saintjohnbarleycorn

how did you improve tracking, I can see myself building another, smaller one just for 72" belts, this one weighs over 150 or so. thanks

thanks the info is very helpful I will do some tests and see what I can come up with . kevin

If I did this right here is a picture of the belt sander, its pretty rough to be sure but it works fine. I am doing some refinements so to speak, adding a stop start switch and external, knob for variable speed, a platen and covering some things for safety.

thanks for the replies I will check out the tempering and steel info. kevin

I picked up some spring steel, an auger for feed, approx. 3/8" wide and 1/4" thick, its somewhat oval shaped. I heated and quenched in water and was very brittle, broke when I tried to bend it some. My question is in good for much. I can get more at a good price, I got about 40' at $5. thanks for any suggestions. kevin

Thanks, are you using the 2300 or the 2600 degree and 6# or 8# wool? thanks again kevin

Thanks for the replies. IT looks like I will do 14" diameter with 12" long. It seems like 12" would be the most efficient with the wool as it comes in 24" lengths I believe. I am not sure if I will be doing welding or not at this point, so I guess that makes it hard to decide which insulation to go with. As far as the angle of the burner, does any certian angle work better? I think the idea is to get the flame to circulate some around the interior before exiting getting more heat form the torch. thanks for any replies. kevin

How much is enough, or when are you wasting money? I plan to build a round one using one t-rex burner. More insulation is better but there must be a point of diminishing returns. Is two inches of 2600 degree about the best compromise or is 3". If you have one you know the stuff is very expensive, but are you gaining in using less gas over the long run and increasing the life of the forge? I also am going to use itc-100. thanks for any ideas on this.

I ran into a problem with the longer belts. I will have to get a hold of another wheel. I am wondering if I can do a serpentine belts system, or will that tear up the wheel I wonder?

I just finished my sander/grinder, salvaged parts, had to buy a couple of bearings. I decided with the parts I had to make one that could take 6X48. 2 x 72 and 2 x 123 ( i think) and 6 x 138" The reason being is that I have collected belts at bargain prices and I found pulleys that were 6" wide. I put a variable speed drive on it ( which I did buy for about $150). I was really worried about tracking but that seems to be working ok. I have to add one more wheel for the 138" x 6" belt. The 2 x 72 is hooked up now. I was wondering what speed ( belt speed) since I have the variable speed. The variable speed was nice for tracking the belt at 20 rpms. I will post some pics if anyone is interested. SO if you have an idea about the belt speed I would be interested. thanks kevin

well it got some stuck together, but it seemed trickier than wire rope, I found the color a bit hard to judge, so if I want to do it i have to put some learning time into it, thanks for the info.

I will give it a try this weekend. thanks.

have you done this your self? thanks for the replies I will try the different methods out and see what works.

can you bond copper wire together like you can wire rope? I would like to form up some copper from thick copper wire strands, or should you just melt it and then form it? thanks.

the one that I saw was cut on a doall bandsaw. cut a horn into it and then sanded and polished.

I am finding now people have become more attached to steel with the prices as they are, plus there are loads of people making a living from scrap, around here anyway, its getting really hard to find free steel. Mabye up in the barrens the jersey devil scares them away!

thats a great find, you will find plenty of uses for it, I have also made some chisels from it among other things spoons. Plenty good for practice and if it breaks who cares?

I got 3.20 for bright copper, then I bought some aluminum for $1 a pound, some solid 4"round. #1 steel was going for over $10 a hundred.

remove your welds with a oxy acetylene, it is surprising how fast and clean you can remove welds. they also make gougers that are compressed air and electric, the gas method works very well though.

what are they going to steal anyway? Keep your electric tools and anything valuable, locked up in a heavy metal box attached to the floor, steel isn't worth stealing, the anvil, is a little heavy, the forge is either non-movable or too heavy, the coal is just not going anywher. I think most would be thieves are looking for easy money, they don't want to work for it. But you may have some more valuable things in your shop? I am lucky, I live in a place with a low crime rate, although they are stealing copper now.

I think the balling is for aluminum. but my tips ball a little on steel too, well to be honest sometimes the ball a lot!

yes, a separate wheel, you could make a diamond one, for not that much. also the red ones are not good to breathe as they are radioactive.

I am also a very beginner, I went with the quick change tool post, and with it came some carbide bits. It was nice to actually see the tool cutting nicely, as opposed to me trying to grind the hss steel ones. BUT I will learn to grind them and use them, I suppose you will find out what works best for you, in the end. Believe me there is a whole lot to learn, as mentioned the speeds which I don't have any handle on as of yet, but it is a great learning experience! good luck.

are you using gas for heat there? thanks for the ingot info.

If I want to melt down some aluminum to get to the pouring stage, say stage one of making wire into a solid lump, does it shrink? If I use a square steel box to do the first melt, will I be able to get it out. Or do I have to use a sloped pot. I have a lot of aluminum wire to melt down. thanks. for the idea on the crucibles.