ianinsa

I was pretty impressed by the Chinese blacksmith's safety gear.A fun thing to try (read really dangerous) is some thermite on an old empty propane tank.
The cops for some unfathomable reason tend to frown upon this type of entertainment though!

I KNEW there was a reason I didn't even think about moving to Africa! I grew up around rattlesnakes and black widow spiders but just reading about Boomslangs, cobras, blackmombas and the like makes me happy all I have to worry about is the occasional moose or bear. Really, you just have to pay a LITTLE attention to not be surprised by either, they're both pretty big and bear have a strong smell.

Frosty the Lucky.

Mambas both Green & Black you don't wanna mess with, in fact most guys that come across them in confined spaces are inclined to emit a strong smell ! (fortunatly they tend to avoid humans) however the troop of monkeys that we get through our garden every morning helps you smile and other than pinching a couple of paw paws & teasing the dogs trey do no harm. Where we live its sub-tropical and 5 deg c is considered cold, none of your clawed slippers needed! All the best Ian

Ulric, we still use lead to fit Ballustrades, core a hole put in the post and pour in some lead. if you need to adjust just warm the base of the post and adjust, it beats the hell out of chopping out epoxy.
Great score!

Nothing as large as a moose, but the Boomslang (The boomslang has extremely powerful haemotoxic venom) that arived one summers day managed to clear the shop faster that someone shouting "beers up" on a Friday!. The guys have learnt to live with(read leave quickly, no need to run) the occasional Mozambican spitting Cobra.Cats give these a wide berth, dogs are braver but dummer!

Now jou are just being mean it looks great!
Ian

Did it take long to tie the previous owner up? Thats an awsome haul............danged fortunate you are!

Don't bother with the wax its a mission, get your local signage guy to cut out your patern in stick on vynil. Then spray the blade with water mixed with a small amount of dishwash liquid, this will allow you to reposition the vynil and to squeese out all the air bubbels then mask off everywere else and imerse in a warm acid bath. The etching term for the acid mix is Mordant, for s/s you need 2prts Nitric acid and 3prts hydrocloric acid. If you are using Monel for your blades then use 1prt Nitric and 1prt. Acetic acid. Should you wish to use the wax type of system called Resist then Beeswax is the easiest for beginners once you have it off pat then you can use Paraffin wax, stovepipe enamel,lacquer and masking tape . But believe me sinage vynil is cheap easy and a good signage guy can do you some wicked pictures.
Have fun Ian

Impresive stuff boys, my old ironworker is limited to punching a 40mm hole in 16mm plate cold obviously! a "genius" that once worked for me once tried to punch a 25mm hole through 25mm 3cr12 plate, fortunately no one was hurt when the punch shattered, it has always been a fun toy though!
Ian

All this guy needed was some aluminium powder(read a pile) and a kids sparkler and the thermite would have provided a castiron floor.

Hi Grant,
Thats a snappy looking set-up that you have there' old but still gets a good job done, like so many of us I suppose? Do you sell tongs? to have the need for the upset die for this aplication? Sorry dumb question, I have just looked at you profile,Duh as my son would say!
Regards Ian

Bob
I recon the Chinese are much malined in this thread! That said I have been to China on numerous occasions to buy tools amongst other things and I have bought some Great hand made chisels and clamps "like grandpa made" they were also ridiculusly inexpensive! However when I bought equipment and tools for our factory we have always been happy with the product. In China you can ask a factory for a price on a "widget" and they will tell you that they can make this item for 3 cents or $3.00. Wich or where in between do you want? Therefore it can be made from die cast zink or hand forged Titanium the choice is left to the buyer.I suspect most comercial buyers opt for the 4 or 5 cent version so as not to apear a cheapskate, it's these parasites that should be blamed for the crappy tools and not the Chinese.
I live in South Africa and we have the same problems here, sadly these days you don't really get what you pay for as those buyers will use the $3.00 price as their starting point for calculating their selling price so the consumer ends up paying $3.80 for said widget wich actually cost the 4 or 5 cents initially. We used to make a 300dia 304 tube Delta handle wich used 1.2m of tube per handle, I found a similar handle(well made)for sale in China for what we pay for 1m of the tube (SA is a major producer of S/S)so I think it is more that we get ill treated in our own markets than being hurt by others. I guess that you guys are in a similar position.
Feeling like your left wrist is handcuffed to your right ankle and you might just be abandoned in the park.
Fontunately for us the Chinese have a different taste in artistic and they therefore they just don't do the same type of Wrought iron that our markets want, so for now we still have an edge! Remember if you got many of these tools at the real price you would probably be impressed as to how good some of these things are for "lucky Packet" prices. May the forge be with you, Ian

Ken, I don't want your job but if it blows, I want Pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
have Fun Ian

I have a press with a simple quick change system copied from a hand operated punch like Mubea.
Chek out your local tool suply place because if you use a tried and tested system you can also buy their ready made up tooling for some aplications. Regards Ian

Hi There, I have spent good few grand over the years on Autocad drafting services, not that I can't draw myself but a good draftie can hammer out drawings realy fast like heaps faster than me on the board. We then get them printed full size on A0 prints(not plueprint type but cheap photocopy print) it is just easier prior to plasma/profile cutting and checkin in real size prior to laser cutting.
We also stick the drawings to our s/s welding tables for ballustrade and gate designs and just copy the paterns.by overlaying, This really helps our employees that have technical skills but little "artistic" forte'
Sticking prints on corrugated cardboard(read old boxes) and mocking up also saves heaps of time and money so I don't begrudge spending bucks on the drafting side.
I also use the autocad drawings to get vinyl cutouts for acid etching dies for our presses and powerhammer you easily get the handcrafted look that is a mission with the milling machine. All the best Ian

what size pipes are you trying to bend? I have quite a lot of kit in my Kyalami factory and I just bought one in Dubai for a grand a few days ago It will be here in a couple of days, some of my mates want to copy it, I also have a Hossfelt that is easy to copy. Let me know?
I now live in Durban but I come up to the reef often. regards Ian

Hi Hollis,
I regularly do copper rooves on palaces in Abu Dhabi, these require large corbeled cornice shapes to the sides, we use guilders metal for this as it is 90/10copper technically this is a type of bronze and behaves much like both copper and brass. I always use propane/buthane torches the material is 0.45mm thick sheet and is a doddle to solder if you first clamp then whilst soldering use a wet sweeper cloth(chamoise)to follow up, This sets the joint and you leave in place while you do the next bit thereby solving the problem of the finished joint poping while you work on the next bit. Makita make a powerfile in 2 sizes that are great for precleaning and final clean-up. Black and Decker used to make a really cheap one too if you can still get them, if this is a once off then buy the B&D as they work well in every way exept longevity.We tend to use plumbers solder and 2mm acid cored solder wire, costs a dash more than radiator S5 sticks(wich we self cast)but you save a whack in time of soldering and clean-up ! Have loads of fun Ian _

Guys, etching metal is easy using the right product/mordant;
Aluminium = 3pts water 1pt hydrocloric acid
copper & brass = 3pts water 1pt nitric acid
sterling & nickel silver also Pewter/ Zinc based alloys = 3pts water 1pt nitric acid
Monel = 1pt Nitric acid 1pt acetic acid
Stainless steel = 2pts Nitric 3pts Hydrocloric acid
All these work better when warm, sometimes slower is better. this recipe for s/s will etch 1mm in 30 secs. if hot? Always add acid to water and mind the fumes.
Good luck Ian

very nice, very very nice.

the problem i would see with a tool like this is proper hight for hammering and if you put to much torque on the vice you could tip the whole thing over.

I recon the biggest downside to this tool is going to be the lady behind the check-in desk at American airlines,

the problem i would see with a tool like this is proper hight for hammering and if you put to much torque on the vice you could tip the whole thing over.

I recon the biggest downside to this tool is going to be the lady behind the check-in desk at American airlines,

Thanks!

I can't seem to get Marcus's stuff to download, The evenfalls stuff was easy, What am I duffing up?

You may find Richardson's vol.2 here:
http://www.evenfallstudios.com/woodworks_library/woodworks_library.html#Blacksmithing,%20Welding%20and%20Metalwork

Thanks this is great.I was fontunate to buy the full set of Practical Blacksmithing vols 1-4 for $400 about 4 years ago. This was'nt bad for books more than a century old. All in good nick from a book collector.

We use it as agregate in cement bricks the only bugger is iron oxide(heaven only knows where this came from) makes the bricks rust. It also works a treat as insulation!

Hi, I had proposed the bolt on plate solution based on the presumption of it being a cast anvil, also using lead rather than the weld solves the problem of the plate cracking loose from the anvil due to hammer blows, and it softens the 'feel' whilst giving good 'bounce'. P.S. have you thought of becoming an 'Anvil Trader' most of the guys I know struggle to find used anvils? Anyhow anything over 30mm should work (sorry for the metric)If you have acsess to a large drill press then go for something a big thicker.

I recon your most cost effective solution is to cut back to square the face and then mount a section of thick plate say 2inch thick depending on what you can get easily and cheaply. Go visit your local profile cutting shop and see what they have you might even get hardface plate, they often have off-suts of thick plate that they may let you have at scrap value then attatch this mechanically ie drill & tap(min 16mm fine) the anvil and bolt through with countersunk bolts using an impact driver to securely tighten the bolts. then leadfill the gaps by warming the plate and the anvil and using 'spirits of salts' as a flux. Please mind the fumes they are toxic. Good luck on this. P.S. that other anvil was a steal.