irnsrgn

Get Well soon Rich, glad the surgery went well for you, don't overdo it and heal first.

I shipped my leaf off to Glenn Today

thats about all they are good for, it is really junk cast, full of air holes and the outside is full of casting sand. they are really brittle.

You can get a leather welders apron with bib from welding suppliers in two different lengths, they usually run about $20 or so.

http://store.weldingdepot.com/cgi/weldingdepot/scan/fi=products/st=db/sp=results/co=1/sf=category/se=Leather%20Clothing/op=eq/nu=0/bs=1/ml=6/tf=description/to=x/se=1/sf=inactive/op=ne/sf=tax_category/se=1/op=eq/va=banner_text=/va=banner_image=.html

I have made a few feathers from small angle iron, 1/8 by 3/4 and 1 inch. I cut both sides of one end to a gradual arcing taper and then flatten it out without flattening the V where the sides meet, and cut a short taper on the other end of a predetermined length for the quill end and then use this feather or leaf block to get the veins or veining.







its just a center stem ground in the center with a chamfer on one end and then vein marks are ground in lightly with the flat of a very coarse grinding wheel as shown. The V part that is left on the angle is put down into the groove and the top worked, I generally use a flatter on top to strike the hot piece evenly.

its done by a company with an expensive roller that they can dignify the purchase by the amount of use and also custom work

It absoulutely amazing how people we have never met except in cyber space have had such an impact on our lives. Jim Wilson was one of these exceptional people.

When my wife Sylvia passed away Jim and I exchanged numerous e-mails and he had a tremendous effect on my life through his counselling so to speak, and again he was there when I had a nasty bout of I guess it was Post Tramatic Stress Syndrome from an incident in the service that I had blocked out of my mind. Jim and I both had similar things that we were asked and or ordered to do that you are not supposed to talk about, that left sometimes terrible memories to live with. We chatted some about these things between ourselves without revealing the details, and it really helped me. I think it helped him some to.

Jim was a special person to us in the blacksmithing community and he was always willing to share his expertise and wisdom with all who asked.
He will be sadly missed by all who knew him whether face to face or just in correspondence or cyber chat. He was truly a GURU to the smithing world and his book the Revolutionary Blacksmith gave all who read his words much enjoyment and insight into those times.

If you would like to share your memories of Jim or how he affected your lives, this would be a good place to do that.

I am honored that I could call Jim Wilson my FRIEND.

Irnsrgn
Jr Strasil
Blacksmith
SeaBee Veteran

To the family of my friend Jim (PPW) Wilson


His forge is cold,
His hammer is still,
His anvil silent,
A true friend indeed.
His hands only crafted
beautiful things.

May he rest in peace,
His soul is in a better place.
He may be gone,
but his memory is alive
in all who knew him.

He touched the lives of so many,
and asked nothing in return.
He will be remembered always,
for his deeds.

Irnsrgn

Jim, I have been doing a silent prayer for PPW whenever I have a break or just think about it.

irn

Ray for what its worth, non magnetic is approxiametly 1460 degrees, steel starts to scale at 1550 degrees, this does not rely on color but on scale forming, so if its scaling you have it too hot.

irnsrgn

Paw Paw, our thoughts and prayers are with you.

irnsrgn

Also, 4 5 foot long healthy rods with an eye in the tops can be driven into the ground and a short sidewall screen of canvas or other material can be fastened to these to make a 3 sided wind screen aways from the forge and with the center section toward the wind to make an effective wind screen and if the wind changes just move the stakes and wind screen.

hope this helps


Jr.

the brassy color may be from the copper coating on your mig wire if it has a copper coating. The rust should all be removed in the weld are before attempting to repair it, rust is iron oxide and will contaminate the weld in any case, and Mig wire is not an option its too soft, MG740 is a hardsurfacing underlay rod and is good for this, it gives a good color match when ground down and it will be about 51 rockwell when you are done with it, and it will work harden from use.

MG740 is a stick rod, not mig

JIm, take an old larger disc blade, put 3 short legs on it and enlarge the hole in the center and put a plate with holes or such for your air device to blow thru, then make a ring a little larger than the fire you want out of narrow flat iron and just lay this in the disc blade and lay your rocks around the edges, the ring keeps them from sliding into the fire, and keep the ground, grass or whatever under the thing wet and it will not kill the grass in that area.

You can also lay rocks around the outside of the disc to hide it from view too. It will lock just like a pile of rocks at a casual glance.

PPW for what its worth I cut many a galvanized water tank in two to make hog feeders out of in my day, and have done my share of welding on galvanize. I have never become sick, just a funny taste in my mouth when I light up a cigarette. My Dad and Uncle always made me drink milk before, during and after. I have been led to believe that the poision goes to your stomach not so much your lungs and have been told milk is the antidote for it, and after all the years taking the advice of my Father I believe he knew what he was talking about and that the others were correct in their assumption also.

Best of Luck and Get Well Soon.

You know what they say about us old codgers, Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart.

by the way I am getting over my second bout with pneumonia in a months time and the doc took an xray and couldn't believe that I am a smoker and a welder from the picture. LOL, maybe I am just lucky

I kept Stasil Bros. Blacksmith Shop as my shop name as it has been that name since 1941 when my father and uncles started it the year after my grandfather passed away, It quickly became just my Father and Uncle Louie as they just gave the other two brothers a job and the other two didn't last long, one was to lazy and the other one to fussy. When I purchased my Uncles share the year after my Father passed it was just good business to keep an established name that was associated with a good work record and it was a tribute to my Father and Uncle to keep it the same name. I had my own business, Jr's Portable Welding, but consolidated it into the new business as I had been working in the shop for the previous 29 years, sometimes full time and sometimes part time, and everyone knew me.

irnsrgn

In the for what its worth department about moving heavy equipment like Ed did, when a winch truck or forklift or other means is not available.

1. Level out the ground side to side as best you can. Don't try to use large timbers unless the machine is excessively heavy, they are hard to handle and sometimes hard to obtain and getting the equipment upon them can be a problem. Use cheap inexpensive precut 2by4 studs from the local building material place, and keep moving and reusing them, it doesn't take that many and you can always use 2by4's.

Don't just use 1 per side, put them at least 2 or more wide and stagger the ends as the joints are the weak spot and can sink into the ground tipping the center of balance past the center point and the equipment goes on its side. Also space your runners (2by4's) as far out as you can to improve stability.

2. Use pipe rollers or round wooden post material to make moving the equipment a lot easier. The larger the roller the easier it will move with a minimum of effort. If going down hill some, put a block and tackle or such on the back side so it doesn't get away from you and run off the rollers. As you will be reusing the rollers and putting them under the front quite often, use a small piece of wood with a taper cut on one end to stop your rollers so it doesn't run off the rollers before you get another one under it.

3. When you want to make a corner or turn the equipment slightly, the easiest way is to start early and place the rolls at a slight angle so the load will turn easily and smoothly, remembering that the load is going to move to one side and you don't want to run off the roller.

The easiest way to make a sudden 90 degree or less turn is to run the center roller up on a piece of board or iron placed in the center of the roller so it acts like a pivot point and just twist it around, its amazingly easy to do by just one man even with a heavy load.

4. Do things slowly and don't get in a hurry, this is the important part.

5. With machines that are top heavy, use a couple of good stout ropes fastened at the very top and tie them to a pickup or even a car positioned on either side far enough away to the sides that if something drastic happens it will not damage the anchor vehicle if things go awry.

Even if the machine is heavy it doesn't take much to keep it from tipping sideways if it doesn't go to far past center.


I have moved machinery weighing several tons using these methods with very little effort many times. The main things to remember are use your head instead of your back and always be prepared for the worst.

my $.02 worth.

irnsrgn

Sorry you took offense ED. I meant none.

irn

Ed, I can see you need a crash course in rigging and moving machinery, I have moved items much heavier than that just by pushing on them and corners are easy if you know how to position pipes under it, it will just roll around the corner. LOL

sorry I couldn't resist

irn

Ed, I ended up with one of those really weird patterned caps once, because it was the only one that was large enough to fit me. I kept getting questions all the time because I usually dress very conservatively. The question was ,"why do you wear a cap like that?"

My answer was, "So I don't have to look at it!" :mrgreen: :wink: :lol:

Ed; there have been several business's and a couple of the schools that they put a sloping standing seam roof on their flat roofs after years of leaking and fixing, I had to do some welding on one of the stacks at the middle school and those people have electric powered tools to do that job. I was pressed for time and did not get to see them work but they don't take very long to do a double crimp on the seams.

irn

Ed, if you meant the one with all the holes that fits in the ends of the lift arms, they are usually good material (1045) or better, but are in an unhardened state. Ones for larger tractors are usually a little harder.
When welding the stubs on when making a new one or repairing an old one I usually flame cut a 1 inch or deeper slot in the end and then insert the stub in this slot and weld it in using 7018 rod.

irnsrgn

Well, my grandfather, my father and two uncles were blacksmiths, real blacksmiths that is. It was just natural for me a rather large only child to start in the blacksmith at an early age. My Fathers and Uncles shop was across the street from a lumber yard, and my dad would bring home lumber scraps and a pound of nails I think they cost a nickel and I made most of my own toys when I was young. Broom handles were especially prized for gun barrels. LOL

Like I said I have always been a good sized lad and I loved going to the blacksmith shop and tinkering. So they just naturally put me to work when I was 7 in 1951. My first jobs as I recall were replacing spokes and fellows in high wheeled wagon wheels. I got to play in the coal forge some too. Then the coal forge was removed in favor of a gas forge which would heat the plow lay better and not burn it and you can do a plow lay in just two heats. I worked full time in the summers and after school along with having a paper route.

As I was good sized, I was put to work grinding and polishing plow lays. My father and uncle would switch off sharpening plow lays with the 50# Little Giant and my uncle always ground and my dad always polished, so I took which ever ones job that was drawing lays at the time. It was not uncommon for them to do a hundred lays a day. Manipulating a plow lay on a grinder is mostly done with the wrists and my wrists became rather large and I had a lot of upper body strength in those days. I also rode a bicycle everywhere so I had strength in my legs too.

I learned to weld by watching my uncle and my dad collected the little short rod stubs and I built up the toe and heel caulks on horseshoes, dad was a good horseshoer and I used to help him all the time on weekends.

I still remember my first commercial welding job, it was welding new points on 2 plow lays when I was 9, I really didn't want to do it, but my uncle insisted. The next day the farmer came in with one of those lays and all I could see was that it didn't have a point. He handed it to my uncle who was sharpening plows and then I could see that the point was bent back on itself from hitting a stump or something. Boy was that an ego trip for a 9 year old kid.

As Smithing the old way was almost non existant except for plow lays that launched me on my welding career and into the repair and fabrication field.

Up until I ruptured a disc and required surgery I could still wear my 8th grade graduation coat, it was a little short in the sleeves tho. After the time off to recuperate from back surgery it was quite a bit shy in the stomach area tho. LOL

I quit high shool and joined the Navy at age 17 in 1962 and after boot camp went to Steelworker "A" school at the SeaBee base in Port Hueneme, Calif. I had a little trouble in boot camp with the fitting of a uniform, I had 14 inch wrists, weighed 225 lbs and wore size 28 pants. LOL

I was a SWF,(Steel Worker Fabricator) and was attached to the shop company of MCB 3 on Okinawa and then switched billets with another fella and went to Nakom Phanom, Thailand with Detachment Whiskey where we did Phase One of building an airstrip close to the Thai, Laosian Border.

I was one of the "A" Company steel workers and did nothing but repair and modify Heavy Equipment. They found out I could forge and so I built my own forge using an air compressor for the air supply and natural charcoal for fuel, "B" Company had an anvil, but would not part with it, so I built my own out of scraps and I did nothing but forging for several months until they put me on night crew. On night crew another fella and I just did enough to get the machine in shape for the day crew to weld up. It seems there are lots of people who can weld well, but few who can do the straightening and preparation prior to the finish welding. I am pretty good at that so they put me to work doing it. I really didn't do that much different of a job than I did in my fathers blacksmith shop.

I volunteered to go to Vietnam and drill water wells, but a shotgun breach blew up in my face and I spent the next 11 months in two navy hospitals untill I was seperated. Oh yes I lost the sight in my right eye from that expierience and it took me several years to be able to tell steel dimensions from a distance as I have no depth perception.

After getting out of the Navy, I worked rebuilding Missouri River Barges for a while and at a tool factory operating a drop hammer for a short time. The Union boys didn't like my work ethic, I put out more product than the union boys and they were going to have a talk with me one night, they had pipes wrenches and clubs. I showed them the business end of 30-30 saddle carbine and they got fleet feet in their exit from the scene. I never went back. LOL

I built a portable rig right after I got out of the navy, but had to sell it to pay bills when our first child came along. I built the one I have now in the early 70's and it supported me and my family (wife and 4 children), I also still worked out of my Fathers shop as a base of operations and place to put my mill , lathe and press etc.

My Father passed on in 1979 and I bought my uncles half of he shop in 1980 and my mothers 1/4 a couple of years later.

It has been a good life all in all, I don't mind getting dirty and it has been a demanding physical job, I have limited my self to the smaller jobs anymore and don't take on the large jobs I used too.

I have always played at actual smithing, but got serious about it in 1990 and started collecting and making smithing tools. Most of my grandfathers tools have long gone, but I have a few that were his and I also enjoy doing woodworking using all hand tools, and do demonstrations on woodworking at steam shows and such during the year.
I also occasionally do blacksmithing demos. I belong to 5 different blacksmithing organizations and try to be active in all of them to a certain extent.

I lost my wife unexpectedly and rather quickly last year and I had no desire to do demoing last year except at the very end when my fiancee, now my wife went with me. I am now married to this fine lady and have a renewed interest in life.

Well the rambling is over.
Irnsrgn
Jr. Strasil

Davydoo, you definetily have the RIGHT site, but what you are looking for is another section of it. Go to http://www.iforgeiron.com/ and scroll down the left side until you come to BLUEPRINTS, click on it and it will take you to another section where the blueprints are archived. You will find several different styles of candle cups made from pipe. There are a least a hundred blueprints there and another hundred more on the contributors section of the site.

There are also 2 live blueprints every Tuesday night at 9 PM Central time that you will like too. They can be accessed from the opening page of http://www.iforgeiron.com/ and scroll down the left side until you come to "Tuesday Nite Blueprints" , and click on it.

Enjoy the site, there is lots of information to glean.

Have fun,

Irnsrgn


Edited by Moderator

Straight 8's were common in Buggattis, and prior to the 50's in Buicks, Oldsmobiles and the luxury chrysler and GM cars. They had perfect primary and secondary balance and did not need a balancer and ran really smooth. You can tell a car that has a straight 8 as it has an exceptionally long hood.