JerryLWatson

Nice job. How do you finish off the top of the oil reservoir? Press-on cap? Hinge and plate with oil port? Welded plate and oil port? Or will you just leave it open? Also, I didn't know you could even find babbit bearing material anymore. Cool!

Interesting. My Dad used to say you can tell the quality of a man's work by the condition of his tools. I have always found that to be true. In addition, I have found cleanliness of my work area to be directly related to safety so I keep my shop area picked up, swept and organized as much as possible. After every work session, I tackle the clean up. Less worry about fire then, too. In an aside, (maybe this doesn't go in this topic but I'm going to say it anyway) I've have been noticing pictures of many smith's tools on this site and other 'smithing websites where the heads of fullers, hot sets, chisels, drifts, punches, cold sets and the like are dangerously flared from hammer blows. Speaking as one who had an ophthalmologist grind out a piece of steel from a pupil, you don't want to go through that; so, dress those flared tool ends after they begin to expand and prevent that painful occurrence.

I have a cross pein, probably about 2 1/2 lb., that I use for most forging that I have been using since day one. It has a haft that I shaped to fit my right hand so it just naturally falls into a comfortable grip position. I also have one small and one larger ball pein which I use a lot. Typically, I use the ball peins for tooling and save the cross pein for forge work. I also just bought a good size square face hammer that I am going to shape for larger forgings. I do have one forge hammer I made with one rounded face and one flat face that I almost never use because the dimensions are all wrong for effective use but it was fun to make.

Jeff, my son is the same age. My deepest condolences for you and your family's loss. I pray that God will protect and comfort you as only He can.

Fun photograph, Macbruce. Trains, especially steam trains, are fascinating (from an old steam boiler fitter) Thanks for sharing and my condolences for the loss of your friend.

I don't name my hammers, just know what each hammer shape is for and how to use it. What I do prefer to do is I cut or carve the handle to fit my hand so that each time I pick the hammer up my hand just naturally falls into position.

I also enjoy watching Roy Underhill's show. Wish I could have seen Mr. Ross's demonstration. I get a kick out of watching Underhill. He makes mistakes and covers it up sometimes with camera work but his constant chatter gives it away sometimes.

Nice work. I got tired of being laid off time after time so I quit my last job many years ago and started working for myself. Loved it and never looked back. Just remember: having money is over rated. Poverty is not so bad once you get used to it! :-)

Nice site. Thanks.

An instructor in a blacksmith class I took once upon a time showed us how to impart a deep black finish to metal by heating it to a black heat and dipping it rapidly in a bucket of used motor oil, then wiping the oil off quickly with a clean cloth and buffing the piece. Unfortunately, there is a risk of fire so it is best to have a person standing by with a fire extinguisher or a flat surface large enough to cover the top of the container the oil is in to smother the fire...if there is one. We didn't experience a fire during the demonstration but there was a lot of heavy smoke. Still, the finish was beautiful and apparently quite durable.

How is case hardening done on mild steel with bone meal ? Also, what is "Supper Quench"?

Hello all: Enjoying all the good info and dynamite photos and instructions in the blueprint section. Pleased to be in company with such an incredibly talented group of people. Used to have a shop once upon a time building furniture and custom ironwork. Am setting up another shop again after moving. Probably have to wait until after recovery from surgery to tackle work full tilt. All the best from Tennessee.

I'd be interested in learning more about how to burn corn in a forge. I wanted to try some charcoal but I couldn't find any around here that weren't designed for a barb ecue.

Sorry to hear about your troubles, Arrean Ellis. Been there. Solution? sell out and move. Now I'm back in a close residential location and trying to get set up again. One of the neighbors has stated they won't have a problem with my forge (coal) but I'm trying to get a gas forge built anyway. Not sure what the city will think. Gonna try anyway. Meanwhile, we're trying to finish the house remodel so we can get it put on the market and start looking for another place that may be amenable to blacksmith work. Whatever you do, stay away from Northwest Washington; the Northwest Air Pollution Authority will make every effort to shut you down, threatening you with exorbitant fines, arrest and confinement and everything else they can think of. No offense to anyone currently living and struggling with the economic and business climate of NW Washington.

Beautiful work, Randy. My wife loves pineapples and I know she'll want me to tackle a project like that. Don't think I can do as well as you did though. Fine craftsmanship!

I could be mistaken but I believe that to be a rebar cutter. Used to see ones like that on job sites when I worked construction (B.R.--before retirement).

A tool and die friend of mine once told me that brass was the best way to clean a file and I've found that to be true. Keeps the teeth sharp and like new. I have a file card but it does seem to dull the file teeth and I tried things like chalk in the past but found them to be kinda messy and I had to keep applying the chalk which was tedious on a protracted filing job. I like the brass idea the best. I know that all these things were mentioned by others; just wanted to toss in my two cents.