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I Forge Iron

ThomasPowers

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Everything posted by ThomasPowers

  1. I don't recall being taken to the ER; testing, the helicopter ride to Rio Rancho, the surgery, etc. Several days later I "woke up" in the ICU and started the Gamma Ray Knife fights. For someone who doesn't watch TV the hospital room doesn't provide much entertainment. BTT: some of my forge friends relined my gasser last week and I hope I can use it a little next week; perhaps a bottle opener....
  2. I had one of my forge buddies drive me to the scrapyard. He filled up the bed of my truck. I got one handful of stuff. I only had to sit down about 3 times walking around the small pile.
  3. Also power hammers have cast iron die supports.
  4. ThomasPowers

    First leg vise

    I was planning to mount one out in my driveway using nesting sq tubing so I could remove it and store it in the shop; or drop it in the cemented receiver when needed and walk a 20' stick around it. I have the nice robustus vice for it already.
  5. Spending a lot of time in the hospital bed in the living room sleeping. However only 1 day so far that I had to use the pain meds in the last two months. Can't drive or go to the shop on my own; but my forge buddies are helping me get to NMABA meetings and providing "watchers" so I can go out to the shop and sort and sell. Been having a lot of visits from my church vicars; including one from 200 miles away. Worried that I may catch pneumonia from the breeze from the angel's wings---the higher in the hierarchy ones are *spooky*---why the first thing they say when talking with humans is generally "FEAR NOT!"
  6. I once spent 89 days in Germany doing a computer installation and my German colleagues were horrified to find that I had not specified an automatic transmission when I rented a car over there. They explained that I would get a standard one. They had trouble believing that that is what I drove here in the USA as all the rental cars they had used here were automatics. I explained that I drove whatever I found when I needed to get a different car. And standard transmissions are an "anti theft device" out here too. I guess car thieves are worried that they would end up killing the engine while the aggrieved owner ran out with their winchester nitro express. (AKA BIG BOOMSTICK) Back when I lived just south of a "ritzy" historic district where nobody had any storage they used to trash their propane grills every fall; often with full tanks still attached! Got 6 bbq tanks for free. I refill as needed and do the exchange when I need to get a tank that's in the cert and then go and refill those as well. Last time I read the exchange, it explicitly stated that they only did a 4/5 refill IIRC. My refill dealer will just fill all my tanks sequentially and bill me for the total used. Our kitchen stove is propane and my wife has the dealer come out and refill the large tank. My bbq and 100# tanks I haul into town myself.
  7. Well; I'm going bald fast but I have a great hot pink "Brain Warmer" hat I can cover up with---especially my horseshoe scar from my brain surgery. THANKS ALL Y'ALL! (And less than 10 teeth now; when I *smile* at people they tend to flinch away! I cancelled my denture work as I will probably not be around long enough to make it worth while.... s mi le)
  8. ThomasPowers

    First leg vise

    Actually I like having both a large one, 6"+, and a small one, 4", to hand; often one mounted at each end of a work bench. Much easier to close a 4" vise using your knee to manipulate the handle while both hands are holding the workpiece(s). I also have my largest vise fastened to the telephone pole that holds the shops roof truss---I use it for heavy pounding even though it "drives" the metal wall of the shop and lets my neighbors know I am "busy" in it... So my shop currently has 5 postvises in current use and two travel ones and one "historic" one. (3.5", very gracile and Frank Turley thought it dated pre 1800!)
  9. Spray a bit of white paint on the hair...
  10. As I recall there was quite a discussion on this over at armourarchive.org.
  11. Be wary I remember a HF employee telling me that their anvil marked Cast Iron was actually made from steel. They didn't know the difference! I have also run into anvils branded Serious Steel IIRC; but besides the 'brand name' they were made from cast iron. I'm going with improvised anvils for US 20 cents a pound at the scrapyard.
  12. Note that inexpensive pressure gauges can be very far off if not recently calibrated; as can the one you are comparing it to. Learn to tune by eye and ear and not by some number that may be 50% off to start with.
  13. As it is an American brand anvil it would NOT be marked in CWT. As to worth it would depend a lot on LOCATION; is it in Tasmania or Iceland or Mexico? We have folks from over 100 different countries participating here on IFI on the World Wide Web. The what looks like a high nickel repair will affect the price downward. Here in New Mexico; USA I would expect it to go for US$4 a pound or a bit more.
  14. Here in the SCA I have seen bottle openers built into metal belt tips for leather belts. Handy and not as likely to disappear when needed.
  15. Sigh; just remember I have a confirmed diagnosis of terminal brain cancer, nasty glioblastoma MF stage 4 and a sympathetic Judge! I'm learning to not trust myself anymore and play Dark Side of the Moon a lot...
  16. That's what I would assume; but I'm trying to NOT trust my brain lately for obvious reasons...
  17. OK; older anvils had the faceplate welded on in sections and the weld zone often wears faster due to decarb during the welding process. So indents across the face of the anvil may be faceplate section joins and there is also a tendency to have faceplate failures at such joins. I have a Powell where a faceplate join matched up with the edge of the hardy hole and the joint where the heel was welded onand a catastrophic failure occurred leaving me with a heeless anvil. (About 120# and sold to me for US$40; so I was happy!)
  18. BTW; whose level 1 curriculum? I assume that over the entire earth and the last say 3000 years there have been more than 1.
  19. My adopted sister's CLH just had to have my Father's Lexus even though he's working a part time minimum wage job and can't afford to buy gas for it much less repairs. I was offered it for free; but my small pickup/ute suits my budget and needs MUCH better and I turned it down.
  20. I tell my students to learn to quit *BEFORE* they make the unfixable mistake or injure themselves. One cave I remember; we were looking at a topo map and thinking "there should be a cave somewhere around there." So we packed up and were hiking up the stream and saw a path leading off to the side...sure enough it led to a small cave entrance that when crawled through; opened up to a comfortable size. Spent 6 hours in it and never reached the end. One of my Hospice team is planning to explore an abandoned mine shaft near their off the grid house. I've offered to be their "safety officer" on the outside. Comfy Chair; hot tea, scones and a fully charged cell phone to call in support if needed. I'm not up for exploring; but I can watch and wait.
  21. Funny I have a 469# Fisher that was on a heavy baulk; but not fastened down. I found that during heavy sledging; it would start to creep. A handful of fence staples used as a corral kept it "safe".
  22. Depends a lot on how it would be used. My anvils are not fastened to their stands as they get moved a lot for teaching.
  23. When I worked for the swordmaker and we had an "off day", Dropsies; bad timing, etc, we would shut down and go caving---one of the advantages of living in a karst area....wild caves.
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