HWooldridge

I would be afraid that it would sling off under use and you would always have a splice joint.  Urethane is generally overmolded to cover a contact wheel.

You can't go wrong with the 400 Champion or the Buffalo 200; as Thomas said, bigger is better with blowers - easy enough to turn a big one slower but tough to get a big fire out of a smaller one.  I'm not sure what a 1268 is - pics would help.

Better be sitting down when you read that quote on the gears...

Well, it was worth doing the math...now you know for certain.

Russell,

I assume you did already check whether one of the English threads is not a match for what you are attempting.  A few pitches are quite close.

Hollis

Hi Russell,

I'm in New Braunfels and occasionally try to make the Balcones Forge meetings but it's rare that I can get away for a Saturday - just too much going on right now.  Thanks very much for the invite anyhow.  Say hello to Kort Angerstein for me if he ever shows up there.

Hollis

It's an Imperial (English/American) gear set.  Only way to cut metric is if one of the TPI settings happens to coincide with a metric standard.

Or you'll have to change out one or more gears...

I've cast a bit of bronze.  Couple of questions - did you use a cover over the melt such as glass? Was this cast in sand or lost wax?

They work better with a jackshaft arrangement and you may not be satisfied running straight from the motor.  Here is a pic of how I built mine - and it is also a #4.

I use my treadle hammer almost daily - but like anything, you have to think about incorporating it into your work.  I tooled mine primarily for decorative work and to hold every die set that can go into my power hammer.  I built mine to the old ABANA plans and I like it just fine - have no plans to go to an inline or anything else.

If you have a striker available or a power hammer with a lot of clearance, you may not get much use out of a TH - but they are the cat's meow for single hard hits or repetitive work like setting rivets.

Anvils were not intended to be perfectly squared and machined tools but many people now expect it - similar to the common urge to grab a grinder and square up every surface.  A leaning anvil was probably shimmed if it bothered the Smith that much.  Forging is not machining and was never intended as such...

There is a great deal of wisdom in these last two sentences which I fear will be lost in the technical discussion to address the original questions.

Bottom line is not to be bound to something specific unless you are after historical accuracy rather than optimum efficiency.  I used to be very stubborn about always using a coal fire for all of my work but lo and behold, a gas forge came along and now all the coal forge does is collect dust.  Next thing on my agenda will be induction...until something better comes along.

I used to spray all cooking utensils with a good coating of Pam spray.  I would sandblast the item, then heat just below scale temp and apply the Pam when it had cooled to where the oil smoked, similar to a cast iron frying pan - no burnt carbon; just a nice dark coating.  I would also tell my customers to wash the item in plain water, dry immediately, then apply another coat of Pam.  I figured people can always find some cooking oil and easily follow the routine.

Can you turn down the temp or is it hot as the sun all the time?

You could pack a mild steel RR spike in bone black and soak it at austenitizing temp for a while.  That would yield a case of some depth (depending on soak time and temp) then the spike could either be forged into a blade - or folded and welded.  This would be a slower and more fuel consumptive method that stacking low and high C pieces.

Well, there is a product called Kasenit, which is a coating used for case hardening.  Might be referring to that or something similar.

Put some bricks in the bottom of the chimney.  They heat up while you work and will continue to add a little draft while the fire is idling.  I have a side draft with 12" pipe and four fire bricks sitting on the bottom of the box - it's a rare occasion to see any trace of smoke in my shop.

Yes, the anvil sits on sand.  If your anvil base will fit inside, you can try the concept with a cut down steel drum.  Cut to the right height, fill with sand and put the anvil on top.  It ay shift around with heavy work - but it's easy to reposition.  Seems to work better with anvils above 250 lbs but a smaller one should still settle with time.

I personally do not like grates with a bunch of little holes.  Some people have been successful with that type of setup but they always clogged with clinker for me.  OTOH, I have made several pots out of 1/2" steel plate with a slot 1/2" to 3/4" wide x 3" long and they work quite well with sufficient blast.  Although convenient, a movable clinker breaker is not mandatory, as the fire can be cleaned with a slim poker.  Of course, the European smiths have used side blasts to great effect for many eons and that can be as simple as a short piece of black iron pipe. 

It is used for armor (and other hard use applications) - hence the AR designation.  Normally comes in prehardened condition and any hot work will affect properties.  Carbon is low, manganese and chromium are high.  I do not think it would make a good axe but you could certainly give it a shot and see what happens.

WD40 will preserve for a period of time on non-food items - canola oil works on anything used in the kitchen.  Regardless of what you employ, the customer must be educated on care of the item.  When I used to do craft shows, I would always give away a single page handout that described various methods of how to preserve ironware - this practice also helped with repeat business.

Better to bend than break.  Depending on how hard the tools quench, I might go purple to peacock blue.

Yes - pull the dust caps and you should see some type of keyed nut to adjust load.  Might have a pin and castle nut configuration - I can't recall now; been about 15 years since I took one apart.

You can remove the dust caps on the ends of the shafts and tighten the bearings if necessary.  

Reset your blacksmithing barometer to expect no electricity.  That means bellows or hand blower, any large chunk of steel for an anvil, the forge tuyere possibly set into the ground, etc.  Be creative and don't let the lack of something you would expect to find here become an obstacle.

Best wishes and stay safe - I used to spend quite a bit of time south of the border but I can't run fast enough anymore.  Godspeed and good luck.