Gazz

Diamonds and a few other precious stones can withstand the heat, just don't quench! For what you want to do, consider the wire wrap method as previously mentioned or bezel set. In these cases, copper, brass or silver are your friend. If you are intent on using wrought steel, don't plan on hammering your stone holding elements into place but use steady pressure like from a c-clamp or press. Be aware that spring back may be an issue.

Just did a search for "price of mild steel" which resulted in one hit that said .40 cents a pound which seems low to me. My scrap yard used to charge me .20 cents a pound when they would let me shop there (pre controlla virus) but rarely did they have any lengths of bar stock or rod. Mill metals in Manchester NH may be an option for you for new stuff. I used to buy from Haverhill steel but they are gone.

When I was a youngster I needed to replace the shocks on my pickup. My good friend Dirty Doug (RIP) told me it was easy, just cut the old ones off with your cutting torch and bolt the new ones in. I jacked the truck up and blocked it, crawled under and lit the torch and proceeded to cut through the body of the shock (doh!). The ensuing fireball engulfed nearly the entire underside of the truck fortunately away from me as the torch directed the fireball and I suffered no burns but did have to change my pants. The oil in them is quite flammable.

Yes, the motors can be reused for many things other than belt grinders - lathes and drill presses come to mind. If the control circuit is not totally cooked you have a variable speed control. The motors are DC so cannot be plugged into the wall directly so some kind of DC motor controller is required. The tread or belt can also be used for a non marring work surface.

Be aware that felt will absorb water from the air. If the felt is in contact with blue steel parts, rust will develop. Ask me how I know. Sheet rubber is a better choice.

Did Griffin Forge ever get a twisting machine going? Be cautious with cast iron in this application. The twisting machine I mentioned previously used a 4 jaw lathe chuck initially. It was a rather large one maybe 12" or so and shattered the first time it was tried. The second work piece holder tried was a 6" Parker machinist vise. It to shattered the first time it was tried. Granted these failures occurred when attempting to twist heavy stock - 1" or greater but done at red heat.

For a bend like that I would first bend a piece of 1/4"x1" to the radius you want and weld that on edge to your heavy table. Heat your rebar in the forge, hopefully your forge can allow material to pass through so you can heat the entire section that needs to bend. When its hot take it to your welded 1/4" and clamp securely at the apex of the bend and then muscle the rebar around the form using good heavy duty c-clamps every 6" or so (clamp to the 1/4") to keep the rebar tight against the form. The clamps are important to keep the rebar from bowing away from the form. Make sure you preset the clamps to the approximate opening while your piece is heating and again, good to have at least one sober helper available.

As Thomas noted, you will need some proper equipment to bend such heavy stock. What radius bend are you trying to achieve? I keep an assortment of iron and steel wheels for bending forms which can be clamped to my heavy steel table and I bend around them. Your oxy/acet torch may be sufficient for heat if you have the proper rosebud tip but for general heating like that I use oxy/propane with an appropriate rosebud. You could also just bend them in the vise, hot that is, if you are not concerned with the radius. Realize that it will take some muscle to make these bends so sober friends might be handy as again noted above. I found this video on youtube that approximates the method I'm talking about;

I've cut open many 20lb propane bottles without issue. With older bottles, the kind that do not have the check valve that require a fitting from a gas appliance such as a grill be screwed into the valve assembly, I open the valve all the way and turn upside down and put in the sun leaving it for a few days. The sun will warm the contents and force it out the open valve. At night when it cools, fresh air is drawn inside which is then heated and exhausted during the day. Repeating this process for several days typically removes the gas. Propane is heavier than air so it will run out on its own as well. If you are decommissioning a newer bottle, a fitting is required to be screwed in to actuate the safety valve inside. When I am ready to cut them, I heat the outside of the bottle with a torch and then play the flame at the valve opening. If there is flammable gas inside it will ignite but so far I have not had that happen. Then I can cut into it with either the plasma torch, oxy acetylene or abrasive disc.

Keeping your files in heated enclosed box will keep the rust off them. A light bulb works well for the heat source and helps to see what is in the box ;-) Also, you should not let the files rub against each other and don't file scale if you can help it.

Albert collected many blacksmith tools and most of them went unused - he had his favorite go to stuff. Not to say never, as every now and then a particular task might find a never before used tool pressed into service.

The first picture of the wagon wheel tire shows rust in sort of series of dotted lines as does your second picture. Good indicators that it is wrought iron.

JHCC, consider making your air curtain nozzle out of something other than cardboard and duct tape - like sheet metal. I am no safety naz but that cardboard inches from all that heat and hot iron is not going to last and could be disastrous.

A traditional blacksmiths finish is linseed oil applied to hot metal. The oil polymerizes and becomes a tough coating and while I can't recall anything I've made that lives outdoors with that finish, I do know it is tough. Warm your piece in the forge (not red hot) and apply the oil with a rag rubbing it on everywhere while the piece is smoking. Be cautious as the rag can catch fire.

And to answer Glenns original question, it grew from the road side trash piles, picking at the dump (which is no longer allowed), the scrapyard and from where I used to work. A couple of weeks ago, I scored about 15 pieces of 3/4" round each 5'-6' long for .20 cents a pound. Not sure what i will do with them but when i figure it out, I'll have them on hand.

Having lived at this location for 30 years, I have managed to accumulate a good size resource pile. A woman I know calls it my "rust garden". I have quite a bit of good rusty stuff and have to move it now as I want to add on to my garage for a place to keep my new old truck, a 1951 Chevy 4400 flat bed with hoist:-). As I go through the pile, some will head to the scrap yard I'm sure but some is to good to scrap!

Nice score on the lathe! As mentioned, they can be easily damaged while moving since they are so top heavy. Strap or chain it to a pallet being mindful of the precision surfaces to move it. Also, check out this site http://www.lathes.co.uk/ for possible information on your machine. If its not listed there, Tony would like to have pictures of your machine to add to the data base. It looks like you will need to get some kind of tool post for it and a 3 jaw chuck would be handy too. Make sure you ask the current owners if there are accessories that go with the machine that are currently attached. Maybe stored elsewhere in a cabinet or something.

And they can be tough to drill through. I've made lots of things from them (I'm talking bed rails here) and found that blowing bolt holes in them with the cutting torch was more reliable than getting a twist drill through. I never tried a sharpened carbide tip masonry drill though. And I've never had problems with them cracking after welding.

I always wanted one of those. It looks to be in very nice condition which is not always the case with .22s since most were used hard although it does look like the wood has been sanded and redone but still nice. What is especially nice is that your loves mother brought this home for you.

You're thinking about putting 400 pounds of red hot steel in oil? How big is your quench tank? Very very large I hope otherwise the oil will burn or boil away before your anvil cools enough to harden. Also, it will not harden to any degree if you're using mild steel. I recall reading that one anvil maker quenched the anvils in a waterfall. The continuous flow of water got the job done.

Jacobs chuck made a spindle nose chuck for use on lathes like the 9" Southbend and Logan and was essentially a larger Jacobs chuck as found on drill presses. The chuck had 1 1/2"x8 internal threads to attach to the spindle of the lathe. I believe the little Craftsman lathe had a solid 1/2" spindle that was threaded 1/2-20. Be careful with your Craftsman, it is easy enough to bend the spindle if you crash the machine while it is under power.

BGD, I picked up one of those Whitney punches at the local scrap yard a couple of years ago but no base came with it. Haven't had an opportunity to use it yet though. Nice you got extra dies with it.

Consider the work of Albert Paley. He did not hesitate to use any modern equipment available to him as would have any smith of any era. To truly be a purist, you would have to start with iron ore that you smelted yourself in charcoal fire (after you made the charcoal) and then forged it with a stone hammer on a rock. You could then make your own iron hammer and anvil and other tools as you needed them. Blacksmithing is technology so why limit yourself?

I believe you are correct Mcostello. Dibbles have a sort of pistol grip and a pointed poker similar to a swollen carrot for creating a hole in the ground for the seed or seedling. I think to light duty for a boat hook. A goad is the tool used for animal training / herding. If I recall, elephant goads were some interesting looking tools.

Okay, do a search for "blowhorn stake roper whitney" then.