SLAG

There is a book still in print that addresses hammer technique. I do not know the exact title but it is entitled something like "hammer like a girl ( lady, or woman)". Someone please help here. (lady blacksmiths do not muscle up on metal they use technique and it works way better. Regards, SLAG.

Gote Check out the latest issue of chemical & Engineering News: May 23, 2016. p. 21-23. It has a fascinating three pages on a new scourge for painting conservationists. Namely erupting metallic soaps. Regards SLAG.

I remember my mother and grandmother regularly & tediously polishing the tarnish off their sterling silver. Most of the tarnish was caused by sulfur in the air. (SO2). Cooking Brassica vegetables (Brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower & etc. gives off hydrogen sulfide) and it eventually lands on, and reacts with silver. Another source of that gas was coal fire fumes that a tiny % could pollute the indoor air Coal heating was used, long ago, for the space heating of houses during fall and winter. Tarnish, was a good reason why I prefer stainless cutlery over silver. SLAG.

Retouch varnish is often used by oil painters after and even during painting. (of course other varnishes are used for completed artwork. Even). Even cadmium yellow can deteriorate after contact with polluted air. One of the most active paint destroyers is sulfur dioxide. Varnish serves as a shield for that. (CO2 is also a problem). Also grime. The study of archival chemistry is fascinating also fugitive pigments, & paper deterioration. ( Chemical & Engineering News, of the American Chemical Society has had some very interesting feature articles in previous years.) The National Gallery of Canada has done stellar work in this area. They publish bulletins regularly. (I'm certain they're on the net.). Sadly, I do not read Swedish but they probably have published in English Language journals. Regards, SLAG. P.S. The date of first use of oil paint art work, is 650 A.D. & not 1410. 1410 is the date for first use of canvas as a base. (previously, wooden panels were used,. I got the dates mixed up.

Lieber Herr Messer, You can create a touch mark on the cheap. If you have any artistic ability or nascent artistic tendencies. Borrow, buy or rent a rotary tool like Dremel. Get an engraving head for the tool Some of those heads are made of carbide. And grind away. Alternatively, your mark can be acid etched, in steel using acid (e.g. muriatic acid), and a wax resist. If you go the acid route please take precautions. Have a good one. SLAG.

Welcome to I Forge Iron. I too spent most of my life in Canada. And much of it in Montreal. I am now in St. Louis Mo. I retired 3 years ago, & emigrated to the great U.S.A. (my new wife has lived in St. Louis all her life. She is much younger than I and has a career down here. If you cannot find the correct word in English, contact me and I'll help you out. Incidentally, Quebec is well more than 2 times the total area of Texas. Where are you in Quebec. Regards, SLAG.

Please see the post above. AND ?? SLAG.

Artist supply stores sell accelerating drying agents for artists' oil paints. They are called siccatives. SLAG.

Scrambler 82 Good point. I agree with you completely. SLAG.

Would a plasma cutter or oxy-propane, or oxy-propylene (propene), or oxy-acetylene torch do it?? SLAG.

Because most paintings have not had problems does not preclude potential vulnerability of some artwork to moisture in the air. . Linseed oil__ varnished__ art may not always be immune. Very humid climates could jeopardize such paintings. Indeed. the majority of museums, art galleries, auction houses, etc., have strict climate control and will not experience moisture varnish problems. The potential damage would be very slow.(as it has not been noticed 600+ years until now). An interesting case was encountered with the pigment Prussian blue. That pigment was used in oil paints for two hundred years + (1704 Diesbach). Under certain ambient conditions the blue color turns black. The majority of paintings have never experienced this problem. But a minority of artwork did. The culprit was minute amounts of sulfur dioxide in the air. The color was still used until just recently because blue pigments are rare. (it has now been replaced with French ultramarine (synthetic lapis lazuli),, cobalt blue and phthalocyanine blue.). Likewise, cadmium yellow's permanence has just recently come into question. That color has been used, extensively, since 1820 and was thought to be permanent. (and in most cases it is). One point should be stressed. I am discussing only the use of linseed oil as a varnish. I tried to make the distinction between the use of linseed oil as a vehicle for colors (oil paint)and as a varnish. Obviously I was not clear enough. There seems to be no problems with linseed oil based paints. Their first use dates back to 1410 and no problems have ever been seen. I will search for the reference that reports linseed oil as being hygroscopic, and get back to you. Another point, is the base of oil paintings such as wood and canvas is coated with gesso before paint is applied. (canvas also is coated with rabbit skin glue).The gesso has lead carbonate as a constituent. In other words that coating protects the base from air and moisture. (the paint colors are applied over the glue and gesso base). Gote thanks for your comments. It pointed out that my original comments were not clear enough. Regards, SLAG.

l.Wire brushing is a good way to remove rust . But heavy grinding can ruin the tool. After wire brushing consider an electrolysis bath to remove the residual rust or help loosen the crud. There are some excellent threads on electrolysis on this site, I know because I have spent a good deal of time studying them. Best of luck and success. SLAG.

Confucious, said that a man who hesitates before taking a step is condemned to spend life on one foot. Just saying. SLAG.

Dr. T. Powers Thank you for adding the extra graphite information. Many people, in the Great White North, carry it in their jacket pockets during the winter. It is used to lubricate outdoor locks & car car door locks. The powder helps coat the lock workings so to inhibit water vapor collecting and freezing the lock mechanism. Also, we carry a spritz tube filled with rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol), to free frozen locks. Cheers, SLAG.

Rubbing a chisel with coal dust is a great idea. It prevents the chisel or drift from binding in the work. Another item that will work just as well or better is graphite. One can buy little cylindrical tubes of graphite. They have a nozzle at the action end through which the powder comes out. The item is cheap, and convenient. Auto shop supply shops, and probably, hardware stores, carry them. Their usual use is for lubricating, metal parts, keyways, etc. (graphite is used for metals that will be subjected to high heat that would ignite lubricating greases and oil)s. But rubbing a chisel with a little powder is fast & convenient and obviates the necessary of crushing of coal fines. SLAG.

The weight markings are in hundred weights. They total to 180 lbs. (i.e 1x112plus 2x28 =56 plus twelve) Regards, SLAG.

Slag Here, Scientists have very recently discovered that linseed oil varnishes (covering paintings) does not protect them from moisture. In fact linseed oil is hygroscopic. That is, it draws moisture out of the air and into the varnish surface! I am not suggesting that linseed oil paints would have have that problem. I am talking about the varnish that is used for coating the dried paint surface, in order to protect it from the air. (e.g. water vapor, air pollutants, SO2 & grime). I suspect that a lot of oil paintings will soon have their varnish stripped off and new varnish applied. (without linseed oil). SLAG.

Just ran across this saying; "There are those who look at things the way they are and ask why ... I dream of things that never were and ask why not?" — Robert F. Kennedy

Thomas, I agree with you. Osage orange is a beautiful wood. But the fact that it darkens considerably with age has always made me ignore using it for many years. But about 3 years ago I read that Woodcraft co. was carrying a different species of osage orange that "tends to keep its deep golden orange color".. The American specie's scientific name is Maclura pomifera. The Argentinian's name is Maclura tinctoria. The origin of the wood is Argentina. I have bought some and I will use it in the near future. But it will be years before I can see if the claim is correct. Woodcraft is no" bargain basement" if some other exotic wood seller sells It, it will probably be cheaper. So a net search is a good idea. Woodcraft carries many great tools and other items and their catalogue is worth a look, for anyone doing woodwork (or using wood.) Regards to all, SLAG.

Try phoning tractor supply company. I got good anthracite for $6.00 for a 40 pound sac. Actually, it was on sale so I paid $5.oo for each sack. They were selling it off to make room for this coming winter's supply. I reckon that most of their customers use coal for space heating. I am certain that they could make a special order for you . (especially if you need a half or a full ton.) There are other vendors too. Look around. Paying $1.00 per pound at Centaur Forge, or Kayne & co. is not a very clever move. Good luck with the search. SLAG.

126 lbs. SLAG.

pneumonia is nature's way of telling us to slow down. SLAG.

The scorp is not a two handed instrument, as most drawknives are. Your creation looks more like an unfinished inshave (two handled one.).(there are one handled inshaves but they are larger than scorps.) Most scorps are a small to very small sizel. In my estimation, the draw knife to scorp conversion is not a simple beginners project, But it is a more advanced one. You deserve an A plus for ambition and effort. Your project could become a very practical tool. It can be handled and used as a drawknife with a deep belly. Such tools are used by chair makers to hollow out the seat to accommodate The sitter's posterior. They can also be used to hollow deep wooden bowls. A Good job, notwithstanding. SLAG.

Jhm, Thank you for the J.H.M. reference. A very interesting farrier& blacksmithing site. They describe their anvils as made from malleable iron. Is that malleable cast iron? They do not mention steel anywhere in their anvil description. No steel top? I think I am missing something. Would someone please enlighten me as to what the anvil is made of. Thank en avence. SLAG.

Crp...how about shimming it? SLAG.