knots

Impressive anvil , Takes about two of mine to equal that one. However I am even more envious of your colorful new lift straps. My lift straps are old, frayed, and dirty grey. Call it strap envy. :) In any event it looks like you are prepared to move it when necessary.

I got mine at Air Gas. My store does not normally stock the flux coated silver brazing rod but they were able to order it . The problem is that since it was a special order I had to take the whole packet. As I remember ther were three rods about a 16" long. The cost per rod was about 10-12 bucks a rod. But I keep some in my supply at all times for blades anf repairs where welding is not practical and strength is needed . A little goes a long way. The last packet that I bought was maybe 20 years ago . Look for a place that will sell one stick or buy a pack. Yes braze at red heat. Dock is right about the band annealing in the area joined however With a clamp like mine that captures the blade between steel angle and bar, the clamp acts as a heat sink and reduces that problem. I have only noticed dulling over a short run of blade and have not really been bothered by it. I have never used bronze rod or spelter for brazing band saw blades so can't really comment. However the silver that I use has a tensil strength of 60,000 psi, and does not seem to mind being flexed. I have had blades break but not at the silver joint . Just found it: Mine is a Radnor/Harris product Safety-Silv 56, flux coated silver brazing alloy. Fluidity rating = 8 . The use of old technology like brazing tongs, presumeably preheated to a red heat and used in lieu of a torch to make the braze is very interesting . Think I will make up a tong and give it a try. It should give a very controlled heat. Thank you Frank.

Here is the Blade jig.

My home built version. I used to silver braze all of my blades. The silver braze analysis is important. In the past I have had silver wire that I simply could not make flow. I now use 56% silver, flux coated brazing rod . After cleaning/preparing the blade with the V ground ends place the blade in the blade jig with a few thousandths " between the blade ends . Just enough to compensate for heat expansion so that, when heated, the blade ends just touch or close. Otherwise the blades can bulge or over lap if the ends press together. Flux, heat, and apply silver. Not at all hard to do, and very strong. I don't recall ever having a silver brazed joint breaking.

Only 30 1/2" diameter but ? The wheel has a slight crown but could be re-ground easily enough.

You will need a totally enclosed motor for your grinder build unless the motor is somehow enclosed in a dust free enclosure. A totally enclosed motor is the way to go. Most of the motors that I have purchased for my machines and machine conversions have been purchased from electric motor repair shops. Generally these shops are small businesses and keep in inventory of used motors which they are willing to sell reasonably. If you live in an industrial area one of these shops could be near you. Also used equipment sellers usually have a bunch of motors lying around. Big savings on motors are avaiable if you know where to or take the time to look. I agree with previous advice. If taking the trouble to build a belt grinder, build one that is bigger than you think you need. My Wilton has a one horsepower motor which I consider barely adequate. Bigger and more powerful is better . Good Luck, keep us posted on your progress.

Watts = Amps x Volts. Using a variation of this formula my I calculate that a motor consiuming 370watts @ 230 volts results in a current requirement of 1.6 amps . The smallest fractional motor that I have requires 4.4 amps @ 115 volts. That motor is 1/4 HP. If it were powered by 230 volts I would expect it to require 2.2 amps. Sounds like the motor on the machine that you are considering is likely rated for around 1/5 HP which, in my opinion is to light for the work that you want to use it for. There are a number of belt belt sander machines normally used for wood working that can be pressed into service for metal work. I used an old hand held belt sander clamped in my vice for a couple of years when no other machine was available. Hopefully others will join in and help you discover other options.

Also have a look at this thread. What steel are the smaller construction air hammer tools ( chipping hammer tools ) made of ? I use the point and chisel tools that have a shank about 9/16" in diameter, and the workung end a bit larger than 3/4". I use the steel form these tools both as hand held and screw press tooling. These tools are especially handy for making smaller screw press tooling because they already have shoulders. I use the shouldered end for screw press tooling and the remainder for hand held tools. As reported thy are a available at rental shops.

All of the above comments leave little room for adding helpful suggestions. However there is one that could be helpful. I recently consolidated two shops into one. The logistics of my move were very different for yours so my comment relates more to what happens after the move. What I found was that any thing that does not have a dedicated place in your shop at the time of the move will end up on the floor of your new shop. This can be a real problem. My suggestion is that the first work effort should be directed toward getting as much storage in place as is possible before you move. If shelves, and racks, and wall hooks are in place at the time of the move It will help keep the floor space clear to allow free movement and avoid having to shift stuff around multiple times.

Thanks for the reference. Every lead is appreciated. Occasionally a good deal can be had on Ebay. Unfortunately the referenced accessories are not one of those cases. Yep, pricey for sure. If that is all there is then I will make one up. Last thing that I bought on Ebay was an Aloris quick change set up. I was happy with that deal but there were three others on auction at the same time and it was not the smaller size that everyone else seems to want/need. Also if I Can buy it for close to my to costs to make it up Ill buy.

Thanks Doc. Will do.

I need a collet closer/draw bar for my Clausing 5900 series metal lathe. None of my usual parts sources have one. Any suggestions regarding a reliable source for this accessory will be appreciated.

I am going to guess that the high fire clay that you used was likely to be cone 10 which equates to 2381Deg F. Ideally the coating should be rated for temperatures equal to of higher than your refractory insulation, and the maximum temperature to which you fire your forge. Below is a formula for a cone 14, or 2500 Deg F, porcelain casting body which I believe would be a good candidate for forge coatings: Ingredients parts by weight Kaolin - 54.8 Silica - 26 Feldspar (potash) - 21 Sodium Silicate - 2 The sodium silicate acts as a liqufier to allow the use of less water to achieve flowability. Probably also acts as a flux. If any of you here in IFI have experience with ceramic casting bodies or clay slip bodies please join in join in and share information on their possible application as forge coatings.

I have been considering using an oil tank for a forge for some time . However my plan was to cut the ends off and make two. One for me and one for the friend who has the tank. Another alternate approach that I can see, where space is an issue, is to turn the tank on end . If that approach were taken the hood cut could be made from either the narrow or long side. No matter how you cut it this is a wonderfully creative and useful idea.

The burner hole needs to be coated. If not it will erode. Please don't ask how I know.

Tire Iron steel will work for smaller punches but also look at crow bars, pick axes, steering tie rods, and any other tool you can lay your hands on. The list is very long. For instance the ball peens of old ball peen hammer heads can be forged into handled tools that are very useful such as center punches small hot punches . Old triangular saw files make great scribes. Old engineer hammers and small sledges can be reforged to provide good quality cross and straight peen hammers. Unfortunately most screw drivers are to small for most BS tooling.

Nice bowl. Looks like you spent some time finishing it. Can't see how the base was formed. I have never made a bowl using power hammer. I do however have dishing dies that I use for dishing where needed (below). I may have to give it a try. What do your PH dies look like, or were you using had held tooling ?

Those are nice saws. I had one my shop for 2-3 years. The only concern that I had with the saw was that it was a lot bigger than I needed on a regular basis and the effort it took to raise the saw for multiple small cuts got to be be a drag. I however solved that problem by fabricating a counter balance fixture that interchanged with the adjustable leg provided for the vertical operating position. This fixture, consisted of a round bar sized to hold a couple of small weights from a weight lifting set. The bar was welded to a piece of stock that fit into the leg socket. I used motor shalt collars as adjustable stops to hold the weights in the sweet spot for whatever size stock I was cutting. It didn't take much weight but made a huge difference in the effort expended using the saw. Before I built that fixture I experimented by hanging stuff off of the leg. Good luck and happy sawing.

I would test the porcelain glaze for lead. If it trests negative give it a try. if it tests posative take it to the dump. Lead used to be used as a flux in all sorts of glaze materials. My guess is that the sink is of post lead law manufacture. But I am not sure if porcelain for sinks were covered under that law or not. Best to be safe rather than sorry though. Test it. There is not much to be lost if it is not glazed with HAZMAT. Sounds like a good idea.

OK, so the using the syphon system goes straight to the heart of the safety issue, Thank you for that. The featured forge uses vegie oil. How does fuel oil compare with vegie oil in terms of heat content, ignition temperature and general characteristics otherwise related to safety ?

What about using a preasurized fuel tank ? 1 or 2 PSI would probably be plenty of pressure to move the fuel. This would be an advantage for portable forges. It would be easy enough to dedicate a regulator since the featured burner already uses compressed air.

VERY NICE ! My first gas forge was blown, bottom fired, propane fuel . It worked well I still have the castable body in a corner some where. If I were to build one I would start with that forge body. For years I have been thinking that I would like to build an oil fired forge. I have been reluctant to proceed with that project because of concerns that an oil fired forge inside my shop might not be a good Idea. I my world Murphy Rules. If something can go wrong then it will. The featured forge is a wonderfully creative and functional forge . But I can't help but wonder if it is Murphy Proof. Having said that - For years I heated my house with oil so there are bound to be ways to make this kind of forge safe. But would the Insurance companies accept an un-tested home grown system if something were to go wrong ?

Google "2 buck furnace" and have a look at what one member of the Backyard Casting group has done. If I were to make one of these I would consider it experimental and not expect it to last a long time. Perhaps someone on that forum will be able to comment on how their home mix refractory holds up under service. My first gas forge was made from an alumina based castable. It worked but was heavy, took a long time to reach forging heat (because of it's mass), and had a tendency to develop heat stress cracks. I built this forge in the mid 1980's before internet. If I had had the information resources available today, I would have built a fiber based forge. Having said that I understand where you are coming from. If I were to build another castable forge I would use a cylindrical fireclay flue liner as the inner lining for my next one. It would either be jacketed or bound with strap . Good luck. Show us what you come up with, and share your comments on it's performance.

Point proven. Keep up with school work during the week off. Then carry on with life as if nothing happened. My guess is that nobody else will mess with The Blacksmith. But above all enjoy your week in the forge.

I came across the idea of using a plastic bag several years ago on a machine shop blog (I think it was "Frets"). When my wife started discarding these empty lunch meat containers I latched onto them for shop storage. It didn't take long to make the connection. Their use just seemed to present the next step of improving a good idea. Crunchy floors are bad.