Ten Hammers

Just a friendly heads up on the insulators. THey will CRACK or BREAK sometimes with a lit candle in them. I used to make tons of these until this problem surfaced. YMMV. :)

Strine, mate, I see nothing in the new pic but a square. AND I looked close. :)

For me it is about being in business and satisfying my customers. I seldom draw things up ( which is fine for me ). I keep chalk in the pocket and sometimes make a light crude sketch but normally I have something in a pattern or tooling that will satisfy needs for whatever comes up. Like Bill Epps says, there are truely not many things that are new. Most of it has been done before sometime someplace in history. I do enjoy building new stuff but most times someone will say they have seen something similar. this is not to say that new ideas are not possible. Jeremy K 's forged berries are a good example of this. There are many established smiths in the world that have reputations for good work and business practices. I just try and keep up. I now I have a lot to learn.

In Honor and Memory of SN Robert Donnely ( USS Narwhall ). We knew Bob as a family friend. He was there. Bob passed away a few years ago. Quite a fella. May the memory of the survivors be alive and well this day.

I keep a barrel in the shop. Full of water. I have no need to hog it over and try to drain it when cold weather comes. I use water for coal and I also ( from time to time ) need to cool a fairly big piece + other uses as well. I sometimes heat treat in it as well ( thank you for the edit button return )

I cannot concieve of cost being a problem for a tank heater. 1500 watt heater works nicely for me ( floating stock tank heater ). Currently 13

Mick, I will just say this. In Southeast Iowa USA, we have deer. They are not small deer. Some places have bigger deer I know. Yes, they are a danger to driving.

Exceptional Rich. Absolutely marvelous.

Knob and spool ( tube ) like has been mentioned is fine when done properly. The 2 conductors are seperate and won't short. The problem however is the age of the copper and the insulation. I have replaced some over the years. As Junior said, hanging cords on a nail invites a place for the conductor/insulation to kink. I just wrap cords up on my arm and thread the ends through the bundle and then plug them together. Of course I sometimes hang this on a nail ( or hook ). We all have our ways. Spools work great. I would love to have an extension on a reel that has a ratchet. I usually don't have a major need for extensions. Recepticles in the ceiling work well. While I am NOT an electricain, I do have training and do all my own wiring. Yes, I have been bitten once or twice over 35 years but that was through carelessness on my part. For those who are not trained or live in an area that requires a licensed electrician to do their work, by all means hire one. Just a few more notes. A 200 amp service is not a hot service. Just a larger wire ( than say a 60 amp ) coming from the meter to the service panel to service the needs of the panel. Both conductors in the wire coming from the meter carry current. This is a standard 230 VAC service ( single phase ). This gives the panel more distribution space for more circuits. The purpose of the fuse ( breaker ) is to protect the wire. Wire is sized according to current needs. Types of insulation on the wire also make a difference in the given application. That's what all them funny letters are on the wire. A 200 amp main is just that. On down the buss bars, proper sized breakers are placed to proper sized wire for the needs of the given circuit. Appliances have amperage ratings and circuits should be wired for them accordingly. Commercial enterprises run welders ( 400 amp 3 phase welders ) on extensions from time to time. There are seldom enough plugs or space for everything although most times the intent is to have all bases covered. The extensions are of course properly sized wire and ends. I know of 30 year old welding machines that are running on extensions right now ( and the cords are probobly 20 years old ). Good quality welders and commercial grade extensions. I hope I have got all this typed correctly because I think the edit button is not working for now. Electricity is dangerous and working with it should not be attempted if you have no training. It wants to go to ground and if your body is between it and the ground, bingo, you are shocked. Your own body runs on electricity of a different type but none the less it is current. Adding external electricity accidentally ( in enough current ) will stop your heart ( and HIGH voltage will kill you dead ). If you are lucky, the EMS personnel will add their own electricity with a device called a defibrillator and may be able to re-start your heart. Be careful with electricity. It doesn't care if you stayed in a Holiday Inn last night, have watched every single episode of "ER " or if your wife ( or mom ) is a nurse. I am sure no expert. I just try to be safe. BTW, I am certain that we have licensed electricains that frequent this forum. Please feel free to correct any information I have posted. :)

if this has an element filter ( read paper filter or screw on ) then Baldwin Filters should be able to help you. Where you located ?

http://www.baldwin-filters.com/default.htm?gclid=CJDJ-eHK7ogCFQ30JAodazpzow

Delta makes a good drill press. So does JET tools.

I must admit that good help is hard to find. Occasional help ( grinding or running the plasma ) is necessary here but I have only found 2 people ( one is a female friend of my youngest daughter and the other is son in law- husband of the other daughter ). The female help is a farm girl but is no longer available. Son in law is a welder but with 3 daughters of his own, it's tough for him to be available. Good help pays attention to you when you give instructions and asks questions when necessary. Good help is as picky as you are and will go the xtra mile to get the wanted results. I seldom need a striker but 3rd set of hands is mighty handy sometimes. The quest continues.

I keep a few left hand bits but only 3 if I recall. They are used to remove threaded things that have broken off. Once they bite( using a variable speed drill ) they will walk a screw ( bolt ) out nicely. Common manufacture item and available locally at the farm store. If you keep a hand chuck, you can remove # 10 screws handily most of the time. Sometimes this leads to lot of frustration but is the best way I know of to remove broken threaded items. Welding a bolt onto broken fastner is of course also another way as well. Just depends on the application. Both pretty slick. Junior, you should be commended for your honesty.

Give this a try. When you need to weld some nasties, place a shop vac hose on the table about a foot away from the weldament. Fire up the vac and weld. If properly placed, it will not draw the shileding gas but WILL draw the smoke and nasties from the weld. A piece of # 9 wire may ne helpful in holding the vac hose. it's kinda cool to watch the weld color go away with this setup. Perfect ? Not by a long shot but does work for powder coat, galvanized or other nasties. This works fair for grinding. I have no welding hood. I have a 30 " fan on the floor for plasma and other nasties. Fan blows out the door. Have piddled with a water table for plasma but not really handy for me here. Protect yourself. BTW, get yourself a plug in CO detector and place it close to the door of your gasser. Let us know the results.

( re-reads the original post ). I wholeheartedly agree with Irnsrgn. Now that I have read the post again I will say this. If you can, heat the tooling to remove all the case stuff off the pipe ( read any paint/varnish etc that factory uses ). Heat to fairly hot and brush the scale and smooth it up. Pipe will still not be as smooth as you want. This being not the solution to the problem, rebuild the tooling using some rod ( cold rolled will be the nicest smooth finish ). JINX, you already responded while I was typing this...

My humble opinion. Heat your tooling with a bernzomatic a bit. I have not used this tooling per-se but I use tooling a lot. Stuff will stick, yes. Wrap it, let the color go out and try and unwrap it. I absolutely would not quench. Keep the scale cleaned off ( air hose close by for a quick blast is handy ).

Frosty beat me to it and thats ok too. I have built a couple of archways ( one for cemetery and one for church ). Cemetery arch footings were dug with a rented digger and the church footings were dug by hand. All the previous suggestions included + this:

Go below frost with the footing. I have made footing forms but you should be able to buy sonotube ( cardboard tubing for this purpose ).

Crown the top of the footing so water will run off. Gravel in the bottom of the hole to allow for drainage. I have some pictures somewhere.

It has been suggested to look at exsisting gates for ideas. This is good advice.

Glenn, this is great ! Thanks for continuing to try. Perseverence is the key.

Dale, Dale, Dale... I hope you get a pair of canvas leggings too ?

Dale, mate, I've seen tongs this big. They are from the now defunct Murray Iron Works in Burlington Iowa. Foundry work and big forging. I'll see if I can get some pics but may be a while.

Steve

Brett, I will say this. I ain't no loomnum welder. I would say that you have an excellent chance to learn if you get hired. I will also say that them boys will teach you their way fairly quick if they want you to learn. I also suspect that there will be one or 2 in the bunch that will be awful sharp compared to the others. I weld steel ( and a bit of stainless occasionally ). I hope to learn some aluminium someday just for home shop use. good luck.

I guess I'm different. When I do production work ( my stuff or stuff for the customer) I try and get same thing each time. This will involve ( lets say in drawing point on 3/16 square) counting strokes as I rotate wrist. Hollis is EXACTLY right on the heat colors. Many things can make a difference. Light in the shop window, cigarette in the ashtray, etc. Try cutting 6 pieces of 3/8 square to 9 " length. Draw point on the first end and count ( or use a tune in your head etc ). Develop a rhythm. Next piece draw the same. On through the pieces. Also try forging the square to round (drawn part). Put a pigtail on the tip and make bend for hook. Make 6 "S " hooks and use the horn. See what you need to do to duplicate each one. If this involves making a chalk mark on the anvil from the first one you forged ( for length ) than by all means do that. Use the tong jaws for length measurement if you wish. Whatever works. As has been mentioned, you need to stand in the fire to get this experience. Practice is it. Get some satisfaction. I use a ton of jigs and fixtures to make stuff the same but they all still are a little different. That's why they call it hand forged. As far as symmetry goes it's in the eye of the beholder. Bill Printy gave me one of the best pieces of advice I've ever had. He said " Steve, you need to know when to quit " . Fixtures made from pieces of pipe make excellent tools to make hooks look close to the same.

My nickels worth. Do as Hollis suggested and heat the whole tong joint. Depending on what tools you have you can find the side of the rivet that was set ( opposite the head ) and hammer it down ( head in the pritchel hole ) some. Then you may can punch the rivet through. This perhaps will damage the tong joint but you take the care you need in this. All about learning. WHen time to install new rivet, measure tong joint thickness and add a quarter for both sides ( or add 1/2" to the thickness of the rivet). If you have a drill, drill a 1/2" hole in a piece of 1/4 flat stock ( 1 " wide works fine ). This is the bottom of the set. This is for most sized rivets ( from # 5, 3/16, 1/4, 3/8 ). Assemble cold and put the tong joint over the set stock with the rivet sticking in the hole. Whack it a couple times to set it. Drifting the joint holes to fit the rivet is nice before this. Once you have the rivet so it won't fall out too easily, heat the whole joint. Out the joint over the hole in the set tool and whack it good. Flip and do again. Work the joint quick and hard. Get another heat if necessary. You MAY bend the reins doing this so be careful. Rivet sets for top and bottom are yes, nice. In absence of them, this method makes good stout tong joints. If you have no 1/4 stock for the set tool ( hole in it ) so be it. Use 3/8. Little more sticking out will be needed. After a time, joints get loose. Heat, set the rivet and work joint hot. Rivets last long time. BTW, torch works excellent for me setting rivets too.

From a NON Combat Veteran ( 1970-1974 active ) THANK YOU. Hard to say much more. :)

" When I took the old pot out with the plasma, I discovered that the forge table is about 3/4 "thick at the edges where the new pot sets."

You current setup in the forge will work OUTSTANDING with brick on the sides of the pot ( burning charcoal ). I replaced the pot because I was afraid of the forge being thin after years of use. This is my trailer forge ( for rondys and shows ). I use it 5-6 times a year. It was my shop forge for years before that. Yes it is a Centaur pot ( they call it a "bowl" ). I'm happy with it but truthfully it uses more fuel as it is deeper. The old pot ( if you call the floor drain cover over the hole a pot ) worked very well. It appears you have the original donut and tuyere with the indentation bowl in the forge table. This is the original design and works very well with brick.