billyO

Hello all. I haven't posted any pics of my stuff recently, so here's a few of my latest project, a dog kennel for my little truck, enjoy. and some detail pics

Here's something I heard the other day: "It's easier to forge IN a crack than to forge OUT a crack. .

I'm pretty sure I've seen one of Darryl's lion's head somewhere, probably at one of the NWBA conferences....

Darryl Nelson has a number of DVDs for sale on different animal heads, I know he has one for his rams head, a bear head and a lynx head.

Maybe this is a good reason to purchase that induction forge you've always wanted??? or should that read: "the induction forge I've always wanted"

*Slapping forehead* Thanks for making my life a bit easier Glenn! This "WDITOT" moment brought to you by IFI...

I've been using mine a bit lately, standing on edge so I can pierce round stock and square stock on the diamond. You could make an anvil swage for this but if you've got the swage, you've got a good variety. Mine's a standard one, great for bending larger stock than I normally use, but my swage block envy is a buddy of mine's who has one with all the edge cutouts, round, vee, hex AND various dishes for ladles, shovels, bowls and spoons.

Let us know when you find out. We tumble large stuff in a tumbler that could give 4-5 college kids a good ride but 30-90 minutes usually does the job. The media we're using is 1" +/- slugs. I remember an article in an old Hot Iron News issue about a tumbler made with a number of tires all hanging from a shaft run by a small motor, All parts cheap if not free (or already owned), As far as getting into the tiny cracks, you just need a small enough media. Sand would work, but may take a while. Oh yeah, and remember, you'll be tumbling a number of them at once, so they will knock against each other to speed the process of de-scaling.

I agree too!!! well, maybe not the touchmark part....

I'd say you do. Oxygen is quite a bit more expensive than air, no?

Good job with the video. Uh oh, here comes Sally..... The only suggestion I'd make would be to move the gas can to the hood of the vehicle... Safety first!

Not saying there aren't other ways, but this is the only reason I've ever had, or seen, with openers breaking the bottle.

I agree with Mr Frosty, and if the collars are going to get hot enough to expand, how many thousandths are you talking about? Could you draw an ever so slight taper where you collar? That should minimize movement.

Yesterday I was looking for my flatter and found my work table. :blink:

I promise I'll do that if it ever happens. :rolleyes: (as soon as I can type after healing, that is.... ;) )

I don't have a card, but find that my fingernail works pretty well to remove the larger pieces that will scratch your work. (Hopefully I didn't just bring up the topic of touching files with bare fingers again....)

I spend quite a bit of time at Terry's and have used his Wolf a lot (and he uses it on an almost daily basis) and I'd love to have one.

Looks to me like everyone else is confused..... :unsure:

Hi all, thanks for the replies. Thomas - I do mainly stuff for myself, some art, animals, picture frames, bottle openers, flowers, hinges, plan hangers, been having fun with hands out of 1" stock, working on a couple of gates, etc. But what I'm looking for is to make it easy to butcher tenons, and some 3/8" - 3/4" fullers. 781 - OCP used to be up the road from me, and a couple of friends have some that are 10 years old and show little wear with regular use. I want one that'll last for years. swede - Apparently my welding skills only last for 4 years, (or/and perhaps I need to cut the stump to lower the tool so I'm not hitting the dye toward the back guides). thanks again.

Hello all. Not sure if there's an answer to my question, but I'll try anyway. After 4+ years of pretty regular use, my home-made guillotine tool is starting to show failure at 2 welds and I'm starting to look for another. I'm wondering if anyone has used different types and could guide my decision on which type to buy, a "Smithin Magician"? OCP's design? or another? Not to offend anyone, but I'm not looking for advice from someone who has only used one design as we can adapt to almost any tool and make it work. Thanks!

I'd agree with everything above, and emphasize the importance of putting some thought into your decision (which you are doing) as there is no one answer for everyone. As a "smith" who makes his living by working as a Physical Therapist (that's Physiotherapist for those outside the US) for the past 20 years, if your main concern is to avoid back pain, I'd suggest bringing your concerns to your local Physiotherapist for the answer. Your back pains may or may not have anyhing to do with your anvil height. It may be tight hamstrings, relatively weak lower abdominal muscles or just an incorrect posture while at the anvil. In my practice, one of the more common causes of lower back pain is flexing at the spine as opposed to the hips and relying on the relatively small spinal extensor muscles to hold your position instead of the large hip extensors (gluteals) to perform the same task.

Some would argue there's a reason it's a reflex. Reflexes are nature's way of us protecting ourselves without our brains getting in the way. At risk of opening myself to Steve's plight, I'd argue that unless there's massive deep tissue damage (third degree burns which are through the dermal layers and into the fatty, subcutaneous tissue) use the slack tub or whatever's close enough to take the heat away from your tissues as fast as possible. If it's a burn that's going to blister, that's nothing more than inflammation/swelling trapped under the skin and that's still intact skin, so there's no risk of infection anymoreso than when you quench a piece. The risk of infection comes when the blister pops.

Am I to understand by the title that it's a functioning water tap? If so, $2500 might be on the low side...I guess that why you said, "and up" so I second Smokeman's thoughts.

How about keeping it, including the stock, BUT, using the skills you have now and ones you'll learn along the way, get the wood and make your own stock and : Use these to add metal accents on the stock and now you've turned someone else's family's heirloom, which was on the brink of death, into an heirloom for your family. Keep the stock to preserve history, if that's important to you

If she bites, can't she fly up here? You haven't figured out how to forge a flyer? You call yourself a Blacksmith?