Gazz

A couple of years back, I had a snapping turtle in my shop. There is a pond maybe 100' feet away but the shop has a concrete floor so I don't think it was in there to lay eggs. I have no idea why the turtle was in there and I don't think it did either.

Years ago I started a job in a shop that did lots of hot work and fabrication. I brought a pair of gloves with me as I figured I would need them but the boss and the other guys there said go ahead but you'll be sorry. Sure enough I was running the abrasive cut off saw and the piece didn't get quite cut through as the wheel was wearing down. I took the bar and tapped it against the base of the saw and the short little cut off hunk flew off and up in the air and landed in the opening of my glove. I couldn't get the glove off fast enough and I still have the scar today from 35 years ago. I learned that everything in the shop was hot and always did a little tap tap sort of thing before I picked anything up. Then we had a "guest" ( a friend of the bosses) worker and he called me over to help him move something. He was holding one end of it in his bare hands and I grabbed the other end which was black hot but he did not warn me. Weird feeling as the steam from the moisture in your body cooks the layer of skin in contact with the hot steel - it gets slippery. I had a few choice words for him and he didn't even buy me a beer. In my own shop, the only times I wear gloves now are when I am welding and sometimes grinding especially if I have lots to do.

Can't seem to figure out how to edit my post! In any case, I hit the anvil with a wire wheel and found the letters PET on one line and WR on a second line so it must be a Peter Wright. It is also marked with the numerals 2 2 27 and if I am understanding what I have found on the interweb, it means the anvil weighs about 307 pounds. I've included pictures of the bickern type anvil as well as the forge. I have a gas forge now and really no room for this coal burner (at least anywhere I could use it) but wish sometimes that I had the ability to make a more local heat than I am able to do with the gas forge.

If non magnetic, sell it for scrap and buy something you can use.

This has been waiting for me for about a year. I didn't have the money until a few days ago so I had to wait and fortunately the seller held it for me. I need a base or stump for it and will also have to sell my other anvil to rationalize keeping it. I'm not sure who made it yet and have not had time to hit it with a wire wheel to see if I can see any makers marks on it. It also came with a forge with a champion blower, some tongs and another bickern type anvil.

Tread lightly my friend. I would only use some very fine bronze wool and light oil on the metal parts and some mild soap and a rag on the wood parts. The bronze wool will leave a slightly copper tinge to the metal but that can be removed with a bore cleaner that contains a slight amount of ammonia. There are many people who do shoot Damascus barreled guns but unless you really need to, why? The gun looks to be in fine shape and has some value as a collectable. A website that you can find more info at is doublegunshop.com but you will need some better pictures.

Is it some kind of trick photography or did you really bury that stump that close to the building?

I got a set of gauges and torches for high school graduation some 40+ years ago. I went to the local welding supply place (actually they were just a gas supplier and bought a set of oxy/acet bottles. I had never used anything like it before so I read some books and talked to a couple of folks at the welding supply place and then lit them up. It's not rocket science, is easy to do and I pretty much taught myself. I'm still at it and added a propane bottle to the mix and use that just for heating and plasma torch does most of the cutting today. Don't freak yourself out about it.

I had to go into town today to buy some screws for my old truck and thought I might check out the scrap yard for anything interesting while in there. I couldn't get near the pile at first as the yardman was running the big magnet thingy moving stuff around but he finally finished up and I was able to get a look. In the pile was the partial contents of somebodies tool boxes as well as some other good stuff. About 220 pounds of it! The yard snagged me for $55 and I think I got a great deal. It's hard to make out but there is a kerosene or carbide type lamp for an old car or carriage in there - unfortunately the red lens is broken. The red tool box in the background has more little stuff in it as well. The smaller vise is a Columbian, two different types of valve spring compressors, two jack stands, a lifetime supply of cold chisels and punch tools, large drill bits and some fine thread taps of uncommon sizes. Also included was a tin of UMC central fire primers which were actually percussion caps. I didn't take pictures of the domed tank ends that were also included. A good haul!

Neg, I think your "hammer" is a poise or sliding weight for a scale.

I used to do lots of etching when I was making jewelry years ago. I used nitric acid (which can be neutralized with baking soda) and for resist, a compound called asphaltum, which is a tar basically- about the consistency of thick paint. The design could be carefully painted on and then touched up with a sharp pointed tool like a scribe or it could be scratched out from a solid coating of the asphatum. The asphatum is available from jewelry supply houses. A thin layer of bees wax will also work as a resist. Radio Shack also sells a photo sensitive resist for etching circuit boards and also a mordant (etching material) which is ferric chloride. The ferric chloride stuff is also useful if you make pattern welded steel to bring out the patterns.

I have cut many of the older ones with no problems. Open the valve and turn it upside down and leave someplace where the sun can work on it. Propane is heavier than air and the heat from the sun expands whatever gas is in it and drives it out. When the sun goes down, the bottle cools and draws fresh air into it. The next sunny day repeats the process and after several days, you have respirated all the flammable gas from it. When I am ready to cut, I heat the bottle with a rosebud and occasionally I run the flame by the open valve. If there is any flammable gas in it, it, it will ignite and burn briefly. If it does not light, there is no flammable gas in it. If it is a newer bottle you want to cut, a fitting needs to be screwed into the valve as the new valves need a proper kind of fitting screwed in to activate the safety valve while it sits in the sun and respirates.

Jewelers and other metalsmiths had anvils like this in their shops. I have a couple, one that is much smaller and another that is closer to that size. The ones I have however have a tapered spike for a base and were meant to mounted in a wood or steel block base. That one is quite rough but the face and horn will probably clean up okay. It would be good for small stuff, especially non ferrous metals like copper and silver (think jewelry sized stuff).

I tried to fire some small clay pieces in my gas forge a few years ago. The clay did not like it and all the pieces cracked. I tried bringing the heat up slowly and cooling them down slowy as well as it would be done in a gas kiln for pottery. I also tried to fire them in what potters call a sager which is just a larger vessel that the object you are trying to fire fits into. It helps to moderate heating and cooling and the atmosphere which can greatly affect the colors of the glaze. Talk to a local potter, they may let you add the pieces to their kiln for a small fee, or buy an electric. Raku firing is fun as you get to mess with the hot pieces right out of the kiln - lots of smoke and fire. The pieces are essentially decorative though since they do not get hot enough in the kiln to vitrify completely and the clay is a bit pourus