territorialmillworks

Nicely done. Thx for sharing

Can't remember the name of the song but it has been used by others where the musicians recorded it in a smithy Yes, there are some 'factual' errors. But remember that this is another art form who's audience wasn't blacksmiths. If you look at my shop, I have thousands of dollars in machinery which would make some smiths turn their nose up and maybe call me a posser but my passion is just as great. Take it for what it is, a vid. Nothing more.

Great video...only one suggestion -- switch to decaf LOL Spent 4 years down the road at Georgetown college in the 70's, though I can't say I remember much of it. thanks for sharing.....

These are for stateside folks that supported the surveillance program that I was a part of while working in Afghanistan. I have some campaign coins that I could use on the corners. I should have mention that these will be wall mounted though I like Phil's suggestion to make it two sided. Anyone who has folded a flag knows it's extremely difficult to get right. I had an honor guard member helping me and we couldn't even get close. Turned out the flags weren't square even though the were supposed to be 'presentation quality' flags. So going to use what's called a false fold that just shows the stars and the rest of the flags is bunched up behind that. Smoothbore's idea for chasing made me think about making a star shaped punch from tool steel that I have and then put the light scroll work on the bottom. OK now to the forge this weekend thx,,,,,,,,

Need to make two triangle folded flag presentation cases. I attached a photo of wooden case for refererence. It needs to have a recessed lip to hold the glass and the sides will need to be about 1.5" wide to accomodate the bulk of the flag and the backing board. Thought about making the frame out of 1.5" angle iron and then plating the front with a decorative pieces to 'hide' the fact that it's angle iron. These cases are six months overdue because I've lacked the vision. I've tried a couple of treaments but they just weren't 'inspired'. I thought about using tenons for the 3 corners but have no idea how to pull that off with a triangle. All suggestions welcomed......Keith

In Arizona, you have to have the tank caps on or have the gauge/valve protectors in place. A highway patrol officer was telling me about giving a guy a written warning for transporting ox/acet tanks without the protectors. The reason he gave the warning was because the ticket were so expensive and the guy was just trying to make a living. The next day at the same time and place, this bozo drives past the same HP officer...you guessed it, 2 tickets, one for each tank LOL for a total of $480. I call that contempt of cop. Don't know what the protectors cost but they had to be less than the tickets.

I've lived in Yuma, AZ, population 100,000, for twenty years and have been blacksmithing 4 years. I've used the internet and my business contacts trying to locate others smiths. So far I've found one smith that is no longer active and learned that there isn't even a farrier in town. So much of my learning has been through 'failure". More importantly, much of my success can be attributed to IFORGE. The point being, IFORGE is an internet forum and as such, a social media. Its worth goes beyond just the information shared to include a sense of community with a passion (or obsession) for what we do which is why I log on every day. Yes, I've been guilty of asking naive questions and expect that I will do so again. Hopefully, someone will take the time to point me in the right direction or share a short cut or offer encouragement to try it one more time.

Was asked to make a 'cross' based off some earlier work for an alcove at a local church. Unfortunatley the alcove was only 3" deep which limited what I could do with the base. Slitting and drifting a piece of 1" X 52" round required some help from a friend and several heats. The base, backdrop and smaller crosses were 'rusted' using muriatic acid and hydrogen peroxide.

Thanks for the link Macbruce...order it this morning...I'd been pricing mag starter/pressure switch combos and didn't want to spring for the money. Then figured out that I could use the current pressure switch to control the contactor. Mama always said i was the slow one of the family......Keith

I have a 5HP, 220V, 20 amp compressor that gets low to moderate use. Run length to panel box is 10 feet so there isn't any line loss. Problem is that the contacts will fuse together and I have to repair/replace the pressure switch about once a year and of course this "only" happens when I'm in the middle of something. Like this morning,, LOL. I usually buy another switch on ebay or pay double at the local repair shop. So my questions is this, if I spent 3 or 4 times the $ and bought a magnetic starter/pressure switch, would I get better service and eliminate the fused contacts? Thanks for advice---going to pry the contacts apart and file them smooth

When I showed this to my wife, she all too quickly said "no", you can't have one.

I once cultivated with a horse... what a disaster...always thought that horse was probably smarter than me

I always say if you do something stupid, tell your friends first so they get the facts straight. My ribbon burner forge is too small for some things so I made an adjustable forge. While tuning the burners outside of the forge and several feet from my normal forge position, it started to 'rain'. I ran outside to turn the sprinklers off and the valve handle broke so off I ran to the cut-off valve at the street. All together, it took five hours, two cans of WD-40 and a lot of paper towels to get the shop back together with the sage encouragement of my wife "Well, it could have been worse" LOL.

The "S" cam rollers are high carbon. The pod's actuating rod is lower. Never have cut into a pod for the steel so can't help any more than that LOL

Yesteryear, outstanding....could you share a little about how you forged the fingers...did you drift and slit ??? Thanks, Keith

kattywhompous (various spellings) is southern for crooked. When used by a yankee, the meaning changes to askew

I make lots of split crosses but like most, I'll get one that's all 'kattywhompous". So I came up with a jig to square the arms, leg and post. The jaws of my bench vice are tapped for 1/4" threads on the ends, so I cut 2 pieces of 1" SQ tubing at 45 deg and bolted them on. I chuck the the "leg" in the vice with the arms about 1/4 from the tubing and then tap them with a hammer till square. Then reset the leg so that the arms are now touching the tubing and tap the post straight. All in one heat.

Made this several years ago. Hardest part was getting it to set up straight and lean back

I've read lots of warnings about the toxicity of galvanize so I wanted some input before doing myself harm...Need to weld on to one leg of a hot dipped galvanized triangular shaped piece of steel that measures 24 X 24 x24 and 6" in depth. My thought was to stand it up in a plastic tub with vinegar on the leg that I need to weld to. The piece is made from 1/2 X 6 plate and will require multiple fillet welds, a lot of heat so I'm assuming that I'll need to remove a larger area. Will vinegar eat deep enough to remove the hot dip? Can I do this with acid instead? I have a carbon filter respirator and arm length rubber gloves. Thanks for your help, Keith

One of my 'pet' peeves is angle iron that's not 90 deg. Seems to vary from truck load to truck load at that local supplier. Not their fault. I now take a square with me when I'm making picture frames or shadow boxes.

Got down the manual for my Hyperthern 1250 plasma cutter to order some consumables and happened to notice a warning about plasma cutters/high fequency radiation and possible damage to hearing aids...The plasma torch is 7 years old, the hearing aids are brand new... Who would have 'thunckit" Just thought other 'hearing impaired' smiths might want to know..............

swords and rapiers...grandkids loved them...parents not so much Man, gkids are soooooo much more fun...get them high on sugar just before mom comes to pick them up...didn't know my daughter could cuss like that :)

While remodeling some offices in a baseball glove factory, I got one of the seamstress (sp) to make me an apron from soft glove leather. Never could get a date out of it but still have the apron after 31 years.

I'm sure this has been asked and answered before but I can't find it on Iforge nor do the hammer makers tell you. I made some more dies from Ag bar which heat treats similar to 4140 but more wear resistant which is why they're used as rippers and subsoilers. 2.25" X 2.25" is $6/inch which is in my budget...But this time I machined them too deep and cut through the HT layer. So what Rc are most dies treated to? Thanks, Keith

I've got what I like think is the perfect dimensions for a split cross made from 3/4" stock. But when I scale down for 5/8, the arms are too long. I could just cut them to length but I want to avoid the extra step. My old feeble mind just can't figure it out...Any ideas???