metalmaster1766

that is a beautiful knife, i love it Ron

with a birth name of "Ron Smith" nobody believes me when i tell them my name is Ron Smith, most times i get "yeah right" so i just decided to use Metalmaster1766, why because i have worked with metal almost all my life, even before i became a machinist i was always working with something made of metal, cars, bikes and whatever else, the numbers, 1766 is my DOB- Jan 7th 1966, i added them after the 1st time i tried to use the metalmaster name and it was taken, so i added the numbers i have always joked about changing my name, to something totally abnormal, that way i DONT share a name with 400 million others, i still get phone calls all the time, "are you the Ron Smith that does plumbing? siding? windows? the list goes on, now i just tell them im the "Metalmaster" Ron Smith Ron

the soft light weight firebricks are more of an insulated brick, i have a kiln with these type bricks, they will work, the heavy bricks arent made to insulate, they will work too the only difference i have found is working with them, soft bricks are easy to cut but also break much easyer i believe most fireplaces use the heavy bricks inside the fire box, the soft bricks wouldnt hold up at all Ron

you wash your hands before you use the restroom instead of after

if you think in terms of inches per minute and feet per minute instead of miles per hour

al oxide can be many colors, most sand paper is al oxide, black, white, blue, the fuzzy coating on aluminum that has sat for a long period of time is aluminum oxide, it looks white, gray aluminum casting, when melting it, the slag that forms on top, if refined can get the oxide out, back when i started melting it i used mostly cans, all the surface gets a coating of oxide on it along with all the other junk (paint and dirt) you can use a flux to keep the melt from oxidizing, i use mortons lite salt, anyway, i saved a bunch to get the oxides out, it involved a lot of salt to seperate the good metal from the slag, then you soak the slag in water and boil it off to free up the salts and oxides, it comes out looking like a dark gray powder, or maybe black is a better color, id hafta get someone else to judge the color as im a bit color blind im going from memory too, there is more to it than what i just put down but its not tough to do, we have covered the topic many times over at the BYMC forum Ron

portland will degrade too, it fluxes when it gets up that hot and will crumble, i have never used portland in any of my foundry furnaces or forges, but i have seen a few that have and they never lasted the portland has nothing to do with spalling, concrete on the other hand will, but it cant take the temps that an oil burner will get up to without crumbling there is a lot of info on this very subject at the BYMC forum, a lot about perlite as well Ron

whatever you do, DONT use portland, best thing to use is fireclay, most building supply places have it, i have crushed up firebricks and used it as grog for refractory, what i used was grog(crushed firebricks) fireclay and silica sand, i cant remember the amounts of each, but mostly grog bentonite works but from what i have been told it wont take the temps that real fireclay will, and over time will fall apart Ron

congratulations, grand babies are the greatest gift just curious, Glen, but you posted " Baby Lucas Eugene Burch was born July 23,2003 " he just turned 4, i take it that is a typo error, or did this post just now show up as new LOL Ron Smith

they can be used for all sorts of things, i use them for setup blocks, its nice because they are exactly 1 inch by 2 inch by 3 inches (unless they have been messed with) you can use them to block parts up a certain amount to machine surfaces, the ones with tapped holes come in handy to, you can clamp them in a vise and use the screw holes to bolt parts to for surface grinding and machining, drilling and tapping its endless the uses in a machine shop thats the best i can explain it Ron Smith

i forgot to add these, they followed me home as well, they are 100 year old church pews Ron Smith

this buffer followed me home from the scrapyard a few days ago Ron Smith

My workshop is a pole building/barn, whatever you want to call it. 24' by32' with a 10 foot wall, 4/12 pitch roof. it was built just for a small workshop, to fix my cars and to gather small machinery for a machine shop, well i took up blacksmithing, and collected way to much stuff. this spring (well right now) i am adding an addition to the building, 10' by 32' long lean-to, may possibly use a 10' wall all the way around, but this section is going to be dedicated to only forge and foundry work, i probably wont be putting walls around it till next spring. Ron Smith

nice file work, nice knives Ron Smith

very nice job, i love the pattern i too have a tough time with gettingthe patterns to show in pictures, Ron Smith

i was a machinist/tool maker for almost 20 years, had to quit because of illness. what got me into blacksmithing, the fact that i missed machining so much, i ran across the Gingery machine shop from scrap on the internet, and built me the lathe just so i could make metal chips again i then used my foundry furnace as a forge and havent stopped either since. im always casting something or forging something, mainly knives now, now i have a small machine shop mainly consisting of turn of the century machines (1800's to 1900's) some of the best machines were built back then, they are slow but very good oh yeah, i doesnt bother me, being called one or the other, i just tell people im a master of metal LOL, i do it all metal is metal, how its worked isnt the point, just as long as its made right, have fun Ron Smith

on an uneven floor, make sure the stools have 3 legs instead of 4, that helps with the wobbling Ron Smith

ok, so i just picked up a gallon of ferric chloride this afternoon, and i etched my knife for 2 minutes in it, and here it is, i may try for a darker color later Ron Smith

i'm in that same boat, isnt a Radio Shack close by me that has it. they have been out for several months now. any good online places that sell it? and what are all the different types of ferric chloride i see on some of the chemical sites? Ron Smith

my work shop is so unorganized, i just lay stock where ever there is room. i hope to have a small addition added on this summer so i can better organize and clean things up a bit. untill then i will continue to step over things in my way Ron Smith P.S. i hope to see some good ideas on this subject so i can store material in a good way when i get the addition finished

The aluminum block is 3" by 5" by 1" thick, the steel pins are 2" long, I'll find a use for it, may hurt a bit for a massage. Maybe ill stand on it, might make my feet feel better after standig all day Ron Smith

the pins are steel, only the block is aluminum i picked it up at the scrap yard, a good friend of mine owns a scrap yard, there were 2 of them, i took one and another friend took the other. i have seen these somewhere before too, i have seen similar things used to clean sharpening stones Ron Smith

Anyone know what this is? steel pins about 1/4" in an aluminum block. thanks Ron Smith

I made them from 1/2" square, i have about 300 pieces of 1/2" square about 30" long. May not be the best material for them but it was free, its railing (porch railing) from a construction site my son was working at, they replaced most of the rail at an apartment complex and I told him "sure bring it all over" one day i will cut it all apart as i have a large pile of railing laying anyplace i can find to put it. I plan on working on the reins, i was just test fitting them and couldnt find any nuts for the screws, so i just peened it over to hold. i'll finish them this afternoon, and may make a few other pairs for special holding jobs. After looking at the Blueprint section, i think i will make a few pairs of WOOP tongs Ron Smith

2 years ago when i started gathering tools of the trade i started 2 pair of tongs, a friends gave me 2 pair of his he never used much, so i just used them till friday i misplaced mine (overlooked) so i finished the ones i started. i cheated on the rivet, although i need to take them apart to finish the reins, i used a 1/4" flathead screw (i have more than i'll ever use) as soon as i finished the first pair, i located my tongs, right where i left them Ron Smith