Candidquality

84 tons eh? think that'll last you the weekend?

I was actually thinking about using several barrels for the entire vent stack as it's cheaper than anything even close to that size. But I live in a close quartered area. And my fire maintainence leaves a lot to be desired. I'll gain control of it shortly as I have 2 bags of beautiful coal and finishing my firepot now, but I need to learn that elsewhere and then possibly try it again at the house. I'll try to post a picture of what I did have setup this past weekend. Crude, but it did get hot enough to work. I really just need to quit trying to rush things and get the barrels cut properly and try it again. Just been waiting so long now that it's getting to me.

Thanks for the interesting stories. Hopefully I can play a bit this weekend or next and see what develops. I know it's just a consumer of time and my money would be more wisely spent buying a set, but I really need the practice anyway and I think it would be a fairly forgiving project.

As far as getting materials, I happen to live in the middle of DFW and work in an industrial area, so it's a bit of a mixed blessing. I can't run a coal fire because I can't control the smoke enough, but I can find just about any raw material ever invented in the dumpsters on the way home. I picked up a 600# bandsaw that was designed for glass cutting the other day, motor still purrs like a kitten. They were even nice enough to load it with a forklift for me. You never know what you're going to get unless you ask. Oh yeah. it was free, except for a mild back pain from unloading that puppy. pictures to follow this weekend probably.

Yes, I'm really going to make a wedge or two. I enjoy doing things a bit out of the ordinary. After reading up a bit more, I notice talks about being heat treated, this implies a higher carbon steel. Could the el-cheapo wedges be a source of fairly high carbon steel? at $1.25 to $2 a pound. Do you think any of them are simply cast iron? Or would they be too brittle? Just a thought. I was curious about those "V" on the wedge as well. Perhaps to keep it from backing out. Or to keep it from sliding left or right. I was also wandering through the hardware store and reading the descriptions on the cold chisels. And it stated they were for cutting into metals softer than the tip of the chisel. No mention of how hard the chisel was, just that hopefully it's harder than what you're trying to cut.

That's a good one Aaron. I have to remember that one.

Well, they say they are hand forged with a twist(though not quite as agressive) to them. We know that making things by hand does tend to cost a bit more than production line cast materials. So for hand crafted, I wouldn't say it's out of line. I personally wouldn't pay that for it, but I would just make my own anyway. This is more of a mental exercise than something that would ever make me money. Odds are someone has had no other idea for a damascus billet and at one point thought of making it into a wedge for all I know. So yes, cheap cast is always an option, but what would you want to do if you had the time to play with making your own. For Paul Bunyon...what type of maul would you make? I would guess it would be nice to have a re-inforced handle brace in front for the ocassional miss, but what else would be a nice feature. And how about the angle. keep it a constant or have it spread out for greater split at the end(or in the case of a wedge to have a bigger target to hit )

A buddy of mine asked me for some splitting wedges for his woodpile, and I started looking around. The first place that I saw had these Traditional Woodworker - Splitting Wedge by Gransfors Bruk and it got me to thinking. Anyone here have any interesting ideas that you use for spitting wedges? Or do you just run down to the local china import shop and get some for $6 each? These are noted to be hand forged in sweden and sell for $50 each

I can imagine the price would be exceedingly high, but if it stops a major injury like that, would be nice to have.

Nice work. Didn't know there was a fur boom. Are you thinking about finishing these out now with the things you've learned in 25 years? Or are you going to hold on to them for sentimental value? Actually I think those can offically be sold as antiques now since they're over 25 years old. ;)

Glad to know you are ok. Did you decide to put up a few barriers just in case this happens again to minimise the swath of destruction? or are you running as it was before? Glad to hear you're up and running again. Hopefully you're not too far behind on that hot project. And don't forget to let us know if they ever decide to tell you what happened, should be an interesting find.

something along the lines of this Stick-On Bifocals but these are for use as reading glasses. I know i've seen the stickable shades somewhere. I'll keep looking

I vaguely recall there are stickable shades for prescription's that are available, I believe it was the shades that stick to the front of your prescription glasses, so that when you change glasses or they get scuffed you can replace them easily. I've read about it about 6 months ago. I'll try to look them up again and see what I can find.

It's a shame this is no longer allowed in the U.S., nice find though.

I know to many this doesnt seem appropriate to post here, but I thought at least in the off topic it might have a small part. I found a link to a site which is currently researching the genetic manupulation of the American chestnut tree. They are currently expecting to be able to present these seeds for sale to the public in 5-15 years. Seems like a long time off, but it would be interesting to see my son or grandson forging out under the beautiful chestnuts. Just in case any of you are interested. The American Chestnut Foundation As a side note the trees they currently have for sale are not modified but the current blight succeptable ones.

Thanks for taking the time to show us. Nice looking shop. Should be an interesting pattern. How long before you try to finish it up?

Welcome to the boards. Glad to have you here. lots to learn so don't be shy about asking questions. Oh, and that push pull thing would be called a rake.

The changing twist is actually a benefit. You can tell stories of how you worked long and hard trying to get that gradual change to make the legs appear longer. That would be called marketing. Even heat is the key to an even twist. Never seen anyone take the time to fix it so I don't know if it's possible or worth the effort. Just take it as a lesson learned for next time.

You've actually noticed the IR quite a few times looking at pictures of hot things taken with (cheap) cameras. Anytime you see a purple glowing rod, it's from the IR. Actually one of the easiest ways to see it is pictures taken from a cell phone.

I've got a catalog for Cotronics who specialises in high temp adhesives, but what they have actually costs more than the ITC now, though it's better. I'd be interested to find some higher temp that's cheper myself. Though I've plans to order the 931 graphite from then ($65 a pint) for a bit of fiddling I'm about to do.

This might give you a basic idea http://www.espi-metals.com/metals/catmonel.htm

Welcome to the site. There's a lot of very valuable information here and the members have more to share. So don't be shy with the questions. You just missed the live blueprint last night. Happens at 9pm central every tuesday. We do as many as we can squeeze in in an hour. Don't forget to post a few pictures of what you've made if you can. We always love to see new work or a new technique.

probably the more varied of the three would be O/A but i wouldn't touch it without a course in it. Or we might be reading about you on the news over here. I'm sure you can find a basic book and read up on it somewhere. But i'll let the experst tell you about that. I wsa actually just going to mention that plasme was used up untill the mid 50's exclusivly for welding, then they figured out how to set it up for cutting. Pretty interesting history actually. I'd post a few links but I think they're all on the home pc. Good luck with whatever you choose.

looking good. And just think, in 20 years you're going to be stumbling over all the tools you've made and thowing them into a pile in the corner, for some other smith to find in 60 years and go ooooooh, nice drift. and "I wonder what this one was used for"

I thought the whole point of smithing is to have a fire and do some work. how can you possibly get cold doing that? :rolleyes: