welder19

I just plan to spend more time at the forge.....Hopefully. welder19

Sell a million $1 items.

Bottom line is it's all about the money, they will try and tell you otherwise but it's all just smoke and mirrors, they want to convince you that all their safety BS is for you and your family.... that's just their way of convincing employee's to get on board and get hardcore about their new policy's and standards. If that is the case then why is it that every corperate safety lines I have ever heard explains all about how much a back injury costs the co., how much an eye injury costs, how much a trip to the ER cost and so on, and they figure in your loss of time and the loss of revenue due to you being out. Then they go into how much their ins. co discounts them for each stricktly enforced safety policy and other various incentives from the ins. co. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY!!! As far as them allowing you to have your own standards that don't exactly match up with theirs, it's because they don't know whats safer and whats not but they do know that their rules are ok with their ins co. and they don't want to take any chances. It's all just a really pathetic game and corp. America is bringing this country to it's knees. welder19 Don't think that I'm saying that safety is not important, it is, it should be the #1 thing on your mind as you work but for you and the people around you NOT the corperate ins. co.

Induction are the way to go if you can afford one or have the electronic know how to build one, there is a guy over at bymc that built one. welder19

Customer service and treating customers and potential customers with respect and like they are important to you is sadly becomeing a thing of the past. One of the most agrevating, inconsiderate, rude and just plain bad for business things that has become common place these days is, NO ONE ANSWERS PHONES OR RETURNS CALLS. I worked in the service industry for many years and I worked for one co. for 15 yrs before becoming disabled and I watched that co go from being #1 in the country to an embarrassment to be associated with, the downfall started when they brought in a guy who was supposed to cut losses, bring up our safety record, tighten up some of the sloppy paperwork proceedures and so on. If that was where they left it things would have been fine but long story short, they ended up handing the co. over to this guy who knew absolutely nothing about our business and is currently running it into the ground and they still think he can walk on water. We used to do work all over the country, up and down the east coast all they way over to the west coast, all around the caribbean, we had customers that would fly us all over to work on their boats and would bring their boats to us from all over the place but now no one even wants to deal with the co. at all and it was all because of this one guy and his modern management, while I was still there, many times I would be in the office and they would be complaining about not having any work, the phone would ring and they would'nt answer it. The guys on the road would say that every cust that they would go too would complain how no one answers the phone anymore and takes for ever to return calls if they do at all. That is by no means the only thing that killed the business but it is a big part of it. I gave that co. evrything I had and to watch then flush it all down in a couple years was really heart breaking and even though I wish I was not in the condition I am, I am so glad that I am no longer there. welder19

Keep in mind that you will need to size your nozzle according to the media that you choose. This company offers a good selection of blasting equipment and media,Media - Abrasive Blasting welder19

Anything will work but the thicker it is the longer it will last, 1/2" is good, it will last a long time depending on how much you use it. welder19

Welcome to IFI, what type of work do you do? or are you new to it all? welder19

If your friend is going to do any amount of airbrushing then she is going to need a comp. of some sort, big or small, bought or home made, it does'nt matter but unless she has a very large tank then it isn't going to last long enough to work out too well, a small compressor can be bought for less than $200 if you shop around and it would be enough to run an airbrush. Definately need a regulator with a water seperator, or else she will get very agrivated when a little condensation from the tank ruins her work. welder19

As long as the stump is large enough it will not be a problem, I have 400lbs sitting on top of an oak log which sits on a dirt floor and it isn't top heavy at all, just make sure the dia of the log is larger than the base of the anvil, does'nt even have to be by a lot, you just don't want the feet/base of the anvil hanging over the edges. welder19

Welcome to IFI, this is the place to be for blacksmithing. Thank you for your dedicated service! welder19

That is one of the nicest bottle openers I'ev seen....great work! welder19

Not likely, most of us started with next to nothing, just a fire some air and a hammer, that's how you start and build up a shop as you go, you don't need a top notch smithy to do top notch work. welder19

That's great, he is still in our prayers for a speedy and full recovery. welder19

I have made hot cuts from wedges and jackhammer bits, they work great, the fastest/easiest way to make one from a wedge is to weld a length of square stock that fits your hardy hole to the bottom of the wedge. I have one I made from a piece of an axle also, they all work fine it just depends on what you have on hand and how much time you have to put into making it, there's no right or wrong way just whatever works for you with your given situation. welder19

Never heard of steel being rated as comercial quality before, maybe they just mean it's cold rolled versus the more common hot rolled, the difference is in the way it is formed and cold rolled is more precise and consistant in it's measurements. Cold rolled has a shinier finish with no mill scale (the flakey looking surface) Kind of odd a metal supplier not knowing what they have. welder19

I have found MK Morse work the best for me, for pretty much all of my cutting blades and abbrasives, not the cheapest but you get what you pay for. The M.K. Morse Company professional-quality hole saws, saw blades and abrasives welder19

A Blacksmithing Primer By Randy McDonald is a good book that teaches basic smithing techniques on a beginner and intermediate level, I still refer back to it now and again. welder19

In my experience they put out a lot of smoke on start up and tend to get blown out of the forge by the blower. welder19

Chopsaw, but save for a good one, cheap ones just aren't worth the money. welder19

It is without a doubt better to have seperate forge and furnace, but either one can do the others job, for starting out you could use one but as you progress you will want them to be seperate. It is not a matter of heat, it is the conveinence of the design. I did have a furnace that I could lay on it's side and use as a forge but it wasted a lot of fuel and heat as a forge. welder19

What is a metric ton compared to a standard ton (2000 lbs)? welder19

Hyd. systems are self bleeding, work the cyl. back and forth and they work the air out on their own. welder19

I feel for you with them shot's... been there several times myself for numerous body parts and after the last time, in my lower back, I swore I would never get another cortisone shot or any other injections in any of my joints again, they hurt like the dickens and I never had any of them help me one bit and the nerve blocks that they did in my spine I swear made me worse....but you can't convince a Dr. of that. So good luck with your shoulder, hope it doesn't keep you away from the anvil for too long. welder19

That's not something you hear everyday, actually that could be the first time the word "largest" and Toyota Prius were ever used in the same sentence.... lol If you already have the propane co. coming to your house then just have them add another one or two 100# bottles, that way you don't have to worry about freeze up. Also, if they are coming to the house anyway they will fill your 20# bottles (grill bottles) while they are there. They won't come out just for a 20#er or two but if they are there anyway they will fill them.