territorialmillworks

Need to buy a 3/8 air ratchet and found out that Ingersal Rand are now made in China...so was considering AIRCAT which is also made in China. Price is about the same and saw some good reviews...

I love my ribbon burner forge...big and fast. But it does produce more scale and it's hard to use for small items requiring isolated heat. So I've been thinking about a portable charcoal forge for months now. Got plenty of plate steel, a cart ready to mount it on, a blower and even have fire brick to line it with. But can't seem to sort out all the info on how deep and at what angle to make the fire pot for charcoal....Also, should I use the fire brick or just use heavy plate which goes along with my idea not to use any kind of refactory. As always, thanks for you help/input....Keith (Besides, if you have two forges, why shouldn't you have three LOL)

Taking note of John's video I fillet welded the whole area between the base and the angle for reinforcement. I'm thinking I started out hitting too hard and the unsupported wall collapsed which caused the train wreck... Second try - perfect thanks fellows, Keith

This week I made 6 flat bit tongs on the PH. A steep learning curve with lots of failures but I finally got faster and better, enough not to be ashamed to say 'I made those myself'. So I tried to make V-bit tongs to hold square stock. The bottom tool was 1/4" thick angle welded to a plate and relieved the center of the V on the mill so not to cut thru the bit from over penetration. The top tool was made from a diagonal cut of 1" sq bar and welded a half round rod on top to help center the blow... Wasted the bir and ruined the bottom tool Hind sight, should have practiced on a short piece of stock first. LOL . What am I missing... how thick should the V-bit be? Should I hammer a piece of square bar into a large block to make the bottom tool? Do I need to make the initial bend with a sharper top tool and then use the square tool to finish the shape..Any and all ideas appreciated...THX, Keith

While at the local steel supplier, the manager gave me a 3/8 x 1 x 36 piece of O-1. What would be the best use of this size and type of steel? I'm thinking that it would be hard to reforge to round or square without the risk of cold shunts, even with a power hammer. I have no experience with O-1 but knew that I wasn't going to say 'No' when it was offered LOL Thx, Keith

Well, I added 30# of steel to the outside of the ram. BPM remained exactlythe same before and after the additional weight. Other than subjective observation, I have no way to quantify the increased force but it was clearly sufficient to justify removing the ram, cutting off the bottom mounting plate and adding the 30# internally. Now to carve out a day to retrofit. Thanks guys for the advise. keith

Current setup is 2.5" X 10 air cylinder at 90PSI with a ram/die weight of 72#. Current cyclic rate 148 BPM approx. The ram is 1/4 x 4 sq tubing with 1" thick caps on both ends. I've thought about removing the caps and welding an additional 30# to the inside of the sq tube to increase efficiency. But how much will this decrease the cycle rate? I'm thinking the down stroke will be slightly faster but the upstroke would be considerably slower...an assumption based on nothing more than 'gut' feeling. I know this is one of those 'wide open' questions with a lot of variables but I'd appreciate any and all thoughts. THX, Keith

I was frustrated when flap sanding small parts and started thinking about a better way when I spied one of my large welding magnets. I welded a bolt in the middle and than tapped a hole in the workbench. Worked great. That's when I remembered a large machinist magnet that I had laying around- strong enough to use with a grinder.

Another smith came over Saturday with his 10 year old son Jeff. Jeff came prepared with all new PPE. While dad worked on knife blanks, Jeff and I got to some serious work. He mig welded, used the bench grinder, chop saw, drill press. (With me huddling over top of him like a shadow) A very attentive listener, deliberate, cautious but not timid. A 'man' of few words. I watched him carefully as he pulled the the steel from the forge and walk over to the power hammer. I thought his eyes would 'bug out' but he took the square to round and then tapered 3/4 stock. Not bad for a young boy. Sure makes me miss my grandsons. The two grandaughters that still live in town think the shop is gross. My wife says that I can't get them dirty because their mom will have a fit so I give them sugar and caffeine instead just before they go home. Who says you can't have fun with granddaughters........BAD pappa BAD pappa

Our daughter was named Fire Investigator of the year so we thought it only appropriate to make a presentation frame for the certificate 'forged from the fire. We're blessed that all our kids are gainfully employed and none have a criminal record (yet)LOL

Just when you thought you've heard and seen everything....now I know all about Junker's transitional vibration testing LOL Have a regional bolt company here in town. Will call in the morning, thx Judson

Yes, red it is

My hammer has a 1" rod which screws into a 'bung' style nut welded to the ram. I have a jam nut on top of this as well. Even though I clean the threads and use locktite, it still loosens. I thought about drilling through the nut and rod and putting in a rolled pin but was worried about weakening the rod and having a stress fracture . Another idea that I used years ago was to drill and tap a hole, place a short piece of brass rod in the hole to protect the rod threads and then use a set screw to pinch the rod. But I think that there is just to much vibration for that to work well.

I thought about fullering both triangles so the stars would be flush with brass pins to connect at each overlap for accent . I suppose I could use that approach to 'weave' the two. Guessing that there's going to be some trial and error.....

I was asked to make a Star of David to be given as a gift to a doctor. I of course immediately said yes without thinking about how to do this. Lucky for me there isn't a time frame attached to this job. So any ideas/suggestions/thoughts.....the 120 deg angles would have to be dealt with as well as keeping the sides equal.and I dont know what else..... Just another 'opportunity to stretch my skills LOL THX, Keith

Billp, nice use of three crosses and the twist adds even more detail....definately some more options...thx

I was busy yesterday making crosses for the first time. Managed to get 10 done before running out of propane (Had to rob the BBQ grill again LOL) I placed some of them in the oven on the broil setting to draw the blue and gold color. Bases were plasma cut at an angle and then stacked one on top of another to get some depth Taking the ones pictured here to the staff at church this morning.

Alpha alloys are not heat treatable. Beta alloys are heat treatable and retain their structure when quenched. Maybe you have the latter this time...

Can't spell coarse or tappin spell check doesn't help stupid LOL but thanks Tom for the condolences of living in Yuma....113 deg and 35 % humidity

Thanks Grant for suggesting PDF format...no problem BOLT_TAP_CHART.pdf

Sorry but I got an error message "You aren't permitted to upload this kind of file" Strange since it is in a word doc format...not an excel spreadsheet.....Administrator help please

I don't keep a complete set of letter drill bits and odds are that I won't have the right number bit that I need to tap a hole at 11:00 at night. So here is a chart that gives decimal and fractional equivalents. Keep in mind that the fractional bits may be a little under or oversized for a given tap but the work well enough for general work.

In the spirit of full disclosure, on a regular basis I ask Denise to come out to the shop and help me find a tool or part that I have lost in the chaos that is the general mess I work in. She continually reminds me that if I put things away, i could find it myself. LOL As soon as I'm done babysiting the 3 year old granddaughter, I will work hard to return the shop to its normal state....PS Daughter won't let the grandchild get dirty...Hope there is a grandson next time...

Nine years in our home and my wife has never been able to park her car in the garage, not even after we built a shop building. Returning from Afdghanistan as a contractor, I had plenty of time so I set a priority of getting the shop organized and moving everything out of the garage. Three weeks later and a lot of sweat equity, she is one happy wife..."happy wife..happy life" To squeze everything in, I built a new work bench with drawers and another bench for the grinders and sanders. I concentrated on work flow to determine what to put where. That and everything having a place has probably increased my time efficiency by 15% or more...Well worth the investment...

Good work for both the crosses and for Him