Mainely,Bob

The real trick with any finish is to let it set up before you let anyone sit on it. Any oil will take a few days to completely harden,you can cut that time by adding some japan driers to it. The problem with poly or any other film finish is that once it sets up it dents and then chips rather easily when used on soft wood.It is plastic after all and once it`s damaged it`s hard to repair so it blends in and doesn`t show where it`s been repaired. Around our place anything the grandkids come in contact with is finished with oil.They like to run around on the dirt drive then come in and dance on the coffee table or drag the cat across the "boot bench" by the mudroom door. Sooner or later that cat`s gonna figure out claws don`t work on oak and decide to sink the claws into what`s doing the draggin`. :o

If I were finishing them I`d use boiled linseed oil since that`s what I sometimes use for iron and have it on hand. The advantage of an oil finish is that it`s easy to touch up and with a soft wood like pine it`ll make it easy to fix those dings and dents that`ll be brought on in use. BLO will give you that amber color you`re looking for and you can add pigmented stains(like Min-wax) or oil based dyes to it to adjust the color. I`d flip the slabs before you attach them and look at them that way.I think you`ll find the visual balance is better that way. Many benches start out with that round edge up because folks think it`ll be more comfortable for folks sitting on them.Flip them and slightly round(like 1/2" radius max) the edges and I think you`ll find the benches both look and sit better.A final detail would be to bevel and round the ends to blend with the edges. Good looking work and it`s right in keeping with your screen name. Stepping away from that spinning lathe for a spell has really paid off for you.Thanks for sharing this with us.

I have always used spray arc for Mig with aluminum either conventional spray transfer or pulsed.Pulsed makes vertical and overhead easier. Saw quite a few fellows trying short circuit like they used on steel,never saw one get the penetration you get with spray arc. Cut a lot of SC work apart in order to clean,prep,preheat and properly spray transfer weld it back.SC`d aluminum may look sweet on the surface ,when they break you find out looks aren`t everything.

Well,you got the driver,now you need a putter. Be sure to wear your red leg golf togs (and ear plugs) and you`ll be the king of the course. Motarmen everywhere salute you! I can see you conversing with your FO/caddy "It`s a tough shot,maybe we should call in tac-air to soften up the green". B)

I can tell you what my experience has been with air tools.They are lighter,more compact,more powerful and some run at a much higher rate of speed than most electric tools. One of the real safety advantages I see in them is that you can use a regulator to dial down both the speed and the power to make them far more controllable and if they get in a bind at that lower speed they stop rather than get you into trouble.Try that with an electric tool without letting the magic smoke escape. Some of the other things I like about them is I can loan them to a co-worker and not have to worry about them coming back smoking and dead and as long as you oil them they will outlast a comparable electric at least twice over.When one does wear out they can usually be rebuilt a whole lot cheaper than an electric one and rebuilt more than once too if you buy quality to start. Well worth the money as far as I`m concerned. Oh yeah,you can throw diamond tooling on them and use them on stone and not have to worry about the water shorting you and /or the tool out.Good stuff! :)

Hard tellin,not knowin.

Just so I`m clear on this.My post was not aimed at you Mac Talis, but at the rest of the long term members who constantly decry anyone but a certified welder who has been successful at it in the past even thinking about fixing an anvil.THOSE folks are the flail and dance crowd. I just find it rather strange that they consider it blasphemy to think about trying to arc weld to save an anvil yet are eager to cheer someone on who has a less than 25% chance of success doing this in an average shop setting.Even if you work in a foundry and do this after work with the help of friends it`s an iffy thing at best. There have been more than a couple of posts on IFI where a new face has been successfully arc welded onto an old "scrap" anvil and the anvil brought back into service.Some of those posts even documented the process. To my knowledge there has only been one post here of a successfully hammer welded anvil and that took place at a large gathering using specialized gear with more than a few old hands working as a team and directly contributing to the work. Never did hear the final verdict after heat treating or if it`s still in use. If you`re doing something for fun then don`t let me rain on your parade.If you want a decent chance at a usable anvil when the smoke and steam clears then it`d be best to set the old ways aside and use available technology to your advantage.It`ll improve your chances of success by several orders of magnitude. I just find it amazing that the same folks who scream "DON`T DO IT!!!" when you talk about arc welding an anvil which they have seen successfully done more than a dozen times here are more than happy to encourage a hammer welding exercise using that same anvil that they know will most probably end badly.

One thing to keep in mind.Too tall can be fixed with a simple platform to raise the person doing the work.Too short and you have to dig a hole. Hard to do in a concrete floored shop with lots of traffic.

I just gotta ask guys,is the whole point of this exercise to end up with a usable anvil or is this just hankering for the "good old days" and wanting to sacrifice an anvil to the forge gods in a futile effort to big them back? For a bunch of folks who throw their arms up in the air and dance around like the world is ending every time someone mentions repairing or modifying an anvil you sure are being cavalier about heating and beating the bejesus out of an anvil that could be saved by the more modern yet effective and efficient process of electric welding. There,I said it and I`m glad! Next thing you`ll be wanting to rivet an ocean liner together and sail around Cape Horn.

Don`t get too cranky there Drag,I think he was putting his tongue in his cheek and quoting scrap price for cast iron as a way to voice a opinion we pretty much all share. Had a friend it high school who drove a sky blue T-bird 2 seater convertible.Bet Marty wishes he still had that car now.Bet he could sell it and buy a summer home up here with the proceeds. I know I wish I still had my grandfather`s 59 Triumph.That car was almost as sexy,and expensive.

You can sit next to a chicken but you can`t lay it`s eggs. You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose but you can`t pick your friend`s nose. Aint but two can`ts around here.If you can`t handle it,you can`t stay.

No worries about the metal reels.We just hung everything on S hooks made of rebar.If you gathered all the ones in the yard up I`ll bet you could fill the governor`s mansion.

Wonder what`s been gnawing on the flywheel.Half the lettering is gone.

That would explain that dance the coiled lead hanging on the hook used to do when one of my co-workers was carbon arc gouging. All this time we thought it was demonic possession. What a waste of time, holy water and fresh garlic. :rolleyes:

Can`t speak for the anvil but I was crushed hearing about it. :o

I was going to suggest using a torch or pulling the burner from your gas forge and using it as a torch.When working thin cross sections or small projects I find the more easily controlled,localized heat of a torch or open burner a help.Think of those glass workers that make all the intricate sculptures from glass rods and the burners they use.They couldn`t do that near as well in a furnace.Watching them was what switched that light on for me. I have to agree with John B.,why copy a store bought chain? When folks ask me to make something like a chain they expect me to show some creativity and I rarely make an exact copy of something they can get at the hardware store unless it`s in a material like bronze or wrought iron.The wrapped and non-welded chain in off beat link sizes is what makes the work unique. If they want a welded link chain then I do just what you did,I tell them to go buy a length of whatever suits them then bring it back so I can "toast it" to match.

"6 foot max is what they recommend" I wonder how we got by all those decades with those hundreds of power leads strung down the piers and throughout the ships we built. Most of the lines carried in excess of 400 volts too.All those ships were steel hulled BTW,Navy`s rules not mine. Any of you electrical engineers care to explain the difference between the wiring running thru the walls and the wiring in that power cord laying on the floor other than the position? Here are 2 very good examples involving electrical cords that illustrate the difference between real world experience and something that was read and taken as gospel. Bad news Ian.I`m going to have to cancel my plans to come visit you.I`m now worried that if you and me were to meet our magnetized brains would either cause us to not be able to be in the same room or we`d end up being the electrically induced version of Siamese twins. If we had only know the dangers when we were young.Glad I`m not alone in my misery,sorry for your condition buddy,I feel your (non-existent) pain. I fear the problem is not that some of us have been fed porkies,it`s that some actually swallowed them. Don`t know the true meaning of the term "Porkie" on your side of the world but it brings to mind the old show,The Little Rascals to me and that seems very appropriate in this situation.

If it were me setting this machine up I would run a baseline thru the center of the ram and anvil and bring both of those into alignment in two planes. By that I mean strike a line down the center of the ram looking at the front of the machine and then adjust things so that line extends down thru the centerline of the anvil.Once you have things aligned at the front do it again at 90 degrees to the side and then recheck the front to be sure you haven`t thrown that off. Come to think of it the guides would be a better reference point than the ram and you can extend the line of the guides more accurately than you can the ram.Just be sure the guides are adjusted for a close fit to the ram. Any shimming you do really should be a full tapered wedge behind either the head or the base of the anvil.If you shim just the corners then you will build flex points into the system and rob yourself of power and accuracy. Here I go talkin` like a millwright again. First thing I`d do would be to USE IT! Then if it didn`t do what I wanted I`d start tinkering and adjusting.This is a JYH not the space shuttle. I went back and looked at the torch cut hole thru the I-beam,went to the freezer and got an ice cream cone,stuck the cone to my forehead,then came back and revised. No offense meant to either Phil or Dave.

Why?Having them in a coil is no different than having them on a reel and those have been in use since extension cords were invented. Just don`t stick your head into the center of the coil.It`ll magnetize your brain. There`s helpful household tip for ya. :)

Take a look at the date on the post Eric.I`m gonna say it was the summer heat that caused us to be less than our usual jovial,happy,helpful selves. That and having the OP give marginal information,an unrealistic price point and an attitude in follow on answers. But mainly it was the heat.Yeah that`s it,that`s the ticket. :rolleyes:

Yep. You put it in the fire right?Your hands pulled it out right?Then you forged it with your hands. If you used someone else`s hands or didn`t use heat then that would be another thing all together. Rivets,come on now!do you make all the bolts to bolt things together too?Do you make the screws used to put an item up on the wall? Yer losin` it Dog!Leave them hairs unsplit,do something about those fleas instead. :)

Sounds like a government contractor company. Scrap prices are have doubled and are headed up again so let`s start charging people to bring the stuff to us.Sounds like a plan there governor. Bound to be a shot in the arm for all the out of work folks with pickup trucks looking to buy heating oil. Around here(Maine) there are guys advertising in the local papers and on Craigslist,Freecycle,etc "Will come pick up your scrap metal and clean up the area AT ABSOLUTELY NO COST TO YOU". Those are the guys you want to contact about anvils.

Look out Danger,somebody`s gaining on you! While I hate to see things slow down to the point where folks are looking for things to do because work is so slack I absolutely LOVE seeing things like this mirror and your bowls come from it. Looks like you need to have someone with some pull in the art world look at your work.Then again,something like that may lead back to having no slack time at all again. I am really liking the little non-ferrous details you are incorporating into your work. Know any glass workers up your way?

Looks like he`s using a hogging cutter.That`d explain the less than glass smooth cut.

If you cruise around the site and read the post on this topic you`re sure to come across the examples of a sign that some smiths have on the wall of their shop that says something along the lines of; Services available here FAST CHEAP HIGH QUALITY Pick no more than two From what I`ve seen if you want to make this a sole source of income you you need to make a sign that reminds you to that the choices available are; Blacksmith Artist Businessman Famous Happy Rich Stay in it long enough and you`ll find yourself concentrating on two at the most.Most of the guys I know who started out doing something they enjoyed and made it into a big business rarely get to do what they love anymore.They`re too busy "growing the company" or "expanding the market" and rarely trade their suit jacket or windbreaker for an apron anymore.They visit the guys in the shop rather than work along side them. The successful artist friends I have work to meet deadlines set by galleries,promotional groups,etc and mostly get to do what they love but hand a large cut of the incoming cash to the people who "manage/promote" them and their art. Most guys I know who just love to make things out of metal find themselves to be most happy if they do just that as part of a team or working as a subcontractor for someone else.They don`t want to have to negotiate with architects and engineers,vendors,machine tool suppliers,etc never mind customers.They want to look at a print or proposal and say "I can get to it in XX days and I`ll need XX amount of material to start and XX to finish.I don`t do finishing or polishing,talk to the grinders and painters about that". The more you take on the closer you get to killing the pure joy of what you`re doing till you get all of the pain and someone else gets the joy of making what you`re chasing.One day you find out you traded your hammer for a high level management position and your metalworking skills for blood pressure and ulcer medicine. All those guys on TV who used to make cool stuff and now have their own shows may be rich but very few of them are happy anymore. Just sayin...