Mainely,Bob

I may be wrong there Clinton,but I think that big groove down the center of that wood is so he can flip the block on to it`s side and have any edge he wants pointed up. Then again,it could just be a place to hide dog treats. :D

One thing I must say here is that you are off in an area of bidding/quoting then it becomes EVEN MORE IMPORTANT to keep close records of EVERYTHING!!! You absolutely MUST get in the habit of closing the day with time set aside to record what went on that day,and that starts with that pocket notebook.When you see an area that either is or may be a problem take the few seconds to write it down in the notebook.Memory will not cut it,I can guarantee something else will come up and knock the thought right out of your head before the day ends. It may be a PITA to start and you won`t like to do the paperwork at first(nobody does)but if you make it a point to set that time aside and make it habit then the paperwork will pay BIG dividends further down the road. I will also guarantee that if you DON`T start recording it all (starting today,no excuse to wait)things will NOT change,except to become worse. Writing leads to thinking,which leads to identifying and tracking problems,which leads to fixing or eliminating those problems,which leads to quotes with a solid basis in reality instead of guesswork,which bring PROFITS instead of losses. If you don`t track this stuff you condemn yourself to making the same mistakes over and over and never getting any better at anything but denial. You already start the day thinking about the work(or should).If you want it to grow,get in the habit of ending the day thinking about the business. Handing off the soap box now(and pulling the notebook to write this down).

Up here folks some times call them a toe vise.

As usual The Big Gun MD brings up an excellent point that I forgot,peening the welds. I knew I was forgetting something that would help but as usual I started typing before the meds kicked in. The point here is to do everything you can to not let the stresses build and especially to not let them get to the point where they cause something bad to happen.As the Doctor pointed out those forces can cause warping in relatively heavy sections and if the piece can`t move then it will most likely crack. If I were doing the job I`d plan on both pre and post heat and have a needle gun or air hammer close by to peen the welds right after laying them down.I`d also decide on a plan for welding that would keep the beads short and staggered so as to minimize stresses.Better the cards be all stacked on the side of caution than to stack them against yourself. Thanks again Bigguns for waking me up to peening the welds again.I ought to write that on a sticky note and put it somewhere I`ll see it in the morning.The forehead does not seem to be a good place,besides I`m running out of space up there.Even with the smaller post-its. :blink:

Glad to have you here. Where abouts in NH?Anywhere near the Maine border?

Put in a more simple way,and simple is always good as far as I`m concerned,most weld failure from cracking takes place next to the weld(the heat affected zone,or HAZ) rather than in the bead area.Pre and post heat help to eliminate this problem . After forging tools you would want to normalize to relieve stresses caused by forging right?If you didn`t and put the tools directly to work then,sooner or later, you could expect a failure of some sort unless you`re lucky.Think of your anvil as the tool that it really is and the weld creating stresses like forging would(the stresses are created differently but they`re still there)by using pre and post heat you reduce those stresses and they are no longer concentrated in the HAZ and act as a point that may crack while cooling or soon after you put the anvil to use by forging on it. Think of it as cheap insurance,far less trouble and cheaper than gouging or grinding all the old weld and the crack out and starting again from zero. BTW-welding with MIG is.pretty much, the same as welding with stick.Think of the wire as one very long,very skinny rod.The process is virtually the same,only the method of shielding changes. This is a GREATLY simplified comparison meant to illustrate the need for pre and post heat,so you tech experts don`t need to pile on me and start in how the flux from SMAW helps with post heat and how MIG is not appropiate for certain work and positions and yadda,yadda ,ad nauseum.

I`m thinkin`,I`m thinkin`. You would have to hold this during the busy season wouldn`t ya?All those yachts comin` in and you want me to head south where it`s a blast furnace. You should be coming up HERE that time of year! What`s all this about shippin` bikes? There`s a reason they have both wheels and a motor you know.

And those same people complain that all their kids want to do is stay inside and play video games,watch TV or type on the computer! Funny how the admin types are always the ones who think there`s something inherently wrong with EVER getting your hands dirty with anything worse than ink. HEY!Anybody ever do a risk assessment on paper cuts? From what I`ve seen the ecomomy has been most harsh on the white collar workers and they are the ones up here who are out of work the longest. We`re seeing a lot of folks with masters degrees working retail sales these days.Many times those with just HS diplomas who have more experience are even getting jobs in retail before them. Hand skills baby!If you`ve got `em you can always find a way to make a buck!

As I`m sure you know,Thomas"If Mom ain`t happy,ain`t nobody happy". ;)

I worked well servicing for a short time when the oil boom was winding down and my wife would NOT allow the work clothes in the house.We had an old wringer washer outside just to wash the work clothes. Some nights I`d come home so covered with carbon black I had to strip down,pour a can of motor oil over my head and rub it in to loosen the black up and then use up a 1/4 bottle of cheap dish washing soap getting the oil off before going in the house. Most homes in the oilfield had at least one area outside,around back that had a mixing valve like a shower and a concrete or stone slab just for that purpose. My wife never complained about washing the clothes with "that metal smell" after having to deal with the clothes that came from both the oil patch and the ones from the fish holds when we worked on the fishing boats. Other professions may make clothes smellier or harder to clean but nothing tears them up as quick as metalworking,Not even roofing. Roofing is tougher on shoes though. :(

You don`t wear out your clothes,you burn them out. :(

My condolences on your loss.Our family`s thoughts are with you and yours. While people are thinking about the donor lists,I know it`s a little more work but if you will also sign up and go thru the preliminary screening(it`s very easy and near painless)to be a bone marrow donor it would help a great many others. Don`t forget the Red Cross and blood donations too.

I may have missed it but can we see a pic of the complete machine? I`m interested to see how you stage,support,quickly flip and index these large pieces of hot steel too. Maybe we can get Rory to fly over to snap pics of you while you do the entire operation.His step by step tutorials are excellent. Got time enough to clear a place for him to stand while you work? Thanks.

My wife just reminded me about the sign she bought that hangs by the door.It says; "NOBODY gets in to see the Wizard.No way, no how!" So according to my "Master",I guess I work in the land of OZ. When you come to visit,pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. ;)

On the days I used to pick the kids up at school(back when I had long hair)I used to just wait out by the car or bike but couldn`t help but notice all the "professional" parents used to congregate just inside the door and look my way alot while talking. While waiting one day one of the "professionals" strode past on his way to the BMW when his kid stopped in front of me and just stared."something on your mind son?" I asked him. He looked me in the eye(good for him) and said"I think you look like a girl!". I walked over to him crouched down to his level and looked straight back at him before asking"What was that?". He didn`t even flinch but I could see his dad shifting from foot to foot trying to coax him to the car.Once again he said "I think you look like a girl,and my Dad does too." This sent his dad`s shifting about into overdrive and he started to call his son over to him. I put my hand on the kid`s shoulder looked in the direction of his father and told him"Well boy,if you two think I look like a girl then your Mother must be REALLY,REALLY ugly.Now get to the car son." and steered him in that direction. Gotta hand it to the little guy.He sure showed more class and nerve than his Dad that day.

Now I`ve REALLY got a problem! The place I go to think,design,refine and create is kinda small and has only one seat in it and has a Phi-Zappa poster tacked on the back of the door.When I turn the light on a fan comes on too. What does that mean?

My favorite part of the job was when you get a job with no earthly idea how you were going to approach one phase of it and then it`s dropped on you anyway.While doing something else,seemingly out of the blue(usually after many nights of research) the answer appears,tools are made and you learn something. Hey Jude was always at me for the"Plan".I`d tell him the plan was "to do the job" because to tell him I had no idea would just upset him. Between the two of us we always pulled the rabbit out of the hat.Some hats were tougher than others but together we could reach pretty deep. The "auto pilot" phase was also my least favorite part but I looked at it as a way for my subconscious to be feeling around and attempting to get a good hold on the rabbit.(see previous posts for Monty Python videos involving rabbits).

That`s why we pulled and pocketed the fuses/breakers. If someone is stupid enough to see them missing and then go and get replacements and remove your lock,put them in and start the machine all you can hope for is that a good buddy may arrange for that person to need a ride in the ambulance along with you. Most of them can fit 2 people. I`ve seen it happen in the oil field.The man who crushed my friend Bill Porter got to ride to the hospital beside Billy`s body. The Haliburton operator on the intensifier that blew up on me got to ride along with me.

Maybe it`s because you always anchor it somehow but you`re not worried at all about the legs bending and climbing out under heavy hammering? I see the 3 legged stands with angled legs and wonder why there`s no lower stretchers tying the legs in.They`d make a handy place for a shelf or rack if nothing else.

Pics?Just a few would help greatly.

IME people get their own back up and there`s nothing any of the rest of us can do to stop that. Fortunately once it is up we can always take a little time and discuss things while keeping perspective.That goes a long way toward smoothing things out again. :)

Just a word of advice for those shopping for specs. Look for ones with a nice smooth bridge that wraps completely around the bridge of your nose rather than the type with 2 adjustable pads. After seeing the results of people taking a good impact on the face/glasses I found the 2 pads will bend and cause more damage than a full bridge.I have 2 good size scars from before I made the switch myself.

It may be a little late for your project but for others thinking about assembling an anvil Lincoln Electric(the welding people) used to offer very low priced books of projects with both drawings and cut lists in them.Among those projects were at least 3 anvils IIRC.I remember at least one was conventional and one ended up as an abstract bird head of some sort. All the projects were of work done by owners of Lincoln products and submitted by them so you knew the projects worked.

I wear my prescription glasses with side shields always. I wear either a pair of goggles or a face shield over the glasses for sanding or grinding at the bench grinder. For using an angle grinder or cut-off disk in a die grinder i usually wear a welding helmet with the welding lens flipped up. I also use a respirator or at least a dust mask when sanding,grinding,cutting etc. I have a pair of those ear plugs that hang around my neck by a spring band most of the time too and usually carry 2-3 sets of the foam ones in a pocket for visitors and when I can`t remember where I put my other ones(usually around my neck still). I`m hell on pencils too.I carry one in my pocket,one behind my ear,one tucked up in back of my hat and still can`t find one when I need one.Luckily there`s a lot of soapstone scattered around too.

So,if I have this straight in my head(never a safe bet) then this stake is NOT for delineating a bend line but is actually used as a brake would be to form the actual bend. If I further follow you it indexes into an already delineated line(done with a fuller in a prior step)and serves as a fulcrum/backer of sorts while using the mallet to make the bend. Two questions on this. First could I see a close up pic of the edge so I can see how sharp that edge actually is? The second question is; what percentage of the fold needs to be backed before your stake starts to lose effectiveness?In other words,for your 3X1-1/2 box I`m assuming you made your stake edge a little less than 1-1/2" to fit inside and obviously it worked for the 3" bend too but what would be the max length bend you would use this on for ,let`s say 16 gage stainless? If this can be used over a very wide range then I have a lot of wood blocks and AI pieces stacked in the bending corner I can put back in circulation. TIA for both this info and the pics and the answers to the follow on questions.