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I Forge Iron

Aaron J. Cergol

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Everything posted by Aaron J. Cergol

  1. well my ceilings are between 12' and 14' high, I have not measured exact yet. Where can I get a new higher temp melting pin from, and how do I install it? Also, where can I get one of these insulated boxes from? or do I just make one from fire wool and firebricks? Also, am I correct to assume when the sprinkler system does go off, it just sets off one head? or at least ONLY the head(s) that have melted pins in them? Aaron
  2. Hi all, so a few months back, I moved into a new shop. location is great, It's in an old warehouse building, and it's about quadruple the space of my old shop (this one's almost 2,000 sq ft), and rent isn't awful. It has a separate room which I plan to make into a clean room, and it's wired for three phase. Metal ceilings, and concrete walls/floor, and it has HEAT! the one downside-it has functioning sprinklers. So, I've been in the process of building a masonry style forge and now am at the point where I need to vent the durn thing. The sprinklers I have been told have pressurized air running through them. at each terminal is a small pewter (?) pin which must melt to set them off. I have been told that only one terminal would be set off if it was the only one to melt. I realize that it takes well over 300 degrees for pewter/lead to melt, and I'd probably be dead by the time that they did, but I'm still paranoid. is there any way to get around them? I have thick insulated double walled pipe stack, and I plan to be at least 3' away from it; however my forge is directly below one sprinkler head and I am worried that the hot air will cause it to set off. would making an enclosed style (medieval) forge be an idea to avoid this, or am I just crazy? I was also thinking about making a fire wool/fire brick box to place around the head. thank you for any suggestions, Aaron
  3. Thomas, the seller and I discussed that topic quite a bit. We figure if we put a motor on it, and a large reducer to get it down to he 250rpm that it needs she'd be fine. that being said, that will only be temporary until I can find original treadle parts for it. do you think I should go for it? Aaron
  4. Well, In the past week I have been busy! I was working with a very good friend at a summer festival blacksmithing there. A gentleman approaches me about antique lathes. metal treadle lathes...more on this later. Then, a gentleman comes up and says his mother is looking at moving. His father who passed a few years back was a blacksmith, and she is looking at clearing out the barn/garage/basement all his tools and metal-for free...under one condition; if I come and haul them away. :) I'm going to go and help them (or help myself) next week. lastly, The friend whos' booth I was working forging at told me he has a deal for me. he says to come and visit him down in Iowa for a few days and he has a 25 lb little giant (fully functioning) waiting there for me. I emailed him a day or two back, and he says he also has a small mechanical ironworker for me too if I want it. This is by far the most thoughtful and generous gift I have ever received. I am truly in awe of such kindness. So today, I checked out the lathe. she's a beaut! we dated it to between 1900 and 1904, an old Barnes metal treadle lathe-and a big one too-a 6' bed! has just about everything except the large flywheels and the treadle, but I with the help of the seller will convert it to electric. it has a gabjillion gears to do threading. he was restoring it, so everything runs SMOOTH and is very well oiled. no binding, biting or sticking whatsoever. there is only one major thread that is broken, but it seems like an easy fix. I have had a *little* experience with metal lathes and a ton with wooden ones, so I figure this is a great tool to introduce me to the metal ones. he's asking $350 and I think I'm going to go for it, what do you think? it's all about projecting what you need! Aaron
  5. glad to hear it. when I'm at my shop tomorrow, I'll shoot some pics, and see if I can clean it a bit more to make out a weight, and a date. I'm still curious to know about the square hole in the front foot... Thanks, Aaron
  6. good to hear, I figured I got a good deal. Dave, very nice work, and beautiful grain patterns. what did you use to etch it? It just so happens that an old friend who got me into blacksmithing will be in town for a festival this weekend and I'll be working with him there. I'll bring one, and ask him to help me play around with some W.I. Aaron
  7. Hi all, so yesterday, I picked up an anvil. Some friends of ours up north had it sitting around, and last year asked me if I'd like to buy it. They told me it was a 300#. So, I went to check it out, and find that it's not a *true* 300# anvil. it was around a 150# English pattern anvil welded to a very solid steel base. combined weight was 300lbs. they were asking $250 and I thought it was a bit steep. I decided to pass, but kept it in the back of my mind. so, a few months ago, I decided to start teaching again, and was in need of another anvil. I contacted them, and they said they'd let it go for $200 now. Great, so I go to pick it up yesterday. I'm looking at it, and cannot find any markings whatsoever, but I do notice that the feet have a distinctive flat on them that I see on Peter Wrights. Today, I cleaned her up a bit, and sure enough I cleaned it enough to read "eter W igh" and then "PAT" but I cannot find a pat date, or a weight. if there was a number on the front foot, it is covered by weld. There is however a square hole on the front foot on the right side, what is this for? I'll try and get pics up tomorrow, as I'm curious to know the date/origin of it. all in all, I think I got an alright deal for $200. the face is in great shape save for a small chipped edge. I'm quite psyched to have a PW and cannot wait to try her out. I was outbid on a PW before, so this will be a real treat for me. What is the history of the PW anvil manufacturers? Thanks, Aaron
  8. Hi all, I've been doing all sorts of metalworking ever since I was around 13 or so. I got into all of it because I was a huge fan of Lord of the rings. I started filing knives from old lawn mower blades, then saved up and bought my first gas forge my freshmen year in HS. around that same time, my parents got divorced, but my father moved out to the country purchasing an 1840's farm house, 12 acres, a pond, and most importantly, a barn. The bottom half is where I set up my shop. I began to forge more than just knives, I began to work on lots of theatrical things, tons of hardware, decorative hooks, holders, pulls and the like. I also began to make armour. Since I had no access to a welder, I raised everything from sheet, or from a billet form. 5ish years later, I'm 19 years old and I just moved into a new shop in an old warehouse building in the heart of Milwaukee. I'm making a masonry coal forge utilizing salvaged cream city brick complete with arches, soldier courses and other decorative elements. It will be a triple forge for when I start teaching again, as well as have a (melting) furnace in the rear for casting, heat treating, and possibly glass blowing. as of late, the theatre industry is keeping me busy, as well as the people whom I rent from; making lots of signage, interesting contraptions, and giving me lots of good connections. I work full time at a hardware store, but sometime in the next year or so, I hope to be self employed. I've just started working with bronze and copper-doing vases and forms, as well as repousse-fun stuff, and *just* like the leatherwork I do. I'm really hoping to start connecting with some more smiths in the midwest soon. I've heard of these swap meets and hammer-ins (I've hosted several for armouring) but would really like to get involved. any ways that I can start? is there any events in the areas coming up soon? I'd really like to get involved and work with others as well as connect and add to my shop. any suggestions are welcome. Also, this is an open invitation to anyone who wants to stop on by my shop and work-you are more than free. PM me on here and we'll talk. I generally have an open shop night every wednesday starting at 6pm as well as any weekend day that I have off. Thanks, Aaron
  9. I work at a hardware store, and every chance I get, I talk about blacksmithing with customers. Always gotta do it, if only to get my name out there, but I often hear "a friend of a friend has an old anvil collecting dust..." anyways, I talked with an old timer about 6 months ago. He was fascinated by what I do, and I had him out to my shop, and he really enjoyed himself. Well, hadn't heard from him in a few months, and he stops on by a few days ago telling me he found someone selling old wagon wheel rims (the big metal bands) for $5 a piece. the next day we stop out there and I pick up 20 of them, the seller let me have them all for $50! The guy who told me about them is a bit of a pack rat himself, and has tons of old metalworking tools-that he has no room for, so we'll see where this leads to... So now I have 20+ of these old rims. I don't quite know what to do with them yet, but it was a good deal, and I didn't know how long they would stay. any ideas on what to do with them? Aaron
  10. Hi all, I'm just about finished with my masonry style forge. I salvaged some old cream city bricks, made a frame (covering cinder blocks) and made several large arches and added some decorative features. I put in a 1/4" thick plate for the table, cut three holes for firepots (it's a triple forge as I do a lot of teaching) and am hooking up some blowers now. my question is this, how do I best go about venting? in my old shop, which happened to be an old barn, I simply made a chimney all the way to the top and 10' above the roof line. in my new shop, this is not possible. it has 10' tall ceilings, but it will not be possible to go 10' above the roof line. I would like to utilize some 8" double walled pipe I was given as it's very expensive to buy new. My shop is in an old factory building, complete with an ancient sprinkler system; ya know the kind that has the little pewter or lead pins in them...with ancient water too... anyways, I was planning on a large hood, but I don't know if this will be effective enough. I can go 4 to maybe 8' above the roof line. will this be enough draw? Will I need a fan, and if so, what kind would work for this application without breaking the bank? I am very paranoid about setting the sprinklers off. I realize they are single units that need to be provoked and it would take a lot to do so, but I cannot risk that, so I need the draw to be as good as it can get. Thank you for your time and help. Aaron edit-I forgot to mention, these forges are for coal and coke. the actual table is 4'X6' with three "stations" on it.
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