Mainely,Bob

OK,now you got me going here(in a good way). Are you saying that an aluminum framed LG would be a viable idea? My reasoning stemmed from my experiences with both WWing machines and metalworking machines such as presses and other production machines made with aluminum frames welded up from plate or extruded beams and channels. What we found was that in order to make the machines rigid enough we had to add a lot of extra reinforcement.Even with the extra reinforcement we ended up chasing stress cracks. These type of problems also showed up in aluminum fishing boats and it`s been my experience that rolled and extruded aluminum is usually harder and tougher than cast of the same alloy. I also can`t get my mind around how the anvil base and guide portions would not deform,crack or pull threads under hard use. So what am I missing? BTW-For high vibration machines concrete was one of the materials we used to make pedestals and the main bodies for heavy machines.Once cured it was very stable and had excellent damping qualities.Tough to repair when it broke though.

Well said as usual Grant. I am saving my pennies and eating a lot of peanut butter so I can also buy the best. I also have someone interested in one of my 2 wheeled beasts so it may take place quicker than collecting cans and throwing the change in the jar. What made you choose the 75 over the others(meaning the 50 or the 100)? You could also post why you chose the Iron Kiss over other brands but I subscribed to John`s blog awhile ago and know why I`m headed in that direction.Would be nice to hear why an old hand such as yourself with truckloads of experience sees them as the way to go.

The answer is yes and no. Yes it would work as yard art. No,it will not work as a power hammer. There`s a reason power hammers of all sizes(to include planishing hammers)are not made of things like aluminum.If you have to ask why then you need to do some research into the structural and vibration dampening properties of materials as well as things like metal fatigue,stress cracking,work hardening,ductility,resistance to deformation and other things related to long term strength and rigidity. Take a look at how a power hammer handles cold working aluminum in one of the you-tube videos(a few use cold aluminum plate as demo material) and tell me how long you think an aluminum frame would last.Even one with re-bar cast into it.

For safety you need to be concerned about the ignition temp(flash point) more than anything else. I was using peanut oil and some folks I know use canola oil but I`ve since gone to marine hydraulic fluid as it is fire resistant and I got it for free.It seems to be working very well but doesn`t smell as good as the cooking oil.

Well Southy,His shop,his rules. It doesn`t have to make sense it just is. Luckily Glen is one of those folks who can be influenced to reconsider SOME things.I get the feeling coarse language is not one of them. We`ll have to save talking like blacksmiths for when we all get together in the flesh.Till then I look at this as a way to expand my vocabulary and communication abilities. Trust me,if you`re looking forward to hearing me talk like this in person you`re going to be disappointed.Most posts go thru at least 3 passes at preview before the post button is hit and even then I have to edit frequently. The air may turn blue around MY screen but things are calm and sedate when when it arrives at your place. Ho hum.The price of continued admission. <_<

Um,guys,you Do know the heads on those mills tilt don`t you?If you tilt the head then things can stay firmly clamped between the steel jaws of the vise. I also tend to use either a fly cutter,roughing mill or a shell mill to rough stuff out and then switch to a smaller 4 flute end mill to finish up with light cuts. All this is moot as you now have the finished product and are undoubtably happy campers. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! :rolleyes:

Arftist pretty well spells it out here.The things to pay attention to are the fact that you need AC rods(you said in an earlier post this was an AC only machine IIRC)and that any rod will be characterized by either fast fill or fast freeze or both( thanks for that Arftist). Those pocket sized handbooks I keep talking about really shine here and remember,they`re usually either cheap or free(if you`re buying they`re usually free). Once you get good at flat welding(and the right rod is imperative)then it`s even more important to know what rod will work for what comes next.Vertical up and overhead. BTW-Arftist also brought up another good point about 1/4" or thicker butt welds being where most new weldors start.This allows you to get things like arc length and hand/eye co-ordination down to almost automatic before you tackle the more advanced things like out of position welding and gaps/holes in less than clean material. Bust some of that scrap plate out of the treasure trove and prep it up good for practice instead of chasing holes in bad stuff right away.I used to hate having to weld up splits in the industrial trash compactors down at the dump and wouldn`t wish it on anybody so why are you starting with what would be a frustrating job for a seasoned weldor? Be kind to yourself,Phil.Clean,well fit plate is where you need to be now.

Outlaw style!! B)

C`mon now Larry,don`t tell me with all the old iron you have swirling around and dropping out of the sky on the left coast you really feel the need to import from as far east as Ohio. Pretty soon you`ll be cruisin` the Atlantic side of the country and lookin for deals.Be sure and let me know when that happens and I`ll put you up for a few days while we negotiate an east coast franchise. There`s enough vacant real estate around now we can rent a big place cheap and have room for anvils and presses on one wall,bikes on another and restored hammers in the middle. :)

For buildup and bridging gaps you may want to try 3/32 rods to start.Less amperage =less heat and keeping he arc short also cuts the heat. If the crack is long enough you can work one end and then switch to the other end while the first cools a little and jump back and forth while building the edges in the middle(once again keep the arc short). As HW said,if the gap is wide then sometimes you have no choice but to use a steel backer strip and then grind it off once the repair is made. I would use a 7018-AC rod over either 6011 or 6013 but that may be just because I`m used to 7018 from pipe and shipyard work.

Larry, A pic of the installed main gate and a quick sketch(with measurements)of the proposed gate(or opening) so we can see what we have to work with would help. If you were to treat the main field of the gate as a snapshot of a desktop then you could incorporate the books and the feather(actually a quill pen) along with an ink well could be plasma cut to repeat the theme of the main gate.

I am buying an old trailer, a small one with a loading area of about 1x1,5 meter, It has some good leaf springs on it that are both about 8 stacks thick. I am going to use the leaf springs as blade making material. I can't find much information about leaf springs though. As far as I know in leaf springs; 5160 is the most common. Is this correct or are other steels also used often for leaf springs? If you can give me a few options of what I could be dealing with, I would be grateful. Louis

Both DVDs and courses are worthwhile.The question is do you learn better by watching or doing? The thing I learned real fast about TIG welding stainless is that it requires purge gas on both sides of the weld.Without that you`re just setting yourself up for failure.

When the wife and sons were still doing construction they picked up a deck job on a house that had been taken over by one of the daughters after her father`s passing after a long illness.His shop hadn`t been touched in years and she asked if the wife knew anyone who might be interested in the contents. The house was on a coastal island and most of the tools were fairly well rusted so I offered $500 for the hand tools,which she accepted.The tools were easier to restore than I thought and sold well right away.2 weeks later I returned and gave her $200 more.She then showed me to the basement and told me to take all the old Stanley planes and other tools(pre wwII) that were still in the boxes home and to also see if I could sell the machines too. Needless to say,Mary and I still talk and were both very happy with how we both made out on the deal.She still keeps her eyes open for other folks with tools and sends them to "The nice tattooed man who helped me so much after Dad`s passing". Honest and forthright actions do still pay dividends and treating folks as you would like to be treated never goes out of style.

Nice score there Bear. Also nice to see someone get something that has a chance at a new life and planning to give it just that. So many times things get donated and then just stand out in the weather till there`s no hope.Glad to see your group has enough sense to let something go before the rust kills it. Good luck with it and be sure to post pics after the recovery. :)

Corvid Forge(A division of Hack Mfg). I`ve been called a crow because I stop and pick up anything metal to feed my habit.Crows are a member of the Corvid family. Hack Mfg was hung on me during my factory days when I would kick out the work and mod the machines to increase production.It first showed up in soapstone on the top of a draw bench car I modded as;"Another fine product from HACK MFG!The people who brought you the 2,000 gallon per minute Cunnard piece of dung Skimmer(some assembly required,batteries not included)".I have a pic somewhere of the logo/advert,someone spent some time on it.I took it as a big compliment. The foreman brought me down to see it and left it on the machine till it wore off. PS-The Cunnard skimmer is another story involving engineers.

Thor? I thought that was what happened to your arm after a long day of forging. Maybe if we had the monkey cages all lined up behind an air actuated barrier and set up a laser line about half way down the walkway so that the solicitors would be at the half way point before the barrier raised and the monkeys saw them then the clean up duty would be worth it.We`d have to video it of course,purely for instructional purposes I agree about dogs,I thought the dog thing was a given.You see all sorts of disaster dogs on the news and all. Can`t picture traveling without Otis,the Chief of Security(and Emperor of the Universe)with me. Who`d fetch the squeak toys and tennis balls when we threw them? Dogs,yep dogs for sure. :D

All in all,you`re pretty inspirational. For a lowly blacksmith. ;)

As an alternative to making the anvil harder,it is far easier to make your hammers softer and dress them a little more often. Grant also posted the fact that if you dent the face of your anvil by mis-strike you can just move the displaced metal back as long as you don`t wait to do it. Greg also brought up a good point about making top tools to overcome any problems.Top tools are a cheap and easy(compared to refacing or rehardening) way to work around just about any anvil`s shortcomings as long as there is sufficient mass/weight under them..

Excellent writing!You express your thoughts well. I have come to believe there are 3 things which must be balanced in order to become a complete and fulfilled individual; The physical body must be maintained thru proper diet and healthy activity. The mind needs an outlet to express our creative side and to feel we are contributing something of lasting value for ourselves and others. The soul must be allowed to reach it`s full potential thru the ability to express our spirituality and feel the connection to something larger than ourselves. Finding and expressing our "Art" may just be another name for finding that balance and making ourselves whole . The frustration we experience in ourselves and others may just be disappointment at our inability to step outside our ego and ourselves.

Bob, great idea using the dolphins - they can also be our lovable side kicks - better than monkeys . . . I don't like monkeys . . . .

Looks like he heated the square tube in the forge,then laid it on top of one of the round elements to be joined,then put the other round element on top at a right angle and pressed or hammered straight down onto the assembly until the 2 rounds made contact.The short section of square tube crushed and distorted till it held the two rounds together. Some preliminary forming/flaring may have been done to the square tube to lead it in the intended direction but once it started moving it would flow around and clamp the 2 rounds together.

After careful deliberation(lasting approx 92 seconds)I came up with dolphins for the relay over water problem.They`re smart,come in close to shore and are just generally fun to be around. I would have gone with whales as they can project sound further but there`s less of them,people fuss over them more,they have a shorter attention span than dolphins(it may just be that we`re smaller than they are so they don`t feel the need to pay attention to us) and the training bribes are bigger and messier with training whales. There`s no scientific proof but I suspect whales can not be trusted with important tasks,they have too much on their minds and the attention span thing comes into play.I feel they`re more prone to things like ADHD than dolphins. Excuse me now,I need to brew more coffee and my Mom`s calling me.No,actually it`s someone who claims to be my wife,wonder where she came from. :blink:

Just something I had been thinking of as far as joining pieces for this type of work. When grafting trees and shrubs arborists made certain types of cuts on both the main limb and the donor limb to be grafted in order to seamlessly join them.I`ve always meant to research those cuts to see if I could adapt the approach to get a more organic looking join at the weld for a limb or vine. The wife is wanting some vines/limbs(as well as a copper crow) on a garden gate so maybe I`ll have to put these musings to work soon. The list just keeps getting longer.She brought the glass and sand portion of an hourglass home recently and wants wood turned bases joined by "Shiney metal posts with neat things on them" to make the rather large hour glass complete and ready to sit on a shelf forever. <_<

If you want to stay away from expanding your wiring and and want to be able to effectively join thicker pieces of metal then rather than look at a 110 welder(which is a light duty machine at best),I would be looking at buying a good used set of torches. The torches will allow you to heat for bending, weld,braze,solder and cut.They will also allow you to weld or braze thicker material than a 110 unit will. If money is tight then you`ll find you`ll get more for your dollar using torches rather than a 110 unit IMO.