HWooldridge

My grandfather on Mom's side was a self-employed 'smith in the 1920's and I have his old ledger book. A complete, single-bottom, horse drawn plow, made from scratch; including all the irons and wood cost $15.00. Repointing plow points cost .10 - in several instances, he shod horses and mules for $.50 to $.75, which included the shoes. He once told me he tried to earn $1.00 an hour - he occasionally made more and other times lost money, just like self-employed people do today. We believe he was one of the first 'smiths in Central Texas who traveled by automobile to the customer. He bought a Model T truck in 1925 and put a traveling rig in it with forge, anvil, vise and bar stock for horse shoes. He quit working independently in the 1930's and was hired as a blacksmith to support WPA projects and other road construction.

I got spoiled by that old B&D - it cut squarely and quickly...for YEARS!

I'll check the blade for squareness to the table and report back. I'm using DeWalt blades,1/8" thick. They cut quickly but a 5/32" wheel might be stiffer and not so prone to wander.

I know a lot of people don't like chop saws for various reasons but a 14" is usually my first choice to cut most bar and pipe/tubing. I had an old black label Industrial B&D that I bought new about 25 years ago and it finally wore out so I bought a new 14" Porter Cable last year. Unfortunately, the Porter Cable is already cutting way out of square with regard to direction of cut, i.e., perpendicular to the table. I have to put a 1/4" rod under the work to lift one side of the stock enough to have any hope of getting the end square. It cuts as though the bearings on the blade side of the motor are loose, such as might be seen if the blade is lifting and the cut wanders out away from vertical - but there is no apparent slop in the blade when I try to wiggle it. I have not put a square on the table yet but it almost appears as though the saw hinge is not square with the table. There is no obvous way to adjust aside from welding and redrilling the bolt holes or possibly milling one hole into a slot to allow some movement. Anyone else had a problem like this and how did you fix it? Thx, Hollis

It's definitely black powder but 1856 is early for center fire shotshells - I'm a bit too tired to check references but IIRC the only widespread fixed cartridges in the American Civil War were rimfire versions for the Henry and Spencer rifles. Early shotshells were pinfire so this gun may have been modified at some point. I welcome anyone with more accurate knowledge to correct me. Irrespective of provenance, I would hang it on the wall and not shoot it. My dad had a damascus shotgun blow up in his hands with "proper" blackpowder shells and he carried the shrapnel in his arms until his death. I have fired many antique weapons during my life and it is very difficult to predict whether an old gun will hold together when the trigger is pulled. Just my two pence...FWIW

Chain saws can be treacherous. I knew an old boy who went out one Sunday afternoon after a few too many beers to cut some additional wood for a weekend BBQ. Wound up cutting most of one leg off - he lived but the leg had to be amputated just above the knee.

Bingo...I mentioned something similar a few pages ago.

If they squeal and don't cut, then they have gotten dull. As Arftist mentioned, carbide spades are good for hardened steel - use high feeds and speeds since carbide likes hot and heavy stock removal.

I just got finished drilling some annealed 5160 with plain, old high-speed twist bits and had no problems. I suspect your attempt was on a hardened section. If the bit just squealed and got dull, the stock was too hard.

It certainly can be done as you have noted - but how hard would it have been to file by hand if you didn't have access to the mill and high quality cutters? The first plate I ever did had a series of holes drilled inside the hardy then I broke out the remaining center piece and filed the high spots until the hole was square. Wore out a brand new 12" Nicholson on that one... <LOL> In hindsight, I think a good, high capacity plasma in the right hands would do a perfectly acceptable job and the HAZ probably means nothing in daily use - unless by chance it chilled too fast and makes the hardy hole brittle. Blacksmiths are often more likely to have flame cutters than machining equipment (although if I ever do another one, I'll use my Hendey crank shaper on the hole and save my elbows).

One issue to be overcome with a prehardened plate (such as a forklift tine) is how to cut the pritchel and hardy holes. I think a hard plate can be homogenously welded in such a fashion that the heat won't pull the temper but the holes then become a problem for most common methods. A hole popper and wire EDM will make short work of it but how many people have access to those tools? That is the primary reason I ran my pieces of spring steel through a normalizing process - so those two holes can be drilled and finished with typical shop tools. I suppose a big plasma could do the job without generating a large HAZ but it bears consideration in the equation.

It should also be kept in mind that anvils are not surface plates. Some degree of slight radius and/or dish on the face does no harm. We are forging - not machining (and I realize that machine forging can be done to relatvely close tolerances but hand forging typically does not yield not +/-.005).

357 lbs - that's a big one.

That's a great tip - especially for the knifemakers - thanks for taking the time to share.

Yes.

Sure thing - and good luck with whatever you decide to do. It's not a monumental task but you need to think through the processes and do some amount of rehearsal so it goes smoothly.

6011 can be welded over and the flux will float out to some degree with each pass. I assumed I'd have trouble getting down to the root so I picked a rod that left the least amount of slag. IIRC, I was eventually able to chip as I got nearer to the edge but the first several passes were not cleaned. You don't have to worry about an X-ray quality weld in the center of the face; just aim for a reasonably homogenous bond.

The coefficients of thermal expansion are working against you. The tue heats up and the cast iron moves at a different rate than the repair material. Not sure how many holes you have but you might consider one of the following: 1. Copper based block seal works well in engines that have water leaks into the crankcase. You don't want radiator stop-leak; get the block seal type. 2. Drill and tap the holes then plug with cast iron set screws (McMaster Carr has them). 3. Weld a steel plate over the whole nose. I would probably make it look like a big Dixie cup so it can extend back toward the bosh.

I did answer your questions - they were imbedded parenthetically in the original post. I used 3/8 spacers and welded from inside to the outer edge with 6011 rod. The hardy and pritchel were cut before welding. I've actually done this type of repair on several anvils but as I said, it is a lot of work. The heat treat is tricky - just make sure you have plenty of water and don't dunk it for the quench. I've written several posts on the subject and won't retype all of it here. It can be done without much trouble but you have to think through the entire process ahead of time. PS - the anvil I'm standing behind in my avatar pic was replated. It's a 250 lb Peter Wright and the first one I did over 30 years ago. Other anvils were done for other smiths.

I think Brian is being very specific so everyone should read his question carefully before responding to this thread. He states, "I'm talking very specifically about a practice that has been introduced into most of the associations in America that have beginners,some days on their first day, do what I mentioned above, and if so, has anyone ever arrived at a sound and secure weld. Then also would follow producing a piece that is sound, secured, and not structurally compromised." And my answer to that specific question is, "No, I have not".

I've made a bunch of pokers so can comment intelligently on this one... Some faggot welds stick really well and some don't - it appears to be a combination of getting the weld joint correct, the fire to the right temp and sufficient stock reduction after the weld. I have done "peel" tests on the hook side of the poker and broken quite a few - but some will hold. I typically hammer the weld side into a half round swage prior to nicking the stock so I get a good clean middle for the weld surfaces after folding. This goes a long way to helping the slag squirt out when welded. Now, if you are aiming again toward the subject of stock size reduction by forging, I can also say that a piece of 3/8 or 1/2 by 1 flat bar can be split and forged very cleanly without having to worry about the weld taking. Works 100% of the time... I have done both methods and don't have a preference for either one but welding will yield more problematic results over time (i.e., more broken welds).

Blessings on your impending marriage - I've been with my frau for 35 years.

Personally, I prefer to draw reins for the reasons you mentioned - and from the perspectives of handling performance and total time to finish, drawing might be superior - but it's hard to argue that welding isn't fewer hammer strokes. The jaws take the same amount of work so that's a wash...welding reins is one heat for the upset and scarf then one more welding heat to join the pieces. You might be able to finish reins in two heats but it will be more hammer blows. The assumption is that welded reins are not forged any further.

"Blacksmithing" by James M. Drew, was copyrighted in 1935 and recommends forge welding 7/16" round rods to 3/4" bits as being the "best way to make the handles" on reins. However, this reference may not have sufficient provenance to answer the original question.