HWooldridge

I watched some pre-teen Mexican boys arm wrestling over scorpions down in Laredo one time. They had the scorpions tied to the table with dental floss. I didn't stay long enough to see who won but the contestants were pretty committed to victory.

There are a couple of ways: 1. Forge a triangle cross section that can be slipped over the parent stock size like a collar and forge weld in place. 2. Use a butcher in top and bottom dies (this shape "^") and make a groove in two places on all sides that leaves the diamond in the middle, then draw down each remaining side. I'd probably use this second method as it is more suited to a power hammer.

I treat my arms and hands like a professional baseball pitcher so I'm not inclined to arm-wrassle. I lift weights and hit a speed or heavy bag for conditioning and always stretch before working in the shop since I don't want to experience torn rotator cuffs and such. I'm 49 and have been successfully working at this trade since I was 24 - would like to continue until it's time to plant me.

Find a copy of "The Craft of the Japanese Sword" by Leon Kapp. It's a very comprehensive work and has numerous shop pictures.

The initial school question is an interesting subject and one I have thought about quite a bit - this is one of my "lottery dreams"...to put together a fine blacksmithing school in the tradition of a European program. I have often studied pictures of Otto Schmirler's shop and think it is a good archetype for a school setting. However, even with unlimited funds, there are several things to consider: The fact is not many people really want to go into 'blacksmithing' as a profession. Sure, there is more interest now than when ABANA was created in the '70's but it's still not much for real throughput. Therefore, an instructor will likely deal with a few professionals or apprentices who may or may not be serious and the rest will be hobbyists. Of the hobbyists, one will want to make tools, one will want to make swords, one will want to produce cow bells, etc. The trick then is to develop a course that will appeal to a variety of folks but still allow students to go home and pursue their own interests. A little over twenty-five years ago, I started out as a hobbyist and soon moved to production work for another smith who was physically incapacitated but had a thriving business. This was quite fortunate for me because I got the repetition that naturally goes with production, which other folks have quite correctly stated is so important. I struggled a great deal on my own trying to do certain things and eventually visited the other person's shop and was shown the proper way to produce the work. Subsequently, I can now do certain processes very quickly - but on the other hand, I never worked in a general shop and my forge welding skills are not at the level of a smith who does that with regularity. Every acquired skill comes down to consistent practice and good teaching (the European apprentice system at work). There are some things which should always be taught when working hot metal. Fire control, hammer control and the basic forge processes are what differentiate the blacksmith from the fabricator. I believe these things should be the root of any school program.

Dillon, Turn the belt over and try the other side. It's an easy way to check surfaces.

Have you thought about a salt bath for both quenching and tempering? I'm told the results are very repeatable and reliable with almost no decarb issues.

I was in college working for a manufacturing facility that had a small machine shop with an O/A rig and a nice Lincoln stick welder but nobody knew how to use any of the equipment. I bought a book and went to the local welding supply store where they gave me some basic lessons. I also taught myself how to use the lathe and the mill and finally became the maintenance man for the whole plant. I hate it when things don't work so that motivated me to start fixing stuff - the company owner took notice and encouraged me to keep it up.

I quit worrying - seriously, I have fought the IRS, had a business fail and went broke, had relatives die suddenly, etc. The piddley day to day stuff doesn't mean much anymore. I enjoy every day and try to laugh or make someone else do the same so I hope people will smile when they see me. Other than worshipping the Lord, my relationship with my wife and children are most important - the rest just pales...

I tie mine upright to the headache rack in the truck bed. I don't like them rolling or lying down so I take special pains to keep them more or less immobile. Our welding store WILL NOT put them in a closed vehicle. My wife tried to do me a favor and swap out my O2 in her Suburban one day and they told her "No", which was perfectly fine with me.

Can't help you on the hex bar but I'd try EM Jorgenson, Crucible and Carpenter. The S series of tool steels are usually employed for rock chisels. I think Jorgenson carries S1 and S7.

In a critical application (for example, aircraft), washers do matter because of compressive strength. The washer is part of the fastener so they should match - although I agree you couldn't see it in routine situations.

I have two leg vises in close proximity. My forge is to the left, the anvil in the middle and the treadle hammer on the right. One vise is slightly out of the circle but between the anvil and treadle hammer. It is mounted at anvil height so my natural hammer swing is the same for both. The other vise is mounted at elbow height on the edge of the forge. I use this one much more than the lower mounted one; for twisting and other work. The other vises in the shop are machinist style and are set for filing.

Straight ATF works well in most blower gearboxes and won't be too stiff to turn in cool weather.

Reminds me of the scalping style knives popular on the frontier. Very nice work.

A Blacker hammer had the option of being powered or foot operated. You might want to look at a version of that design.

I've been married almost 27 years and the wedding ring has never been off my finger. At this point, it will not even come off as my hands have swollen over the years. The only thing that happened in that time is a small piece of weld spatter stuck to it once but that was easy to remove. However, I do not wear a wristwatch or other jewelry.

Looks like a bolster of some sort - support for punching or making rivets. The odd thing is that all the holes appear to be the same diameter. One would think they'd have some variety. Would make a nice bench anvil for gun work.

DC allows more heat so is usually employed on steel, titanium, copper, etc. AC is used on oxide producing metals like aluminum because of the scrubbing action. So, AC is not the best choice but can be used on steel in a pinch. When I first bought my rig, I tried DCEP, DCEN and AC on steel (just for fun) and there are differences. The funny noise is probably the high frequency.

I made one by taking a piece of 1-1/2 round and swatting it in a larger swage so it came out oval, then drilling a hole through the center. I could either set it 'open' or 'closed' depending on the fire (closed meant about 3/8 gap on the sides, open meant about 3/4 gap). You can also drill a hole off-center in a piece of round stock so rotating the handle cams it up or down.

That's pretty cool - 'specially since many years ago, I studied naginata for a while. Was once an important battlefied weapon to the samurai but is now typically practiced by the women of Japan just as kendo is performed by men. Used properly, it will keep a swordsman at bay with minimal effort - as will the yari (or spear). I hope you plan to haft it - it will be quite a show piece. Very nice work.

Very nice job! Time to start hammerin'

Excerpted from Robb Gunter Robb Gunter's "Super Quench" 5 gal water 5 lb Salt 32 oz Dawn (blue) dishwashing liquid (28 oz if it says "concentrated" on the label) 8oz Shaklee Basic I* or 7oz UNSCENTED Jet-Dry or other surfactant (like Simple Green) of appropriate quantity for 5 gal mix (wetting agents) The Jet-Dry (or whatever you use for a rinse agent) does something chemically to the surface of the steel. It allows the salt in the mix to start attacking it as soon as it hits the air - make sure you have a LOT of clear water to rinse in ready at hand. These surfacants are wetting agents. They break down the surface tension of water allowing it to make contact with a material. We've all dipped a cold piece of metal in water and seen a bubble-like "skin" form with dry metal under it. This is surface tension trapping a layer of air, it makes a fair heat shield. In a quench, steam will form a similar surface "skin" and prevent full contact with the water, insulating the steel from a proper chill. Wetting agents prevent the "skin" from forming. Detergents do a somewhat similar job, they're emulsifiers allowing oils and water to mix. This prevents any oily residues from the fire from forming a "heat shield" surface layer. The salt in the water raises the specific heat of the water and draws the heat from the steel faster. Stir it up to get it moving before you quench. Don't quench anything with more than 45- 50 points of carbon. Will harden mild steel to Rockwell 42-45 (in spite of common wisdom that says you can't harden mild steel). It's color coded - when you've exhausted the usefulness of the quench, it'll shift color from blue to green. This will get you started...looks like pounds/gallons to me.

Correct - for example, 1/2" HR will be somewhat larger than .500 and very likely not round but a bit egg-shaped in cross section.

I use ER70S6 in the Mig with 75/25 CO2/Ar. I was told it would spatter less than straight CO2 but I don't really notice much difference - might just be "marketing". For stick, I use 6011 for almost everything but I run it on DC if the job is near my big machine. It also works OK with the Lincoln buzzbox, but I think most rods run smoother on DCRP. An exception is when you want to crank up the amps, then 7014 works pretty well on AC. I never liked 6013 because I frequently got slag inclusions but that's probably just me. I once worked as a pipefitter and for steam pipe, we did 6011 in the root and 7018 on the cover pass.