Mainely,Bob

Andrew, traditionally these joints were a dovetail not a box joint and the dovetails were peened to lock them solid.The dovetails were hand cut or cut on a milling machine using a dovetail cutter. I`d like to suggest you do more research on some of the woodworking forums as making an infill plane is a rather involved project and things can go badly wrong rather quickly and you end up with either an unuseable plane or one that is such a pain to use it sits on a shelf. You can see details of the joints at sites such as Carl Holtey`s,Wayne Anderson`s,or the Saur and Stiener sites among others. Best of luck

I suppose there are actually 3 different approaches. 1-do the math 2-use jigs,patterns and layout tools 3-trust your eye/experience and just wing it I agree that it would be extremely handy to have these formulas in one place here. It would free me from having to remember where I last put my pipe fitting,tin knocking and machinery handbooks. :)

I`m somewhat puzzled as to why these spikes would have a double head on them. The modern use of a duplex nail or scaffold nail needs 2 heads.The first ridge or head does what a normal nail head does and that is to press the mating surfaces of both timbers in close contact to each other and keep them there.The second head is there so that you can easily extract the nail without having to use something like a "catspaw" to dig into the face of the timber and get under the head to extract.Modern manufacturing techniques make it easy to head these nails like this. It would further complicate the relatively simple process of making a standard spike to forge that double head.Seems like it would require upsetting and then more hammer work. Keep in mind that the folks who were on the receiving end of these were criminals and enemies of the state.Once the person had expired I don`t think the folks retrieving the spikes were worried about how much damage they did retrieving those spikes.Whatever implement was used for their retrieval was probably just hammered in just like a catspaw and the spike pulled. I can`t imagine the state would go to the extra trouble to make double headed spikes so they wouldn`t damage the body of a person they just crucified. Just because 1 spike has evidence of something that might be an extra ridge doesn`t mean every spike was forged that way.If there were more recovered spikes and they all had that same evidence then someone would have a case for stating that all crucifixion spikes were specially forged like that. The nail was left in place supposedly because it hit a knot and could not be pulled out.Perhaps when they continued to drive the spike after contacting that knot an inclusion or some other fault caused this ridge to form due to internal failure.Who can say for sure?

I`m somewhat puzzled as to why these spikes would have a double head on them. The modern use of a duplex nail or scaffold nail needs 2 heads.The first ridge or head does what a normal nail head does and that is to press the mating surfaces of both timbers in close contact to each other and keep them there.The second head is there so that you can easily extract the nail without having to use something like a "catspaw" to dig into the face of the timber and get under the head to extract.Modern manufacturing techniques make it easy to head these nails like this. It would further complicate the relatively simple process of making a standard spike to forge that double head.Seems like it would require upsetting and then more hammer work. Keep in mind that the folks who were on the receiving end of these were criminals and enemies of the state.Once the person had expired I don`t think the folks retrieving the spikes were worried about how much damage they did retrieving those spikes.Whatever implement was used for their retrieval was probably just hammered in just like a catspaw and the spike pulled. I can`t imagine the state would go to the extra trouble to make double headed spikes so they wouldn`t damage the body of a person they just crucified. Just because 1 spike has evidence of something that might be an extra ridge doesn`t mean every spike was forged that way.If there were more recovered spikes and they all had the same evidence then someone would have a case for stating that all crucifixion were specially forged like that.

If you`re going to be moving the tank around and disconnecting and reconnecting it then all soft copper may not be the best idea.Every time you bend the copper line you work harden it a little bit.After a time that soft copper becomes hard copper and will crack or break. Some of the copper line out there is of questionable quality.The company who installed our oil furnace tried 3 times to flare the ends of the copper fuel line and each time it work hardened and cracked enough to seep fuel oil.The tech finally pulled a new coil of line and flared it no problem.He took a hammer to the first coil so his boss wouldn`t be tempted to send it back out with someone else. Think about using the copper to plumb from the burners to a convenient point on the cart,like behind the forge,and then go with either approved rubber line covered with the TIG sleeve as suggested above or go with an industrial braided line from the cart to the tank.That way you won`t have to worry too much about what`s going to happen when someone either kicks the tank or bumps the cart.You are putting locking casters on the cart aren`t you?

There are only 2 circumstances when I will mess around with the fire. 1-If I`m alone 2-If I`m with somebody No really,the only time I mess with the fire is to get it going or to throw some of that stuff in that makes the flames turn colors to entertain the grandkids(we have a window in the door and can see the fire). We use the wood stove as our primary source of heat so it runs pretty much continuously from November till April so I guess I take it for granted. Fooling with the fireplace?That`s just goofy. If I want to fool with fire that`s what I have a forge for.Now that`s a fire! We don`t need no stinkin` hairdryers.We got BLOWERS,haa,ha,ha,ha,haaaaa! Quick Igor,bring the hammer!

Dry wall is not a good choice as it`s paper faced and very soft after the paper is removed.Not to mention the fact that it`s very easily broken once the paper covering is compromised.When you work it you score the top paper and then easily snap it right? If you absolutely can`t make a sheet metal table or a sheet metal backer for a brick table like suggested above then steer clear of the drywall and at least use cement board or tile backing board instead,it`s a whole lot more stout than sheetrock.

I would look to some of the sculpture forums and sites for patina ideas. There are a lot of patinas available for bronze sculpture and most of the companies that offer those also offer patinas for steel and iron too.

What are some of the techniques you folks use to keep one section of a piece from coloring while heating something such as this tang up to dull red or higher? I used a wet rag once and it created a narrow differential zone I wasn`t happy with. I`m having better luck using copper chill bars but wondered what others do.

I`d look online for the AWS site. I`d be surprised if they didn`t post both what the certs consisted of and where in your area you could test. As stated above there are a lot of different types of certifications and the way I got my first cert was to get the test standards for what I needed and then practice both at the job and at home.When I felt I was ready I went to the test site,paid my money and did my thing. All the prep and practice was done by me on my own,only the test was supervised and graded. Last time I did structural the grading consisted of 2 butt weldments both vertical and overhead.Plates came already chamfered,ready to tack.Weld rod was 7018. The first test was a visual,if the inspector didn`t like it`s look you were a no-go. Next test was cut a coupon and prep that coupon for testing.If there was any porosity or flux inclusions encountered during prep you were a no-go. The third and final step was a bend test or x-ray. Pretty simple for structural.Things get more difficult the higher up the ladder you climb. Good luck to you.

Easy way to tell if you have cast iron or something else. Place the weight on 2 pieces of wood(2X scrap laid flat works fine) so that the ends are supported but the center open. Put your eye protection on. Take a moderate size hammer and hit the center unsupported area of the weight with enough force to intend to slightly bend it. If you snap it into 2 or more pieces it`s cast. If it bends it`s something else.

I dislike Nordic hammers. I find they make my arm Thor. Sorry,I just couldn`t resist.I really tried but... Now back to our normally scheduled program. :P

Arftist, Glad your stove is working so well for you,I hope it continues to give you great service. You are correct that sealing the cast stoves is a problem.That`s one of the drawbacks of cast components.As a single piece they`re great,try and join them to another and don`t allow for flex or movement and you run into problems.I suspect it`s ridgidity makes it difficult to play well with others even those of the same material.The trick is getting them to assemble properly and work together with no gaps,as with all things. My father bought a top of the line Vermont Castings wood stove for the sole heating source for their home.He insisted on getting it roaring every morning and frequently had the sides glowing due to inattention.I was not surprised that the gaskets wore out and it leaked air everywhere.Niether was I surprised that the rear baffle plate was burned and cracked when I rebuilt it.That rebuilt stove is still going strong in a neighbor`s shop.Unlike my father Adriano listens to advise about how not to abuse fire related tools.The stove model is a Defiant,I thought it fit my father pretty well.Abuse will kill most anything no matter what it`s made of. I replaced the Defiant with a new,more efficient steel stove that burns much cleaner and is easier for my wife to manage.She picked it out because it has a window in the front to see the flames.The new stove has an all steel welded body and only 2 cast parts,a floating plate in the bottom and the frame of the door is cast too.Me and the new stove get along fine and I have to admit it was a big improvement over the Defiant.

So Bigfish,what are you and Curly aiming for,about belt buckle height at the top of the dies?I`m wondering because I too am collecting parts for a tire hammer. I was planning on either square tube if I can find it or pipe for the anvil upright.Do either of you think it would be worthwhile filling the anvil pipe with something? if so what do you suggest.

The only empirical evidence I have is that all the old cast fire pots I`ve seen have held up far better than the steel ones over time.I realize that many things can contribute to that but the results seem to speak for themselves. The steel wood stoves I`ve owned,repaired and seen are more prone to weld cracking and distortion if they`re not lined than the unlined CI stoves both old and new especially if the fire gets out of hand.The steel stoves even have cast iron doors because they`re less prone to warp under heat. When building a poorboy rivet forge most folks will go looking for a CI brake drum or rotor as opposed to grabbing steel from the scrap yard. If welded steel fire pots are better then why are the bulk of manufactured fire pots still made from cast iron?Seems like a CI pot would be more costly to produce as opposed to a fabbed or drop forged steel one,especially with off shore labor. As far as exhaust manifolds go.I have no idea why a CI manifold would burn out in 5 years perhaps it came off an import or was made offshore.Following that train of thought wouldn`t the CI heads burn out too.I can`t imagine the manifolds came off a motor with aluminum heads as I know aluminum melts or burns far sooner than cast does.(yes,I know they`re water cooled) I can tell you that there are cars out of Detroit still sporting the stock CI manifolds going on 40+ years with no burn out.I myself have reworked fishing and work boats that are older than that and the CI manifolds last alot longer than the steel stacks they`re hooked up to.Before you blame it on corrosion,remember that most of these CI manifolds have salt water running thru them to help cool them.Most times they`re replaced because of salt and mineral build up in the jackets. I have yet to see a set of welded steel headers last as long as a set of stock cast manifolds on any car either I or my buddies have hotrodded.We replaced the cast manifolds with headers for performance,not durability. I know cast burns out,I`ve had to replace the cast burner on my grill after 10 years.I replaced it with a stainless burner and if that lasts 5 years I`ll be happy.We BBQ alot,My wife shovels snow in order to cook on the grill this time of year.To be fair,the new burner is made from what most would consider sheet metal but it still cost 75% of what I paid for the whole grill.If I could have bought a direct replacement cast burner I would have. One of the reasons we have so many different materials available is because no single material does all things well.It`s always a compromise.There are reasons that exhaust manifolds are made from cast iron and then hooked up to welded steel tubing and not the other way round.Each has it`s own best application but it takes both to get the job done. The forge I`m building for my son will have a free floating cast brake drum for a fire pot,steel pipe to the bottom and a steel clinker breaker and ash dump.The grate will be the spare CI drain grate I picked up as a replacement for my forge.These are the things that have proven to work best for me and I hope they hold true for my son.We`ll see. On to Aral`s questions.Now that we know he will be using coke because it`s plentiful and free and doing only lite to medium work on a limited basis every few months I personally see no reason why he can`t do just fine with what he has planned to do.I would still caution against doing more than bolting the welded fire pot to the table and say that lining will increase the life of the pot.If his work habits change and he outgrows this forge I`m sure he`ll come back here for advice on building an upgraded one. Good luck Aral,shout if you need more help. Oh yeah,we expect pictures of the forge and your work.Once you figure that out then maybe you can help me figure out how to post my own.Without my youngest son around to help I`m lost in that regard.My wife wanted to be cropped out of the profile pic but I couldn`t figure how to do that either. :huh:

ptree, If someone says it`s a safety violation to wear a hardhat turned around then he`s obviously never worked around riggers,welders or worked aboard a ship. Having that bill in front obscures your view overhead,something a rigger needs to see in order to safely do his job.Other`s lives depend upon his clear view of the load path. Having that bill in the back helps keep sparks from getting under your collar and going down your back if you`re a welder.Keeping the bill in front also means the welder now must make a choice between wearing the hat or the helmet as the helmet doesn`t flip down with the bill in front. Working onboard a ship with the overhead crammed full of things like valves,cable hangers,etc means you need to be fully aware of what`s above you.See rigger paragraph for further explanation. I know the safety guys have a hard job and take some real flac for problems not of their own making.I also think you folks have to expect to fade a little heat from the guys on the deckplates. The way we see it,we KNOW management doesn`t listen to us.We KNOW we have to listen to you.We just feel that when you KNOW a safety reg or procedure is pure BS because you see it for yourself when we point it out then management should have to listen to you just like we have to. Believe me brother,you`re not the only frustrated pup in the litter.

Arftist, Everything`s debatable. When I said cast was king I was speaking of it`s stability and durability when exposed to heat.I also took into account it`s resistance to oxidation and/or corrosion relative to steel. Steel might be a better choice if your concerns are ease of fabrication and welding and you intended to line the fire pot and keep the forge under cover. There are very good and sound reasons for not restricting yourself to only one material but use both where they each excell. After burning out both steel and stainless grates in one of my forges I went with a cast iron drain grate and had no further trouble. My intention was to illustrate that there were choices and to extract further information so we could move from generalizations into more constructive advise.To truly give the best suggestions to solve things for Aral in the best way possible for him I,and I assumed others needed more information. I`d like to hear your side of the debate.I`m always willing to keep an open mind and aspire to never stop learning.I`m sure others would benefit from reading an objective view of both sides too.

Welcome to the forum,nice to see a husband and wife team here. I look forward to reading your posts and seeing your work.You`re bound to like it here,everybody`s very friendly and helpful.

Hard to say how long it will last. That depends on the fuel being used,the type of work(large,heavy forgings require more heat as does forge welding).Do you plan on using this 8-10 hours a day 5-6 days a week or just once a month for about 4-5 hours at a time?Will it be inside a building or left outside with a tarp thrown over it? Let`s start with what type of work do you plan to do and how often would you be doing it? Do you plan on using charcoal,coal or coke for fuel?The more you say about where you are headed work wise and what`s available locally for fuel or material the more we can help. It would be a shame for you to put alot of work into a nice coal forge only to find coal is a problem to get in your area and a nice natural gas forge would be a better fit or that you can get barrels of waste oil for nothing so that might have been where we should have steered you from the start.

I`m going to go out on a limb here and say there`s 2 approaches to this. 1-Build to last. Make it as strong and thick as you can,use appropriate material(like cast iron) and learn how to use it properly.Abusing anything greatly shortens it`s life. All the old large forges I`ve seen that are in good shape had cast iron fire pots either bolted or carefully fitted and free floating on a steel table plate. The smaller steel ones were lined with either firebrick or clay and still they didn`t fare near as well.The brick or clay held the moisture and rusted the steel.The throat of these small forges that survived was still cast iron,just the body of the fire pot was steel. 2-Build it for ease of maintenance. Cast is king for this type of work.If you must make it out of steel plate then line it with something(think farrier`s or rivet forge) or at least build it so that you can replace the firepot instead of trashing the entire forge. Steel+ direct,intense heat=eventual burn thru and distortion and cracked welds.Plan for this,if you make your welds in the fire pot killer strong and then weld the pot to the table plate with killer strong welds then that distortion has to go somewhere.Guess which formerly flat plate will distort making high and low spots in the formerly flat table.You`ll be replacing the fire pot when it burns out so plan to let it move without taking the table with it.

You may be a blacksmith... If you bring the rust FROM the dump instead of TO the dump. You bought a bigger truck to carry more rust. You now hide the rust so she doesn`t realize just how much there really is. She realizes half way thru the conversation that the addition she was getting excited about is for the shop. One thing I like about snow,it covers rust real well.Now if I could figure out a way to effectively hide the tire tracks she`d never know what`s under those piles.At least till spring.

Bruce, You won`t see any slugging in the shipyards in Maine,at least none that I`ve worked in. It is strictly forbidden by ABS,the Coast Guard and especially the Navy.If the vessel works offshore or carries passengers then all major structural work must pass ABS inspection. All the shipyards I worked in handled gaps and sloppy fit ups by using either ceramic backing or a steel backer bar and then the backer was cut back,the root pass gouged out and the other side welded.If ceramic or a backer bar couldn`t cover it then a new piece was cut and fit,by a competent fitter this time. I always took the approach that my welds were all that stood between people and possible death.Doesn`t make any difference whether that weld was holding a frame member on a motorcycle or a boat I built if that weld failed the results could be catastrophic for someone. All the welders I know(myself included)take thier work very seriously and always look to improve their skills and keep up their certifications and stay on top of new techniques and equipment.Those who didn`t were not welders,they were "rod burners".Just guys who knew enough to stick 2 pieces of metal together and hope they didn`t come apart before they could cash their paychecks.I`ve been on crews who had to go in and repair or salvage what was left after a "rod burner`s" work failed.If you know a process is substandard how can you in good conscience pass it off as OK or do it even once never mind more than once? Look at it this way,would you use this technique if you son or daughter had to work in that area every day afterward?If not then why is someone else`s child worth less than yours? If you still use slugging or any other questionable techniques on structure or critical weldments then my advice to you is don`t let a real welder catch you doing it,it`ll cost you your job at the very least.Many of us have family in the Coast Guard and Navy. I`ll hand the soapbox off now,I`m sure somebody else can use it. BTW-I`ve also been involved in "art projects" as a craftsman working for conceptual artists.The job shop I worked in after hours picked up a job making a large piece of art called "The rapsody of the sea" for a major cruise line`s flagship.All the material for that piece had to meet ABS spec and I had to update my certification in order to weld it. It`s my understanding that most public art of any scale requires a certified welder these day to avoid liability problems.

Bring it to Maine Oxy. When John was there as the traveling rep they used to give out loaners till yours was repaired.Doesn`t hurt to ask if that`s still the case.

It`s my understanding that 6011 was developed for AC machines.If you have a DC machine then 6010 is a better choice. Whatever supplier you get your rod from should have small handbooks that will give guidelines for appropriate size and type rod for a project.The same book will tell you approximate amperage and whether to run a DC rod either electrode positive or negative.Welding suppliers usually give these handbooks out for free or at little cost. Lincoln Electric also puts out a lot of low cost books related to all types of welding and welding projects.

Let`s just hope the buyer doesn`t find out the maker just made something that goes boom,followed by at least one larger BOOM and a flying oxy cylinder. I`m guessing that rig has never seen flashback arresters. I shudder to think there`s actually someone bidding on it.Do you suppose there`s actually someone dumb enough to try and use this Darwin Award in the making? You know he`s not bidding because it`s pretty.Let`s just hope he wants it as a gag gift.