Rutterbush

DANG John. You visit my place once and then you talk about me.

I have nothing to say about the Bulgarian anvil or Old World Anvils (the folks there are great to work with), but I have four of the Two Horn Classic Anvil 110 kg (260 pnd). Three of the four have cracked from far side of face to near side. Two have more than one crack from side to side on the face. They have also spalled in several spots on the faces. Large chunks the size of a 25¢ coin have broken out of the face surface.

WOW! John. Your inner welder is showing through. Great advise. I'm constantly attempting to convince students to NOT purchase that $100.00 battery charger that has welding machine painted on it. Your advise to stay on the leading edge of the puddle is correct. I'm going to add that pulling the wire with the arc following does give better penetration into the base metal. Better penetration is due to the wire/arc directly on the base metal. Pushing the wire with the arc in front actually pushes weld metal under the wire and hinders the penetration. Pushing does give the bead a flatter and better looking shape. Pulling the wire gives a narrower and taller bead.

HWooldridge, Sent you a PM.

Looks as if I need to give a bit more 'splainin'. The school is about 25 miles from Blacksmith Depot, so this is the first place I started to look. First thing I went for was the Peddinghaus, of which, there is a 77#, a 250# and then the largest whatever poundage. This is why I spoke of the 250 pound anvil. I'm not sold on that size. I was giving what I had already seen and not giving it much thought except that I finally have funding and need anvils. Thanks to all of the more thoughtful folk for suggesting the 150 pounder. Personally, I have two 100 pounders that I use at home. Thomas Powers, I was hypnotised by the large face area of the big anvils. More for a student to swing at. Best excuse I have. Bob S, I can't carry a 250 pound anvil in my Masera... Maser...Ferrari. I am not compensating for any short comings by getting large anvils. I submit to the wiser folk. I will persue 150 # anvils or equivelent and may have enough cash left over to get an extra. If there are other suggestions I have not spent my money yet.

Sask Mark, I have two of these fine firepots at the school. They sure are much better than the student built steel firepots. The student built units last about eight months. That means that each welding class gets to fabricate new pots for the next year.

First, I have to say that I am NOT soliciting bids. If I were asking for bids I would contact Glenn first about the subject. Second, to submit a bid the sales rep must be familiar and enrolled in the North Carolina E-Procurement. One of the many hazards when dealing with a state supported school. I have funds to purchase ~ six anvils and ten heavy firepots. Price is the deciding factor on the actual count. Before I decide on which brand and from whom to purchase I would appreciate personal opinions about NEW anvils. I cannot purchase used or needs repair due to the NC E-Procurement. Approximately five years back I purchased four 110 Kg (260 pound) anvils. I will NOT consider that brand again. All four have thumbnail sized divets raised or broken out or a crack from one side to the other on the faces. One of the anvils has three of the divets broken out in the middle of the face. However, the edges are decent and not sevierly chipped. I must state that the supplier was super nice and I did not hold them responsible for an import. I viewed the Ozark Anvil. I like it. The price is the stopper. I've looked at the Peddinghaus at Kayne's. I could get five of the #9 model. I'm attempting to get at least six anvils, as big as possible and keep it under $9000.00, tax, tags, title and shipping. Same thing with the fire pots. I have a cut off at $4000. Not a penny more. When the new smithy is complete I'll have 10 forges, so I need ten coke burning firepots, providing that the funding doesn't suddenly get diverted elsewhere or trimmed down to the size of a Sears lawn mower shed. Your recommendations and the reason why you like whatever will be helpful. Don't be afraid to make a suggestion. All suggestions will be oggled if I can locate them on the internet. Thanks a bunch.

This subject has been touched on in the past. If this has already been posted could someone direct me to it? I don't seem to be able to locate anything on search. The Ryobi $300.00 electric wood splitter could be used as a hot work press. Has anyone used this particular machine for this purpose? Does the machine operate in a vertical position? Is it capable of small work up to ~1"? For the weldors out there, with the proper plunger and die could this be used as a bend test? Please note that I'm curious about the Ryobi wood splitter listed here. http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100348561&N=10000003+90401+500809

Tax code... yeah, I agree. Unless a person works with A welding code on a regular basis it can almost be indecipherable. On top of that, the American Welding Society has just stopped publishing an updated code every two years. They had massive complaints about purchasing that $500.00 book for few and minor changes. Plus all of the specifications which are available. The AWS now replaces the book every five years. Best comparison that I can come up with is Englands driving code has everyone driving on the left side of the road. The USA has everyone driving on the right. Italy, hmmm, you hold your breath, close your eyes and go. Every body has their way of doing things. With a little modification to your driving habits you may be able to adapt to Englands driving code and visa versa.Very roughly the same as welding codes. Then there are those who think they know better because they've done it that way for years, kinda like Italy.

Boiler Code will be Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code - Section IX As stated further up in an earlier reply, it may be spelled out in a Welding Specification Procedure, (I've added the following)Procedure Qualification, or a Specification for X-ray interpretation as to what is allowed or not allowed. If the specific job does not have any of the above, then it is generally left to the engineer in charge or a qualified someone he/she may designate.

Hillbillysmith, Metallurgical studies have shown that when a weld bead is deposited the base metal and filler metal blend at an approximate 50/50 mix. Note that I have rounded off to 50%. This number can vary. That is 50% base metal and 50% filler. This could leave 50% that does not blend. If a second bead is welded on top of the first there is another 50/50 blend. If a third bead...it continues everytime a bead is deposited. The blending "can/could" mask the non conforming filler. So, if a 309 or 312 or other stainless designed for welding non matching metals is used to fix a porosity, then the stainless could be overlooked on x-ray. Then there are the x-ray techs who are also qualified weldors and may have a sharper edge than their colleages.

As a weldor, I have done this, but only to ornamental type welds. It fills up the porosity holes and doesn't give too bad of a color match on very small welds. Porosity is a gas bubble which did not escape the molten metal. Trapped gas, usually air/oxygen, creates oxides/scale. This oxide is on the surface layer inside of the porosity. Filling with a stainless filler only covers this oxide layer inside of the porosity. As a CWI, I cannot knowingly allow a weld to be repaired like this. Having tested many weldors and about the same amount of students I have seen the results of welding dissimmilar metals. There are tested and proven welds of carbon steel with stainless steel filler. Of course, these welds were using ER-309, ER-312 or some similar filler which is designed to have compatable chemistry to fully mix with the carbon steel. If the stainless will not become homogenous (mixed/ go into solution)it will tend to tear out under a bend test. I see this time after time when training weldors. I explain that they obviously used a non-compatable filler. When the correct filler is applied to the weldors' next test it usually passes. The X-Ray/Radiagraphs that I've seen can identify something in the weld other than matching filler metal. Anything of differing density will stand out. An X-ray will even show where a different sized stick electrode was used to fill a widening vee groove. Even with matching electrode metal to base metal it will still show a wide bead against smaller beads. This is why, as a CWI, I cannot condone this practice. I should add that if a Welding Procedure Specification is required by the customer it is considered as not being followed by the contractor. This can lead to litigation, law suites, firings, fines, insurance cancelation, hungry children, divorce, etc.

Thomas, That, in all seriousness, will be the next modification that I do to the #6 at the college of welding knowledge. Thanks. My modification was to attach a C-clamp made of 1/2" X 2" plate with a 5/8" bolt on top opposite the handle. This C-clamp attaches over the outer diameter of the wheel instead of threading into the supplied handle holes. I can now move the wheel handle to any position needed. (As seen on another forum.) Let's see... 1-Infinite handle position adjustment. 2-Pipe insulation on the handle to protect against teeth imprinting. 3-Rotating hand grip. 4-Extend the handle lower for the short students. Now if I could see a picture of the counter balance I will have five stolen borrowed modifications. That counter balance may be the modification that my older students who have shoulder problems need.

Clinton, Yeah, putting electrodes on specs or prints as 60XX or 70XX is a standard practice probably everywhere here in the States. When the engineer told me that I was using the wrong rod I thought he was kidding. Kinda stunned me when I realized he was serious about using a 60XX and not the 6010. He really didn't understand that the double X's are just place holders and that the welder can use the electrode they are qualified with as long as it's a 60 series rod. That man was educated beyond his intelligence. Most roofing welders use an E-6022 when speced to 60XX and the 7010 when speced as 70XX. Course they do have a choice if qualified. The AWS has tightened up some of their requirements for CWI. Anyone who thinks they may be interested can check out the requirements here. http://files.aws.org/certification/docs/b5.1-2003-errata.pdf There are also several documents that pertain to the actual CWI testing. http://www.aws.org/w/a/certification/CWI/ Take a look at Part B. That's one of the actual books used for reference during the testing.

Dragon's lair, You sound like you've run into the same inspector that I did. Man complained about my weld and told me how he wanted it welded. I told him I didn't understand his directions and could he demonstrate the weld. As I was offering him the stinger he did an about face and disappeared. On the same note, a good friend of mine has been a CWI for years and he knows enough about welding to keep people from challenging him. He stays with the code which says that an inspector is not there to interpret welding how-to with the weldors. The inspector's job is to make sure that a weld meets or does not meet code. When not acting as a welding educator or hired as a CWI I load the welding machine on the truck and hire out as a contract weldor. I was on a roof welding down the corrogated steel to the trusses when a fellow walked up and indicated that he wanted to speak to me. He introduced himself as the roofing engineer who designed the roof on which I was welding. He politely asked what type of current welding credentials I had. I asked him to walk down to the truck with me and I would let him peruse the requested paperwork. I handed him the folder and he started flipping through the stack. He looked up and asked if there was a certification that I didn't have. Sure, I told him, but I'm working on them. Satisfied with my credentials he changed the subject and asked what type welding rod I was using. I reached into my back pocket and handed him a 6010. He looked at me and announced that it was not the electrode that he had specified on the blueprints. He unrolled his prints and pointed to the specification. Sure enough, I was NOT using the electrode specified. There in big bold letters it stated that the electrode to be used will be an E-60XX. I had an enlightenment for that engineer. Those XX's are place holders. The electrode that he specified could be any number, such as, 6010, 6022, 6024, etc. I even took out the Lincoln electrode catalog to prove it. It didn't matter that he had proved to me that he didn't know welding. What mattered was that he held the position of engineer. He allowed me to go back to welding. I finished the job, got paid and never saw him again.