Rob Gorrell

Hi guys. I dug around in my supplies last night and found some smaller, shorter rivets. I did not measure them but they are much smaller and worked much better on the tin. I forgot that I had them. The next time I get into my bucket projects I will concentrate more on getting the right length rivet figured out. It sounds like I will be cutting off a pile of rivets to the right length some time. Thanks for all the advise. I'll keep you posted. Too many projects, too little time.

I think I have a couple bags of shorter rivets somewhere that I will try on the tin also.

I have some that are 1.25" and some a touch longer I think. One batch is steel and the other is listed as tinner's rivets I think.... The are 1/8" diameter and I am trying to rivet two or three layers of 28 guage tinplate. The other thing I am using them for is to connect my bucket bands which are 2 layers of 16 guage steel. Having a little better luck there. I'll work on the hammer blows tonight. I doubt I get a hundred done though... :lol:

I am learning tinsmithing and some very basic blacksmithing. A problem I am running into is that no matter what I try, my rivet bends over to one side before I can get the head to start spreading out properly. I do not have a rivet set. Any advise?

I could use something like this for my coopering. I would like to come up with something to use as a bick iron to make my metal bands over. I don't have easy access to power hammers. I wonder if a fellow could grind the end to fit the eye of the sledge?

This is probably a pretty dumb question, but here goes. I recently took a weekend coopering class in which we made a piggen with steel bands. To get the correct taper in the bands we cold hammered the one edge to stretch the metal before bending the hoops into a circle and riveting. My question is does this damage an anvil? I have been doing mine on a small "beater" anvil I have to avoid using my better anvil. I do not have a cooper's bick iron yet for the purpose. I am using 1" wide strips of 16 guage steel. It seems like from what I read on here that this is going to ding up and anvil but it seems to be the way guys are doing it. Thoughts?

Hey Drewed. Yep. Lowered the sides of the forge hood (pic later) to change air flow and roasted the fan. Guess it is a good thing that I bought a cheap fan.

Hi. My skills are nowhere near good enough for making the parts at this point. I am a complete beginner. I took a weekend beginner class a couple years ago that gave me the appreciation of how much I have to learn. I hope to get to spend a good bit of time this winter practicing. ROb

Thanks Wesley and Thomas. I will add those suggestions to my list of projects. I am hoping to get some time later this week to tinker with the forge some.

Thanks for the info. I am glad to hear that it could be a colonial period vise. Not from a value point, but from a coolness factor that this vice has maybe been around a while. I think I will not put it in use. I have a post vise in the shop and do not really need a second, just want one. ROb

Thanks guys. I'll get to work fixing it up. I am a "once in a while rev war reenactor", but my shop philosphy right now is more about using what I have and can nearly afford to buy to learn hand tool working techniques. I use a bungie cord for the "spring pole" on my wood lathe if that tells you anything. If I decide later that I want to start doing demos I will worry about authenticity then, My grandfather had a method; hit it with a hammer, if that doesn't work, get a bigger hammer. I miss his way of thinking.

Crap. No it's not. I drove the wife's car today. I'll look tonight. Here is a group shot of the parts. I guess the real question I am trying to answer is, is this thing of any real value to preserve? I want to put it outside as a beater since it is already so pitted and abused. But if it is "old" enough to need babying I will put it inside. My gut says its nothing more that an abused vise looking for a job.

I am not sure about the rectangular hole. I'll go look. It's currently laying in the bed of my truck out in the parking lot.

Hi. I picked up this small post vice a year or so ago and am finally getting around to thinking about maybe doing something to fix it up..... The fellow I got if from thinks it is an early design, maybe 18th century? I have no idea. It is really pitted and needs a new spring. Also, it will not close all the way. From other vices on this site I am thinking that it is missing a large washer on the front? Here are a few shots of the vise and its parts. Any suggestions or comments?

I did clay the pot. Maybe I should take it out? It is a very heavy forge. I would say that the pot is a good half in thick.The main reason I clayed it is that the fit is so bad at the top of the pot with the bed of the lathe. I could remove the clay in the pot without uncovering the lip area maybe. I will definitely close in the hood area more the next time I get a chance to work on the forge. I will also see about adjusting the blower as suggested.

Thanks guys. I am a complete beginner so I appreciate the help. I had been thinking about bringing the front of the hood down some more. I have noticed that when I get smoke or lots of sparks they tend to swirl down out of the hood right in that upper left corner. I may have to rewire my lighting some to be able to turn off some of the lights when I forge. My sight is not great so I tend to keep my shop lit like the sun. About the blower. All I did to it was scrub it up. The previous owner must have tuned it up. If you turn it one way it has a little bit of a grinding sound like the gears are not meshed well, But turn it the other way and you only hear the flow of air. Not sure how long it is supposed to go after you let go, but I get about a turn to a turn and a half before it winds down. The firepot was a mess. It was really warped and stuck up about an inch above the forge on two sides. I ended up getting it bolted in then ground off all the excess. I think I goofed on the fireclay though. what I did was put a soup can over the air inlet area and filled the surrounding area with the clay and tapered it up to the forge floor. This left a area about 2" deep straight up from the clinker thing before it starts tapering out. Is this a bad thing or just room for a deeper fire?

Here is another angle on the setup.

This is the first time I have posted with pics on this forum, so tell me if I am doing it wrong. This is my forge so far. I am somewhat limited by the fact that I have a 6" flue that I have to use. The hood is less than ideal, but was free. I altered the end so I would not catch my tongs or work on the way to the anvil. I like the enclosed nature of it since this is also my wood shop. As many of you have said, the 6" setup will not draw worth a cent without assistance. I added an cheap inline 6" blower that seems to do the trick with a charcoal fire. It draws the fire fleas straight up unless I am really cranking on the blower. If I keep a nice slow crank, maybe 5 or 6 rpm, I seem to get a good heat with minimal sparks. I was suprised to find that the exhaust gases at the entry to the flue are cool enough that I can easily hold my hand in the top of the hood.Anyway, it functions, not ideal. I would be interested in any comments you guys have. Especially if you have safety concerns or suggestions for improvement.Thanks,Rob

Wow, was I ever screwing it up. Thanks for the advise. I will apply your advise the next time I get time to bang around. Rob

Hi Luke. I am a newbie and also have this blower. I would like to take it apart and try to tune it up but cannot figure out how to get the housing off. Is it some sort of press fit?. I got the fan side off easy enough. It is the smaller shell on the handle side. Am a missing something simple? Rob

Hi. I have the same blower. How did you get the houseing apart to clean the insides? It looks like some sort of press fit unless I am missing something. Rob

Hi. I am a beginner and am trying to use lump charcoal also. Since it doesn't clump and make the crust the way coal does I am not sure what the fire is supposed to be like. I have tried to get a good heat a few times and am noticeing that the coals have lots of voids and not good contact with the metal being heated. Also, I use hand crank blower and don't know if I need more air to get the coals hotter or less air to keep from blowing the whole thing apart. I saw a youtube vid that looked like the guy was putting the air to it pretty good during the heat. Maybe I am being stingy with the charcoal? Rob