J W Bennett

Finished this over the weekend and got it installed. The rail itself is 14 feet long and is forged from 1 1/2" hot rolled round stock. The standoffs are each forged from 14" of 1" hot rolled square stock. slit and drifted to fit the rail. John

The Flypress and the KA75 are both new, My son and I went up to Postville Blacksmith Shop/Old World Anvils and picked them up almost 2 weeks ago. Just a little late getting pics loaded.

Okay,I posted the other day and I finally got a little spare time and took some pics today of where pretty much every spare dime I have made doing forge work went last week. Yes I am a proud parent and these children don't talk back and they actually do work. As said earlier the Boy and I went up to Postville and picked up the KA75 and the #5 Fly press. The Millermatic 252 arrived Friday. I am working on a railing job and have used all 3 already. The Fly press will straighten 1 1/2" hot rolled round stock cold with very little effort.

Been a busy week this week. My son and I took a road trip last Wednesday/Thursday up to Postville Blacksmith shop/old world anvil and picked up a new KA75 and a #5 flypress. Spent all day Friday making a table and mounting the flypress and getting the base plate and setting up the KA75. I will post pictures in the next few days. I made a hammer with the KA75 and have played a little with the fly press. I am off at my night job this Friday thru Monday so I am looking forward to using the KA for the job I bought it for. John

Been a while since I've posted. I went to fill up my propane tanks this morning and this followed me home. It's a monster. The jaws are 7". and weighs 155 pounds.

Will try this again.....Never mind

Well Christmas has come and gone but I did get a chance today to make some bells. I will take some more pictures tomorrow showing the swages and tooling I made to make them and hopefully some better pics of both size bells. Well anyway I got to make bells today. Not having any luck loading the pic so I'll try again tomorrow. Thanks for all the reply's, I appreciate the help with the bells. John

I do 7 local shows a year. First year or two was sketchy. Now people look for me because they know I'll be there. I don't travel. The shows I do are in the same location 7 miles from my home and shop. Make business cards and give them out. Put up safety ropes and don't let people crowd you. Smile and answer questions with an honest answer, If you don't know the answer tell them you don't... then try to get the answer before the next show cause they'll be back to see if you found it out. The one big show I do I hire a woman to take money and show items and answer what questions she can. But I only do that for the one show. I always try to give a few things away each day, hooks, Key rings, Leaves and nails. If you burn yourself or your having a bad day keep it to yourself...no one wants to hear about it. Keep the anvil ringing, If you don't tap the anvil as a habit...start, It really does draw customers. No matter how many times you here"My so and so was a blacksmith" listen and act interested. The one thing I don't do well is tell stories, I'm just not good at it. I have had people comment on that once or twice but I'm just not good at stories. Hope this helps. John

Been around farms and gravel pits all my life. I first saw this done when I was probably 12 or 13(37-38 years ago). No I've never used it on structural steel but I have patched holes and filled gaps using this technique. I usually use the same filler rod as the stinger rod. If you turn the amps up a little it works good for field repairs. Sometimes you don't have what you need so you make do with what you have. I always use a glove on the hand with the second rod so never got bit. Mig wasn't as available then as it is now and tig was something we only read about. Patched a lot of material bins this way and ran lots of material through them long after the repair was done. Of course we didn't worry about xray, test and inspectors either. I used to do work for a guy who had a fairly large apple orchard and one of his favorite saying when he'd patch something with less than approved techniques was "poor people have poor ways" But he worked that orchard all his life and never killed or hurt anyone. Maybe he was lucky. Anyway it has worked for me in the past and I'm sure will again in the future. John

I find the business end of my forge addiction to be a Necessary Evil. The business end pays the expenses involved in having and equipping a shop, providing the fuel to fuel the forges and buy metal to forge. I put everything I make back into the business, Profit goes for tools, shop upgrades or blacksmith events/books etc. The downside is "having" to forge, a lot of time is spent forging things you wouldn't forge unless paid to. This leaves very little time to forge what you want to forge. It isn't a good thing if you have to force yourself to go into the shop and forge. Also let's not forget the Day job that pays the Mortgage,Food and such. I am learning to balance things out and I am also lucky enough to be building a customer base that allows me to do more of what I want to do. But that takes time and patience. Does anyone else feel this way and struggle with this. I enjoy forging and work to improve my skills constantly. However I fight "burnout" from time to time if I take to much on. Some times you just have to tell people "NO". Guess I'm rambling but I just wanted to throw this out there and see what others feel or think and how they have come to deal with it. John

Trying to attend more guild meetings and hammer-ins. By taking the time to try new techniques and working with other smiths. Just taking the time to take the time. John

Sam, Thanks for pointing that out. I to have wanted to change mine to my real name for some time. JWBIRONWORKS is now J W Bennett. John

Did some searchs and reading.It turns out to be a Blue Star 2E. I downloaded both the welder manual and the engine manual. I changed the oil and put the right spark plug in it. I've ran it for a total of about 4 hours now. It welds real nice. The 110 AC generator out put is a little high. other than that it works well. I bought new leads, ground clamp and stinger for it. Also got quick connectors for it. I have $500.00 dollars in it so far. I'm not sure how much I will use a portable welder and I did not want to layout the price of a new one and then not use it enough to warrant the investment. This will allow me to see what my usage is and if I don't use it enough to warrant storing it and upkeep i can get my money back out of it. John

Bought this old miller today, smokes when you first start it and then clears up. produces a nice smooth arc. Can't read the data plate any help ID'ing it would be appreciated. 200 amp - 1 110 outlet - single cylinder tecumseh engine. Thanks for any help, John

Stan, I figure not only will you find a hood scoop but you'll bolt a supercharger on too:) John

CurlyGeorge, Funny, I thought of him when I saw the forge sitting in the driveway. If you get some pic's loaded of your new blower maybe we can id it for you. John

One of the added benifits of doing demos is people come up and ask "Do I know anyone that would be interested in one of those" as they point at the anvil, forge, postvise or other equipment. Sometimes they pan out. Picked this up today from a fella that came and watched me demo this weekend. It's about as complete as they come. The only thing it needs is a rod on the ash dump. Christmas came early. John

Richard and Phil, Thank you very much, I will let you know how they turn out. John:)

Yes Glenn that is the kind I want to forge if you have page 5 It would be appreciated

Does anyone have or know where a guy can get a pattern to make sliegh bells. Any help would be appreciated. Tried google...no luck. John

Tim, After all the hot work is done wire brush the holly leaves shiny then use a propane torch to bring the colors out of the metal. There's a lot of different colors. This view may show it better John

HWooldridge, I believe that's the first time I've ever heard a Texan say something wasn't bigger in Texas. John P.S. Couldn't let that one go

I buy mine by the pickup load right at 1/2ton. Two weeks ago it was $308 a ton still considerably cheaper than by the bag. I filled up 2 100# propane tanks yesterday at $82 each. I burn more propane than coal also. Good luck and enjoy, John

If I know I am going to make duplicates of something I've not made before I measure the starting length of the stock and mark the length of changes... scrolls.twists, bends etc. on the anvil as I work. It helps to take the guess work out, well kinda. Write the measurements down after your done so you have them in the future. I don't know about you but my memory is only good from breakfast to lunch. John

Brian, Very good work, Imagination used to it's best end result. John