Tom Allyn

Very nice. FWIW, 3/8"-20 was fairly common 90 years ago. I run into it doing restoration work from time to time. Finding the 3/8"-20 spindle stock is the hard part. I've resorted to inserting helicoils and using 1/4"-20 spindles.

Probably granite. It's about the toughest stuff around.

OK. but where did that first set of tongs come from? Cross-threading points!

I hadn't considered using Sikaflex. I've used a lot of it as a caulk in construction work but never used it just as an adhesive. My gut says it might be a little soft for hammer handles but I'll concede that argument to first-hand experience using it in that application. I'll have to try it. My concern about its softness is that it might not transfer the full force of the blow to the work. Then again, it might be easier on the wrist.

That Fisher is rough but at less than a buck a pound it's surely worth doing a little rehab. If that was in my area I'd be all over it like stink on...... :rolleyes:

Fingers crossed for you.

That's obscene! I didn't know they allowed porn on IFI.

I love charcoal. With a raised half-dome tuyere the ash just settles down around it and never blocks the air. You can forge all day without ever having to deal with clinker. And if you build up an 'oven' of firebrick around the firepot you can minimize the amount of charcoal you burn. If I could buy lump charcoal at a similar price/pound that I get coal then I'd almost never use coal again. Somewhere on the web is a video of a guy using a twin-55gal-drum charcoal maker. Looks similar to this rig. http://www.twinoaksforge.com/BLADSMITHING/barrel2.JPG Looks like a slick setup. I'll see if I can find the video.

I wasn't familiar with 3M 5200. I just Googled it. Looks like good stuff. Marine applications are very demanding. I've always used construction adhesive (subfloor adhesive) when rehandling my carpentry hammers. A thin coating on the handle and a little smeared into the eye is all you need. When you set the wood wedge it will squeeze out of any gaps between the handle and the eye. Then you usually get a little more squeezing out when you set the metal shim. Rehandled this way, I can expect 3-6 years of daily use before the hammer needs rehandling. And that's in the Pacific Northwest where we have very wet winters and very dry summers. The handle stays on. No sense in trying to remove it without cutting, drilling and punching.

I forge in my back yard in a surburban development. I haven't had a complaint in the 5 months I've been at this. Coal smoke isn't bad once you get the fire going good. But even less obtrusive is lump charcoal. And if you take steps to quiet your anvil and limit your work to reasonable hours then you shouldn't have a problem.

If you're working by yourself (no striker) and with smaller stock then there might not be much advantage to the 400# anvil. Big anvils are needed for big work, not so much for smaller work.

I missed that thread. Got link?

I know. But on motors that can be rheostat controlled you can quiet them down by running them slower. It's a more elegant solution than just blowing off wasted air.

I've heard that those work well. I have one that my neighbor gave me but I haven't used it on a forge yet. It pumps out twice as much air as I would need for my forge. I don't know if they can be rheostat controlled but if they can then they'd about ideal.

Can't beat free.

There are some massive forklifts out there. When we were relocating one of Boeing's machine shops we used a 100,000 lb. capacity forklift to move many of the larger pieces of equipment. 100,000 lbs is the equivalent of 2 dump trucks filled with gravel. The thing looked like an army tank with a pair of mammoth tusks sticking out the front. The wheels were steel with solid rubber tires, about 36" high and 24" wide. Weights are stacked on the back to increase load capacity. And it could expand in the middle to push the counterweights further back from the forks for more leverage. It looked similar to this forklift. http://omegamorgan.c...y-moving-09.jpg Omega Morgan was our subcontractor for this work. They can move anything. One day they backed over one of our steel job boxes and flattened it like a paper sack! Amazing power in that machine.

That's awesome! More power to you - and your friend. A very thoughtful gift you're planning. What sort of material will the comb be made of? How hard are the edges of your scrapers?

I need to get a spoke shave. But for shaping a wood handle I use a 7-1/2" angle grinder with either a 24 or 36 grit disc on it. Fast, fast, fast. It'll blow off white oak like nuthin'.

Great link! Thanks!

Nice. What did you use for the actual breaker element?

I make a 'cave' for the fire when I'm burning charcoal. I have some 16" fire bricks which span over the fire. I close the back end with 2 bricks that I can slide apart in order to pass long material through the forge. Coal takes more tending so I leave the forge open for burning coal.

When I sharpen old drill bits I get them close at the grinder and then make the final cut in the Drill Doctor. Saves wear on the Drill Doctor wheels. Drill bits have varying angles ground into them. I try to at least match that angle to the DD and get close to sharp while at the grinder. That way it just takes a few turns in the DD to finish up.

I have some nice English mortising chisels with socketed handles. They work. On the plus side there's no risk of splitting the handle by over-seating the tang. But the chisels do occasionally come loose from the handles. I like the idea of a shoulder to prevent over-seating. Then burn the tang clear through the handle and bend the tip over into a slot in the end of the handle.

But he says it's an awesome deal. You better jump while you have the chance. "THIS IS AN AWESOME DEAL FOR SOMEONE SETTING UP A SHOP!!"

I don't miss the vehicles, at least not those produced after about 1970. But the machinery and tools we're losing make me wanna cry. The old 'Made in USA' stuff was built to last. Back in the day it was about how well you could make something, not how cheap you could make it. Seeing all that quality steel going to the junkyard to be sent to Asia and melted down just breaks my heart. We're fools.