knots

I have and use a TRITON unit that I purchased form Woodcraft . It consists of a construction helmet fitted with a face shield, and cloth dust shroud that fits tightly around the neck using a draw string. It is equipped with a filtered battery powered blower which is belted, the air entering the rear of the helmet . It also has hearing protection which I removed because of the weight ( I use ear plugs instead). It works pretty well and cost about $200. It was the most economical of three options available at the time of my research. I also considered but found that Compressed air from any unit other than an oiless compressor is not a good idea. Also being tethered by a hose , for me , would be much to restrictive. Before I started using this device I experienced a lot of trouble with breathing disorders, and bronchitis. These conditions are now much improved. Having used this device for over two years now I would not hesitate to upgrade to a lighter unit. Prior to getting my TRITON I required multiple treatments with antibiotics and Prednisone each year. The necessity of these treatments has all but disappeared.

No but it sure looks like a nice little hammer. Is it a Twenty Five Pounder ? Just from the picture I would think it to be a superior design.

I made a small bending fork out of one of these spring ties, This material is really tough and made a really nice one. One thing about the ones that I used is that the surface pits quickly when at forging heat. I suspect that the surface layer metal is loosing carbon. I don't know what the proper name for the other J hook type is - the ones that are about 7/8" square, but they make good general use cold chisels. I have a couple that I forged more than 20 years ago that are still in use. On these I harden and heat treat only the ends and leave the chisel body soft. I mainly use the "S" steels for hot work so haven't used them much for hot work.

Another way to test for upsetting would be to cut out a given length from both the untwisted and the twisted areas of the bars and weigh them in a gram scale. Maybe an accurate postage scale would be sufficient. Thanks for bringing this interesting subject to our attention. You might also consider that there may be more than a single process going on here . In any event the weight test will give hard data to consider.

When Re Bar is textured by roll forming You will often see a straight continuous deformation down opposite sides of the bar. In effect the bar is not perfectly round but ovoid, Twist that and what you measure is the diameter of the straight deformations rather than the minor bar diameter. In other words twist a oval and the major axis forms a circular profile. Check this out .

What is the volume/weight of fluid contained in the evaportator ? Steel looses strength as it is heated. If you are heating a large volume /weight of fluid the you may be experiencing this failure because the heated steel does not have the strength to support the load of the evaporator. How hot does the plate get ? Does it ever reach red heat ? I assume that this evaporator runs for long periods of time when in service.

Use your bench grinder to remove the mushroomed edges. Examine the face very closely for cracks along the edge. If you find cracks continue grinding using the bench grinder until the damaged material is completely removed. You may need to regrind the whole face to get rid of the damage. Then profile and polish the faces using the belt sander. What I used to do was GENTLY clamp the belt sander in my vice, using leather or toweling to protect the sander handle. With the belt up at working height you have good control on the grind. Use new belts for profiling, old belts for polishing. If you want a really fine finish you can stone it as RingingAnvil suggests. Since I don't do fine finishes I seldom bother to go beyond the worn belt stage. The most I ever do to protect mine is wax them. If you don't have the linseed/terp/beeswax formula mixed up you can use plain ole floor wax. I kind of prefer the look of the brushed steel waxed.

A regular hand held belt sander can be used to polish the hammer faces and sharpen chisels . The pitting on the non working surfaces does not affect the function of the tool so there is no need to make them smooth and shinny. However they should be treated to prevent the rust from returning. You might consider installing a wire brush on your bench grinder to remove the rust if not already equipped with one. The powered wire brush is a basic tool. If you don't have a belt sander find a friend that does and give it a try. Used ones are easy for find and inexpensive. They have many uses sharpening as well as polishing steel. I used one for years before I bought my commercial belt sander. Think outside the box.

Has any one experience using the MIG Gas Saver system being promoted on the following site ? www.netwelding.com/prod02.htm They claim that the volume of shielding gas stored in the hose between the regulator and the machine connection causes a surge in gas which sucks air into the arc area when the weld is initiated. They say this causes unstable starts, porosity, and excessive splatter at the beginning or the weld and wastes a significant volume of shielding gas.

This I can understand and appreciate. Thank You.

When you read my other posts in this topic you will see that I do use other products to maintain my hands. However, despite the their use, my problem persists. It is probably, at least in part, on account of my age. All products have warnings and an abundance of caution should be exercised using any product which defines a specific warning. However, since exposure frequency and severity are undoubtedly a factor, I see little danger using one or two drops 3 to 5 times a year when the fissures are particularly deep and bleeding. That exposure amounts to using this treatment at most once or twice a month. The following two paragraphs are quoted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia : Tissue Adhesives "In recent years, topical cyanoacrylate adhesives ("liquid stitches"), a.k.a super glue, have been used in combination with, or as an alternative to, sutures in wound closure. The adhesive remains liquid until exposed to water or water-containing substances/tissue, after which it cures (polymerizes) and forms a flexible film that bonds to the underlying surface. The tissue adhesive has been shown to act as a barrier to microbial penetration as long as the adhesive film remains intact. Limitations of tissue adhesives include contraindications to use near the eyes and a mild learning curve on correct usage. Cyanoacrylate is the generic name for cyanoacrylate based fast-acting glues such as methyl-2-cyanoacrylate, ethyl-2-cyanoacrylate (commonly sold under trade names like Superglue and Krazy Glue) and n-butyl-cyanoacrylate. Skin glues like Indermil and Histoacryl were the first medical grade tissue adhesives to be used, and these are composed of n-butyl cyanoacrylate. These worked well but had the disadvantage of having to be stored in the refrigerator, were exothermic so they stung the patient, and the bond was brittle. Nowadays, the longer chain polymer, 2-octyl cyanoacrylate, is the preferred medical grade glue. It is available under various trade names, such as LiquiBand, SurgiSeal, FloraSeal, and Dermabond. These have the advantages of being more flexible, making a stronger bond, and being easier to use. The longer side chain types, for example octyl and butyl forms, also reduce tissue reaction. " If surgeons can use this product why shouldn't we. I am more concerned about getting brain cancer from my cell phone than the danger of a few drops of this material on my skin each year. The truth is that I am not much concerned about the cell phone/ brain cancer claim either.

Animal eye punches, texturing punches, center punches, small chisels, small pry bar, various other small tools.

My parents had a telephone that you had to crank. The operator then came on and connected you. One of my first automobiles used a crank to start. There was an OLD blacksmith out back of my dad's business. Used to shoe mules among other endeavors. Spent many an hour watching and was as sad as his family when he up and passed on.

I agree with the idea of a blunt peen on the hammer should you forge one. The main thing that makes the cat's head hammer attractive is that it has a unique shape . However that shape may not be ideal for the kind of iron work that most of us do . I bought one at the St Louis ABANA conference years ago. Tried it and found that they were not well suited for the work that I do. So I just keep it around to look at. The narrow almost sharp peen of the cats head hammer doesn't seem very functional . I prefer conventional hammers with blunt peens. Actually a much blunter peen than you see in any commercial blacksmith hammer. The peens on my hammers are about 3/4"wide and well rounded. I suppose that you could make a hybrid cats head hammer with a blunt peen. But then it wouldn't be a cats head any longer. Well maybe a bobcat .

My Propane forge furnace has a Dayton ?C440 blower that I purchased in the Mid 80's. Blower reference No. U21, 3" squirrel cage blower wheel, 1/25 HP motor. I purchased it at Grainger. The blower has seen moderate service over the years. Longevity seems not to be a problem. I mounted mine using a bolt down pipe flange. to connect the blower to threaded pipe. I trimmed the flange to size to make it pretty. I have been thinking of buying another for a second forge but the 3" Dayton is no longer available at Grainger. The following seem to be the close equivalent: FASCO 6fHX4, PCS 1TDN7. Each of these has a built in junction box as mine does. I drilled the side of the box and installed a toggle switch for convenience. Mine runs a t 1750 RPM they say that these run at a higher RPM. They all have a built in air flow control plate over the intake. This controls the air flow nicely. Perhaps MSC or some of the other suppliers have a similar blower. Good luck

I posted earlier in this thread that I would attempt to find an old Scientific American article on Gongs. Sadly I could not locate the issue.

I found a a really nice 12" shaper with universal table last fall. The universal table tilts. I really wanted that machine because they are so versatile. It required a footprint of 39" x 42", fairly compact for that size machine. The cost was only $700 . The only reason that I didn't buy it was that I just couldn't fit it into my small shop. I would buy one in a NY minute if I had room. But I would look for something a larger than a 7" tabletop machine. However if you want it for small stuff only the 7" may be ok for you. There is a shaper forum on Yahoo. Go there and ask them.

Volume of fuel gas flow is a function of fuel gas supply pressure and orifice size . Referenced below are sites containing formulas and data. .http://gasho.org/rotron%20pages/orifice%20flow%20calculation.htm http://www.auto-ware.com/techref/orifice.htm Propane energy content: 91690 BTU/US gallon

My phase Converter is compete and balanced using a combination of motor run capacitors . I am now able to run my mill, evaluate, and work toward getting it fully operational. Having done so I thought that I would backtrack to the concept of using a static phase converter to balance voltage for of a rotary phase converter. The literature that I have found indicates that the performance of circuits, where the power is provided by static phase converters, can be improved if an unloaded idler motor is run along along with other motors which are loaded. Static phase converters provide about 70% of full power for 3 phase circuits. Apparently the idler motor enhances this performance. I found no literature suggesting of a static phase converter being used to balance voltage outputs between the three legs of a rotary phase converter. However this is a subject of interest so if there is a more complete explanation, or additional information please add whatever you can to this subject.

Thanks Ward - I like the simplicity of your solution.

I have continued to play this thing through looking for a solution. What I think will work is an open ring formed from flat bar, probably 5/16 inch thick stock. The width if the bar being the width of the tape. So - Insert the ring into the tape and then install the roll directly on the lathe chuck. Run the jaws out to secure it in place on the chuck. Seems like this should work since the cutting load/torque will be low. I like your pizza cutter analogy, only I will probably make a cutter wheel more like a big pipe cutter blade. Yep could mount it on the tool post. Bet Aloris never thought of this ! :)

Thanks Glen - If I find another method I will post my result.

Sticky Problem - I use a fair amount of duct tape. However it is way to wide for some applications. One day I got the bright idea that I would just curt a roll in half. Fired up the table saw sawed it in half. Got the tape cut but the blade was fowled . It was a sticky mess. So I used all of that cut tape up and tried to think of another a way to cut the tape without the mess. Got the bright idea that I should freeze the tape and then cut it. Didn't work - Gooey mess again. I suppose that my next effort will be to make up a mandrel and try to slice it in the lathe. My fallback is to just tear the tape down the center as I use it. I did that for years but now my curiosity is challenged. Any Ideas for a tape roll slicer ?

We have an old Indo/English dinner gong that I have re-examined. It is a bronze pan gong. The pan bottom has a hammered texture. I theorize that the rim was hot forged onto a circular form because the edges were upset so that there are no folds evident . The pan bottom has a hammered texture. With close examination I can see that the the pan bottom is very slightly domed. I suspect that after the rim was forged that the pan bottom was plandished cold to place it in compression against the outer rim. Think of other timpani, and stringed instruments. The sounding/resonating element is always in compression. I have made triangular gongs, and bar gongs from steel with good results. Why would a steel pan gong, with a forged rim, and sounding pan placed in compression by plandinshing not work ? The process that I would suggest would be to: Hot forge the rim, over a circular form, using a torch as the hear source. After the pan is formed plandish the pan bottom cold to introduce compression into the pan bottom and restrained by the pan rim . Although this is a thought experiment it seems to have promise. If indeed the plandish induced stress in the pan bottom is the magic ingredient then it would logically follow that perforations of the pan would likely alter and perhaps spoil the sound. Unfortunately I am currently moving my shop and can't try this out. Maybe someone else will beat me to it. If so please report the result and satisfy my curiosity.

I use my MillerMatic 180 for most of my welds because most of my welds involve welding small stuff. But like you I also have a 200AMP Tig welder. Mine is a Hobart with high frequency arc stabilization which makes it really nice power source for stick welding. Like you I prefer MIG, but there are just some projects that really are better accomplished with stick welding. You have a good power source, why not use it ? If you have a good auto-darkening hood and have some way to dry your rods it should go a smooth as silk. Alternatively weld concealed welds with stick and finish it off with MIG. BTW a rod drier can be made using a large coffee can with a light socket mounted through the can side. Use a 40W appliance light bulb. Plug it in, place the rods in the lighted can and cover with a larger can or bucket. It's not very professional but it works. I dry mine this way because my rods can lie around for years between uses. In any case it is good welding practice.