rstegman

It had been quite a while I worked any metal. Years I see. A dying friend sold me his unimat lathe. My brother, who is advanced in teaching himself machining, helped me showed me how to work with it. My first machining projects was reducing the diameter of some shafts so some grinding bits could fit into the dremmel. WE worked out that we needed a cross slide for the lathe. After about two weeks of sketching designs, I mounted some orange wood in the milling machine. I changed designs as I went and afterwords glued some flanges on since I did not plan properly for that from the begining and my pieces were not big enough for them. My idea was the screw would run between the flanges. Later I machined the head of a sidewalk bolt into T-slot bolts. I then decided It would be faster and easier to use the grinder. It worked. the heads don't have to be absolutely square. they just hae to fit into the slot and not twist. For several years, my brother wanted to build a forge. My mom's water heater bit the dust. He took it for the forge. My nephew decided he wanted to do some blacksmithing so he and my brother got together and built the forge. It is not at all done, but enough to do some work. He is using a heat gun where the element had died as the blower. We just let it run and eat up the coals for our first real test. My brother gave us some re-bar My nephew made a pair of tongs. I first decided to squasre the rebar. when the only sign of its origin was the bumps along the edge, I decided to make a hook to drive into the wall like I did in Sturbidge village. I narrowed the end, then bent it over. I then remembered a coal rake made in a blacksmith series. I flattened the bend out, which proved to me the idea of pulling the hammer at impact will draw the metal out. I handed it to my nephew and he said it was quite useful I now have some metal to make my cross slide. Over the next month, I will be machining between my regular wood working. Unimat lathe in lathe position Unimat lathe in machining mode - machining a design test piece in wood machined wooden cross slide pieces assembled cross slide t-slot bolts I made from sidewalk bolts The forge my brother and nephew are making coal rake I made

You have heard many things of that great sword Excalibur but have you ever heard of its Irish cousin Excalibrogue? Now unlike his cousin Excalibur, Excalibrogue was a singing sword. The sword was taken up by the future king of ireland. As in his cousin's tale, Excalibrogue led his bearer Aaron to many great victories. Unfortunately for history's sake one night Aaron left the sword too close to the fire. After that Excalibrogues song was off key and things started going wrong for poor Aaron. He lost his army. He lost his castles. Finally the devil himself came and stole his last cent. Aaron turned to the sword and begged for answers. The sword said. "You should have known there'd be xxxx to pay ... when I lost my temper."

I use Autocad and MS-VISIO. Both cost, but are good MS-VISIO is 2d but is powerful. My company use it for our drawings and we found that EVEN SALESMEN can use it to some extent. Recently, when not having work to do, I went through the help files and also found some things on line that expanded what I could do with it. It is a simple program to start but is powerful enough for doing something serious. You can download a trial version on the microsoft site. I got my disks on discount. Autocad is not easy to use unless you are serious, but it does things that VISIO cannot do, such as 3D. There are some things that it is simply easier to do with autocad, but you have to know the typed commands to do it easier. My experience is that programs will do some things better than others, you just have to find the ones with the features that work best for you. I have not found it, nor have I looked, but autocad can go directly to CNC machines.

I am reading through the CASSELL DICTIONARY OF SUPERSTITIONS By David Pickering. Few of the superstitions mentioned in this book is anything I ever heard of. and half the time each item listed is good and bad luck, depending on the society. Have you every heard of this? Have you ever heard about others? BLACKSMITH Because the blacksmith works with such mystical things and fire, horses and iron, he has always been regarded as somewhat magical figure himself (according to the Irish, bad luck will never befall anyone who follows that trade). Local legends often speak of ancient standing stones or spectral horses making annual visits to the smithy in the dead of the night, and the blacksmith has often been credited with more knowledge of the supernatural than other men. The blacksmith's anvil is a particular focus of magic, and it was once common for sick children to be taken to the blacksmith so they could be held over the anvil and thus cured of their ailment. In some areas, the patient was laid naked on the anvil while the blacksmith tapped the child lightly with his hammer three times to effect a cure. Blacksmiths were also respected as

The King and the Blacksmith part 2 The answer scroll down scroll down more room VII

The King and the Blacksmith 300 years ago there lived a king of ill heart and much pride. He had a daughter, whom he had promised to a rich neighbor, but she had a different plan: she fell in love with a plain lad, a blacksmith named Kecho. The lovers tried to run to the mountains but were caught. Angered, the king decided to execute Kecho. However, to not appear as a cruel tyrant before his daughter and the people, and to show the blacksmith as intellectually unworthy for marriage to royalty, he let Kecho decide his own execution based on his wits. The next day he had Kecho placed in a room with nine doors. Each door led to a single room. One of the rooms contained the princess while the rest of the rooms were either empty or contained a tiger. Above each door was a sign. Here's a list of the signs: Room I: The lady is in an odd-numbered room. Room II: This room is empty. Room III: Either sign on Room V is right or sign on Room VII is wrong. Room IV: Sign on Room I is wrong. Room V: Either sign on Room II or sign on Room IV is right. Room VI: Sign on Room III is wrong. Room VII: The lady is not in Room I. Room VIII: This room has a tiger and Room IX is empty. Room IX: This room has a tiger and sign on Room VI is wrong. The king told Kecho, "The sign on the door of the room containing the princess is true; the signs on the doors of all the rooms containing the tigers are false; while those on the empty rooms can be either true or false." The king even gave Kecho a hint and told him whether Room VIII was empty or not. If Kecho would be intelligent worthy, he should be able to find the princess. Kecho could then open doors until he finds the princess or a tiger and his death. Behind which door is the princess? answer in next note.

I googled blacksmith riddles and this subject came up. Moving it to the top.

My grandfather worked in a blacksmith shop when he was a boy, and he used to tell me how he had toughened himself up so he could stand the rigors of blacksmithing. He said he would stand outside behind the house and, with a 5 pound potato sack in each hand, extend his arms straight out to his sides and hold them there as long as he could. After a while he tried 10 pound potato sacks, then 20 pound potato sacks and finally he got to where he could lift a 50 pound potato sack in each hand and hold his arms straight out for five full minutes! Eventually, he even started putting potatoes in the sacks.

Lil Bucky was amblin around Dodge City, his thumbs tucked inta his side pockets, takin in the sights, and he stopped to watch an old-timer blacksmith chewin tobacky and makin some horseshoes. This ole codger'd hold them over the f'ahr fer a spell, bang on em, then he'd dip them in water fer a bit, then toss them on the ground beside him. Curious, Lil Bucky reached down and handled one of them there horseshoes, and no sooner'd he had it in his hands, he done throw'd it back onto the ground, hoppin and a-howlin in agony. The ole codger spit and cackled, "Hot, wadn't it, sonny?" Lil Bucky quickly regained his wits, started walkin away, thumbs in pockets. "Nope, jus didn't take me long ta look at it!"

John was looking for work, and his mate told him that they needed someone up at the blacksmith's. John went to see the smithy and said, "My mate tells me you're looking for someone to work here." "Yes, that's right." said the Blacksmith, "Can you shoe horses?" "I'm not sure," said John, "but I once told a donkey to get lost."

I was shocked at how few Blacksmith jokes there are!!! I went through ten pages of google to find just a few. What insect does a blacksmith manufacture? He makes the firefly.

Join In if you have something. DANGLING PARTICIPLES CAN BE DANGEROUS. An Old Blacksmith realized he was soon going to quit working so hard. He picked out a strong young man to become his Apprentice. The old fellow was crabby and exacting. "Don't ask me a lot of questions," He told the boy. "Just Do whatever I tell you to do." One day, the Old Blacksmith took an iron out of the forge and laid it on the anvil. "Get the hammer over there," he said. "When I Nod my head, hit it real good and hard." Now the town is looking for a new Blacksmith....

I have no real idea of what I am talking about, but I heard you fill the tank with water and then cut it. The water displaces the gas, fumes and such. If you leave the water in it, it will prevent the gasses from reaching where you are cutting. As I said, I have no real knowledge.

I will throw some stuff out and see what sticks. Maybe someone who knows more about it will tell you the real way. If you are making dies, where you hit the end to impress the letter into the metal, one would likely be either casting the steel into forms with the letters you want to use, or you machine the letters out of the steel you select. If on the other hand, you are doing actual chizeling, removing stock, most letters in some alphabets are made from a limited number of shapes. One would use selected steel, such as tool steel, same for the dies by the way, and make shapes similar as a wood worker would use, different radii and different widths. Basically hard edge on the marker and soft metal being marked. either that or use engravers or other power. Let me know if anything touches even close and I might be able to fill in, or tell us where I missed entirely.

Do a search for wood chisel. There are a lot of manufacturers and sellers that will show profiles and sizes of their chisels. There is the question of what type of woodworking he is doing. A furniture maker will use different chisels than a figure carver or a decorative carver. Also a wood turner, which I assume he is not, will use completely different kinds of chisels. Google or your favorite search engine will give you links to see what is already out there and how they look. Good Luck

Woodworking is my hobby, Metal working is just an interest. My woodworking sales pay almost to the penny for tools and materials used over the year.

Sorry for butting in, but thought this would be a place to learn something. I have no idea what it is that you are talking about here. What is a handled and what is rodded, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

I saw a commercial about logs you can purchase to remove creosote from flues from fireplaces. I remember reading notes here in I FORGE IRON where blacksmiths have discussed a creosote problem. I wondered if these creosote logs actually work and would solve the problem? I am asking out of curiosity as I am not forging right now.

If you get into sand casting, or other crucible work, you can melt it down and make raw materials for more projects.... I remember HEARING that the old blacksmiths would work the bits and pieces into a new piece of iron, adjusting the content of each type of metal to meet the needs.

David J. Gingery Publishing, LLC has books on smelting steel or aluminum. There are books on making the machinery to machine metals. My brother got some of the books and tapes and is excited about getting into it. A lot of the stuff is based on 1890s technology, so it is transferfable to the conditions you are working under. the metal working lathe built itself, with just an old drill to start. Others may give other ideas on what to do. Good luck.

One idea is to leave a foot or two around the edges at the foundation, and then you can dig down till the lowest stoop down spot with the duct work is seven feet with your full thickness concrete. I am not an engineer, but you might dig trenches to the wall and add supports in one foot sections, for instance, to support the wall and do that under the main rocks, then add more support trenches between until the whole wall all the way around is fully supported. A third idea, that would require engineer's guidence, would be to put temporary posts all around, and replace the foundation with blocks and concrete. I think, though, is to leave a step of material near the walls and dig down everywhere else to give you the depth you need.

I have not looked, but this site Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. might have the information you are looking for. They are renaissance reinactment organization, but they do extesive research. If you cannot find what you need to know there, you might find links to find it. If you find you like making such utensils, you might also find customers through them.

The tooling is everything. My brother has a Smithy and My Craftsman and his big problem is either finding the money to buy the tools he needs, or finding the time to make them. As he gets the tooling, he is able to do more. I prefer working with wood and am just now learning to make my own tools to make my work easier and give me more options on things I can do..

I just returned from a vacation in Connecticut. We went to Sturbridge village twice during my two weeks. The first visit, I stood at the blacksmith shop and asked questions. There was another man who was asking questions and trying to show off his knowledge. I corrected him on something and gave a few bits of information, but asked questions mainly to learn. The blacksmith gave me a hook that was laying on display. It was a lot of fun. The second visit, I paid for the hands on crafts, making a hook. My girlfriend said I had the biggest grin in the world during the entire process. I later went to the blacksmith's shop and dipped the hook in oil. I pumped the bellows while he heated the hook up and then He handed me the tongs and I dipped it. If anybody was there, I was the fat man with the beard with my hand in a brace. Anyway, I now really want to make one on my own, making all the decisions rather than just being the striker. Wow that is fun!!!!!!! There was a young boy (13?) who made a hook right after I made mine. His grin was bigger than mine.

My brother gets machining magazines. He says that most of them are woodworkers who needed to make their own tools. That is really how I am getting into metal working.