fciron

That is sad news. My condolences to his family. I hope in my time I can be half as helpful to others as he has been. Lewis

Pros: You already have them. Cons: Hot metal can draw the temper from tools you might wish to return to their original purpose. Bearing surface and shank very small, so more susceptible to damage from an angled blow or getting jammed in the whole. Much taller for its width than typical hardie tooling and much narrower working end, more susceptible to misplaced or angled blows damaging work, tooling, hammer, or smith. Just because you can stick it in that hole doesn't mean that you should. The straight chisel is just about the only piece that resembles anything I've used in a hardy. Unless your hardie hole is exactly .400 inches and has the matching round profile at the top you'll find that much of the force of your hammer blow will be dispersed by the tool moving around. I don't think I'd want to cut anything bigger than about a 1/4 inch with it. On the other hand, no biggie if you throw a little chisel in there and try it out. If it doesn't work your probably just out $3 and five minutes of your time. I have modified some tooling for my air-chisel to forge dragon heads and other nifty stuff like that. They are pretty effective for driving small top tooling. I think I posted picture somewhere. Good Luck and have fun, Lewis PS Put some location information in your profile. There might be someone just around the corner who'd be happy to help you get set up.

I'd be cautious about using solder in a pot, they have an intentionally low melting temp and they're usually softer than tin. Seems like it would wear off a lot quicker.

The little bottle opener in the ABC video is a decent piece of work. Looks like a nice spacious shop too. I think at this point Jesse James has his own identity and is unlikely to be seen as re[resenting anyone but Jesse James. Few worries there.

r smith, your analysis is just about right. I think most smiths do a lot less math and a lot more 'looks about right' than your example, but yes, it's possible to cycle parts through the forge so that they don't sit too long. It's also possible to let the work sit in a gas forge without burning it, so, unlike a coal forge, it's not necessary to whip it out of there the second it comes up to heat. None of which is an argument against induction, merely trying to answer a question.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#sal-ammoniac/=fdfzg2 http://www.mcmaster.com/#tin/=fdfzoi Wow. Tin is expensive! I really need to figure out where my piece went, because I won't be buying a new chunk on a whim.

Same here, seven pieces of smaller wire rope make a tidy bundle. I welded mine while twisting it in a v-block. Once I had the cable welded I forged it into rectangular bar and stacked those without any further twisting. I find it's actually easier to weld larger cross sections. They are less likely to burn up and they stay at welding temp longer.

The edges of the rock near the hammer look oxidized, so it probably was not completely enclosed in spite of the statement that is was only revealed when the rock was cracked open. Generally, I tend towards the simplest explanation. Perhaps a highly mineral water deposited that stuff around the hammer in a relatively short time. Could be that the minerals kept the bugs out of the wood. Since the exposed face of the hammer resembles a relatively modern rock drill I doubt that it's of ancient origin. Blah, blah, blah. my 2 cents. :-)

Caswell plating makes kits for various kinds of home plating. http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/index.html

I didn't comment earlier because I thought you wanted the two separate elements. If you want the complete ellipse it's often easier to cut it in half along the minor axis (You've halved it along the major axis.) that way your sharpest bend is in the middle of each piece. This gives you something to hold onto while doing the most demanding bending and it means that the welding and grinding are in the gentle part of the curve and easier to align and clean up. Also, for future reference, this is the technique I use to draw an ellipse with pins and a string. It allows you to place the pins in the right spot and get the right length of string to get the right size on the first try. By using a consistent technique you can make sure they have the same shape in all sizes.

Southern Indiana Meteor Mashers should be getting together the Sat. after Thanksgiving in Floyd Knobs, down towards Louisville. If you're nearby it would be worth a trip to talk to some folks in person. ptree on this board is the guy hosting things. He's very knowledgeable and there should be some other smart folks there too. (I'll be out of town.)

Billy Merritt is indeed somewhere in south west Indiana, I don't recall the specifics right now, and he is the forge weldingest sonovagun I know too. I'm in Louisville and I get my coal from Cumberland Elkhorn right here in town, so you might try them. I can't guarantee it's Pocahontas #3 but it works. Lewis

I welded a bunch of scrap bar stock into the web area of my track anvil. This converted it from being a mass of metal on top of the thin web to a somewhat more substantial chunk of metal. It still has decent rebound and is handy for small tasks around the shop. I set it in the forge right next to the fire when welding smaller stock. If you're going invest time and materials in it, you might as well make something that you'll keep after you get a better anvil.

The KBA still has money in the bank and a suspended 501C3 status as a non-profit educational organization. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. ;-)

I was secretary of the KBA when things went kaput. I still have a mailing list and I've saved the email addresses of people who have contacted me about blacksmithing. (I am afraid that I am somewhat irregular about replying to these inquiries, but I try to answer everyone eventually.) I can share the list or forward information if any events are organized. It may even be within my responsibility to use the groups stamps for a mailing. Lewis

Frank, thanks for bringing this up. I've made some tools after Wendell Broussard's work, but I've struggled with the heavier hot work. I suspected the approach would involve more anvil work and the guys in the video seem to get things done with ordinary blacksmithing tools. That actually makes it look possible. ;-) JuraT, thanks for the link to the video.

KYBOY, you got Danny's hammer? Glad to hear it. I've used that hammer and it's a good 'un. (It's got to be Danny's hammer unless Clifton says that to all the 50s.)

You need to go slow for larger holes and slower materials. Faster for smaller holes or softer materials. The drill press in your link offers speeds between 650 and 1300 rpm; that should be good for holes between 5/16" and 1/8" with high speed steel drills in high carbon steel (I'm assuming this is before hardening.) That's an approximate guess, YMMV.

Looks like you're right on the edge of coal country, but that doesn't mean that you can drive up to any old yard and get good smithing coal. You'll want to let your fingers do the walking and call a few coal yards looking for blacksmithing or metallurgical coal. Expect it to be a good bit more expensive than regular "stoker" coal for heating. I use Cumberland-Elkhorn Coal and Coke in Louisville, I think they may have other branches.

I worked with some visiting Japanese smiths for a week once and they also cast ingots into water after mixing up some special alloys. Steam explosions happen in molds because the steam is trapped inside the mold under the molten metal. This is not the case pouring metal into a pot of water where the steam is free to boil off. I believe casting a water ingot is supposed to protect it from gases that could cause porosity, but there were some language issues so I'm not always clear on the issues.

I paid $325 for mine and drove up to Indianapolis to get it. (Earlier this spring.) I think it's comparable to the one that was on Louisville Craigslist earlier this week.

Ooops. Yes, many opportunities for frightfulness indeed on the inside thread. I think your strategy of making a tap might be the surest method.

Feeding towards the tailstock is what you would want. That would be a left hand thread: turning forward, but moving backwards. It is not necessary to run the lathe backwards. I'm not necessarily advocating it. Might be just as easy to get a similarly sized screw and nut and fit them to your lathe. I'm not familiar with UK suppliers, but it's pretty simple to buy acme threaded stuff in the US.

Clearly, I need to get on Touchstone's mailing list. It's too late for me to take advantage of this opportunity. Some other folks should!

Ok, I'm finally caught up reading the thread and I'm not sure where to start. I'm attaching a scan of a fork I have that I think is the scrolly/heart pattern Jake was pondering a hundred pages ago. Looks like some small pieces bundled and faggot-welded in the center. It's not a hard weld to make, especially in wrought iron. I've been playing with some bits of WI in relation to a discussion about replicating some old tooling. Mine comes from an old fence and is quite refined and very cooperative. (Now I'm sorry I sold the rest of the fence.) I think work of this type is usually given "Spanish Colonial" origin, whatever that means. Jake, I could probably ship you quite a bit of dog food in trade if you would put a little smoke flavor on that 'chum'. ;-) 500 fish, those of us living in the city often forget the amount of labor (and storage) required to feed one's self, comrades, and pets. We heated with wood when I was a kid: even with the wood delivered by a dump truck there was still significant time involved in stacking it in the summer and toting it in the winter. I'm in the middle of a less exciting project at the moment, reproducing some fairly conservative driveway gates in garden gate size. I'm replicating some of the non-arc welded joints for my own benefit, but it's mostly like work. It's got a few nice forgings, I'll try and get some pics as I go along. Getting late here and the dog needs his walk. Be well all, Lewis