Ecart

There's a hispanic guy at work. His name is Geraldo (probably badly misspelled). As far as I know, he's legal. He's been at the mill much longer than I have. He works hard and has worked his way up to millwright.
I didn't know it, but he also works at a convenience store. Last night, two guys went into the store and robbed it. They put a shotgun to Geraldo's head. He got a hand up and shoved it down before they fired. He was hit in the leg just below the waist. He is going to be all right, but he could use your prayers. I don't know if they got the robbers or not. But they could use your prayers too.

There really are no words that I can express to ease your pain. But you and yours are in our prayers.

I'm interested in seeing how this turns out for you. I've got about three or four small bandsaw blades and as much strapping as I want from work. I may be trying this soon too. Post pics if you can.

That's a really nice job you and your dad have done there! Now you have to post the work that you do tomorrow. I look forward to seeing it.

You all know why I started this thread don't you? To get ideas for my birthday in April! Seriously, it looks like we made out like bandits this year.

Hehehe! I usually have to turn around a time or two when I go someplace new. I can see a gps being blacksmith related when it gets you to the blacksmithing site. Less time trying to find the place = more time hammering!

The Cartrette house is like a lot of homes this year. Christmas was a little more slim than in times past. But it has been a good day. But I was delighted to find that among the gifts that I received, I got a nice pair of welder's gauntlets and a brass brush that I'll be using in the forge.
So, what blacksmithing/metalworking items did you get this Christmas?
Ecart

Merry Christmas to all. Hoping everyone has a good time to rest, reconnect with family and friends and remember the good times of Christmases past.

Ya! Sounds familiar.

Just by chance, a foot and boot fits nicely into a 5 gallon bucket water.

Bringing a 5 gallon bucket of fresh water to the forge is just one more safety precaution. The effort pays dividends when a flaming appendage is thrust into the "clean" water.

A 5 gallon bucket of water can be moved to a fire, where you would have to go locate a garden hose, locate a spigot, connect the two and etc etc, or find a container (larger than a water glass) to transport water from the slack tub to the fire.

Quick quiz: In the excitement of trying to put out a fire, how many trips with a water glass equals a 5 gallon bucket of water?

Too many! Got a nasty little burn on the palm of my left hand today. I was punching a RR spike that I was turning into a nail header. I was moving from the shelf? (forgot the name at the moment) of my anvil to the pritchel hole when I wrapped my hand around the punch that I was using. As I sat with my hand in the slack tub, I thought to myself, "You're punching a piece of steel that is at an orange almost yellow heat. Why wouldn't the punch be hot!!?" I used it as an opportunity to tell my son that one moment of letting your mind wander will get you hurt.

I just filled it out. I don't have much experience with the national group, but I was a member of the NC ABANA conference once and got nothing out of them, so I left it. I joined again this year, and have learned much from them this time. The biggest problem this time has been getting my schedule to work with theirs!

Y'know, I haven't actually thought of fixing it. But yeah, I suppose I could do that. I may try it sometime soon.

i have one of those stainless steel soup pots like the ones a restuarant uses
it is fine small enough to empty but big enough for the job
only problem i have it is too close to the floor maybe a little stand in the future
i forget even how i ended up with it , hope i didn't do anything illegal to aquire it

So THAT'S what happened to my soup pot!!!
I have a small galvanized tub that I use. I had a bigger one filled with peanut oil, but I had it sitting close to my vise. I was using an ax head to open a space in a piece that I had welded the end of. It wedged in, so I knocked it out with the hammer. It fell into the quench tank. I didn't pay it any attention until I finished what I was doing, then I pulled it out of the tub. The fact that it was somewhat difficult to get out should have been a hint. Next thing I knew is that I had peanut oil running all over the dirt floor. After a couple of seconds of panic, I dumped some trash out of a metal trash can, I dumped the remaining oil into it where it still is today. I put a 1.5" or so gash in the bottom of the old quench tank. So now it holds some odd pieces of steel that are waiting for a new project to claim them.

This is just too tempting!!! Let me check things out again and see what I can do.

ALWAYS unplug your angle grinder when changing sanding disks, regardless of whether you are the only one in the shop. It slipped, and the switch caught the edge of my work bench. A suddenly spinning 50 grit disk cut straight through my long-sleeved shirt and into my arm. That one smarted for a while.

If I didn't have a Thanksgiving trip to GA to think about, I'd be there for sure, and I'd do my best to win that anvil. Wouldn't know what to do with a real anvil though. The improvement from a Harbor Freight anvil to that thing is beyond compare.

GREAT NEWS!!! Glad to hear it. We will add a praise to our requests for the two of you.

You aare both in my prayers. A redhead? And a nurse? I'll certainly pray!
All jokes aside, we will remember you.

I went to a local show as a customer for theh first time this past spring. The best things I saw was an Old Timer pocket knife that I had been looking for and an axe forged from cable. the guy wanted $600.00 for the axe and I told my wife that most likely somebody will come along and buy it. Everything else was pretty sad. I was rather disappointed and I don't plan on going back. I see much better stuff on sites like this.
JPH, sorry to hear about the parting of ways. That's always a hard thing. I always look forward to seeing the work that you post.

Those are some nice lookin' tongs on that page. I'll have to make more than just the chisel tongs. Thanks for the link.

Ecart - The Gallery has a good picture of a spring fuller that is easy to make for the hardy hole in your anvil : http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/3590 - JK

That would be simple enough to make.

I dunno. I'm still very new to this and I don't know enough about the tool to tell you.

I was searching the blueprints for a set of tongs suitable to hold axe heads. One tool I noticed that is used, and one I really need is a spring fuller. Unfortunately I did't find a blueprint for making one. Does anyone have any plans that they are willing to share? I'd love to see them.
As for the axe tongs, I'll have to go back and search for them .

Worse burn so far (I'm still pretty new, so give me time ): Several months ago, I don't remember what I was making, but I cut off a piece of 1/4" round stock. The "cold" end hit the ground and without thinking about it, I reached down and picked it up. It left a leathery scar across the palm of my right hand. It was prety tender for a while, but it's gone now.
While I was working at the fair last month, I grabbed a piece that the heat had transfered into and very quickly let it go. It was then that I heard a woman in the audience laugh and say, "That's how I'd look at it." I had to grin about that one.

I WISH my horn was in better shape. I have a Harbor Freight anvil-look-alike. It's all I can afford at the moment. Yesterday I took an angle grinder to one edge to round it off. Next time I am going to start shaping up the horn a bit. I found out recently how important a good horn is to the work we do in the forge. Doc, you're doing a fine job on that old anvil. Keep it up and put it to good use.
Ecart