HWooldridge

...get the axle fixed. I have a sinking feeling that the toolbox was "borrowed" just like the rest of my stuff. You know how kids are - "...my stuff belongs to me and so does yours". At any rate, I also need to get into the shop and get a fire going, but there is always more work than I can do in a day. Oh well, like the old saying goes - it keeps me out of the bars and off the streets so I'm off to fix Smith's problem first, but then I'll have to decide whether to...

...that a huge oak limb had fallen in the night. It glanced off the chimney and punched a hole in the roof so we had some extra work that day. Fortunately, the roof wasn't in great shape to start, so a few shingles would do the job nicely. Old Man Schumann was due in at 9:00 for repair to his...

Glenn.

This storm is now going way east of me but members of HABA (Houston Area Blacksmiths Assoc) will be affected. Anyone near Port Arthur, Beaumont or on the border with Louisiana will probably have some trouble. This will be as bad as Katrina - just in a different place.

A variation of hammer-and-bucket: Get a 4-6 inch diameter piece of pipe about 2 feet long and the next smaller diameter that will easily fit but make that one about 4 feet long. Weld a plate on each piece so one end is closed. Put the coke in the big pipe and smash it with the smaller one then dump out the pieces.

We are two hours inland from Corpus Christi. Depending on where it hits, we may get 100+ mph wind and 10-12 inches of rain or we may get almost nothing. Tornadoes are a bigger concern than the hurricane. Generator and chain saws are gassed up - we plan to ride it out.

Coke should have some amount of constant blast because there are no volatiles present to keep it burning between heats - so you may have to go to an electric blower or mix in some coal so the stuff will continue to cook when you stop cranking.

I don't know what to tell you about the size - if this is a steady supply, maybe you can make a crushing jig and a pan to catch the small pieces when you break it up. Does a vise smash it better than a hammer?

Glenn,

I have several stories about pinch points and finger grabbers.

We had one job that required the operator to mill a short sprue on a part. There were signs posted all over the place stating NOT TO WEAR GLOVES when operating this machine. Of course, we had an operator go to the machine and start working without gloves, then an hour into the shift, he decided to put them on - although he never could explain why later. In less than ten parts, he caught the tip of a glove in the revolving mill cutter and removed the first digit of his right middle finger when that old Bridgeport just chewed it right off.

I did not work at this company but a local firm had a fatality in a pinch accident a few years ago. They were in the die-casting business and over time, the maintenance crew disabled most of the safety interlocks on machines (with encouragement from management). One night on second shift, an experienced operator was trying to pull a part while the press cycled. He was too slow and with no interlocks, the platens closed on his head and shoulders with 300 tons of clamp force. The worse part was that no one found him for about 20 minutes so his corpse was cooked onto and riding the moving platen, with the machine continuing to shoot metal into the mold. A bad scene all the way around...

We all need to stay safe and pinch points are a real hazard in a lot of circumstances, including the blacksmith shop. For example, the space between dies on a power hammer is an obvious pinch point but some folks still insist wiping the dies by hand when the machine is running. I think this is unsafe practice and won't allow it in my shop but I still see it in other places.

I could go on but I'll let someone else talk... :lol:

Here is a "war story" that I saw first hand. We had a fellow in the machine shop who was nearing retirement with his eyesight starting to fail from cataracts. The supervisor felt sorry for him and let him keep working. His first bad injury was trying to manhandle a steel plate that was too big for one man - even a young strong one - so it fell and mashed a finger, which left him off work for a couple of weeks. Very shortly thereafter, he was draw filing in a lathe and got severely injured when the file caught in the chuck and flipped. Even though he had a handle on the file, the tip came around and layed his arm open like a filet knife. This was a two month recuperation and resulted in partial loss of hand movement. After he returned, he jumped on a fork lift and promptly knocked off a sprinkler head, which flooded part of the facility. Needless to say, he was encouraged to leave after this. Unfortunately, much of this could have been prevented by dealing with the eyesight problem in the beginning so it goes back to "root cause analysis" - something we should all practice.

Many (most) things in life can be summarized in statistics or numbers. I worked at a large company some years ago and their safety officer had some interesting information related to accidents. In short, there are good statistics that an average number of minor accidents will lead to a major one and so many majors will lead to a death. Therefore, it is good practice to eliminate all the minor things because it builds a culture of safety. Accidents still happen but a culture of bad housekeeping and obvious safety issues makes the likelihood much greater.

What this means to us as blacksmiths is to look at your setup with a jaundiced eye then get your friends to come over and do the same. Cords lying on the floor, flammable materials too close to ignition sources, uncovered grinders, etc., are all things that OSHA finds regularly in their inspections - so we should do the same in a home shop.

In general, more carbon is defined by more bursting sparks. A piece of low carbon will throw a good spray of sparks (orange to my eyes) with little branching or bursting while higher carbon will have a shorter stream with multiple tails.

Take a piece of known low carbon (A36 or 1020) and touch it to a grinder then take an old file and do the same (don't use a farrier's rasp - they are often surface hardened). These are the usual high and low extremes of what is seen in normal use so gauge the spark appearances with your eye.

Alloys and wrought or cast iron are markedly different from the above so it's best to take a known piece and compare it to what you are testing. At one time, I kept various small pieces of known alloys, including stainless and tool steels, for comparison to pieces that I tested. These have gotten away from me over the years but it's a good practice to observe if you encounter a lot of scrap steel.

Bruce,

Do you know off the top of your head how many episodes?

I checked the station schedule again and it appears the Forge and Anvil show on RFDTV is being premiered on Mondays, then the same episode repeats all week. The one for tomorrow is on hand-held tools like chisels and such so might be worth watching if you have ready access. Unfortunately, I haven't yet figured out how many episodes are in the series...H

I'd weld two pieces of 1/2" square to a bit of plate with the right distance betwixt them then make a top tool (also out of scrap) that fit the inside dimensions. Heat the stock, place over the lower jig and swat the top tool with a treadle hammer.

I can get 3/16 square cold rolled locally and I also have some 1/8 square from when I used to make skewers - you are so right about it cooling fast!

Jr.,

I like using angle iron too. I make my bootscraper cross pieces by swatting a length of 1x1x1/8 to make an interesting element that can be drilled in 4 places and riveted to a couple of uprights. Makes a quick but different looking scraper...H

PS - Another thing on an angle iron leaf like Jr shows is to fuller aggressively between the veins. Makes the leaf move around and twist in a life-like manner.

T,

So, these are made from fairly small stock - like 1/4"?

Rick,

Dish Network carries it - I don't know about cable or other services. The channel is strictly about farm and rural life and has a variety of programs aimed at that market.

Pardon my ignorance but how are these used? (My wife has relatively short hair so I have no point of reference).

- Even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while.
- It rained like a cow peeing on a flat rock.

RFDTV has a show running now alternately called "Anvil and Forge" or "Forge and Anvil". Don't know which moniker will stick in the long run but it's nice to see someone on the TV banging on hot iron. Visit the RFDTV website for listings in your area. I watched what I think was chapter 1 today.

This is an enjoyable discussion and yes, I do believe everyone is being quite the gentleman... 8)

Went to an art show today geared only to metal arts and products. I was by far the least priciest of the 25 or so people there but I still did well on sales. It's one of those deals where the average artist only needs to sell one item to make it a good weekend.

Anyway, I had a ton of customers coming thru the tent and buying stuff right and left. Many people asked how I made a certain finish, color or texture. Only one guy wanted to see a forge weld and I showed him some I had done on fireplace tools. Not one other person asked about welds or how I had fastened something. Now, some of my stuff had a MIG weld holding elements together, some had rivets and still others were forge welded.

One of my smithing buddies knew I was there and walked up mid-day - know what he razzed me about? - THE MIG WELDS! Know something else? - he didn't buy anything. Want to know one more thing? - NOBODY but him mentioned it. The customers are looking for items that are functional and appealing - no one but a blacksmith really cares about traditional joinery...

Now, with all that said (and none of the preceding is meant as a criticism), I demo'ed a simple iron cross with split ends and the cross pieces held by a single rivet. People thought it was NEAT that I could stick a little, bitty, solid iron rivet in two pieces of steel and swat it just once to make a sound and tight joint. A guy walked up after the demo and said he wanted to buy that cross - I told him I had some nicer ones at the booth but he wanted the one I'd just made for his daughter.

So, the upshot of my opus is: (drum roll, please) The public doesn't care about joinery because they don't know about joinery. You can sell arc welds all day long or you can educate your customers and separate yourself from the 'smell of the crowd'. I have to confess that I do both and will continue to - your mileage may differ... :D

The most I have seen a scrap yard PAY for scrap is $4 per hundred pounds so he's making around fifteen cents per pound. Of course, the dealer has other costs to deal with so it's not all profit.

1. Hotter'n two mice in a wool sock.
2. He's as sharp as a sack full of wet mice.
3. Loud as a fat pup's f$%t.
4. Two hollers short of a mile.
5. Tighter than old Dick's hatband.

(I'll come up with some more when my son gets home this weekend - he's lived in West Texas long enough to come up with a few good ones).

A monkey tool is usually for making round tenons on the ends of bars. It has a slightly oversize hole for a specific size and square ends, e.g., a monkey tool to work 5/16 might have an 11/32 hole. In use, the tenon is forged and the tool slipped over the end of the bar, then struck so the shoulder around the round tenon is squared. The name comes from the belief that "any monkey can use one". (BTW, my grandfather, who was the real blacksmith in the family, called all ornamental smithing "monkey work" not because it was easy, but because of the various tools designed for repetitive processes).

An anvil devil is a little hardy with replaceable cutters designed primarily for farriers to nick horseshoes.

Met a buddy for lunch today and was killing time beforehand, so I went into a Tractor Supply and really combed the aisles. A few things I noted:

1) They carry a nice 3 lb cross peen hammer for $8.99. Of course, it is Chinese but appears very well made and comes with a wooden handle. Other than maybe polishing and widening the peen a little, it could be used as purchased. Might be a good hammer choice for the beginner. They also have a selection of conventional sledges from 4 to 12 lbs.
2) A 4x6 stall mat, made from recycled tires and about 1" thick, for $46. Designed to support horses up to 1800 lbs or so, I thought this might make a good cushion pad for anyone mounting a power or treadle hammer.
3) A variety of different sized cut-off wheels, starting from 2-1/2" diameter, 1/4 shank, which is designed to be used with a die grinder. They also carry some good price packs on cut-off saw blades, including a DeWalt number which is only 7/64" thick and designed for "bar cutting". I bought a 14" dia for $5 so will see how it lasts. The value packs were $12.99 for 3 "no-name" blades - not bad for something that's consumed anyway.
4) Although most of it is Chinese, many of their 'farm grade' tools, motors and other accessories are sturdier than some of the usual items you find in Lowe's and Home Depot, with similar price ranges. For example, they have a much better selection of both rope and tarps than either of the above two chains.

I don't own stock in Tractor Supply or have any affiliation but thought I'd pass it on to anyone who has one nearby. We have several stores in the area and they vary a little from place to place, but most are set up and stocked similarly. Although not as good as a regular supplier, they also carry a decent variety of welding stuff - in case you get stuck on a Sunday with no MIG gun tips.

A hundred years ago, there were very few hobby blacksmiths who engaged in the business purely for self-expression or in the interest of preserving the craft. Subsequently, most folks worked for a living and like the weldors, machinists and fabricators of today, would have used any tool available that made the job easier, faster and/or better because the goals of the working man have not changed.

The definition of "easier, faster and/or better" is where everyone gets into the discussion on use of modern tools, which usually becomes a conversation geared toward intent or final look rather than actual process - unless mastering a particular skill is the primary aim. Some people will never use an arc welder for any purpose, others will judiciously hide welds and still others have no qualms about the open and honest look of well executed welds. I am in the latter category and believe there is no sacriledge in using any process if the final product is something you are proud to sign.

Let the stoning commence... :)