Kevin W

1" round.

Hey fe, I don't know but I've herd yellow ocher paint makes a good resist for soldering . Good luck

Ahhhh, I see. Thanks thing maker.

"So - what defines a Craftsman or Artist". Should read WHO defines a Craftsman or Artist

Hey ptree, I've been told I was buying 316/316L before, and, couldn't really get any info out of the lady at the steel yard to help me understand what seemed to me like an either / or situation. " dual grade " sounds like it is both at the same time, I don't get it. " Fish in a tree, how could that be ? " Dr.Suess

Thanks Harold, We're mostly irc 2009 here in Al. With a little 2006 in historically minded areas.

Good morning Arazona smiths, What code are yall using for handrails, and is available on line? After living with the rail I made them 9 yrs ago here in Alabama some old customers are wanting one for their new home in Az. It'll be level with with 1 step down. Thanks guys, Kevin

316 is more forgiving than 304, less likely to break ( forging temp ) and less likely to rust ( passivation/welding). I gather 316-L is better than 316 for forging ( L - low carbon ) but couldn't really tell a deference with 3/8" stock.

I don't do contracts either, most of my jobs aren't worth going through the legal hassles and lost time. That's not advise, just how I've done it, and it's not 100%. No pay sucks indeed. been there. Mostly I do 50 % down and 50 % on delivery ( delivery happens before installation! ) If someone else is doing the installing they'll just be scratching their heads as to 'howz this thing work?' if I have to leave the job site without the remainder. Big jobs (3 months or more) I do 1/3 down 1/3 in the middle and 1/3 on delivery. My experience has been most folks really don't mind a bit. Some need to understand what it costs to get a job started and how you and yours have also got to live off that money till you can get them their completed project and others don't. It's a different way than an automatic deposit in the account every week or to so it calls for some splanin'. I've found that those that bawk about it are often difficult customers also. Ironman, if your still at it now then you must be doing something right. Kevin

Nice ! I've always appreciated something heavy, especially with a circular footprint - easier to move ... Weebelwobeling, rolling, that's good design (grin) . So I thought 'Red Star' sounded familiar and googled you y'all . A friend of yours ( I think ) moved down here from up ther with a job for Thyssin Krupp. He had me look you up and also did some blacksmithin up there but I can't remember his name right now. Anyway... S FIRE SCREEN ! Saw that years ago and never forgot it. Amazing work, Kinda tricky looking. I think I 'understand it' ,but, do you have any pics of one individual piece of it ? Non traditional traditional joinery ! It's just right up my alley. Thanks for sharing, Kevin

PH down ( pool chemical from a big box store) is 97% sodium bisulfate , the active ingredient in sparex, at a fraction of the cost. Oxalic acid, I don't know.

They are handy. I've made up a couple or three sets now and many spring swages. I bolt the s. swages to the bottom ( trying to keep the height near the bottom dies height )and let the top die do the hitting. I find the drawing dies Sid makes too steep , but you will have fun with that round set. the threaded kit really does make a LG a more versital hammer. Kwik Die System ?

Nice, I'm disallowed from making booger jokes with my son. Pitty, he is prime for em. Snort spit phatooey! My favorite color is red ( not blood, brick dust ) form the good old days. Keith, I'm just proud of you for facing Your shower and shaving your social skills, Love, Kevin

Looks good Ken, nice clean tappers too. Sorry I missed it. The invite still holds.

Thanks every one, There's the first batch to come out of the walnut media ( lizard litter @ -$1 a pound ) and a short length b-4 the pickle ( PH down, for pools - 93% sodium bi-sulfate ). 2 hrs in the pickle cold and 1 1/2 hrs in the tumbler. I've got a few pcs of that logo section pictured left in the tumbler now to see how the 10 gauge wire holds up. Again, thanks a bunch !

Well that's just something! Your latter process is just what I'm doing. My # 4 links are going to be attached to the cut outs with a much smaller 10 gauge copper link. The larger links are 3" dia and the 10g are 1". The longest chain all put together is 12'. One of my concerns is the #4 & 10g tumbling together . Rlbaker, what kind of ratio ? if you don't mind. Really something, Thanks

I was curious about the walnut shells, also corn cob. There are about 900 pcs of dead soft (from welding) #4 copper chain links in 3' + lengths and some water jet cut outs and some I've not used a tumbler before and hadn't even considered it hardening the material. And wouldn't mind it a bit, but, it's hard to imagine these pcs getting work hardened AND NOT getting mangled. Is this hardening/mangling more a result of the medias weight or hardness or is it the tumblers shape? Cyanide! Thanks folks. PS Belongs in copper alloys...check.

Have any of you used a tumbler for polishing copper. What I'm looking for would just put a shine back on copper fresh out of the pickle. Just rinsing my piece in water and wiping it with my shirt a little while gets it mabey 40% where I want it. All my googling results are blast media. Your thoughts on sawdust and pumice? Kitty litter ( clean :) ? Thanks Kevin

All I know of is a black one from sculpt nouveau, never tried it though. Good luck

yess, Yeeesss, the lazy susan for blacksmith, the edge just under treadles... turning... turning man and forge in the direction of the machine that will direct his will onto and into steel ! Careful you get dizzy and fall into one of those little hammers of yours. Good luck at the show.

Ken, it's in Fairhope, google Polo at the point.

It is a polo "barn" -insert emoticon with the bug eyes and the tight lips-

thank you folks Don, 5' across and 12' tall. Dave, I work alone and use the shop calender to keep hours- average probably 10hr days in the shop and its a crapshoot as to how many are spent actually getting work done. I did this a while back and seems like it took about a month and a half. It was all pretty straight forward and difficult. The difficult part of these jobs tends to start after all of the parts are made; putting together, moving around, painting, attaching them to my little truck somehow, these aspects really call for 2 or more folks to do efficiently, but, I'm not complaining. B) I didnt really like how the brass reposed ( the act of being repousse-ed ?? ) way different than copper. I hardly chased it at all for fear of it splitting.

a detail of the chain 1/2" round bar a detail of the mallets ( on finished piece they were made from mild steel, drawn down in the tenoning spring jig in a stepped fashion - 3/8" down to 1/8" - which made a nice bamboo handle kinda look, don't seem to have a decent pic of that. Guilders paste ) The strung up mess ( welding the two parts together ((not fun)) a sense of scale Done the bottoms level with the bottom of the coupla its hanging in, about 14' off the ground, a hard place to photograph.

File making video http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/blog5/email32112B.html