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newbiesmith

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Everything posted by newbiesmith

  1. I'm 5' 8" so yeah the height might work out good. I think I'm starting to see what i need to do. Thanks a ton guys. -Dan
  2. Thanks guys. Tom, where would you put the cross members you're talking about? ********** |-----------| |*********| <-Brace here? |Firepot | |*********| <-Brace here? |-----------| |-----------| ********** Also would they be on the top or underneath the "table" surface. And how would you secure the braces? Welds or bolts? Brian, is that coal in the last pic surrounding your firepot? Or is it gravel to stabilize it? From what I've heard I'm thinking I might put two braces going accross the bottom as noted in the sketch above and use firebricks on top, underneath the firepot. Then I'll leave the "bins" on the sides as coal reserves. Does this sound like a good plan? Also, if I were thinking of setting up a hood for it to catch sparks what would be a good material to use? I have some old ventilation duct work that I scrounged form the scrap yard a couple years ago. Can that be used? Or will it not hold up to the heat and/or would it put off bad fumes. Thanks guys for the help. -Dan
  3. I have a Skil that I've used for over a year on different projects here and there. Some smithing related and some non-smithing related. I love it. -Dan
  4. So guys I wanted to run my plan by you for your thoughts. I'm looking to upgrade from my rivet forge. One of the things I'm finding that I need is to have the forge easier to move. So this is why I'm thinking about combineding: This: Cart With This: Fire Pot So the plan is to cut a hole in the cart big enough to set the firepot in, and tack it with a couple tack welds so that even though it's hanging it doesn't shift around. Then I'll mount the squirrel cage blower on the side of the cart and cut out sections of the walls of the cart so that I can lay longer stock in across the firepot. So does this sound feasible? Anything I need to watch out for or be cautious of? Thanks. -Dan
  5. Tom, I'm located in West Virginia, around the eastern pan handle if that makes any sense. Mike, I'm looking to get back down to Amelia to a meeting or two. Just got to juggle things around as the weekends are the only time I get my son. I'd like to bring him down but I'm not sure how he'd handle a whole day's worth of demos. And thanks guys for the info. -Dan
  6. I'm in the process of looking for a hand crank forge blower. In the past I've used electric ones and have had good luck. The problem is the new site for my "shop" will be away from a good source of electric. Any ideas of what I should look for, how much I should expect to pay, and where I should be looking? I saw some blowers on ebay but have heard people post cautions about buying blacksmithing tools from Ebay. I'm not looking for antiques either, just something that is cheap and functional, kinda like me ;-). -Dan
  7. Well been a while since I've logged in. In the past couple years there's been a few life changes that have sucked away any feelings of creativity I had. My divorce was finalized last May and through the long road from the separation to the courtroom I had picked up the hammer several times but only found frustration at the forge. Blacksmithing was something I had taken up with the hopes of finding a hobby to share with my now ex-wife as we aged and entered into retirement down the road. But as time has healed that wound, I find my self curiously drawn back to the forge. Especially as I look to rebuild my life and hopefully sometime in the near future a house too. So just wanted to let you guys know that you all have been missed and I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things again. Also thank you Peyton. I'm looking forward to the class coming up in April. -Dan
  8. Ok, I've been using my rivet forge for a while and I've got some questions about it as pertaining to "Fire health" as forging progresses. I don't have any specs on the forge other than it is basically a cast iron basin about two to three inches high supported by 4 pipe legs. There is a steel plate with holes drilled into it that forms the air grate. Below that is a length of steel pipe with a T in it that goes to where the blower is attached and a screw in end that seals the bottom of the T. What I find is that when I first start with a clean forge and new coal things work great. But as things progress it seems that I have problems attaining the higher heat associated with forge welding, etc. So that if I turn off the blower for any length of time the coals go out completely. It also seems that I am using a heck of a lot more coal than I should. Also with it having the high walls all the way around, I am limited in the lengths of steel that I can put in and heat. I either have to build a very high fire or bend the bar to get it to where I need to apply heat. This is primarily the reason why I'm thinking of making another forge. But I want to also try and figure out if there is something I need to do to resolve the issue to improve the fire health over the entire forging session. Let me know if this makes sense or if you can make any suggestions. Thanks. -Dan
  9. Let me put out this disclaimer first guys. I am a horrid, horrid Christian. I drink, gamble and cuss like a drunken sailor. Well maybe not that bad but I'm definitely not a saint. But the other night while I was working on making campfire set for the Shanty/Shack (Refer to: http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/items-shack-5275/ ) that me and the guys were building on the river. I decided instead of cussing the metal as I worked it, I would actually have a discussion with God. And halfway through the process where I made that change I noticed that it seemed like the metal actually worked easier. Now when I pray/talk with the big guy I usually just have an actual conversation. It's freaked out my wife before who I swear has come out to see if I've somehow figured out a contraption to mount the telephone to my head while I'm forging. Since I'm one of those guys that can't chew gum and walk at the same time that would be disastrous. But to make a long story short, things worked out great with the forging and with how I felt afterwards. I usually feel good after a night over the anvil but it was better this time. I just wanted to see if anyone else out there had the same thing happened to them? -Dan P.S. I may end up in serious trouble though once the shanty's built though. The only praying that will be done there, I fear, will be to the porcelain deity.
  10. Ian, which one of us is right? I had always thought the two tong blanks were supposed to be "mirror images" of each other. -Dan
  11. Good example of why I'm too stupid not to draft a drawing before hand. The other day I decided to wing making a set of tongs. I had read and read and read about all the ways of doing it. I made the two blanks and they looked great. But for some reason they didn't seem to fit well. After about 3 nights of working them, setting them down and working on another project while I thought things through, it hit me. I made both blanks identical. Sooo, now I've got to figure out if I want to use these two blanks to make two tongs (after making their blank-mates, using new stock) or if because of the amount of heats I used to rework them if I should scrap them and just start over. This learning thing can be a real pain sometimes ;-). -Dan
  12. Yeah I have to agree that it wouldn't be worth it. The beauty of a hand crank blower is the gear system that has multiple gears in place to allow for faster cage speed from less work. In addition to that after letting go of the crank your gears continue to travel and produce blast. I can't imagine just having a squirrel cage blower with a crank on it's axle. But I tell you what, I still have my old blower that the motor burned up in. I'll give it a try over the next week or so and let you know. All I have to do is remove the electric motor. -Dan
  13. I don't know but this doesn't look much like an old blower.... Bench Mount Hand Crank Blower Forge Antique - eBay (item 190208894875 end time Mar-30-08 10:56:00 PDT) -Dan
  14. Mummmm Laser beam googles....... Well it looks like we're back to blacksmithing. No doubt you could throw a rheostat on those puppies and have a real good "spot welder".......... Yeah I'm a geek. -Dan
  15. Thanks Tom, Here My wife always gets on me for my tendancy to go room to room with a butcher knife's blade "cupped" in my forearm hollering "clear" as I proceed through the house. Usually buck nekid. Nothing strikes terror into the heart of an attacker like a short, stumpy, hairy, and very much naked Italian coming after them with a butcher knife. -Dan
  16. Finnr, What kind of rods do you use for this welder? Ever stray from the recommended diameter? If so what were the results? -Dan
  17. Well in all honesty. This post was actually supposed to be a somewhat comical digest of "creative" anti-theft solutions. Aka. Bear traps, paint can pendulums, etc.... -Dan
  18. I can appreciate your opinions but disagree. When I finally build my shop one of the signs that will be hung with pride says "God created man.... Sam Colt made them Equal" I don't care who you are or how tough you are (or think you are). If you come up against another person wielding a weapon and the element of surprise your toast. You can try and fool yourself into thinking that you can pull some major Kung Fu stuff but the probability of success is not in your favor. Granted the likelihood that you'd be able to get your "piece" in hand in time is equally improbable. But from what I've seen the threat of mutual destruction seems to be a good deterrent, just look at the cold war. Now let me hop of the soapbox and say this. As much as it would tourqe me to see that my shop has been ransacked you have to keep things in perspective. Your family is still alive and so are you. But having had close family have their home buglarized, it breeds the fear that that person will be back and maybe the cost will be higher. The problem is that in the US criminals get away with way too much. If the laws were properly enforced the likelihood you'd have issues like this would be minimized. The system, like most, is a flawed system. Which is why people should have the right to defend themselves at least on their own property. -Dan P.S. I'm not trying to insult anyone through this post. Gun rights has always been something that has been a touchy subject with me. So don't take my response personally.
  19. Thanks man. I'll take a look at the clark too. I'm thinking that from the specs of the one I was looking at that I should be pretty well content. If I'm right, what I'm thinking is that I'd go through one rod in the minute of welding time. At that point chances are I'd have to stop put a new rod in (and hopefully take the step back to think that I usually don't do). -Dan
  20. I'm limited to getting a welder that will run on 110v. I've tried to coax my landlord into letting me run 220 for my Lincoln 180 and I feel pretty confident we'll be here at this rental for a while. In the mean time I'd like to get started welding a little here and there. I figure having a portable welder will be beneficial in the long run as well. What I'm looking at is a 115V 70A ARC WELDER Campbell-Hausfeld Model: WS0970 Do it Best SKU: 338441 Online Price: $99.99 Anyone have any suggestions or recommendations? This is my budget and it seems to be a descent deal for what it is. -Dan
  21. Now the big question? Flux or fluxless? If flux, anything special? -Dan
  22. I swear you guys are cool. This is why I put the post up. Even though I'll have the feds on my doorstep in a couple days, it's worth it. Tom that last part was great. -Dan
  23. That's pretty awesome Peyton. Yeah from the pictures Chris seems fairly young. It's good to see younger guys showing craftsmanship like this. -Dan
  24. This is kinda a light hearted posts inspired by Mark's post in http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/help-new-shop-5364/index3.html =================================================== Yes indeed Matt, I've got a good friend that landed here in western MD a few very ago and he definately is a product of the keep the people safe from themselves mentality of the UK, I pray every day that that free men and women are able to maintain the right to defend themselves against any threat to thier freedom. On a slightly different note, a double barrel .69 muzzleloading pistol with 130gr FF powder and volume equivalent of bird shot makes a MEAN defensive device(not a firearm by US law, as it doesnt take a premade ammo). Mark ================================================== My dad made him self a home-made black powdered cannon. It looks to be a 2 1/2" piece of round that was run through a lathe to shape it to look like a cannon barrel with a 1/2" hole bored down the middle. There is a fuse hole that is I think about 1/16" towards the back of the barrel. This is mounted in between two pieces of 2"x1" bar stock that is the length of the barrel. A small hole was drilled into the barrel at the very back and a tiny rod was used to connect the back of the barrel with the two bars. Pretty neat design. If I can get him to take a pic of it I'll post it. It doesn't have powder burns on it so I don't think he ever got the guts to shoot it but.... Then again I'm finding out alot of stuff he did that he denied doing when I was younger. Anyone else with stories like this? -Dan
  25. Just to let you know Glenn. My pastor has said xxxx in church ;-). My point is that I appreciate the rules and am doing my best to ensure that I follow them. My problem is that I need to get a better handle on what it is that I need to censor. This is in no way to be disrespectful of you or your site. The site that you have created is 100% top notch and I love visiting it. I just want to make sure I don't Mr. Magoo, my way into a site banning. I also want to make sure that when people look up my profile they don't think that I'm a "drunken sailor". Granted I'm the first part but I could never be the last part since I'm afraid of water. -Dan
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