Yetti

the one we have at work sits on a large chunk of oak. it rocked pretty bad. I used a palm grinder to dish out the center of the bottom and create a 3 leg foot arangment. that way no matter where it moved to in the shop it would sit stable without being shimmed.

one of the simplest ones I have seen was a 55 gallon barrel with a clamp on lid. it had a belt driven motor hangin off a limb that added tension at the back center of the barrel. the rig sat on a set of caster wheels so it would just roll in place. wasn't fast but it worked.

The guy who gave the Demo last week here in Michigan that I watched had a recepie for his flux. it was 50/50 eye wash grade borax(avalible at the pharmacy) and the rest was iron fillings from a pottery store that they use for coloring pottery. from what i saw of him welding peices together it didn't take much and it worked very well.

at the worst you might have to convert it from 3 phase. thats not bad

Its kinda funny, it looks just like my Brinkman smoker. haven't used it much lately the forge idea may have its smoker days numbered?

looks like a modified mouring cleat. kind neat

As an example I tryed to bend a large peice cold on our iron worker (65 ton) it was not kind to it as the grain in the cold rolled steel failed while bending a 90* corner because of its thickness. had I warmed it up first it would have been fine.
myself I do tons of work on thin sheet cold. I tend to just soften a curve and make formations for peices to welded later. one thing its handy for is tubing. you can crush tubing in a die for a corner or using a press that other wise would be cut and ground to fit. by folding it under you save tons of time.

Me and my son went to the event in Rives Junction ( north of Jackson Michigan). was a good turn out, must have been 50 people there to watch the twisting demos. while I was there I joined the MABA and so did my kid.

I have a theory. I beleive people are bored from winter? they'll pay anything if they think they can make the time pass faster

I don't see the selfish part of holding back knowlage. I guess its not a matter of being asked a question or rather that of answering it. it falls more to what is going to be done with the information being handed over? if you can't see yourself on either side of that put yourself in this. if you gave up all you know to a person and that person undermines what you know to those around you by not following through on the minor details then you have wasted your time. the devil is in the details. no matter how much I give to those around me I find it hard to give everything if just for lack of respect by how they translate things to the next person or group. it makes me crazy.
Don't get me wrong, I love to teach, and the next group that comes along I will do my best to teach them too.

well...

I can honestly say not everyone deseves the knowlage some people have to offer. some people need a swift kick in the pants vs, knowlage. the people I have trained to do my job over the years is wide and varied. some folks are good folks they want to learn and they want to be part of something bigger then themselves. others would have you belive if it wasn't for them the walls would come tumbling down. those are the ones I have no use for. anyone else is welcome to what I know.

http://www.johnsonmfg.com/temp/TORCH.HTM

Here's me crushing my yard with a lawn mower.

you are correct, a stone is equal to 14 US pounds BUT where are you getting 11 stones from? The anvil is marked 1 26 16 I'm not saying they're not out there but I haven't seen an anvil marked in stones only (as in, this x 14 equals your anvil weight). English anvils are generally marked using the hundredweight system..a hundredweight being 114 pounds (or 8 stones) the 1st number multiplied by 112 lb (can be 0) the 2nd number is multiplied by 28 (can be 0-3) the 3rd number is individual pounds (can be 0-27) That's cool...must have been a nice fiddle to go from Oregon to Tennessee!

I got one. when quenching a peice of mild steel, can you use old motor oil that is black with carbon to increase the amount of carbon abosbed in the steel vs clean oil?

I think its measured in "Stones?" 1 stone = 14lbs US. so it translates to 11 stone = 154lbs

figured I'd try and do this again, my computor ate the last intro I did.

My name is Dana work at Chrysler corp back here in Michigan. been doing metal fab for years and years and have worked as a mechanic since the late `70's.

been thinking about this for a bit. my shop is 30' x 48". its small when its full. its to the point now I have to build a building just to make room in the shop. I was just going to build a 24'x 40' garage to get everything out that is safe to put by itself. the shop should be just that , work space. I bought all the lumber last spring to either ad 16' x 48' to the side of the shop, or start on another out building. still deciding.

Thats what I wondered. its more of an add on . cool to know all the info. the guys barn it came from must have done sheet metal for furnaces. he had several blocks for doing corners and such. I had gotten these when buddy said he was selling the place. this was junk left by the previous owner 19 years before.

I have a question. I turned down an anvil a couple years back because it had been welded on, then the apendage that was added was hacked off with a cutting torch. not sure how big what ever it was had been welded on it but it left about a 6" wide slag trail on the face.
how much damage may have been done? I could have gotten it cheap, but I wasn't to sure it was going to hold up.

Yes its an anvil. its 36" long and weighs about 90lbs



I found these is a sheep shed about `89 or so. the round over block is nice but the square peg is about 1 1/4" x 1 1/4" seems odd sized?

...you know your a blacksmith when, you think about everyone you know and who might have an anvil hiding in a garage somewheres?

as matter of factly I just stopped to visit some old friends today looking for one. they have a scrap yard that been in the family since the 20's. the old guy wasn't sure since nobody has asked for one in all the time he's been there (he's 70)

I started in 9th grade metal shop. learned to cut with a torch some and stick weld. when I was 18 I got a job doing apt. maintence. the old guy who ran the shop was a retired airforce sarget and told me to weld some dumpsters where the wheels had folded under. got to where I could do it pretty well even with a crappy old tomb stone welder.
learned to torch weld working for a towing company. my buddy owned the place and used to teach a "chip & chisle" class at the local college. it paved the way for loads of technique. I used 200 + coat hanger and no flux to hang quarter panels and subframe my car. not bad for using a tiny torch tip. currently I work for Chrysler llc building crash test fixtures and building cars for testing. I make some way heavy stuff and it has to take a hit.