Jeddly

More reading reveals that its around 2k pounds. Holy heck! I really only wanted a 4'x4' table, but at a thousand lbs, methinks it may be a bit overkill.

I was asking around for some sheet steel for a sweet workbench, and a friend said he had a 4x8 sheet of this stuff called Hardox. 1.5" thick. I've never heard of this stuff before, but did a little research, and it seems like some tough stuff. I am having trouble finding an approximate weight on this stuff though. Any ideas? Oh yea, its free.

I'll second that! The oil and gas industry uses it as well. It works good in the corrosive environments found downhole. I managed to score a couple pump shafts of this stuff, and my chopsaw was not very happy when cutting it to useable lengths. If I remember right, there is a good amount of copper in it. Maybe it would make some interesting mokume?

Thanks Thomas!

Awesome score on that one inch sheet Dave T!!!! Thats a good chunk of money at the store.

Hi people, I had a question on the process of forge welding a HC piece into the working edge of an axe. I have seen many videos where the person splits the main body of the axe, and welds in a small sliver of HC steel to the edge. I can see that this may be the easiest method. But I was thinking, why do I never see it the other way around? i.e. splitting the HC into a V, and then forging it onto the axe head. Just wondering...

It looks like there is an internet smilie on the blade. I think its a pretty fine example of metalwork indeed!!

I like them too. The first one seems to flow better. Keep at it!

I'm kinda partial to heavy metal, but nothing moves me like the gael.

While researching hydraulic forging presses, I came across some nifty calculations. These should help with the setup and aquisition of the parts needed. I hope. Sizing the electric motor Hp = (Q x P) / (1714 x Em) Hp = Horsepower Q = gpm flow P = pressure psi Em = pumps mechanical efficiency As an example, say you had an 85% efficient 13 gpm pump and a 2500 psi rated cylinder. (13 x 2500) / 1714 x 85%) = Hp This combo would require a 4.4 hp motor to operate. A funny note to add is that some pumps are considered two stage. At the beginning stage, you get full flow, and once the pump encounters resistance, that flow drops. Ofcourse, at high flow, you get the best speed, and at the lower flow you get the most power but slower speed. But you don't know what size cylinder you need? There's a calculation for that too!! Amazing!! Say you want your end product to be a 40Kpsi press for mashin metal. This is a two part equation. First: Ap = F / P Ap = cross section area of piston in cylinder F = force required P = pressure supplied by pump Ap = 40,000 / 2500 Ap = 16 Next: Dp = Sq root of 4 x A / pi Dp = diameter 4 = constant A = cross section area pi = 3.14 Dp = 4 x 16 / pi Dp = Sq root of 20.382.... Dp = 4.5 You would need a 4.5" dia cylinder. Its pretty basic, but I hope that it helps with any research anyone is doing when thinking about stepping up to a hydraulic press. There are alot of safety variables involved in building your own as you would imagine. Care should be taken when building a machine such as this. If I did anything wrong, I would hope that some of the seasoned pro's would chime in. :)

I'm guessing the chimney will get too hot and produce galvi fumes? Is that why this piece is a no go?

I know the blazer tailgate has them for sure. Had one once and the spring was busted. Them tailgates are HEAVY! Good lookin blade man!

I like it when the grumpy old farts share stuff. One day I'll be one. I feel bad that I don't contribute as much as others. Sometimes its because I want to save face, other times, its because I don't want to look like a copycat. Bottom line is I like metal. I want to do artful stuff. I yearn for my own originality. I am still new to this community, and have alot of questions. Realized, and unrealized. Most times a new person dos'nt have anything to contribute but questions. If you feel that answering someones question in their thread wastes your time, then don't post. Don't act like it was such a waste of time reading their thread (which you clicked on). If you do feel compelled to reply to a newbies inane question, I would submit that it be done with some tact. Unless of course you want the group of smiths to stay small. This is a good resource, and I'm glad its here for others (myself included) to browse.

I stand corrected. guess I shoulda clicked the thumbnail instead of shootin from the hip. Its pretty slick either way. I miss messing with my wonderbow.

Picture a small cut log quartered with fire built inside. Its actually pretty slick. Youtube has lots of videos for it.

Weld a couple hinges to a piece of heavy angle iron and then weld the hinge to table. Instant sheetmetal brake! Handles are optional, crescent wrenches mandatory. When not in use, it just lays flat and out of the way. I really like the idea for a removeable seat. I've seen them mounted to the corner posts with hinges so you can move the seat to both sides of the table.

I'm curious about the finishing process as well. Can you do the same thing to steel as you would do to say, a cast iron dutch oven? Most woks I've seen have a flat bottom for placement on a cooktop, and taller sides. I like it! It would work great on a swedish torch out in the woods too I bet!

Nice recurve ya got there Drewed!

Left arrow ^_^

Just a thought, don't know how do-able it is in your situation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titanium_nitride

Nice! Would look good on a tong rivet!

I enjoyed the video as well. Very good quality on every aspect!

Ive got a needle valve between the tank and nozzle. Maybe it was getting too much oil. Thanks for the tips fellas.

Yep. All it would do was smoke. Mind you This was still when I was trying to light it with the Mapp torch. I dont know if it matters but there was no preheating the oil, and ambient temp was around 70 degrees. I had to do quite a bit of fiddling with it to get it to burn. First, I tried using 1 1/4" pipe with no taper at the end. Then I saw some photos on the net where a guy was using 2". It wouldn't fire at all without the taper on the end. Edit: Also, my burner was at ground level, and my tank was at +2'.

I could only get mine to light and stay lit at +/- 40 psi with the mapp gas torch. I'm assuming that the 5-7 psi comment was correlating to firing into an already hot forge?