ggraham

finally regained focus, as noted above, works and have not needed to change, so for now, that's all folks.

I bought a lincoln ideal arc 250 about 20 years ago for less than scrap, some knowledgeable person had condemned as shorted but all that was wrong was the cooling fan had a dirt dauber nest stopping the fan. cleaned up, checked it out, worked great, 100% duty cycle up to 140 amps.

Ausfire, you are on fire. excellent is the patina brushed on brass? george

excellent example of silk purse from a sow's ear. Nice work. george

Green is peaceful, has always been my favorite color, my vise is mounted on a tire filled with concrete with square tubing extending up to 2x10 table. got it that way, works, so have not changed(will get some pics later) did mount a HF compact bender but have since but hardie shank on bender to use with anvil or vise, will eventually but hardie receiver on my work benches to accommodate the bender wherever needed. sometimes (very often) I lose focus and wind up making tongs/punches/chisels or some other fancy. I hate it when this happens, but at least it's not, xxxx, lost focus again. better go before the puter loses focus....... George

did you 'borrow' some of Frosty's paint?????? also that is a nice sun/floral panel in the last pic.

Naw, they are all just as sick as me,,,,LLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL George

I cannot let this pass, It was just 'GREEK' to you? George

it could masquerade as a shoe horn at halloween

started when I was 12, at 26 had spot on lung that was bleeding, had this fixed, doctor said was not cancerous, but I was convinced what was coming next, 40 years later and here I am, dodging coal smoke for the past 8 years. hope ya'll that have quit also remain in that condition.

have you tried a spring fuller or a guillotine type fuller? been meaning to try this myself, will see what I can do and post. George

I have been burning anthracite from Old Town, got for about $16/50#, burns hot, have to start with a good wood fire and use air constantly. this first bunch produces a lot of clinker and would choke off the air supply, I learned that after about two hours to stir the fire up, get the clinker 'unstuck' from itself and let the fire regenerate. Recently have been practicing forge welding in this anthracite fire, if i pay attention to my heat and keep the slag/clinker off the material, my welds will come out, some are less ugly than others Recently I have been using a different brand, Kimble, from Tractor Supply, this seems to have less clinker and costs $6/40# ($15/100) so far this is a win/win.

Shamus, not to worry, my 1st attempt at knife making was realllllllllllllly eye opening about keeping the face of my anvil cleaner. I even left some grind marks, I guess I was blinded by the glaring embedded scale impressions, who knows, my story, might stick to it or not. Learning can be painful and pleasurable at the same time. George

redd1981, Thanks for the nice words. George

the pipe cross was time consuming because I had to figure out how to get the seam aligned, I didn't do too well but I was in a hurry as usual. the trick is to heat and twist the arms until the seams line up, BE PATIENT!!!!!!!!!!, I was not patient so the result is less than stellar. The 1/4" sq stock is tough because of the size and the BURN IT UP factor. George split cross from pipe and qtr inch sq stk.pdf

here is an excerpt from the Florida Artist Blacksmith Association, April 2009 news letter, THE CLINKER BREAKER, Shop Hints Hand Cleaners Butch Patterson(Starke, FL) writes: This a good blacksmihing tip that I discovered: I have noticed that many blacksmiths buy expensive soaps to use for removing coal dust from their hands, arms, and the rest of their bodies (let's not go there). Well, I have a simple and cheap solution to the problem. In the 80's I lived in West Virginia and sold truck scales to coal mines and processing plants. Often I would see cases of dish detergent in the storerooms. Eventually my curiosity got the best of me so I asked why they washed so many dishes. Well as you may have guessed by now, the coal miners showered and washed their hands with it every day. One miner told me "Joy is the only stuff that will clean the coal out of your pores". So, forget expensive soaps and buy regular (not concentrated) Joy. Not just any dish detergent though, Joy has something in it that releases the coal dust. George

I have a crushed limestone drive and as I walk it daily, especially after a rain, I am always finding "flinty" looking rock pieces, I have been carrying a steel striker with me to test, and I keep what sparks decently, no need to 'explore', just walk the side of a road somewhere crushed lime stone is used as base material, at least in Texas. George

Don't believe them, the vacuum is automatically filled. George

Adam, of Adam and Eve, had a 3rd cousin, twice removed that was a blacksmith, his name was "MURPHY" of Murphy's Law. If it can, It will, usually in multiples, at the most inopportune moment. ggraham

I picked these pliers up a while back They remind me of Hog Ring pliers but with the slotted jaw not sure how or what they do. anyone have a clue. George