VaughnT

Totally dig that. I looked around for gears after posting the above wisdom and was quite surprised to see how proud their makers are of them! Silly gits! I'm currently researching forge designs so I can build everything I need as soon as my fire pot comes in. Even found a relatively close coal supplier. Things are definitely looking up!

Awesome job! I remember that pic, it was the first time I had ever seen such a thing and thought I'd share. Glad it was of some value to you. :D

I would cut small sections and use it for guards and pommels. Blued or etched for that ol-timey look, or polished to a high shine... It would look great on knives.

Pics? I'm trying to imagine what you're saying, but I'm coming up short....

No worries, Ridge. The handle slides out of the axle fixture, and I've already turned it the right way.

Ammonia and Water? What kind of mix are you thinking? I've not heard of this one before, but I'm willing to try. I have a nice large bucket just waiting to fill up with something that will attack the rust, but I'm going to have to do a serious soap/water wash/scrub to get the oil and grease out of the gear case before anything. That's going to be a chore!

Shipping from Nebraska to California is going to pricey. While that's a mint-condition anvil from a great maker of anvils, is it worth the $100 in shipping? I could very easily see that thing going for $3/lb by the time bidding is over with. What type of work are you looking to do? Are there better options at the local scrap yards?

I did the same thing.... even shot a video about it. A magnet under the heel, and one on the horn, killed all of the ring. A bit of caulk under the anvil killed 99% of the ring, and a magnet on the horn killed the rest. Either way, it's nice to have a quiet anvil!

Thanks, Matt. I will hold off on the torch until I've tried the vinegar soak. I've heard good things about using vinegar to remove rust, but I'm worried about the vanes on the impeller. I'll have to do some research on electrolysis to see how I can do it at home. I'm thinking I have a tub large enough to submerge the entire blower without worry, and I have a battery charger.... Might just be the easiest way to do things, and hopefully it would free the bolts holding the fan enclosure together. Worst case scenario, I ruin the Climax and have to completely rebuild it.

Really looking forward to doing business with you, Pete. You're going to go down in history as the guy that rejuvenated the American iron industry, and it all starts right here! Question, though, and please don't take this wrong. But, you've been delayed fairly well because you're trying to make gears. While wanting to do the entire thing is admirable, wouldn't it make sense, in both time and money, to purchase gears from a company that makes gears? That way you can concentrate on making the parts that are not available any more. Making everything from the ground up would sure bring a feeling of satisfaction, though, and I'll not discourage that. I only ask because I can't imagine Buffalo or Lancaster casting every single nut and bolt in their blowers when they could have more easily ordered them from a company that does nothing but make nuts and bolts... and gears.

Well, if you can manage it, get a place that has a large building in the back garden so you can stay as contained as possible. You can line the walls of the building with shag carpet to act as a sound-wave absorber, too. If you place your anvil in a bed of silicone caulk, and fasten it solidly to the anvil, it will be very quiet compared to if you don't. A night and day difference, to say the least, but that's not to be taken to mean it is silent. Politely quiet, though. And, if you offer some hand-forged wares to your neighbors they will be a bit more accommodating. Bribery isn't just for the politicians, nudge/nudge/wink/wink. Say no more.

Well, hmmph! I'll remove you from the Christmas Card list, then!

Hard fire bricks take a lot of heat from the forge, but they last longer than a soft brick does. Both bricks can be helped by coating them with a bit of ITC100 or the like so that the IR from the forge is reflected back in. Saw one guy actually wrapped his bricks in chickenwire and then coated them with a refractory....

As you can see in the photo, I'm the proud owner of two very nice blowers. Unfortunately, the Buffalo Climax blower is frozen solid and two weeks soaking in oil hasn't loosened anything up. Before the oil bath, I tried PB Blaster to penetrate through the rust, but that didn't work, either. I was thinking about heating the axles with a torch, but I am worried about any rubber/phenolic seals that might be in there. On the Lancaster blower, she turns but stiffly and there's only one turn from momentum. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being very difficult to turn, this is definitely a 6. Not unusable by any means, but I worry about future performance. As with the Climax, PB Blaster and the oil bath have been tried. Looking into the Lancaster's gear box, I see what looks like a heavy grease applied to the topmost axle. I would also note that the Lancaster's gear box separates from the fan housing as you turn the handle. The gap is only about an eighth, but I wasn't sure if this is something that can be tightened up or could be contributing to the difficulty in turning it. The bolts around the periphery are rusted solidly to the fan housing and would need to be destroyed to get it apart. Overall, though, I have two fun projects to work on..... I just don't know where to start or what to look out for. I'm thinking of a soapy bath for the Climax, followed by a two week stint in a vinegar bath. The vinegar should eat away all of the rust and the residual oil and grease, right? Maybe electrolysis? Anyone have schematics

In the episode where they make the pintle hinge, what's the point of thinning the part of the pintle that wraps around the upright pin? Welding the two together is sensible, but is welding necessary? Or was it simply a byproduct of forming the two to one another? I'm thinking the archeological finds are degraded and assumed welded, but I don't know that they would actually be welded. I could be wrong, and I often am, but I don't see the need to weld the pin to the spike that goes through the timber. Thoughts?

Looks great! I was thinking about building a sandbox stump for my anvil, but opted to use up some 6x6 timber cut offs I had laying around. Did you caulk under the anvil to kill the ring?

Yea, a bit of mild steel is all you need. The thicker the better, for longevity's sake, but even a crushed soup can will do.

Well, I'm certainly interested...... but I don't have a clue how to make it work. In all the looking around on the net, I have never seen an equivalent hammer. Surely somebody on here has to have an engineering background and can reverse-engineer this thing!!!

Had the chance to acquire an o/a rig. I've got the torch, lines and bottles, but I can't get the torch to light. I crack open the acetylene and get a greasy yellow/orange flame that I would expect. But, when I open the oxygen valve on the handle all I get is a loud pop and the whole thing goes away. The valves on the tanks are just barely cracked open. The acetylene valve on the hand piece can be opened all the way and all you get is a greasy, smoky flame. Try to add in the oxygen to get a cutting flame and it's "pop" and then it's all gone. It blows out the acetylene flame, too. Any idea what the problem is? What issues am I looking for? It doesn't matter how little you open the oxygen on the handle; just breaking it a hair is enough to "pop" and lose all fire.

It's Canadian. No telling what they did up there! I'm guessing they are hot-cut chisels.

You need to hurry up! I'm dying to see how it turns out. One part of me wants you to mount a stack and whistle to make it look like a steam locomotive. The other part wants some big teeth so we can call it the "Dragon's Maw!" Sweet build, nonetheless.

Considering that I'm lousy at making tongs, you're first set is very impressive. That you did it with so little "professional" tooling makes it even more so. Fantastic. What kind of metal did you use for them?

All of the conveyor belting that I've seen is about 1/4" thick. The durometer can change, but Tractor Supply Co. sells it by the foot and it's very cheap. I recently experimented with magnets and found that a strong magnet placed on the edge of the heel killed a lot of the noise. Place another magnet on the horn and the anvil because as quiet as in this video. And, seating the anvil in a bed of construction adhesive silenced the anvil almost as much as the magnets did. All of this was done on with an anvil sitting on a 'stump' made of 6x6 pine, and the anvil wasn't tied down to the anvil in any way.

When are you going to build mine? That is as good a build as I've ever seen, and I particularly like the attention you paid to the little details. If you want to make another, I'd sure be glad to talk to you about it! Can't wait to see it finished and lit.

Wonderful! I would never have thought to use an oil tank like that. The integral sun shade is fantastic. Will you block off a bit of the bottom for a built-in quench tank or fuel storage? I'm seeing a lot of rack space on that baby. You can have all of your hammers and tongs stretching the length and width.... I am so incredibly jealous!