SmoothBore

An old Stainless Steel, Deep-Fat Fryer Vat, and accompanying Fryer Basket serve me very well. .

An old Stainless Steel, Deep-Fat Fryer Vat, and accompanying Fryer Basket serve me very well. .

"Misters" have been used for decades, to direct small amounts of coolant onto parts, where the Machine Tool lacked a "Coolant Base". Band Saws, Surface Grinders, Milling Machines, Lathes etc. can ALL benefit from this simple, economical coolant delivery system. .

There are a variety of Iron based materials that can be cast, ( Cast Iron, Ductile Iron and Maleable Iron, to name a few ) that have very different properties. The parts pictured are NOT Cast Iron, ... and are most likely Forged Steel. The above explaination about the wide "parting line" is completely correct. In a Sand Casting the parting line will be very narrow, because the surplus metal flows into a "riser" or into "overflow vents" in the mold. ( Vents are necessary, to let the air OUT of a mold, as it is being poured, ... and the "riser" acts a a resevoir of molten metal, that is sucked back into the part as it cools, and shrinks. This helps prevent "pourosity" in the casting. ) While on a part that's "Drop Forged" the air, and surplus metal flows out through the wider parting line, ( The "slug" that is used to make the Drop Forged part, is intentionally oversized, to insure enough material to completely fill the die. ) The wide parting line in the "Die" is located in such a way, that the "Flash" that flows out that gap, insures that the extremities of the Die are filled. But getting back to the pictured parts ..... The female splines inside the bore, where the Pedals mount, would quickly wear out, and fail, in a Cast Iron part. In the 1950's a Steel Forging would have been the most practicle and durable means of making those parts. Today, I suspect a "Powdered Metal" process would be employed. .

The cost of coal also varies greatly, depending on your location. Here, in Southeastern Pennsylvania, I'm paying $17 for a hundred pound bag of Bituminous Coal, ... and Anthracite is considerably less than that, ... because it's mined nearby. The kind of fire you need, depends so much on the type of work you do, ... that it's nearly impossible to make an honest comparison. I like a coal fire for playing around with a wide variety of work, ... but if I was trying to do any kind of production work, the convenience of a Gas Forge would be very tempting. .

I started casting lead "fishing sinkers" in my early teens. A cast iron skillet, on a gas stove, was my "crucible". And it all went downhill from there ......... .

Yep. Twenty-plus years ago, I consulted on a project, where a 2 story deep foundation was being prepared, to accomodate a very large Forge Press. I don't remember the tonnage, but I do remember that the proposed part was a 1 piece "Forged Aluminum Turret", to replace the 7' diameter, welded and fabricated version, that was being used on Military Tanks, of that era. I think they were "Abrams Tanks", ... but don't totally trust my memory, on that point. .

If you take a look at some "cold header" tooling, you will quickly see many way to adapt that technology to your needs. The techniques for cold forming, are directicly applicable to Forging. ( Once you've seen a "nail machine" run, you'll seriously question the rational behind making that sort of thing by hand. ) .

Very generally speaking, Anthracite Coal requires about 800 degrees (F) to ignite, and is hard to keep burning, on an open hearth, like a Forge. Bituminous Coal lights much easier, and is much less likely to go out while the Forge is "idle" . Both types will generate plenty of heat. .

If you've already got Natural Gas in your shop, ... why would you even consider a Coal Forge ? Even though I like my Coal Forges, ... this would be a "no brainer" for me. A simple Gas Burner, and a dozen fire bricks, and you're in business. But if you've got your heart set on a Coal Forge, the one in the pictures is a very decent outfit, ... and the price is not too far out of the ball park. The good thing about prices, is that they can change ..... .

For over 40 years I've been a collector of "high grade" shotguns, a competitive wing shooter, and shooting instructor. Thus the name, "Mr. SmoothBore". My shop is called, "SmoothBore Forge & Iron Works". .

A lot of older folks are using an Asprin regimine, ... or one of the Warfarin based anticoagulants, as a "blood thinner". This makes it hard to control the bleeding of even minor cuts. If you're using any sort of anticoagulant, a good "pressure bandage" is an important item to have available. And yes, ... that comes from personal experience. .

The type of work you intend to do, has a lot to do with the tools you need, ... and the order of their importance. I'll go out on a short limb, and guess that a teenage girl is probably going to be more interested in "ornamental" work, than something like tool making. So, the basic tools for fullering, bending and cutting will be the most useful. The other thing that hasn't yet been touched on, is "user friendly" material. By that I mean mild, low carbon round, flat and square bar, in sizes that won't require a lot of work, to bring them to the desired dimensions. During my "working" years, I designed Forge Tooling, for use in 500 to 1,000 ton Forge Presses, forging "slugs" that were heated in Induction Heaters, ... but I've only had a Coal Forge in my "home" shop, for a few years. .

They might be Carbide .....

When I was a kid, ( And yes, they did have cars back then. ) ... all my friends wanted to jack up their cars, ... or install "traction bars". Now I wasn't any smarter than they were, ... but even then, I couldn't understand how a 16 year old kid, could think he knew more about his suspension system, than the Team of Automotive Engineers, who designed it in the first place. People are funny ..... .

I've seen a similar tool, with the wedge on the outside, ... that's used by Wheelwrights and Coopers, ... to spread Barrel Staves, and Wheel Felloes, during the assembly process. I don't remember what they're called ..... .

I often run into some of my former co-workers, at Public Sales. If it's a Machine Tool Auction, ... the same old croud will always be in attendance, .... and if it's my other area of interest, ... Antique Tractors, ... then that gang will always turn up. No matter which, ... we ALL AGREE, ... that you need 3 of everything. And no, ... it doesn't matter if you've ever used any of them, ... you still need them. .

I think about those things, too. For me, picking up scrap is part of my day to day routine, ... and I seldom go out of my way to acquire it, ... unless it's for a specific project. Sort of a "targets of opportunity" thing. Further, ... I'm always surprised at how inexpensive it actually is, to burn my coal forge. Certainly less than $1.00 an hour ..... And finally, the time and money spent in working with "irregular" material, is surely Educational, as well as Satisfying. I don't try to make any money from puttering in my shop, ( and it's a good thing that I don't ) ... and the pace there, is as far from a "production environment" as possible. Obviously, if time and productivity were an issue, then using scrap material would quickly become an unacceptable constraint on the business, ... but if that ever happened, I'd quit anyway. .

He said he got 2 springs for $10 ... .

Yeah, ... that was my first thought too. I do a couple of presentations each year, on Wood Craft, Shooting & Fishing, for the local Boy Scouts. I think I'll cobble up a portable "Rocket Stove", and give it to them to "field test" this Spring. It should be interesting ..... .

When grinding large, flat areas, I will often score the surface in shallow, parallel grooves, with the edge of the Angle Grinder. This gives me a point of reference, to judge how much material is being removed, ... and it does seem to expedite the job. .

For what it's worth ..... During the time when I worked in the Wire & Cable business, OSHA required the Company to install overhead hoods at all the Plastic Extruders, that were used to extrude the "Poly" jacket, found on most electrical cable. ( The fumes from burning Poly-olefin, Poly-urethane, Poly-styrene and many other Plastic Compounds, are VERY toxic. ) In order to effectively capture the Toxic Fumes that were emitted by the molten plastic, the hoods needed to fit right down, very closely over the extruder heads. This, of course, interfered with the setup, operation and maintenance of the extruders. The solution was to make the "flue pipe" telescope vertically. This was accomplished quite simply, effectively and inexpensively, by forming a 5' long section of "stove pipe", that was slightly smaller than the standard size pipe, that was used for the rest of the 35' vertical rise flue. The undersize pipe was mounted directly to the top of the hood, ... and the hood was raised and lowered with a hand cranked "boat winch", and a simple system of cables and pulleys. These hoods were so simple and "user friendly" that we ended up building 14 of them for "in plant" use, and an equal number, for another "Sister Plant" in Indiana. I describe all of this, because a fairly low hood over your Forge, will be the most effective for removing smoke, ... but there are times when it will be in the way. And there might also be times when the ability to lower the hood all the way down onto the hearth, would be useful, as well. .

"Spike Tooth Harrows" are also used to groom Race Tracks ..... .

When I worked in the Wire & Cable business, we made literally hundreds of brake bands, ... that were used to put tension on spools of wire, as they were un-coiled, and/or re-wound. ( The weight of these spools ranged from less than 100# empty, ... to over 600# when full. ) Steel strapping, of #18 or #20 gauge, used as backing for 1/8" to 1/4" thick Teflon sheet goods, ... cut into appropriate width strips, ... gave the best service. .

That's the kind of thing that can be hard to find, when you need it. So, my thought would be to grab it now, while it's availsble. It doesn't take up a lot of space, ... and it will never "depreciate". I've got a lot of stuff laying around that I haven't yet used, ... but I don't regret the investment, at all. .