Ten Hammers

Dad used to put a 100 watt lamp on top of his battery when it got COLD (read below zero). Indeed kept it warm for better starts. Attached you will see the wet coal bin beside the forge. Heat tape goes under it.

I have ( years ago) experience with grinder blades ( plastic regrind). They were serialized D2 that was sent back for sharpening until they were out of spec. I heated them to like George Jetson hot and kept them there for eons. I then buried them in oil dry for ever and they still were WAY HARD and mizerable. One did get used for a guillotine top tool ( cutter). I ain't seen them for quite a while. I may have buried them someplace. Lesson learned.

I use a floating tank heater for the slack tub. Have never heated the anvil (even below zero) but I have used heat tape on the wet coal bin.

yes on the cold worked ( sounds like you knew this ). Am curious if the steel you are using is hot or cold rolled. Sometimes cold finished ( keystock) can be grumpy. YES newer steel is sometimes substandard.

You da man Jeremy. Outstanding werk.

" This is a newer style. Probably really malleable. Didn't get a chance to work on the forge this weekend, but Im gonna play with the material and see..." newer style meaning it is metric shafting ? Standard PTO is square or rectangular for the large part ( this is US I'm speaking of ).

My stake hammer has a welded pipe handle on it. Was a gift from a friend 30+ years ago. It is not a nice hammer to use but it drives stakes and has been in the bucket for a long time. I have shaved handles on a lot of hammers. They are very nice. 3 years ago at Threshers, a woman pointed out that my 3# handle was cracked. I noted this and planned to replace it. It still is used today and I have pointed countless tripod legs and other forging with it ( since I forgot the thing was cracked ). A forgiving handle ( shaved) makes for a heck of a nice hammer. You can feel it but I have no idea if you can see it move ( will have to try and remember to ask Joe to watch sometime). I use a 4 in hand rasp ( like Junior did) to shave mine.

I have ( I think ) 6 of his hammers. Outstanding material.

wow, thats some fine werk !

Exceptional work ! The last forge braze work I did was on cowbells, years ago. Once again, nice work.

I weld copper with the torch. Sometimes You need rod ( use whatever sized wire you need ) sometimes not. IF you set the fillet up properly, you can just tack and then weld nicely. Good idea to keep several sizes of drop stranded and solid wire on hand. After re-reading, I see you are attaching copper to steel ?

Outstanding work Beth. thank you for the pics and commentary.

May the road rise to meet you Dan. Be well.

and many wheels have wood screws through the tire to hold them on. We set tire each year at Threshers and many times have to hacksaw screws off so we can shrink and set the tire back to proper size. Yes, there are factory made bolts for wheels too.

Timothy really covered it for me. Skill building is the thing.

Absolutely Timothy. There ARE times and issues yes. Depending on the needs,

I tell folks that they MUST hand wash my utensils. Unfortunately many have never used anything but stainless tools for the kitchen. I also keep some utensils in the trailer over the winter just to show how the steel reacts ( a smidge of rust sometimes). I then just hit that rust with a bit of blue towel or scotchbrite soaked in a smidge of olive oil and then heat the piece and wipe it off. This kills the rust and reworks the finish. It's all about how to maintain and once the customer learns this they are happy. either that or they NEVER use the piece again and hang it on the wall rack. It's all good.