irnsrgn

WT- I don't have a lot of expierience, but when I used a 35MM camera. Mine had a built in light meter and I would take 3 or 4 pictures with different openings and 2 or 3 with the flash and different settings. then I would pick the best one or two. I do the same thing with my digital but if I don't like it I can erase the digital ones. I was always told to take several at different settings to make sure you get one good one. If you jot down the settings when you take the picture, then you can compare the results to the picture and it will help you with getting the proper settings for later pictures.

Irn

Copied to the Prayer list

I was chatting with jwolfe and he has had an operation and will be off 6 to 8 weeks, he is recuperating at home. Also when his wife brought him home she fell broke her wrist.

Please add the wolfes to you prayer list please

Irn

For those of you who watched the Conquest of America or taped it tuesday night, there was a Blacksmith inside the Russian fort at almost the very end of the second part, the Northwest. He is only on screen for only a few seconds it seems, but if you put your tape on pause or slow he is our own J-J from California.

There are no holes in the nozzles. There is just a long slot cut into the base pipe for the water to come up thru. The big ones have a piece added to the side to provide a cavity to allow a volume of water to get to the 1/16 wide slot where the water comes out to form the wall of water.

On the smaller one a plate circle was stretched in the hydraulic press to form the cavity part, then cut apart and welded to the bottom pipe with a piece of 16 gauge plate between the sides as a spacer and then some holes were drilled thru both pieces and short pieces of rod were plug welded on both sides to keep the slot from pushing open due to the pressure of the water.
The fittings are old brass hose ends that were brazed on to the pipe. and the single foot and bolt allow them to be rotated a little sideways to allow the spray to go up and over a car, propane tank or other object to protect it from heat.

The larger one was put between two ancient multistory apartment houses when one caught on fire. They were approxiametly 10 feet apart or less and the one burned to the ground without any damage from heat or flame to the other one. The spray extended from the street to the alley and approxiametly 60 + feet high.

The small red one is used on a deluge set or deck gun to control burning embers rising from a structure fire from spreading the embers to other buildings and property.

The yellow one was originally developed for a rural dept in Iowa to be used to keep propane tanks cool and to protect adjacent trailer homes in a congested rural trailer park. At rural fires water availability and consumption is a critical factor. they have also been used to isolate parts of burning stacks of large round hay bales etc.

I made an 1 1/2 nozzle like the small red one only with a larger fan area for the front of a rural truck for field use on grass and stalk fires.

I also made a portable hydrant for our dept, for use at the end of a 5 inch hose lay, so that water could be distributed to several trucks or hoses.

Copied to Stories


WINTER

You know, time has a way of moving quickly and catching you
unaware of the passing years.
It seems just yesterday that I was a young Man
just married and embarking on my new life with my wife.

And yet in a way, it seems like eons ago, and I wonder where
all the years went.
I know that I lived them all...
And I have glimpses of how it was back then and of all my hopes
and dreams.

But, here it is...the winter of my life and it catches me by surprise...
How did I get here so fast? Where did the years go and where
did my babies go?
And where did my youth go?

I remember well...
seeing older people through the years and thinking that those older people
were years away from me and that winter was so far off
that I could not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like.

But, here it is, my wife retired to heaven recently and she was getting gray.
She was in much better shape than me...but, the lord took her anyway
the one I married who was dark and young and strong...
But, we were those older folks that we used to see and never thought we'd be.

Now I have found another lonely graying soulmate like myself and we have married.
The Lord has seen fit to bring us together so we may enjoy love and togetherness again.
Some might call it a union of convenience, but if this is conveniance, I sure like it.
Its so nice to laugh and talk and comfort each other and know love again.
Loneliness is such a demoralizing word, Happiness is a much better word.

Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day!
And taking a nap is not a treat anymore...it's mandatory!
Cause if I don't on my own free will...I just fall asleep where I sit!
And so, now I enter into this new season of my life unprepared for all the
aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do things.

But, at least I know, that though the winter has come,
and I'm not sure how long it will last, but I know it will be one of happiness till the end.
This I know, that when it's over...I will enjoy the Spring in the arms of my loving Father...
and wait for my loved ones to come when their winter is over too...

So, if you're not in your winter yet...
let me remind you, that it will be here faster than you think.
So, whatever you would like to accomplish in your life please do it quickly!

Our life is but a vapor, it vanishes away ever so quickly...
So, do what you can today, because you can never be sure whether this is your winter or not!

You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of your life....
so, live your life to the fullest each day
and say all the things that you want your loved ones to remember.
Laugh, Love and enjoy life while you can.

God has blessed me twice with great partners,
and for this I am eternally thankful.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dan, I once drille a 5/8 inch hole thru the center of a 6 foot long turned porch post so a customer could make a lamp out of it.

I used two short pieces of 2 by 4 with holes drilled in them to fit 1/8 black pipe, I positioned the post so it was straight with the holes in the 2 bys and an oil hole in the top and clamped the post to the bench and also the short 2 bys with about a foot between them. I then flattened the end of the pipe and ground the tapered cutting edges on it and then drilled 2 small holes just behind the flattened area for air to escape and then hardened the cutting edged. The pipe was 8 1/2 feet long and I used a hand drill on the end, drilled for a ways then air pressure to blow out the shavings. kept this up till I came out the other end, I was off about 1/8 from the center of the other end. it takes time tho and you have a much shorter distance. Wrap a piece of tape around the drill stem at the distance you want to stop at.

Hollis and Ed, I have retrofitted several large boilers with the inside cone to make it draw, the best rain cap is one that is almost flat but will still let rain run off. Another thing, the cap should be high enough above the top of the stack so that the area is at least twice that of the area of the stack. with even a slight wind all the smoke will be forced out one side of the opening. A tapered scushion at the very top of the stack will also multiply any wind and make the stack draw much better. And of course don't forget a spark screen.


irn

Are thinking Disaster Area ED? LOL

Well here goes my story, unbelievable, YES, did it really happen, Yes, and I have a witness.

Belive it or not what I caught on fire was a MOUSE, yes a mouse one of those furry little rodents that come in for the winter and stay till the food supply runs out.

I have a fold down cutting table made of flat iron on edge at the end of my welding table in the back room. I was using a gouging torch to gouge out a rather large crack in a piece that I was repairing and the very large amount of sparks were kind of concentrating on a pile of parts and pieces I had stacked against the back wall.

I happened to notice movement out of the edge of my cutting goggles and immediately lifted them up to see what it was. What it was, was a rather large (I found out later) Female mouse running from under the pile trailing a small stream of smoke from burning fur.

I almost died laughing from the sight and also pitied the poor mouse. I also learned that a small amount of burning mouse fur leaves a rather offensive odor behind. This poor smoking mouse disappeared under my Lincoln DC welder. This welder has the same generator as a gas powered Pipeliner Welder, but has a 15 horse 3 Phase electric motor for a power source.

End of story, well I thought so at the time. This happened on a friday afternoon, and we didn't work on Saturday or Sunday.

The Saga continues, The Mouses Revenge.

Monday morning about 9 AM, Dewayne my helper assistant had prepared a piece for welding and drug the cables over to the welding bench, set the welder, and pressed the ON switch. There was lots of yelling and a very large Dewayne was moving at Warp Speed right at me.

Not wanting to be trampled, I moved to one side to let him pass. Looking in the direction he came from and wondering what would scare him so, I saw that the air was a cloud of light brown and was settling to the floor in a layer on the floor. I immediately determined it was coming from the welder, so I hastily pushed the OFF button and retreated to let the air clear.

After the air had cleared sufficiently to see what was the cause, I made my way to the welder again wondering what would cause such a mess. To my horror there was all kinds of stuff sticking out of the slots at the end of the welder where the cooling fan for the motor is.

It appeared to be cloth, paper and some kind of straw or such. I quickly determined that it did not come from the internal parts of the welder, thank god.

Well the large mess on the floor was the first to be swept up, then I started pulling the stuff sticking out of the slots off. It didn't smell to good either. Next came a wire brush to get what was left. And you have to remember this machine is in a corner with limited access, what a job.

Next came a shop vac and an air hose. Finally I thought I had it all, so I turned the machine on again. OOPS another cloud in the air and a thumping noise. After the second mess was cleaned up I stuck a welding rod thru one of the slots and slowly turned the fan, and thats when I saw the mice, yes plural, one large mouse and quite a few offspring. Did you know baby mice are pink, hairless and have their eyes shut like other small animals when born.

Now the big question, How am I going to get them outa there so I don't have mouse innards all over the place. Its in a place where I can't move it out without at least most of a days work. So the sidecutters came to the rescue. I snipped one end of 3 or so of the metal between the slots, bent them out and reached in with a welding rod with a hook bent on the end and managed to remove the bodies. Bent the metal back and started the machine again, only a small cloud of stuff this time. I let it all get blown out before shutting it down again and cleaning the third mess up.

I think the mouse just wanted revenge for burning its hair off, and yes the mother did have badly singed hair over about 75% of her body when I finally got her out.

Funny, Yes, unbelivable, probably, a work of fiction, Definately NOT.

irnsrgn

LOL, sounds like the steel industry has been keeping tabs on you JUNK Damascus fellows. Thats what they are passing off as mild steel these days from all those mini remelt plants only they don't forge weld it together, they melt it together and make structural shapes out of it.

irnsrgn

Thank You Bruce, this will be for occassional use only doing small work, I have heard a lot about side blown forges so decided to try it. I plan on using ordinary bank clay mixed with sand to make the ducks nest out of with some hail screen in there somewhere to act as reinforcing wire to hold it together, my whole forge will be portable so the whole thing will not be over 2 ft square at the most setting on a seperate folding leg setup. I was going to set the pipe 2 inches off the bottom of the nest but will go with your recommendation of 4 inches.
Again thanks for the insight into this.


Irnsrgn

Jim, you can just send the pics to glenn and he will post or you can enter the picture in an image hosting website I use http://photobucket.com/ its a free hosting site. after you enter your picture in your album there will be 3 lines of addresses under the picture, URL, TAG, IMG, highlite the IMG one and copy it then just paste that in your text wherever you want it and when someone clicks on your post it will automatically bring it up from the hosting site and display it, as shown below. You cannot upload pictures directly into this site like you could the old one.






irnsrgn

Ten there won't be a pot as such, just a hollow in the middle of some clay, I think its called a ducks nest because it resembles the nest a duck makes. It will be fairly deep with the pipe entering a couple of inches off the bottom, I have never really seen one of these forges so it will be trial and error for the building process.

irnsrgn

keep the top of any 12 V vehicle battery clean, the moisture will mix with the dust and the resulting short will slowly drain the batter, and always put on wood
.I even put thin plywood under them in the vehicle

HW, I just got the tuyere made, haven't started on the forge part yet, I have never operated a side blown before, going to be a new expierience for me.
irnsrgn

These are some WALL Nozzles I made for our local fire dept several years ago. They are used to protect near by structures from damage by spraying a thin wall of water straight up or at an angle.








I have built several of the small yellow ones for rural depts with a limited supply of water to keep propane tanks cool that are near a fire, if you tilt it a little it will envelope the tank in a shield of water on both sides.



Photos can be found at this link - click here

These are pics of the tuyere for the side blown demo forge I am making for use with my bellows. The 1 inch sch 40 pipe is Stainless Steel, I got the idea from Bruce Wilcock's post in the old forum. I use a butterfly valve to control the air instead of making a whole bunch of little pumps on the bellows.

I never found a horse that would stand still enough for me too shave on quench, but just in case try this url

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=5284&highlight=shaving+horse

or this one

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=8373&highlight=shaving+horse

the plans for the first one
http://www.countryworkshops.org/CWshavehorse.html