RogueRugger

Dang, just painted my rebuilt Champion 400 red and black. Wish I had gone more along the line of this color. Looks great!

Great idea!

Really like the simplicity!

Thanks, hadn't thought of using some old bits. Sorry, no help on the parts. Thankfully mine was in okay shape. Good luck. dR

I'll give the pins a quick try tonight. I'm coming to the same conclusion myself about not removing them. I felt the machine deserved a full rework, but it may not be worth the risk of me screwing something up beyond repair. There is some play but it seems fall into what would be considered acceptable (based on previous threads - many thanks!). Maybe put it off until I get a heated work area and can be a bit more patient. With the forge not running I seem to be leaving bits of skin on everything and it's not even really cold yet. Thanks for the suggestions! dR

Thanks for the suggestion BGD, but yep did my homework here. The couple of very good discussions of rebuilds here seem to move past this step pretty quickly. Felt like I must be missing something obvious.

I'm stuck on a particular part on the disassembly of a Champion 400. Degreasing has been done. [The paint is the byproduct of the foolish assumption that this particular part of the process was going to be easy.] I'm having a crazy time getting the bushing out. Not sure how else to describe them except via the attached picture. Others have suggested making special tooling or a combination of needle nose pliers and a wrench. My next step is a bit of heat, but before I go there, I wanted to make sure there wasn't anything unusual or weren't any 'tricks' to getting these out. Thanks, Dave

Personally, I hit the quench bucket and then the aloe. The swearing interspersed in there seems to help, but that's a family tradition. Our club has gel packs in our first aid kit for burns during demos and when I asked a Fire Jumper (my nephew) about them he said they just use cold water for the minor stuff.

A new low for me. In a fancy meeting a couple football fields from the Congessional Bld. Someone walks behind me while I'm on the computer 'taking notes' and notices that I'm annotating a blacksmith heat chart with the skin tones associated with being hit with chickens, ducks, geese, and penguins. Dang...really need to get some focus.

Extremely fine work! I'm curious how you worked the finial of the guide?

Sorry, Just saw this thread. I had not heard of this until a little British first showed up under the tree this past Christmas. As Frank says, nice bit of Tolkien.

Thanks for the tip; didn't realize the talc in the soapstone was a problem. Good to know.

Sent PM

I expect to have access to a reasonable quantity of misc size soapstone slabs. I know Mr Powers has some experience with these in a solid fuel forge, and I know soapstone was used in Viking forges as a backstone. However, I was wondering if anyone has experience with more extensive use as an alternative to firebricks in a coal (or even gas) forge? Thoughts on minimum thickness? If it was a reasonable application, I was contemplating exploring how to carve some celtic designs, etc on the stone face. (If it ever stops snowing here and I get my blower working and get some new coal, sigh) ...Dave

I've heard it called a filing vise. Check out the Blacksmith Journal, vol 6, issue 63. ...Dave

My rather humble water can, with apologies to whomever I stole the design from. No holes yet, but holes will eventually go on the 'top' if that makes any sense. Dave

Awesome! I wish I could pass this on to one of my teachers (who recently passed away) as a Thank You.

@Mr Thomas: yep, sorry I realize that for some reason I even did that twice. Freudian slip I suspect. Particularly bad since I was trying to find out why it was called a sow block. 'Anvil cap' I understand since it is supposed to protect the anvil, but why 'sow block'? Anyway, thanks for the catch. Dave

Okay, okay. Conclusion: I don't intend to pursue the hammer any further right now. Without actually tearing the hammer down, my impression was that the hammer was in good/very good condition. It was pretty cold outside [9F = -12C = freakin' cold even for this old Minnesota boy] and the shop was just warming up so the hammer was a bit 'stiff'. However, I watched him draw out a very, very nice leaf on 1/4" stock which, at least to me, provided an interesting demo of the control available on the hammer. The primary reason for moving on was the price of $5800, which I felt was a bit high. The second cell block was something I hadn't heard about as was the additional adjustment plate on the main arm. [not quite sure how to explain this.] I have a year before a new home and shop are completed so I'm in no hurry. The lack of a hammer isn't holding me up; plenty to learn without it. My thanks for all the suggestions, they were/are very helpful. I say 'are' because I'm trying to set up an appointment to see another LG later in January. The saga continues ... :D

I thought I'd put a cap on this thread. My thanks to everyone for their excellent suggestions. The machine is in fine shape, a bit of oil everywhere (not unexpected but still a surprise). Solid, quiet, with extra dies of various 'aggressiveness' / radius. The dies and shims are all solid and were seated well. The second cell block was also in good shape.

@dsloan : thanks, I'll pass on the greetings to Rob. I had planned on talking to him when things became clearer. @SJS : all good suggestions. Thanks.

@Thomas : all good questions. Thanks for the suggestions. I was at Larry's shop just before Christmas and when I get more info I'll be sure to pay him a visit.