Old N Rusty

Then, there is welding a pipe to the hammerhead.

Would you tell us your method of stretching the firescreen tight ? This is a fine job , you got the "beep beep" right on !

But,,, I like rust. Work keeps the face of my anvil shiney, and the rust on the sides ,, it's rustic.

To make the mold fall free from the casting , use soot from acetylene torch to blacken the mold. I looked in the local hardware store and found lead wool is still available. This material is what the old timers would tamp into holes to affix ironwork into a hole in stonework. I really liked the scrolls in the illustration , did you have to make any replacement scrolls?

Want to sell it?

There it landed after the anvil shoot! If you would return it to this address...

20 years ago I mistakenly carried my Schrade belt knife into a casino In Atlantic City N.J., It was confiscated . there was plenty talk of locking me up too. Eventually I walked free. It took a letter from a lawyer we knew to his buddy, the owner of the casino, Donald Trump, to get my knife mailed to Louisiana.

Mr.Gaddis you really need to come back to Baton Rouge and see my 2-1/4" thick 8'x8' table it sits all, 5600lbs+ on a table I had built for a 4' x 8' 1 " plate . no legs on the outside 2' sides VERY STILL and it is flat and level it will not move with a long cheater on a bar I wish to bend cold in the 1-1/2" round bar bending " forks. pins " welded to the side of the table , 3/4" apart. The height of your worktable is a matter of personal choice , the height of the anvil face is usually too low , but that could be handy. I chose 36 " from the concrete floor, a yard. that established the height of all the " horsies"I built to hold bar stock and plate. This is the ht. of the cutting table as well, sliding material without a lift suits me. I have used a rosebud heating torch for a long time, continously on the same spot. with no fear of warping this armor plate , and I have seen a 1" plate that did warp from a very short amount of such abuse. I tack weld jigs and such regularly all the time and am very care full not to dig into the table with the grinding wheel. when removing them . There are many 9-64th " holes i have drilled about 1/2" deep for a 1/8th"dia.pin very use full for tying a string to and drawing circles and arcs. Other holes establish a straight line and intersecting lines to speed layout. in addition to the pins for bending I spoke of that are welded to the sides of the table , I have a piece of 1" I.D.square tubing 1/4" wall thickness . this I weld to the table side when I want a portable hardy hole.

$1.00 a minit to build , fit , fabricate forged pieces traditional joinery or welding (explain collars ) $20.00 each scroll a minimum . Decorated scrolls higher (show samples) . You must sell sizzle, The steak is what they came to a blacksmith FOR!

Glenn sent me a five gallon bucket of some BIG lump coal. Lumps as big as a five pound bag of sugar or bigger! What a laugh! I burned the " fines" he filled the spaces between the lumps ,some bits were as big as a golf ball and most were walnut to pecan size. For the test I emptied the Centaur cast iron fire pot in my forge . With some cardboard and hardwood pieces of broken hammer handles to cover the chip breaker and a large hand full of sawdust . I got a fire started with one match. I can't stress how use full sawdust is in starting and re-lighting a fire that has almost gone out.I t will bring back a fire fast if there is the least bit of smoke . This coal is very black and shiney , it fractures into layers like shale rock, some of which I saw in the fire. Shale will POP and send sparks flying, but there is not a whole lot of it in this sample . Not enough to worry about. I am sure this coal is bituminous , but close to anthracite in the smell and the sparks flying. It is a a good coal and cokes well. This fire lasted a long time without adding any more coal It feels sorta "sticky" on the poker. I was very satisfied how fast it will bring up a welding heat on a 1/2 " round bar . For the welding test I folded back 3" of that bar and brought it up to fluxing temp . it was clean coming out of the fire with no ash or clinker sticking to it, it wire brushed easily ,and fluxed with borax i placed it back into the "cave fire".The coke burned at a nearly white heat and I could feel a good amount of radiant heat from the forge. When the lap was at welding heat it was easy to sling off the excess flux and start the weld. The fire stayed very hot and returned the piece to welding heat quickly. I forged some other pieces and let the fire burn up to ash. After there was no more fire to be had from this test I dug out a small amount of a silvery metallic clinker and small bits of shale rock. I am pleased with this coal , it is not the very best I have ever burned , That honor, "THE BEST COAL" is ,in my opinion the coal that another supplier sells.

Ok,I was busting concrete and had no time to fit a stick . Any way a ten pound sledge is not a regular forging hammer, Wrist and elbow concerns are misapplied, one elevates the brute and HITS one time on two part dies , when it is ever used in the forge. I don't think wood is the best handle material for big sledges.

It is a bar now.

Some mood music for the Big Easy. enjoy your trip.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8u2GfNqaHo&feature=related

As Mac pointed out, most of what you are going to see there is cast iron. Shutter and door hinges some are forged, some are welder creations made modern with pipe barrels welded to cut straps. I recomend you check out the fence at the Cabildo, in Jackson Square. hammered pointed pickets, and pierced rail . Tall and curved it is a nice bit o work. Suprisingly it is a modern re-creation as the Cabildo burned in the early eighties!

Today , I did it ,,,I welded a 1- 1/4 " steel pipe ,30" long to a 10 lb. double faced sledge hammer head !! The short piece of the broken wood handle fit right inside the pipe and I welded it with E-7018 all the way around. Using the S.M.A.W. welding process. I am ready to read all the criticism this will get going. Oh,, (horror) the pipe was galvanized! Sorry RT.

The Hurricane Isaac spared us , Thank God ! We lost cable servise for 4 days , came back on this morning , old dvd's and radio got very boring. but the electric at my home and at my shop stayed on. So many folks down here are still suffering in the heat with no electric , and those poor folks that got flooded are needing prayers.Thanks for the concern my online friends.

Good thread , I was wondering what is COR -TEN steel ?

Wood handles for my hammers, PECAN is my favorite, Hickory is the second choice. Any old stick for struck tools.

Joshua you could make a big dagger, like we discussed .. then MAIL it to me!

If somebody sneaked in my shop and replaced the old dies in my L.G. 100 I would be lost! I know where the saddle is and use it to keep a taper straight by moving the work to the side of the saddle, turning the bend straight . Flat, perfectly matching dies would be a hinderance. Just my .02 cents.

Lining the forge with a sand /cement mix protects the iron from cracking and insulates the fire from the HEAT SINK of the metal.You can mold a bowl shape into the mix and it will be a help in keeping a deep fire. Mix 3 parts sand to 1 part portland cement (not concrete mix ) mix it to just moist, and mold it to the shape you want. Fire clay will crack and break up. This liner does not crack and keeping the coal wet is good for fire maintenance.

There is a hardy tool that makes linking chain a "snap" . I hope Glenn will dig out the film "shears" and link to it. In that film the smith has one of them in his anvil it is basically a block with a hardy tail and a hook on the side with a flat top and a deep fuller groove . to use it the chain is on the farside of the anvil with the last link across this tool in the fuller groove .When the new link is added the weld is supported by the hook for the first tap. You must practice lap welds , I am not sure a gasser is your best choice for a chain making forge. Good Luck!

Re-bar! That material is barely good enough for pouring concrete all over it, It is a barely mixed ammalgamam of automobiles and scrap, and often rolled so cold it is stress cracked. You will find it to be inconsistant in quality, and very hot short. A big waster of a blacksmiths time and fuel, and the UGLY is on it deep. Oh,and it don't weld well with ANY process. Forge, electric, or gas. Stay off, it is a dead end street.

Great job , JW and shadow !

Miller 444 cv for stick welding , fluxcore, and gouging, I use it for T.I.G. on steel , Miller 250 synchrowave , with hi freq. and foot pedal for T.I.G. welding aluminum and stainless steel . Miller 250 M.I.G. and aluminum spool gun. On many of the scroll work door panels I make, I will tack with the M. I. G. , and weld out with T.I.G. With the 400 amp machine there is an almost explosive touch start going in,with deep penetration , and fusion with only a touch of E-70s2 filler wire. Less smoke as mentioned before and a lot less clean up grinding , For a professional shop , Miller equipment can't be beat.