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I Forge Iron

josef

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Everything posted by josef

  1. Thanks. I have not seen the thing, so I don't know if it is a roller or shrinker. I don't know what he wants for it. I said I'd ask about wheelwrights.
  2. I have a friend who has a tire bender that he would like to get into the hands of a wheelwright. He asked me if I knew any wheelwrights in the area. I said I'd ask around.
  3. 1/4 x 1/2 is what the customer wants. It is stronger than you might think over short distances. Also the door it will go onto is only 1" thick and old wood.
  4. I've discovered that ball detents are readily available and reasonably priced. The bolt I need to make for a customer calls for using rectangular 1/4" x 1/2" stock. Thanks everyone for the ideas. Joe
  5. Yeah, springs, balls, or some other kind of friction. I'm looking for something that requires no thought from the user.
  6. So has anybody made cane bolts for locking a door in place? What I'm curious about is how to hold the cane in either the up or down position. If the bolt is on the upper part of the door so that the cane is pushed up to lock, should there be something other than friction to hold it in place? In some cases I think you can hook the handle over something, but what about when that's not allowed either by desire or design?
  7. I've looked at used Bridgeports a lot in the last while. It's very frustrating because they are either more expensive than these mill drills or they are far away from me in Knoxville, TN. I'm currently looking at the Precision Matthews PM-932 mill drill. I got some bad reports about Bolton, but at least one good reference about PM-932 on another forum. I'm trying not to be in a hurry though. Still looking.
  8. Thanks for the feedback, folks. While I would love to have a used bridgeport, I'm not sure I've got the room for it. My needs are fairly simple. I have an itty bitty Grizzly mill drill that I have been using for milling out parts for pedal steel guitars and also for milling out peg boxes, and nut and bridge slots for dulcimers that my wife builds. I've enjoyed using the little mill drill but have at times wanted something larger. Also, I getting ready to build some things that will require either hiring a machine shop to do or do them myself and thought maybe this would be a good time to upgrade. A lot of times I would like to be able to fashion special fixturing for ironwork projects and a mill would help out a lot. I'd like to be able to mill out special dies for my power hammer, and I know that a mill drill won't be as fast or powerful as a bridgy but I'm usually not in a huge hurry either. I want to stay simple. I don't want or need DRO or power feed. One nice thing about the Bolton is that the head will rotate 90 degrees so that I can drill a hole in the end of a long shaft and then thread it. I like the idea of a gear head cause I can change speeds easily. The Bolton seems like an okay compromise, just unsure of their reliability.
  9. I am considering buying a Bolton ZX45 mill drill. Has anyone used one of these? This is a gear head mill drill which I think might be pretty good. Opinions on 2hp mill drills?
  10. I've found something that I really really like and it is nowhere near the cost of Autocad or Solidworks. It's called Rhino3D for around $1000. You can download a full working copy and try it for 90 days. Attached is a table I did from scratch building my own scrolls. What I like is that I can work in familiar front, side, top orthographic views and see the result in 3D. It is a complicated program simply because it has so many features, but the tutorials are good.
  11. I'm trying to find the best 3D cad software for ornamental ironwork. I have tried the free version of SketchUp and it doesn't do it for me. Has anyone had experience with any programs like TurboCad or others?
  12. A long time ago now, I once asked Francis what the definition of a master smith was. He laughed and said "someone who can make two of something exactly the same". Levels of difficulty are funny things. I'm working on reproducing an 18th century fork which is very pretty with no moving parts, but it is technically challenging because of two small scrolls welded inside a heart shape in the middle of the handle. What I wrote about levels earlier was just one kind of instance. Didn't mean to imply that there aren't others. Perhaps movies like Lord of the Rings will interest people in ornamental ironwork.
  13. I talk about different levels of difficulty. One is made from a single piece. Level two is made from more than one. Level 3 is moving parts. Hinges are interesting and sometimes challenging. I've had a fail amount of hinge work recently which is nice. I think it's a shame that hinges get hidden most of the time.
  14. Thanks, Michael, I especially appreciated the vise insert for getting that bend done easily. Joe
  15. Hi Frank, thanks for your comments. You have it pretty much correct. Where I am having difficulty is visualizing how the eye turns on the leaf that mounts to the back of the chest and I'm just trying to avoid trial and error. I think I've got it figured out so back to the shop and try it. I've also got an email into the local historical society to see if they have a chest in their collection that I can study. All I have to work from so far is one broken leaf, the one that mounted on the lid.
  16. Thanks for the suggestion, Thomas. Our local library happened to have that book so I checked it out this morning. Beautiful drawings. But they don't show the level of detail on the hinge eyes that I was hoping for. Lots of good stuff there though. Joe
  17. I need to make a pair of cranked chest hinges. These things are mounted on the inside of the chest with the hinge eye or barrel sticking out the back. My question is about the geometry of the hinge eyes. Anyone have any drawing references? I can visualize how the eye of the long strap that mounts to the lid would go. Having trouble seeing how the eye of the bent leaf would go. I can certainly play with some ideas but thought maybe someone else has historical references or solutions. thanks, Joe
  18. Thanks, folks. I'll check out draft sight. I still have my T square and other drawing implements. One of the few reasons I'm glad to be as old as I am is that they still taught mechanical drafting in college with the "pad" system. Pencil Aided Drawing. Get it? haw haw. All serious aside, the promise of computer drafting has never been met, I think. I know complicated things can be done in Autocad, but the learning curve is as steep as the price. Thinking in terms of drawing with T square and 30/60 degree triangles, isometric views are so very simple. And finding the true length of a line is relatively straightforward. Turbo cad is anything but isometric friendly. What would be wrong with an affordable (say $99) software package that let you input top, front, side views and put them together in either isometric or perspective view? Seems like there is a need. I downloaded a trial copy of SketchUp but a quick look shows it to be as arcane as TurboCad. Sorry for the rant. Joe
  19. I imagine this question has come up before. What drawing program do you like? I've used TurboCad 6 for a long time. I wondered if there was anything better these days? I was looking at sketchup but the pro version sounded expensive. Joe Actually came up a few times already,
  20. Many thanks, guys. Well, coffee break's over. Back in the fire. Joe
  21. Yes, I am talking about the "easy" way on the flat. It is for the ending on a handrail. I'm trying to limit the explosion of equipment in my shop so I want to keep this simple using coal forge, anvil, hammer, vise, and relatively simple tooling. I've made 1" curls on 2" by 1/2" using a fixture in my 6" post vise which is firmly bolted to the floor. Do you think a 2" diameter would be reasonable especially if I do a smooth taper the section down to say 3/8" from 3/4". I do have a 25lb Little Giant. Joe www.elegantironworks.com Knoxville, TN
  22. I know that "heavy" depends on who you are talking to. Here I am interested in 2" wide by 3/4" thick flat bar curled on the flat. How tight a curl can reasonably be made and how's the best method?
  23. Not sure this is the correct place on the forum to put this question. Anyone have good suggestion for a tool steel supplier around the East Tennessee area? I'm looking for 4140, and W1 mostly, 1" square bar and 1.5" square bar.
  24. thanks, guys. I've used EZ weld for many years and had good luck with it for general welding on decorative functional ironwork.
  25. I am looking for a source for easy weld flux. I'm just about out. Does anyone know if it is still available and if so where it can be purchased?
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