J W Bennett

Richard,
Thanks for the info, not sure what 50 spikes weighed but the lady at the post office didn't have a problem with the box I sent Phil. She rolled it around on the table taping it up and then put it on the cart. She didn't even ask what was inside:D.I originally took 30 to the post office and the lady gave me the flat rate box and thirty didn't fill it much past halfway. I ran back home and pulled some more out of the pile. I know there was at least 50 but not sure how many there actually were.
I hope the kids get to make some neat keepsakes. Just maybe Phil will share some pictures with us.

John

Ya need to get that anvil up of the ground. That hurts me just looking at the picture. Other than that it looks good. Be safe and enjoy.

John

My Guillotine tool followed by several spring fullers. Made them all but will make them the same way when they wear out.

John

Nice Sam I may have to steal that!

John

Had alittle my time today. I took advantage of the Bill Epps book special the I Forge Iron store ran awhile back and bought the whole set. Today I had a go at the horse head and the texas long horn.Here are the first attempts at both.I had a good time with both and will practice them more through the winter.

John

Just a little note, You can get 50+ rail spikes in a USPS flate rate box and ship it to Hawaii from cornfeild county Indiana for less than $9.00. regular shipping would have been $63.00 you can't beat that.

Phil,
I hope the students enjoy working the spikes!

John

I can have a flat rate box in the mail to you tomorrow at noon. Please PM me with your address and I will send them too you.

John

I used one at John C Campbell and really liked it. But thats just my opinion.

John

Thom and Mike,
Thank you for the pictures of the burn table, any other info would be appreciated. I have some surplus servo motors that I beleive would give me a good start.Once again thanks and enjoy your new forge.

John

Nice work, a forge is a little easier on the pocket book too.

John

Larry,
As Steve said either your gripping the hammer to tight or your anvil is not set at the right height. Something is placing a strain on your muscles. If forging is not comfortable you need to take a good look at your set up and adjust accordingly.

John

This is to late for the contest but I thought I'd share anyway.
This spring I will need several anvils/stands for the local 4H members to learn and practice on. The age and hieght of the members vary alot. In planning the needed stands I started out looking through I forge Iron and the books I have on the shelf at home. I also thought of the stand I used at John C. Campbell. What I ended up with was a cross between Mark Aspery's stand in his book "The Skills of a Blacksmith Volume 1" and the John C. Campbell stands.
The legs and table are 2"x2" heavywall pipe cut at 20 degree angles with 4"x4"x1/4" pads. The sides are 2"x2"x1/8" angle iron 6" long.
The adjustment is done with 6 boards 3 - 1 1/2" thick 1 - 3/4" thick and 2 - 1/2" thick.
With the anvil sitting on the bare table the floor to anvil face height is 26" even. with all the boards sitting in the frame the floor to anvil face height is 32". My two shop anvils are both at 29 1/2" so I thought this was a good spread.
The chain around the anvil waist is welded and so are the two chain drops. There is a hook on one side for the one chain to hook into and a bolt/hook on the other side to hook the chain and tighten the anvil down to the stand.
The hammer/hardy racks are made from 3/8" square.
As always the design was based around what I had in the resource pile.
I made a couple of drive hooks just to try it out and it seems to be very stable.

If you would like a BP I have 2 more to make and will work one up while I make them.

John

My shop is proof that multiple tables do not help the situation. Indeed I would go on to include any reasonably flat surface. They all seem to have some sort of gravitational pull. This includes the dog if he sleeps in the corner to long.

John

That's a real fine set up. Don't suppose you could get your dad to post the details on the cnc setup. I would love to build one of those.

John

Jimbob,
The legs are 2" square heavy wall and the upright tube is 4" square tubing. If you have an inside triangle measurement of 3"x3"x3" the 4" tubing will fit without a baseplate and you can use the front leg to mount the vise leg into. The upright tubing is on the diamond compared to the vise.
No I haven't filled the leg with sand. If I need more weight I will weld up the inner triangle and put a filler plug at the top of the tube and a drain plug at the bottom of the tube and fill with water. But as stable as it feels I don't think it will be needed.
I have a vise mounted to a heavy layout table in the shop. These are for portable use this coming spring and summer.

John

That probably is Kaowool or a spin off. Thats the same description as McMaster Carr with no mention of the Kaowool name. When I ordered it it came in a Kaowool Box. If the price is for 1"x2'x25' thats a good price.

John

Jimbob,
I have made several different portable (?) stands with varying results. I usually stand to one side(right side) most of the time when working at the vise so I decided to go with the leg facing forward. It seems to be stable and I think it will make it harder to tip toward the person using it.

John

Got to spend some "me" time in the shop the last two days. I've had two leg vises in the corner that needed stands built before spring gets here. I made these based on the design in Mark Aspery's book "The Skills of a Blacksmith. Vol. 1". I changed a few things in order to use what I had in the resource pile.They are stable and aren't too heavy. Might even get some paint on them before spring. I ran out of 1/2" x 1 1/2" bolts so I am a bolt short on one of the mounts until Wednesday.
I also have an anvil that needs a stand before spring. If all goes well tomorrow I will make a stand based on the one in the book also.

John

Archie,
It's not nice to tease on Christmas eve. Pictures and show an tell and maybe a BP are in order.

John

Merry Christmas everyone. I wish you all safe travels and joy and happiness with family,friends and loved ones.

John

Steve,
Have a great Christmas and I hope your travels are safe and enjoyable.

John

Blubrick,
I got in a hurry and could not see the outlines for 150 rose petals I needed to cut out. Instead of digging out and setting up 2 floodlights I took my shaded glasses off and cut about 50 out with the plasma cutter without any eye protection. If I had seen someone else doing the same thing I would have stopped them and warned them not to. The resulting burn was a very bad night and next day. I knew better and did it anyway thus "STUPIDITY" my fault no one elses and no excuses for my actions.

Yep you have the gist of the potato thing. I think it does help but when your in that kinda misery so would a kick in the groin:o it would take your mind off of your eyes for a short while:(. Seriously though it's not something you want to experience for yourself.

John

Good reading. Thanks

Archie,
When we got Archie from the pound he had a name that did not fit such a happy go lucky pooch. He was so spirited and friendly he just seemed like an Archie to me.

John

Thanks for the replies and compliments. Hillbilly, I make the roses out of 14 - 16 ga steel recycled from various sources, I'm to cheap to buy copper and at todays scrap prices you don't see much scrap around here. Also I really like the texture you can put on a steel rose;).
once again thanks for the replies.

John