J W Bennett

PrimeTech,
Your questions and the insight and knowledge they have drawn out of the members here is appreciated by all. We can all learn new or diffrent ways to accomplish a goal. If nothing else a person may be reminded of something forgotten in the shuffle. Please continue with your line of threads.

JWB

I have seen better and worse. It is repairable and worth the time to do so. You already have it in your possesion so that money has already been spent. The next decision depending on your skills and intestinal fortitude is wether to repair it yourself or have it repaired. There are several anvil repair threads on this forum and a blueprint or two on the IForgeIron site. Either way good luck.

JWB

Well Strine I have 1/4, 5/16 and lots of rain. Looks like a good weekend to experiment now that I have all the gotta do's done. New things/ Ideas are one of the reasons I show up here. I'll let you know the results or lack of from my experiments!

JWB

Strine,
If we are to accept this exercise in flustration and aggravation does it matter what size stock a person mutilates....1/4....5/16....3/8....1-1/2..... Besides now that you've tossed it out there I will have to give it a go. If you're ears burn later it'll be me a cussing you for placing such a challenge out on the table LOL

JWB

JPH,
Those are real nice. I attempted a very basic one several months ago and never did get it right. Haven't got back to another try yet either. thanks for the pics.

JWB

I made a braided candleabra and thought I would share it with everyone. I enjoy sharing my work and seeing others work and wish more people would share their work.

I have never dealt with/on E-bay. I am a realitive newcomer to the sales side of things. I sold a few spike knives and courting candles back in December to friends and co-workers. People wanted to know if I had Business cards to pass out so I thought about it for a week or so and talked it over with my wife and then went ahead and had some printed up. I started giving them out to people who asked and when I sell an item I give the purchaser several extra cards.
As this is just a "extra" Word of mouth is working well for me at the moment. I am making enough to pay for the shop and have bought several pieces of equipment I otherwise would not have purchased.
I had trouble setting prices on my wares and finally looked to see what things are selling for on the net and locally the compared that to time/material and usually end up somewhere in the middle. Not the lowest price but not the highest either. A guy can work 24/7 for free and die broke. If you sell to cheap you not only hurt yourself but those who are full time smith's and it is their only livelyhood.
I set up a web page in early Febuaury and have added the address on my business cards. The response has been positive however It only shows pictures of my work,the smithy, and me. It has no provisions for ordering items. If a person sees something that interests them they have to contact me. I prefer to deal face to face with people on a cash basis.
Like I said this is all new to me and I don't rely on it to put bread on the table. But I sell more each week and have orders waiting for forging this weekend.
Things that sell well for me
Bean ladles, Courting candles, Roses,Tulips, Lilies, Spike knives, Fireplace tools.

Thats my approach elkdoc, I don't want to stay busy 24/7 but I enjoy the time spent in the smithy and it is nice to have it pay for itself. Sorry to be so long winded but I hope this helps.

JWB

Archie,
Looking forward to the pictures. I don't know abot anyone else but I've gotten spoiled by saws,torches,welders and sanders. I enjoy your posts because they remind me of when I didn't have the toys/tools that I have now.
Your enthusiasim for the craft is an inspiration to us all. :!:

JWB

I picked it up monday afternoon. Used it to cut out 8 sets of rose petals and 2 tulips. It's alot quicker and cleaner than a torch. I think it'll save alot of time on cleanup too. I'm still working on the settings, It'll cut alot faster than I can stay on my lines. Still have a small amount of dross on the edges. I think thats just a matter of settings an operator error.
Thanks for all the info. I think between gas cylinder prices and less clean up time it will pay for it's self pretty quick.

JWB

Railings and gates for Mr. Finney down at the bank. He wants them by spring and the...........

T-Gold,
Thanks for the input. I am going to pick it up this afternoon. I looked around on the net last night and read some more and the price is good. Since it's local I got to try it first, plus these guys have never steered me wrong yet.

JWB

It has been a good month"Valentines day is great". I am going to reinvest the profit, I looked at Plasma cutters Thursday and Friday. My local welding supply that I use has made me a real good deal on a Hypertherm 380. It looks like a good one and it burns good.
Has anyone on here ever run or possibly have a Hypertherm and can tell me if they are dependable machines. Or if you have a good unit of another brand that has served you well I would appreciate the info.
Oh yeah, I am mainly going to use it for light gauge up to 1/4" mild steel. I have a good victor journeyman torch set for the heavy stuff. At this point I don't see much aluminum work but may start some stainless.

JWB

Thanks Glenn,
I am going to give it a go in the next few days. Will post a pic or two when done.
Once again Thanks to everyone that offered up advice.

JWB :D

Thanks for the input fellas,

Ian,
The spline sounds good if I can find one if not I may modify the pocket.

Ed,
We have those at work, If you encounter much vibration or stress they let go. We went back to red heads mostly.

Yesteryearforge,
I was thinking that exact same thing on the way home from town this afternoon. I believe that is how I will do it.

Once again thanks,:mrgreen:

JWB

I usually find if I drag it home a use for it follows, its only a matter of time.

JWB

I have several tools that I don't use alot(Pipe vise, Bender, large extra vise,etc....) but need a solid mount in an open area when I do use them. I am thinking about cutting a 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" hole in my shop floor. Then making up a plate with a 4x4 ID square tube 16" long welded to it and fastening it to the floor with the tube going down in to the floor.
Making a Post to fit down into the pocket and then adapters to fit the diffrent tools Then make a cap to cover up the hole when not in use. That way I can still use the only open space I have left when I need to.

Has anyone ever seen this done? Does anyone see any pit falls I'm not seeing? Does anyone have a better Idea on how to accomplish this? :idea:


Sorry I got long winded on the description

JWB

In my 32x48 shop I started out with 5 rows of regular 100 watt lights 5 to a row. Each row has it's own switch. I recently went to 150 watt flood lights in the 6 fixtures above the smithy.
When the building was built I didn't put any windows in but I am considering 2 in the smithy. I have a 10x10 sliding door that my anvil sets in the middle of and my forge is on the north side right inside the door. I like fresh air.
I also have a contactor wired into the lighting circuit so that my Air compressor and Rotary phase generator shut down when the lights are turned of above the smithy. I used to forget to turn them of in the evening. :roll: now when I shut the lights off going out the door I dont have to worry about it.

JWB

Ian,
Now that you have us all crosseyed and out of focus I hope your happy :wink:

JWB

Bruce,
Great pictures! Thanks for the link to your site. I always like to see pictures of other shops to get ideas for mine. Looks like you could go fishing at/for lunch.

JWB

Andy,
Nice job. 8)

JWB

Nice work! :mrgreen:

JWB

This is the taper hardie I made from Jr's BP.



The amount of knowledge to be gained from the Tuesday night Live Blueprints is amazing. I attend when I can and recommend them to everyone. :!:

JWB

Shop scrap, I beleive it is 18 gauge. Scribed a circle around a new 4" sidearm grinding disc, cut it out. I have a hardie that is a piece of 2 " angle V up with a taper(JR did a BP one 3 weeks ago). I divided the circle in to 8 sections and then layed the edge 1 inch up on the taper and used the hammer pien to set it down with on each mark. Flipped it over set it on a piece of 2" pipe in the hardie and flattened the bottom back out. Mig'd it to the stem.(cheating I guess)


JWB

My daughters birthday is today, We went out for supper and I suprised her with this candle holder.





She really liked it
I think my father in law was even impressed

JWB

AIW,

If I count correctly....1....2....3....I have 9 smithing hammers.The three I use most are a 2# cross pein a 1 1/2# Ball pein and a 2# rounding hammer I made from a Ball pein. Add 5 chisel and bull work hammers(one at each vise and 2 at the tool table) of various wieghts. I also have 3 different sledge hammers, totalling 17 used in the shop

I've only been smithing for a little over a year and I am sure they like all things multiply with time. I have a feeling hammers and tongs are two things you can never have to many of.

JWB