Jim Coke

Greetings Jifft, If you can afford it look for one with variable speed adjustment. Just this ol boys 2c Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings Henry, I have had a OWA number 6 for years and have never regretted my purchase. Check out all the specs. Travel etc. Hammer die punching takes a lot of pressure and control. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

TP She in on the list today.

Greetings Adair, Your LJ does not have the control to form things on your proposed dies. Dishing requires depth control. I do dishing on a fly press . Just this ol boys 2c . Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Yep me too. Easy to do takes about 10 minutes.

On the list and anvil rung.

Greetings Orolin, Not a problem . Just use vice grips to hold your stock. A water soaked rag will cool the metal you don’t want to hang onto . Your first tongs should be of the box jaw design . The most universal ones. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings mpc, Forget the casters and cut a larger plywood base so you can stand on it and work. Easy to move with a couple chunks of pipe under the ply. Just screw the metal base to the plywood. I have made many. Pictured one of my portable set ups. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings Golfishunt, Need another lesson do ya. I plan on returning to the north forge soon. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

T.P. Great suggestion on the rake. If you look closely to the picture of mine it’s on the table next to the brown tool box . Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings Stash, Gotch a fine tool there. I have had mine for years and have developed tons of tooling . I put some non combustible stuff under it on roller carts. As pictured I loaded it up because I was doing a demo on twisting . I also have made roll around equipment that pins down to the table to conserve floor space. Hossfield , Whitne angle notcher , etc. works great . Ya sure don’t move it easily. I also use steel flat belt pulleys from my line shaft shop to form large diameter stuff. Have fun with your new table. Forge on and make beautiful things. Jim

Greetings Selph, Are you a member of the blacksmith group in Michigan? If not it would be best if you look into it. October of last year I gave a demo on easy to make tools for the beginner smiths and how to use them . Lots of great folks in Michigan that will assist you. The table pictured is just some of what I demonstrated at my forge. IMHO if you want a very very useful tool and want to support a small business a guillotine tool is very useful. My personal preference is one available on EB by Yesterday Forge. Don’t rush into purchasing large equipment until you have consulted other smiths. Good luck and spend wisely. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

At that price ya didn’t get screwed. Had to say it. Keep the faith good things do happen Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings Salin, John said it all. Take heed. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Congrats Das. What a beautiful family . Got 3 daughters myself except mine are a tad older . Eldest is 55. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Got one just like it... I thought it was a Badger but when Josh visited my shop he confirmed it was a Fisher. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Prayers sent. Be strong

Greetings CTG, The springs make great dishing and forming tools . Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings Das, More than likely you have a clogged converter. Most of the diagnostic equipment can’t diagnose the condition. Good luck Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings LBS, Great work . Over the top professional . How in the world did you make the textured end of your framing hammer. Glad your back on IFI. Keep on doing what your doing indeed professional. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings cdnaxe, They both have their advantages and disadvantages. Keep in mind the replacement parts are readily available through the BB folks . Great to deal with. I retired from my business blacksmith shop and sold my BB. I did keep my LG 25 and my KA 75 . As far as compressor volume you can add a additional ballast tank for Volume to your compressor. I use a 30 gal tank from an old tire inflator . I have my IR compressor mounted in a different building and ran the lines underground. Sure keeps the shop noise down. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings Jason, Welcome to the crowd. Storage is always a problem. I have a few old hardware rotating shelves that work great. A large diameter pipe works well for tongs. A steel wheel on a stand works great for hammers. When more space is needed a chain and pipe rack hooked to the ceiling with hooks also works well. Lots of options. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings Golfishunt, The bolt size on most grinders is 8 mm x 1.25 x 3/4 long . Home Depot has them. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings Golfishunt, Neet idea . LOL You will need to forge another bracket to fit the other mounting hole in the grinder. You will find that the single mounting will loosen. I know you don’t have a welder so if you wish I will weld it for you . Or you can drill and rivet. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings Golfishunt, Doin just fine. Now for a bending fork and a twisting wrench. Nice cut off saddle too. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim