welder19

You may be able to purchase charcoal from someone locally who makes it. When I was in St. Thomas there was a guy who made his living making charcoal and selling it to other locals who needed it, cheap if I recall. Places like this are generally very poor area's so stuff like homemade charcoal is just part of life for them, and so is anything else that they can make versus having to import it. Also I would like to tip my hat to you for being so generous and doing something as noble as that. welder19

Looks ok, for me though I always put my anvil so I only have to turn 90 degrees from forge to anvil, I think it is probably mostly personal preference but it does help (me at least) when welding, the faster I can get from fire to hammer when welding always ups my success rates. Just a sugestion. Congradulations on getting a new shop. welder19

Welcome! Thank you for your service! welder19

The ones I like the best are made by MCR and are called Tremor meta-flex ProGrade, they are $8-$10.50 per pair depending on the lens, clear, gray, blue, mirror, etc. and we purchase them through Airgas, I think my other post had a link. Worth every dime in my opinion. As far as the fog goes, even if you find glasses you really like and they don't offer them in anit-fog, there are anti-fog spray and wipes available that will help prevent fogging on any glasses or facesheild and usually cost in the $5-$10 range and work good, atleast the ones I have used, the brand we have is Radnor, also available through Airgas. welder19

Welcome! welder19

Welcome! Thank you for your service! welder19

Very nice, all you need to do is add a spatula and a set of tongs and you'll have a full set. welder19

Welcome! Most of us are are not much better or atleast not when we were new to pushing buttons, the more you push the better you get, just like forging, the more you hammer the better you get. welder19

Maybe once upon a time someone cut it off to make it lighter to move around. They used to do some strange things back in the day, of coarse they will probably be saying that about us 100 yrs from now. welder19

Why do you need both, electric and hand crank? welder19

Dan, I know exactly what your feeling and going through, unfortunately, about 9 years ago, not long after we were married, my wife was having problems so looooong story short her Dr. sent her to get an MRI and they found a mass in her brain. This was devistating, for her and me, we were just begining our life together, she was only 19 (I'm a little older than her), and she was already on her way to being a great hairstylist, she is extremely talented, even at that age and early in her career she was making on average $1000 a week, so to get this kind of news just brought everything crashing down around us. It took quite a while, what seemed like months but was probably 2-3 weeks, to get an appointment with the top nuerologist in Philladelphia and to get some comfort in that it was not likely what we were fearing most, and over the next few months and test after test after test we found that it was not a tumor and was a defect that she was likely born with and never gave her any trouble until she was an adult and now her brain needed all the room God designed for it and it was causing the issue's due to pressure, this was even more troubling when the Dr. told us that where her mass was it was basically not operable due to were it was, and if it was a tumor that had to come out there would almost definately be permanate brain damage from minor to posible vegitable state. Basically it has caused her to have a form of epilepsy which is controlled with medication and annual MRI's to monitor to be sure nothing changes, it has been a long and bumpy road but she lives a perfectly normal life and if you met her you would not know there was anything wrong with her and she does not even have any seizures. I know that was a bit of a lengthy post but I just wanted to try and give you some hope, and that it may not be as bad as you may be fearing, but none the less she will be in my prayers as well as you because I know what you personally are going through and what it is like to she the one you love most in this world be scared and suffering and there is nothing you can do. It is not easy but keep your faith up now more than ever and pray, pray, pray, and know that there will be a lot of us praying for you as well, and let her know that we are praying for her as well, it will surely give her some comfort to know. Please let us know as you find out more about her situation. welder19

Even if you did fix your problem you should still have cleaner and lube pads they come in seperate packages with 6 in ea. pack and are $5 per pack and they last quite a while. They will extend the life of your liner, make for a smoother feed and can improve your weld if you have excessively dirty wire. Well worth the $10. They have them here 2nd from the last on the bottom of the page, not where I buy from but they are the same ones I buy, https://weldingsupply.securesites.com welder19

Cast iron. Not good for much, however they do make a decent fire pot for a coal forge. welder19

Nice! How long is it? welder19

Some cheap hand tools can serve a useful purpose but not cheap power tools, they are indeed a waste of hard earned $, IMO. welder19

King Porkunkhamun I ( 145 - 182 BBQ) That's great....I love it, not only does he do an awesome job artistically but what a great consept, some of animal rights folks may not find it that humorous but I did, especially since I raise and butcher my own pigs, normally, I didn't do any this year but this is the first year in many years I didn't, normally I raise 3, 2 for butchering and one to roast whole. Maybe if I ever get into doing that kind of copper work I'll make something similar to use at my pig roast's. welder19

They make anti-fog safety glasses and they work really well, we get ours from airgas.com, they have a large selection of all types of eye protection. At work they got REALLY BIG on safety in the last few years so we have tried out all different kinds and AirGas has been great to deal with, they let us try out all different kinds till we got the ones we liked best, now we stock about 10 or 12 diferent ones at the shop, this way everyone has the one they like best since different ones suit different people the best. If your going to wear them a lot then I suggest anti-fog and ones with a small wire fram since they are the lightest and most comfortable, another thing that adds greatly to the comfort factor is having a soft rubber nose piece, and the ones with no frame around the lenses make for the best unobstructed veiw. Don't buy cheap ones! The cheap ones will work but they are uncomfortable, they ones that I wear on a daily basis at work are around $15 per pair but they are very comfortable and they hold up very good, I get about a month out of a pair, give or take depending on what type of work I'm doing, when we were using the cheaper one's I would go through 2-3 pair a week which ends up costing a lot more than the more expesive ones. Also the cheaper ones will scratch when you clean them which just shortens their life making them harder to see through. I hate wearing glasses of any kind but I don't mind these ones, also do yourself a favor and get tinted ones as well, they are good when working outside and when forging. If you want I can find out the exact ones we use, that way it may save you some trial and error. welder19

The stuff from a grinder or chopsaw is not just steal, it has some of the material from the wheels mixed in with it and you would'nt want that in your new stuff. welder19

We "flat landers" down here call them pots too, crab "pots" and lobster "pots" welder19

Welcome! Would like to see some of that homemade equipment and tools when you get a chance, we love pictures. welder19

Welcome! Would'nt mind seeing some of your work, we love pictures. welder19

Milwaukee and Rigid. Milwaukee hold up good and usually are the most powerful. Rigid are great tools and have lifetime warranty on a lot of their stuff, even batterys on cordless tools and brushes on electric, just be sure you fill out the warranty info and send it in, they will send back the info you need in case you ever have to make a claim, which I did have to get a battery replaced and it was easy and no hassle, that alone makes it worth it since most of the time if a battery goes bad your better off buying a new tool for the price of battery's. Hilti are really good but unless your making a living with them they are bit out of most of our price range. welder19

A wooded structure is not a problem, just be sure to keep the forge at a safe distance from anything flamable or do like Dale R. did and put a metal barrier between the forge and the wall or ceiling if need be. welder19

Welcome! welder19

I thought that at first too, til I thought about it and then realized it was the camera person. welder19