macbruce

I love RRT dies....This set I made years ago and they have held up as well as any made from the ''good stuff''. I harden the dies before I weld em which doesn't seem to affect the hardness...... I noticed the base plate in one of the pix looks to be slightly bowed by welding. If so then it will rock slightly on the table. I had this annoying problem and corrected it by bowing the plate before welding them together. Put a bow of 3/32''or less across the middle of the plate and clamp the die paralell to the crown of the bow..........after welding the flanges pull up true.........Even if there is a small space under the middle it won't matter , at least it can't rock...... ......................mb<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &gt;&lt;,,&gt;<br>

Nice package.........bet it doesn't go cheap.........

The guys in the mine shop didn't do it any harm. Looks like it was more of a makeover than a rebuild.....nice rig....mb

Cool Rory, Looks like you found a good use for griprail drop, or was it made special ?...............mb

If you stay in one place too long with the puddle it will begin to break down and spoil (bug holes). Normally you get the puddle established, add filler rod and move on..................................mb

The casting that holds the lower die is called the ''sow block'', and is solid........Don't rule out building an air hammer...good luck!

I was in a friends shop and saw this variation of a ''spring guard'' on a 50lb LG made of 3'' radiator hose encasing the spring. Not so much a guard, but it would make spring breakage less hazardous. Simple to install and way better than nothing........ Just sayin' not sellin'.......mb

I've seen smiths bid against each other many times at meetings and conferences without guile.......An auction is an auction, we're all big boys here..................mb

I agree 100% If it has a cast iron face, but it looks to me like the chips broken out of the face look more like steel breaks than cast iron......Bring on the BB test !

Maybe I'm full of it on this but a venturi is created whenever a larger volume (pipe)is pushed through a smaller one. I use a 2'' pipe necked down to an 1 1/4'' using bushings. I suspect if I made the transitions more efficient it would blow out the flame.......Then I would probably need to up to 1/2'' pipe.........A simple solution might work just as well.......If not I'm sure I'll hear about it B)

I use pitted ''boiler plate'' occasionally , mostly for fireplace surrounds, and that can be tough to find. At least a passable substitute can be made in a power hammer...........An option not really fesable with angle iron......Maybe some alternatives would be to find some plate , cut it into strips and have it formed in a press break, or textured strip the same.........Allot of work, just depends on how bad you gotta have it............. I'm sure there is a stash of that stuff somewhere........Like looking for a ''needle in a haystack'' though....good luck!.......mb

I wonder why a Japanese anvil would have pounds as the prominent measure of wt. If it is newer and made for export then someone here surely know what it is, or possibly it was made in occupied Japan. If the word occupied is there you're talkin collectable $$$ Just don't quit your day job just yet................mb

Unless you run the forge for say 8 hrs at a run I would think wind power would be more efficient .........If the flue is drawing well don't tinker with it..........:D

Better that than china!.......Is the face hard? If so you may have an anvil that some here would kill to have........;)

Rory May's dad has a hammer, maybe a Sahinler for sale I think........in colorado

I thought maybe you were needing the alloys cause it's a fireplace hood an heat (melting) might be a factor with pure zinc. Over time it turns to a nice pewter finish, which is far easier than trying to get an ''even'' finish with the liquid. I really had a problem with that, then I was able to talk the owner into being a little patient.............We all know that's not always possible <_<

You might want to check out the thread I posted on member projects; ''zinc hood''if you haven't already. rotometals.com has lots of sheet, patinas, and solder. I can't recall if they deal with ti zinc alloys or not , sounds like cool stuff though....good luck with the project......mb

I have just what you are looking for.........you take care of the shipping and you can have it for nothing! (joking)...:D

Or maybe they needed a little overtime......... :lol:

I wouldn't leave em so close to the ground with a jealous dog around ....they might wind up smelling like fire hydrants...... One thing I couldn't help but notice is the lack of chisel and punch divits on the sides so common on American anvils.....I suspect that was VERBOTEN and heaven help the apprentice who did such a thing !

Nice to know what this rascal is after 20yrs or so. Hardly ever use it........When I do I grab the bottom of it in my heavy chipping vice to create a horizontal vice.......I gots no wagen .....mb

I don't think the most experienced knife maker on this site would attempt this, It's just not going to happen in my humble opinion. No harm in trying......... One other thought....If the bits are high speed steel I don't see much hope........ If they are the old high carbon bits you might have a fighting chance.......mb

Either end.....most commonly the fat end though.....esp for tapers I also like the fact that they take the heavy squeezing of the tongs out of the process when forging heavy stuff. Looks like the project is well in hand, I'd like to see it finished.......mb

Porter bar eh, I been using them for decades and didn't know they had a name.......I like the fact that they can be sized to counterbalance the weight of the forging.....mb