David Gaddis

How about a few pictures to "show and tell" us folks Carry on

Nice pics and story guys. You make some of the old guys very proud to say that they know you and see how far you have gone. Now I am thinking how far you will be next year. Maybe one of these days I will be able to meet your striking buddy. Good Luck! Carry on

Looks plenty adequate to me. Congrats now Carry on

Where are the wires? They are electric arn't they? LOL carry on

What an excellent explaination! Carry on and get you homework completed before I tell your Mom!

Funny telling Alec Steele to slow down. Thats like telling the Mississippi river to flow uphill. Folks..It ain't gonna happen. He is wide open anytime his eyes are open. Nice video guys. But why do yall have to talk soooo strange. Come back to Mississippi and we can finish those language lessons. Carry on

In their original life those were used to trap a ball. The convex fixture was used on the bottom and another on top of the ball. They were designed to float truck scales(old beam movement type), that is the whole top flatform could rock back and forth and then settle down for the final weight. By the way there were bumpers on ends that kept the platform from rocking too much, as truck drivers tried to destroy the scales everytime they crossed them. Scales movements have been replaced by load cells in many locations now days. Carry on

Very neat design. What did you use to make the attachments with? carry on

SilPhos is a Silver _Phosphorus Rod. It is / was used a lot on refrigeration lines where copper tube is connected to steel. Mostly on commercial condensers where the throttling unit were connected and then on the high press side from the compressor. A little goes a long way and it is best to spend a lot of time in the prep work. Not sooo long but doing the job completely reduces failure. For you application on the dragonfly this product will or may flow to areas not desired to be showing the weld. And this weld does not easily get removed. You may use a whole bunch of "Dremel" time. Proficiency is paramount. Tig welding is a doable thing but is best with a machine with a foot pedal. The variable voltage there is more important than the amperage. When you acquire that technology and experience you will truly state that you should have had it years prior. For home use air-cooled tig is adequate...no need for water cooled torches yet. Carry on

15 dollars goes a whole lot farther down in austrailia than here in US Carry on

a little bit farther but with longer lasting results come down to Mississippi to visit with Lyle Wynn or Ed and Brian Brazeal for top notch training for the both of you. No waste of time and money there....and ohh so much to learn. Carry on

Dave this looks good. Consider installing a power switch on the front as you change the wire for a bit more heat resistant type. While making the change route the wire for a clear-air design...cause sooner or later there is gonna be something that falls under the forge that is hot or heavy that would wipe out you power to the blower. At the Ms Forge Council we have rheostats to the fans but they are pretty well useless. The air gate is paramount, but still some air flow may be induced...so a reasonable located power switch makes an absolute turn off to air, while offering economics, and safety. Carry on

Raymond Head of Ala Forge Council had some medical problems recently, from what I heard. He has been a really good guy to deal with for me. But that does not make it any easier for the present time. A neighboe of yours Tim ? is a good guy to deal with too, but presently I cannot remember his last name. He resides in Robertsdale, Ala. Perhaps someone else will chime in here.

Well your looks good to me! Carry on

Not desireing to be critical here but years ago I got some real schooling on these things. Your machine is a well thoughout item that has a great purpose built design. Congrats! Now for the other part. DANGER lurks near in your design! The cross piece that goes fropm one side to the other that keeps the pressing operation straight (under the jack) is quite a bit undersized. Not that the metal cannot take it when everything is perfectly aligned, but that is when things start happening. The longer the pushing rods, etc the more angle of deflection there exists. WHen you have 10, 20, or more tons pushing and suddenly "shivvers", as when a bearing is being inserted, then an explosion of metal flying everywhere happens. I have seen it about a gozillion times. Remedy: look at commercial presses and compare the spreader bar that goes under the jack. See how easy you can adapt your project, and implement. Live a good long safe life! Carry on

At first I had no idea what you were talking about....but then I studied your idea. well I like that a bunch. Of course it is not nearly as good as the one you posted about previously....however I am a little short on some "good" building metal. This is my first one of these things I have built and already see many required improvements. And straightening out the spring steel from its original arch is a subtle problem that makes pivoting difficult. Thanks to all that comment. Carry on

Thanks all. This was my "prototype" as the great carpenter from up North would say. In the beginning while the idea was on drawing board (soapstone and concrete floor) plans were to for multiple events along the knife edge. So things get out of hand and proportions get stretched. And this was not to "machinist's specs" either, but at home at the smithy specs with a whole lot of "T.L.A.R.", or that looks about right. In the end it seems appropriate that the "smithin magician" would be a lot more economical than first thought, despite to whomever owns the rights, I do not care. Certainly I am not going to steal from the fellow while I wish him well. My attempt here is not to belittle him in any way at all. Heck, I would enjoy meeting him and visiting with him if he is still alive. I hope he is. For others: If you are going to construct one similar to the one I built then consider the thickness of the knife edges. !/2 inch may be a little thin unless making a hotcut. And fullers may need to have an additional surface welded at the knife edge position...so that the proper fullering diameter to be carried out. If welding 5150 then remember it likes to be preheated generously prior to welding. Good luck with your projects and Carry on

I needed a butcher guillotine so I decided to use some spring stock from a truck. 1/2x 2-1/2 presummed to be 5160. in the end it will be mounted through the hardee hole. A framework was welded from preheated stock of the same material. Allowances were made so that the swingarm could be raised to accomodate thicker material. a square stem was welded to allow to positioning into a hardee hole. Then tried out to make sure of usability. Before this project is finished I plan to have butchers, hot-cuts, several fullers, and a beading tool. Perhaps I should have purchased the "smithin' magician!" Please excuse the untidy shop...but that is the way it is. Some of the pictures do not show that the top piece has been ground for a matching angle of the butcher. Should I have dropped the camera angle then the ground edge would been visible. Carry on

From experience, I was making my first hammer by myself. Lessons learned: YOU NEED A STRIKER. If you do not have a striker then do something else! Yes you can make something like a hammer but without the skillset and proper tools ther exist a receipe for unhappiness. But, Scrounge all the flea markets and purchase all the economical hammers like shop hammers, engineers' hammers, small sledges, various ball pien hammers, cross pien hammers....You get the drift. Unless they were in a fire they may be very serviceable. And look up some of the other articles about re-shaping a hammer's face. In this world of smithing lies a lot of magic waiting to be unleashed. Good luck Carry on

it is not that you cannot make your own hammer, but a matter of owning the skills required to carry out the project. When you go to school with Brian your will learn many of those required items, and make a hammer too. Remember that there is no magic in a hammer. The real magic is what comes from using that hammer well. For the amount of time and money you spend at Brian's, well, you will come home with more tools worth more than the cost of the of the school, while getting top rate instruction. There may also be someone near you that can help you make a hammer, as they learned from Brian and Lyle Carry on

Be aware that some rods like those are for Abrasion Resistance, as those wear surfaces like blades and teeth enter into rocks and tough soils. After they would be welded onto something like an anvil you would soon tire of grinding the surface flat and level. Thos abrasion resistant welds will sit there and eat grinding equiptment. A suggestion is to investigate Rannite Ranomatic BBG and Ranomatic DDG. One is for laying down a base coat that is used to go between existing surfaces and still be pliable and strong when the next series of top coat is applied. The top coat is max two passes thick! Now that is an IMPACT Resistant weld that should make your hammer action quite lively, according to articles I have read. anyway you are going to get really friendly with a grinder with all sorts of stones. A suggestion is a cup stone on a large hand grinder...cost about $60 and is large enough to cover flatly from one side of anvil to other ...as you work it forward and back along the long axis. Later you will be swithing to FLAP type grining...various grit. Soooooooon it will be similar to a mirror...flat, and hard. Please take pictures of the welding process for all to enjoy. Carry on

Nooooo...get the money Just kidding. This is a very neat project. Carry on

What dimensions are you guys talking about...in parts of an inch instead of gage numbers. Carry on

I have enjoyed your "growth" pictures of your smithy. You have used a good ethical approach to your design. But being not soooo far North....I think you might consider installing a series of fold-out windows in the side for cooling when it gets a bit warmer. Down where we live we start with windows, then the roof, cause everyone knows how hot a smithy can be, moreover down SOUTH. carry on