionate I think it is worthwhile. It would be a real shame for this resource to vanish.
Erick

Saw David Thompson's "Claydon clamp joinery" on the samples table at the NWBA spring conference. Any ideas how it was done? I assume the clamp is the box tube and the larger piper is used to drive over the end of the rod?
Thanks
Erick

When silicone cures it releases acetic acid. That is the same acid as vinegar, hence the vinegar smell of curing silicone. You etched your new bits and then they rusted..

Here is some real science for you...
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/16035349

Evidently people who are exposed to silicone curing fumes have more dental decay and upper respiratory tract issues. Hope you have a good health plan!

Brad,
I have to apologize to you. I was cursing the unknown buyer of the hammer I was going to see the next day. I didn't expect to join IFI and find the culprit! I have been moping around the shop dreaming of the lost hammer, my wife told me "to suck it up buttercup" Wait until I tell her you already have a 50 lb LG. You are in big trouble mister. Just kidding around and hope you got a good deal on it.
Erick

I've heard about the lost foam casting but never tried it. The heat of the metal vaporizes the foam and you don't get a valcano from the gas?

Depends on what foam you use. The green garden/florist foam is nasty. The pink/blue standard white styrofoam does produce some toxic smoke when it burns off. I use a polyethylene foam (backer rod) which according to the manufacturer's propaganda only produces C02, water and wax when burned. When I pour there are definitely flare ups from the burning foam that can shoot molten metal around.

Damm! Thats simple!!! How much did you pay? Will it hold a #8 Crucible? Do you use a pyrometer to check temps? How hot does it get?

Oh, buy the way- your shop is WAAAAAY to clean!

Also, I had assumed you did the basket castings in ceramic shell, yet you have investment casks ready for pouring. How did you do the basket castings?

Hi Fe-Wood,
All the prices are listed on his Webpage and they are available on ebay. I am just a happy customer no affiliation yada yada yada. He sells 2 sizes and I believe both can accomodate a #8 crucible. (If I am right, by convention that means 8 lbs of Aluminium) I typically do 15 lbs. I don't have a pyrometer yet (I may try and build one with a thermocouple/volt meter in the future). It gets hot enough to melt the metal! As for when to pour, I just give it a few minutes after all is melted and this seems to work for my purposes.

My baskets are all lost foam sand cast. I weave them complete out of foam backer rod and then cast them. I hate when they pour to completion as I like the globular voids. For this I have been experimenting with less venting, tighter packing and wetter sand. I want the metal to cool before it makes it all the way through the basket.

Erick

I can melt 15 pounds of Aluminium in 20 minutes and 35 pounds of brass in about 45 minutes attached to a 20 lb propane tank. I added a little blower to make it a bit more efficient. I have yet to melt bronze but it will do it. I need to get a proper crucible for that. My mother-in-law enjoyed the ritual sacrifice of her tacky 80's brass animals to the foundry gods.

Thanks for the positive comment re: my work. Nice to be appreciated by your peers. My foundry is a little "cowboy furnace" from Lost & Foundry out of Spokane. (Lost & Foundry). Works quite well for how simple it is.
Erick

Just want to take the time to introduce myself. My name is Erick and I like to take long walks. (Oops wrong profile)
I have been playing with metal (blacksmith and casting) for a number of years and am always looking to improve. For that I think I have come to the right place, amazing! Here are some of my latest...

More can be seen at: Sprockets & Cogs

Thanks
Erick