welder19

$405 for 15 lbs is just nuts....colectors welder19

Here I get vermiculite and perlite at a feed store/ farm store. If you have anything like that in your area they should sell it. welder19

I might be interested if you have some pics I would definately like to look. welder19

Gingery's Other Foundry Titles I have this book and would recomend it if you want to get into building your own blowers or fans, some of the info is actually a little too in depth but better than being to vague (sp?). welder19

Maybe we need a translator built in to the forum, it would be cool to be able to comunicate with people all over the world, not just the ones who can speak english. I think if you live in a country, this one or any other, you need to be able to speak, or learn to speak, the language of that country, but on line it's different, we can't expect the whole world to speak one language just cause their on line. Just think about the things we could learn. Not all of us are able to travel around the world;) welder19

I already have a mortgage on a house, can't afford two. welder19

Thanks for the advice. The main reason I want to harden it is because the last one I had always seemed to get used for other things, not just sheetmetal, and it ended up getting pretty beat up. I want to try and get it so that it will keep a good edge, as much as possible any way. The last one was just a piece of 4" HRS mild steel, so the edge didn't last too long. These I aquired from work, I have two so I guess I could do a spark test on one and get some idea of what they are. Thanks, I think I'll mull over my options and maybe give it some sort of a try on Sat., if I succeed or fail, I'll let you know. welder19

Hi guy's, have a hardening question figured I would get some opinions seeing as it is an area I don't have too much experience. I have a piece of steel, no idea what grade it is but I want to harden it so I can use it as an anvil of sorts for sheetmetal work. It is 2" thick and 4" round and basically solid, it does have a oil galley machined into it, but still basically a solid piece of steel. What would you suggest for hardening? Thanks, welder19

Nice score! Be sure to post some more pics of the restore and finished machine. I don't know what size motor it has but if you can find a used rotory phase converter, you'll probably be better off. The static converters work, but not as well for larger motors, you don't get the power out of the static as is sometimes needed on larger machines. But when it comes down to it, the static does give a softer blow to the wallet, which is why I have one. To give an example, I have a 20" disc grinder with a 3 hp 3 phase motor. I used to use it in the shop of the guy I bought it from, which had 3 ph power, you could grind 1" plate and it wouldn't even bog it down. Now that it is in my shop running off of the static converter, I can lug it down pretty good with a piece of 1/2". It is still a bear and does all I need and then some, just has less power than what it should. welder19

Keep in mind that the blower you posted is rated for intermitent use, but for the price, you can always replace the motor if it goes. welder19

$$$$ Ever had to buy leather belting, pricey compared to synthetic material, but mainly you can get a lot more torque on a vee belt versus flat, what Larry said about the bulge is dead on, it has a wedging effect, that's how you get more torque w/less surface contact. welder19

Beautiful work! Very nice. welder19

Thank's, it sounded like they were a good anvil, I just am not real up on anvil makers of today, like who's good and who's not, with out seeing one any way. I am saving money up and either gonna get a new or like new anvil and if I go with new I want to know how good all the options are. Any recomendations? It will probably be about a year or so before I will have enough money, just doing some window shopping right now. Thanks! welder19

Hey guys, just wondering if anybody has ever heard of or used an Nimba Anvil? Just wondering how good they are? Here is their web site, they have 3 sizes, 450lb $2275, 260lb $1650, and 120lb $900, they list $ per lb on the site. They sound pretty good, made of 8640 cast steel, not that I have that kind of money but I came across the site and just was currious. Nimba Anvils Home Page welder19

HI jakebob, I see you took my advice and came to IFI, well welcome. And for those of you asking about the casting I'll give the same advice I gave jake on the other forum, just in the opposit direction, melt metal, home metalcasting, backyard metalcasting The website is informational but the forum is where you can learn the most, and if you get bit by that bug too, then there is a few good websites out there on casting. welder19

It sounds like you may need to adjust the blower shaft bearing, on the opposit end of the shaft as the fan blades there is a bearing with an adjustable collar so you can adjust the amount of endplay in the blower shaft. Grab a hold of the fan and pull in and out, how much does it move? if you pull it out and it hits the housing then you need to adjust the endplay in the shaft. Remove the cap with a pair of channel locks or pipe wrench, loosen the locknut and turn the adjusting collar in till there is just a minimal amount of movement, then tighten locknut and install cap, this is also a good time to inspect bearing and make sure it is well lubricated. And if you have an extra one of the tapered collars that rides against the ball bearing in there, I mentioned in another thread that I needed one, well, I still do. Anybody? Please, I'll gladly pay for it!!! welder19

http://www.mcmastercarr.com McMatser sells leather and composit and the aligators for splicing, the tools, everything you need, they have a pretty good selection. welder19

My dad used to own a body shop, and now we do none to little body work, not to mention it is a different business these days, so I took a lot of the body tools we had and converted them for blacksmithing/sheetmetal work. The ones to look for are called dolly blocks, but I also use all the hammers that we had in the body shop. You should be able to find a lot of these tools used, like I said the trade has changed and these tools are not used as often in the modern body shop, however restoration shops still use them on a daily basis, there is not nearly as much panel replacing going on in restoration work, they still reshape panels. welder19

I try and keep a decent amount of stock on hand, but with the price of steel these days it's not as easy as it used to be, but I still manage to but some extra lengths of stock each time I go to the steel yard. I normally pick the project then get the material, but a lot of times I just want to make something and do not have any projects planned, so then I'll go and rumage around and pick some metal to make something of. welder19

Normally I fit in the after the project is finished catagory, however right now I have a lot of home projects going on and the last one on the list (wife won the battle over the order of the projects) is an addition on the shop. I think she did that so I would get the other things done faster, probably smart on her part. So there is an unnecissary amount of stuff in my shop right now making it impossible to clean or work in, but I have an area on the side of the shop w/a roof where my forge and anvils are, which is where I do my forging, so I can still do that much anyway. welder19

Nice wedge! That is a lot of heavy hammerin, I know as I don't have a power hammer either, but I am also content with out one (for now). welder19

Have a lot of "spanglish" talking native"s down there? We have quite a few here in the summer, migrant workers, on the farms, blueberries, cranberrys mostly. Congrats on new home! welder19

Awsome!! I can only imagine how it will look when it is installed, I'm sure it will look even better. If the wife is happy, then you really done good;) Love to see pics after it's in. welder19

I am sorry to hear what your family is going through, it is always a tough thing to deal with. My father is still alive but I went through it with my grandfather when I was younger, I know the pain. Your father will be in my prayers. welder19

I have used it to make camp fire roasting forks (marshmellow and hot dogs) forge fire tending tools, hooks, wall mounted coat rack and some other things I know but am drawing a blank, tired I guess. If I think of it I'll try and post some pic's tomorow. welder19