swedefiddle

Happy New Year,

Put a tarp over the outside, call it a Fly. Save getting the drip through the Canvas when it rains. Maybe you don't live on the Wet Coast!! LOL

Neil

Happy New Year Matthew,

The cutting table is not hard. You have no need to do anything to it, to make it work better. Use it as it is, don't make it into a 'Make Work Project' and end up with junk. if you want it to shine, take the high points off with a flapper disc, give it a buff and a KISS. Use what you have and enjoy it. If you are concerned about marks on the cutting table, take a piece of channel that is wide enough to fit over your Anvil (make it into a cutting table) and do your cutting on the cutting plate/table.

Think simple!!

Neil

Happy New Year, Mr. Fang

Think of the Steel numbers as Vegetable Soup. The first 2 numbers are the kind of Vegetable Soup (with or without Parsnips, Cummin, Ginger, etc. and how much of each ingredient). The last 2 numbers are the percentage of Carbon, 4140=0.40% Carbon, 52100=1.00% Carbon, 1018=0.18% Carbon. The amount of Carbon controls the Hardenability (to a certain point). Cast iron has over 4% Carbon (completely different characteristics).

Then you get into the Alloy Steels, A, D, H, S, T, etc.

Neil

Cast Iron makes completely different chips, gray crumbly bits

Neil

Good Morning Pan,

If you put your area of the world in your avatar, we will have a better idea of where you are. There is nothing in your picture to relate what size it may be. It looks to me to be quite small. It probably is something that one of your family made.

Neil

Good Morning Das,

A large safety pin , makes a great paper towel holder.

Neil

Good Morning,

Welcome. The answer to your Anvil Height question, is the $64,000.00 dollar question. It Depends!! Sometimes you are working on a small thing and you would like it higher. Sometimes you are working on a large thing and you wished your Anvil was lower. You can get the best of both worlds if you mount your Anvil on a piece of plywood, that sits snugly in a container of sand. You add sand, your Anvil is higher. You take sand out, your Anvil is lower. Only 'you' can determine a comfortable height. The side benefit of sitting on sand, your Anvil won't be as noisy (ringing).

Enjoy the Journey.

Neil

Merry Christmas (past),

Welcome to our world. There is at least one Blacksmith Group in Tennessee, quite often there is a listing at the bottom of this page. If not, keep your ears open to hook up with someone near you ('Near' is a general term, within a couple hours?). Learning hands on, with someone else is worth it's weight in GOLD. If you connect, it is worth way more than 'Y--T--e'.

Working as a Plumber, you will already know you treat your Tools as your 'Best Buddy'. In Blacksmithing, you make a Tool, to make a Tool, to make/finish a Tool. It is very simple!! Stop at W--M--t and pick up a small container of Play-Doh (in the Toy/Kid section). Hot metal works the same way as Play-Doh, except you can hold Play-Doh in your hands. With hot metal you need tools.

Enjoy the journey. I know of other Blacksmiths who have studied Psychology. Don't try to figure us out, we are from all walks of Life. From all around the World. The goal is different for every person, actually, there is no Destination.

Enjoy the Journey!!

Neil

Merry Christmas and Welcome from the Left Coast of North America,

Just another day above Mother Earth. Enjoy your Journey, there is no ultimate destination. There are quite a few French speaking / typing members. Sorry, I live in a bilingual country, but I only know enough French to know, I don't know enough French to carry on a conversation.

Neil

Merry Christmas Doc,

You will find that your burner will work better with a hair dryer. You have too many holes for your atmospheric. Hold a Hair dryer near your air intake, doesn't have to be direct. You will hear it begin to ROAR!! The burners always work better when in a Forge Body, holding them in a vice is misleading.

Good luck with your learning about Forges. There is not ONE hard and fast rule, there are many. The most important is be SAFE!!! Never fire up your experiments in a confined room/space!!

Neil

Merry Almost, Thomas,

To get a perfect fitting key, forge one close to guestimated size and taper. I put the die into place, hold it with a clamp, heat up your key orange hot and drive it into the space, it will upset to perfect fit, everytime. let it cool in place and tap it out with your 'Key Removal Tool'.  I can't remember the taper, but I can measure it tomorrow. Sometimes they are a compound taper.

You can make the Dies any size. I prefer Flat Dies. Weld Mild Steel together or whatever material you have available. I use salvage plate from the people who make Big Loader Buckets, 2.5" thick plate T-1. T-1 is weldable, machinable, hardenable Steel. The Dies I made 25 years ago, I didn't heat treat. They just keep on ticking in my Kuhn. Think simple solution!!

Neil

OuchThatsHot= OTH

Take your time, time yourself with a Calendar. You are heating the world, close up those ends and you can heat your material. Lay a brick on your hearth, stand 1 or 2 bricks to partially block the door (you have to let exhaust escape). You could put 2 short pieces on either side, with one or two bricks laying flat to block the opening, This will leave you an area near the floor that you can move your work in and out of.

More than one way to skin a Forge!!

Neil

Good Morning,

Making Flat Dies is easy. Measure your Sow Block and figure out what size you want to make. When the bottom and top dies are together, you have to make sure there is enough room so the top die mechanism doesn't bottom out and hurt itself (there is an adjustment on the top link for the top wheel). If you e-mail or phone whoever has Sid Sudimeir's business, they will tell you what size the factory uses. They need to clear the top frame, as they are moving!

Merry Almost,

Neil

Merry Almost,

Look up a 'Shaving Horse'. I find these the best way to hold your stick, when you are doing the shaping. You can glue up some thinner pieces of ?? (whatever you have handy, that is a hardwood), lay out the pattern/shape that has caught your fancy and cut it out with a bandsaw. Fire up your 'Draw Knife' and before you know it, you are looking for the sandpaper and stain. Yes, you can use any Vice, but it so much easier with the 'Horse'. Don't be afraid of looking at old Pallet's, lots of good hardwood!! Generally not price prohibitive.

The best road of Life, is not the straight and narrow. Take a few side-roads, don't be shy. You might enjoy what you learn!!

Neil

Mr. Fellner,

Make your own Dies. I have made mine from offcuts from the people who make big Loader buckets, 2.5" thick plate. I machined them and have been using them for over 20 years, you could say they last. The key is, don't make them hard so they can chip!! Measure the length and width of the grooves in your Sow Blocks. The tapered key/wedge can be machined or heat up a key that is close and drive it in hot, it will upset to the perfect shape. Don't think hard, think the easiest way.

Most bigger machines use parts from someone else in Industry. Make it easy to find parts for, don't worry about trying to contact the Manufacture from 60-80 years ago.

Merry Almost, Neil

Billy,

Made some more chain this weekend, 11 links on this one add it to my other and it will be 27.

You must understand Chain math by now. 1+1=3, 3+3=7, 7+7=15, 15+15=31. Just basic arithmetic. If your fire is correct, you don't need Flux. Some people think Flux is glue, more is gooder.

Merry Almost, Neil

Good Morning, Bill

Welcome to our world, sometimes it is sensible, sometimes you have to use your ..............(imagination?).

Seasons Greetings from the Left Coast.

Neil

Good Morning T/W,

Someone has really made a concoction for the burners, that style burner NEEDS TO HAVE the propane jet absolutely in the center of the plumbing fittings. There should be a radius on the inside of the reducer which connects to the burner pipe. Why there are holes drilled in the pipe below where the Gas Jet is, is anyone's guess (trying to draw in more air?).

It will be easier to start with new ideas, than resurrect what you have.

Good Luck, the learning is under way!!

Neil

Rojo, I count 8

Merry Almost, Neil

Good Morning,

It doesn't have the steps on the feet, so it probably is not a  Peter Wright. It sure looks like a Brooks, heavy waist an all.

It doesn't matter who it's 'Mother' is, give it a friendly home and give it a good name. It is in good shape and it will last longer than your lifetime. Feed it well and let it have potty breaks!! Sometimes it will have a tantrum and will want to sit still and Cool down. Enjoy the journey with your baby!

Neil

Good Morning,

Ask your supplier.

Good Morning I-Dragon,

The people that know about Jet Drills and Reams, are now 'Old School'. That was BC, (Before Computors). Yes, I have multiple sets of Jet drills, number & metric as well as Jet Reamers and Jet micrometer. I am the only one in our area who has, or even knows what they are used for. Yes, I am the Ol' Goat. The places of higher learning have completely dropped the topic of 'Carburetors' from the Automotive curriculum requirement for certification as a 'Red Seal Automotive Technician'. They no longer create Automotive Mechanic's only Technicians (parts replacers).

If a jet has been drilled, you need a drill set to see what size it is. I have a jet micrometer but you won't find another. If the jet is too large, sit it on a clean metal plate and solder it closed. Now, with your jet drill set and pin vice, you can drill it smaller.

Too much fuel makes too much 'Dragon Breath'. Not enough fuel or too much air, makes all kinds of problems.

Neil

Good Morning,

Dancing;  You put your right foot in, you take your right foot out, you put your left foot in and shake it all about...............etc

Neil

Good Morning Acfarer,

Machining is removing material, Welding is adding material, Cutting is removing material, Forging is moving the molecules of your material. Pick-up a container of Play-Doh or Plasticene or Modeling Clay, put the container in your Tool Box!! Play-Doh works identical to Hot metal. Play-Doh you can manipulate in your hands, exactly the same as with a Hammer & Anvil or whatever tooling you want to play with. When your material is hot, it is in it's Plastic State. It will move the same as your Play-Doh, almost to the Hammer stroke.

A saying a friend told me (yes there was Beer involved). "You Machinist's are allowed to be within .0002" two tenth's. Us Carpenter's have to be right on!!!". Yes there was laughter as well. Another saying is;  "A Blacksmith measures with a yardstick, Cuts it with an Axe, Heat's it and Beat's it, until it fit's perfectly, is functional and looks good" My point is, Don't think like a Machinist, Think like an Artist, Think like a Blacksmith, Make it look good. Yes your scrap pile will grow, then you will realize that you can take something out of your Scrap Pile and make it into something useful and looks good!

Enjoy the Journey and welcome from the 'Wet Coast'

Neil

Good Morning Thomas,

If you look at the date of the previous post, it was February 2017. You may or may not get a reply.

If you are wondering how to make a Bolster, there are many ways and many different materials to use. Start with K.I.S.S., what material do you have available in your workshop? That will work!!. It doesn't have to be "xyza", it will be cold and your rivet material will be hot. The hot material will deform before the cold material thinks of moving. Look for simple solutions for your maybe expected problems. Yes, you can use any Forge, Hammer, Tongs, Bolster, etc. that you may have available. There are no 'Tool Police'. Make sure you are wearing sufficient PPE, clothing, shoes/boots, ears and eyes, no children in close proximity!!

Enjoy the Journey, there is no Destination!!

Enter your location in your Avatar, there may be help close at hand.

Neil