swedefiddle

Good Morning Slim, To stop 'Fish Lips' do a short taper on your bar, FIRST. When you are Forging, the outer layer/skin of your material stretches more than the core. This is from the penetration of your Hammer Blows is not through to the center, completely. A Hydraulic Press is different, it starts at the center, this causes an 'Outie' rather than an 'Innie'(Fish Lips). The quirks of moving metal different ways. Neil

If you learn to weld with Oxy/Acetylene, you will better understand the other choices of welding. Neil

Good Morning Mr. Dennett, Frosty has the best explanation I have heard described. The effort of the Hammer is, weight of the hammer X speed of the Hammer/squared. It is more important to hammer quickly, than to use a heavier Hammer. The effort of an Anvil is the return of the effort of the Hammer, the hammer effort is on the top, the Anvil effort is on the bottom (albeit over a greater contact point). All heavy work on the Anvil, should be over top of the Waist where it has the most support and return. On either Horn, there is no support underneath. There will be a lot less return. My favorite colour is Blue. Just my $0.02 cad Neil

Good Morning, I have seen the tool that rtr posted a picture of, in a Brewery Museum in downtown Toronto. There was a room full of many different shapes, all mounted on posts about 30" tall. Neil

We made a base/stand for a 12 lbs sledge hammer head, using high density MDF(?). We screw the base to whatever we are using for a base stand. The first time we used it, we used 12"x12" blocks, about 24" high. We did a Demonstration for CanIRON on-line in 2021, 'How to start into Blacksmithing, with nothing'. We used a Wood fired Forge, hair-dryer for a blower (with a reostat on very low). Sledge Hammer Head Anvil, Claw Hammer and Vice-Grips for tongs. It works actually very well, K.I.S.S. When you have nothing, you use what you can find, for cheap. There are no Blacksmith Police, so they aren't coming to take me away, Ho, Ho, Ha ha............wear life is beautifull............ Neil

Good Mourning. What part of the balloon did 'Bear' call home? I know more than one 'Bear'. Neil

When you mount a Vice, make the stationary jaw at least parallel with the edge of the bench or stand. This allows you to stand up a long piece and be straight in the Jaws. Just a thought ahead of the head slap (Why didn't I think of that). There is no such thing as a perfect configuration, but you can get close sometimes!! Neil

Good Morning, How close do you need to be with Metric Conversion. I like being able to do math in my head. 39.4"=1 Meter, call it 40". 4"=10 cm. .040"=1mm. .010"=0.25mm. 1 bar = 14.2psi, 1 atmosphere = 14.5psi round it up to 15psi for thinking calculation. 4 bar=60psi Circumference is pi/D. 3 times the diameter plus a little bit. Neil

Good Morning, You can always use another motor with a step pulley, as an idler. small pulley to a large pulley with a small pulley to a large pulley. double reduction. Just an Eye-Deah. Neil

Good Morning,Bored I have done something similar, but with only 4 legs. I called it a Quadrapus. Enjoy the journey, the destination is evasive and never reached. Neil

Good Morning, Les Keep your ears and eyes to the ground. When you are trying to build a Press, with a Budget, something has to give. Time; will allow you to 'See' what you will need. Don't look at the clock or the Calendar!! This weekend is NWBA Swaptoberfest in Longview, BEE THERE!!! Neil

The joint could be a 1/2" tall piece of round or square. Set the piece in the middle and tap them together, Now they would be locked. Neil

Good Morning, John That is a great size Anvil. It should work a treat. A lot of people don't know that if you use a Steel Hammer and a Steel Anvil, your material will stretch. If you use a Soft Hammer with a Steel Base or a Soft Anvil with a Steel Hammer, your material will move and not stretch. Neil

Finding a niche, happens after you File a Niche. Lots of little Niche's sometimes leaves marks for dressing up your handi-work. When you are making a lot of the same things, it becomes a Job, not a Hobby. You have to create tiny little things that only you know what is different. Call it a tint Touch-Mark. Handmade stuff is not all identical, Machine made stuff could be. Neil

Good Morning Henry, Look up 'Drop Hammer'. Neil

Good Morning, Ripley Welcome to this world, enjoy the journey. There is one way to find out, Do It!! Air Hammers need oilers for the Compression Cylinder and the Working Cylinder. If you are talking about a single cylinder Air Hammer, they/it still needs lubrication. Any cylinder needs lubrication. Quite often the single cylinder Air Hammer, uses an aluminum body Air Cylinder. The cylinder does not take all the impact. On the larger Air Hammers, they use 2 cylinders, when the motor compresses the top of the compressor cylinder, the air pushes the working ram down. When the compressor piston is going down, it is compressing the air at the bottom of the cylinder and this pushes the working cylinder up. The only connection between the cylinders is compressed air. This may be too complicated for your simple question, Lavie. Neil

Good Morning Chaz, Welcome to the whatever this is, Loads of Fun and Interest!! If you put your area of where you are making a Shadow, there probably is someone fairly close to you. If you enter it in your Avatar, it shows up every posting. Nothing to be ashamed of and nobody will harass you. There is a rotating restrictor on the blower intake, of the blower you have. Fans work better of you put the restrictor on the output. Some people make a sliding sheet metal gate, or you can purchase one. There are different sizes for the different size ducting. I have used a big old gate valve, water shut-off, before with very good results. You can get a reostat to control motor speed as well. If you restrict the air input, the motor speed will increase because there is less load on the motor. this may also cause the motor to heat up a bit. Ribbon Burners seem to work easier with a blower. I have a couple that I use with Atmospheric Burners, no fan. There is more options for control, with a fan. Enjoy the Journey!! Neil

Good Morning Chris, Do not try to put something else into a compressed bottle of whatever you have. One bottle of co2 stays as co2. One bottle of mixed gas for Mig, stays a mixed bottle for Mig. The same with all the different gases. Fuel, Acetylene or Propane are ALWAYS left-hand thread. This way, someone who doesn't know better, can't mix up the Fuel and Oxygen or Inert Gas. Neil

Good Morning Rhett, Any big Vice is a helping hand, regardless. It is made for squeezing something, not Hammering hard on something. Yes, any Vice will take 'some' action from a persuader. That is a keeper. Neil

Good Morning, Push a little indent in the big end, it WILL become a Heart. What's it look like on a table = what's it look like on a flat surface? Table, Floor, Bookcase, Marble Counter, Chunk of Plywood or Cardboard = all the same. Don't build the wall of your Box. Neil

Good Morning, You can make the pushrod adjustable and have it return to any height you wish. I wouldn't take a spring out of the detent, engineer it properly. Neil

Good Morning, The Acorn is the shoulder that supports the foot and transfers the effort of the hammer blows to 'Terra Firma'. The post is not hardened and it can be welded to 'as needed'. When you set up the Vice, it will want support at the base that the 'Post' can sit into. Preferably something firm to the ground. If you make a portable base, there should be a 'pocket' for the 'Post' to sit into. Welcome from the 'Left Coast'. The collection of implements of construction, is in progress. Enjoy the Journey!! Neil

Good Morning, Did you try it with one burner or two? Neil

Good Morning, To start, First you must start...... You need something to do, something to heat with, something to hold the hot stuff with, something to hit, something to hit with, something to hit on. Most importantly, you need to be/work SAFE!!!! Wear eye and ear protection, protect your body with sufficient clothing, wear suitable leather footwear (flip/flops are not safety approved. LOL). Neil

Good Morning, Jim Greetings from the left coast of Canada. I have made very similar 'Hot Cut'. I have found there is more support if you weld a slightly longer shank on the backside, this lets the base of the 'Hot Cut' sit square on the top of the Anvil. The weld is not in shear or compression. Enjoy your day!! Neil