Jim Coke

Greetings Das, A friend of mine here in Michigan sells a nice set of rose blanks on EB for 10.50 a set. You might look into it . I think it is a good price and if you contact him you might get a better price on bulk. Good Luck Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings all, Just a funny experience.. I had a rather influential wealthy lady call my shop and requested a price for some custom interior railing pricing by the foot. She was obviously phone shopping fence company’s. I tried to explain the veritables but she was quite insistent to lock in a price by the foot.. After her third call I finally told her that I would consider doing her work for the same rate as her husband charges for his service.. She said “ well my husband is a doctor “ I replied well mam I am a doctor of metal. She didn’t recall . I called the other smiths in the area , Friends not competion, and give them a heads up . No iron for you.. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings 999, Do not use just any wire brush.. If you use a standard brush made from steel it will impregnate into the pours and rust.. Stainless brushes only. You can cut thin strips of sandpaper and uses it like a shoe shine rag. Works for me.. Good luck Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings JLP, I closed my shop 7 years ago and retired.. I moved up to northern Michigan but still keep quite active in Blacksmithing. I have 2 blacksmith shops , a welding shop , a sheet metal shop , and a line shaft shop. I enjoy teaching both beginners and advanced Smith’s our trade. I do this on a appointment basis at no cost.. My way of passing it on. I get a lot of Smith’s wanting to learn fly press and treadle hammer techniques and tooling.. As far as charging for design at the customers home yes I added it to the final bill.. What I did do which I thought was quite unique was to take photos of their home where the project was and superimpose my designed work on the picture so the customer could see exactly what it would look like when finished.. It sure saved a lot of back and forth time. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings JLP. My shop rate was 65.00 per hour... I did mostly custom work . Railings, wine gates, wedding arches, lighting, fence work , sculptures, furniture, kitchen hoods, etc etc . I also had in my studio items for sale , Pot racks tables, sculptures and such. I never tried selling my iron at art fairs because it seemed like a dead looser. I did also a lot of consirvitor work on damaged antique items . I had extensive equipment which allowed me to do things other shops just could not handle. A good customer base takes time and doing quality work pays off in the long run. My suggestion for getting started is to invest in good equipment , do quality work at a fair price. Jim

Greetings all, LOL ..... When I had my full time blacksmith shop of 17 years I had my hourly shop rate posted in clear view,.. Many times while accepting a new job I would quote the approximate hours and material it would take to complete the work.. I would glance up at the shop rate sign and the customer would do the head math. Many times husbands would accompany their wives to make sure they were getting the best deal . I wood look over my safety glasses and utter “ JUST THINK OF MY WORK AS LARGE JEWLERY”.. I must have been doing something right because when I retired I was 10 months behind. Another thing if someone comes to your studio and states that I only want something simple.. Show them the door.. Quality work deserves fair pay.. Forge on and make beautiful things. And get well paid for what you do. Jim

Greetings all, I was very fortunate to acquire a 5x5 acorn table years ago . I mounted it a a height of 36 inches which has proven to be the best for my work . I have numerous attachments way to many to post but my favorites are the ability to attach equipment to the table. I have several things mounted on rollers that I can just roll up to the table than insert pins for a solid fixture. Hossfeld, Whitney notcher to name a few. This saves a lot of floor space for equipment that has limited use that is normally fixed to the floor. If you can find one I would suggest buying it as it will prove to be a valuable addition to your shop. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings Vini, You could make a split lower roller for your ring roller and make several passes. Streatching the outer leg material will take a bit of time. I used to do this operation on my much bigger Eagle roll former cold. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings Farmweld, Looks like a slick unit. Judging by the travel you will have to build a tooling table for your floor mounted unit. You might consider a hydraulic table design for easy access to the tooling. I have had a P6 for years and a Tons of tooling and still am developing new things to do with the press. Have at least 6 tons of fun. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings Mike, Ya done just fine and a fair price.. It will serve you well for many years. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings Ranchmanben, Why don’t you just drill a few 3/16 holes through the 1/2 at the joint than plug weld . This would be a tight joint but would require some finish work at the welds. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings Redsmith, As Frank mentioned the easy way to make the tool is to bend over a flat bar stock than weld in side pieces to match your tennon. I still have the ones that I made years ago. Have fun... Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings Das, “ THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DOING SOMETHING WRONG AND DOING SOMETHING THAT SOMEONE DOES NOT LIKE” “THE SUCESS OF AN ARTIST IS DIRECTILLY PROPORTIONATE TO THE SIZE OF HIS SCRAP PILE” Just this ol boys words of wisdom. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings RT, Consider the point of discharge. You will find it to be very dirty and will stain anything in its path.. Eventually everything goes up . In my small studio I designed sliding roof vents for ventilation in addition to a side draft at the forge.. Also consider the noise of a large fan induced draft.. I like quiet.. Just this ol boys 2c Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings all, By all means a portable band saw. ( a good one with variable speed) . I have several . The best thing I ever done was to rig a trolly system on the ceiling with a industrial tool balancer hooked to one of my portable band saws. It makes it readily available and takes the weight off the blade for more accurate cuts. I also have other band saws , much bigger Roll In style but they are quite pricy. Another addition is a reasonably priced horizontal saw .A great addition and you won’t need a table for your porta-band. Just this’ll boys 2c Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings Rick, Kinda new at this are ya,, I for one have a beautiful understanding wife and better than 200 hammers. Life is good. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Prayers sent.. Celibate her life not her passing ... Stay strong .. Jim

Greetings JS, Just think of it as .. Pressure is the power of your hammer and the volume of air required to sustain slow or faster operation and maintain the required pressure is CFM . Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings JS, What is the recommended operating pressure of your hammer? Adding a balist tank will not change the performance it would just increase the amount forging time at that pressure. I would not operate the hammer under the recommended pressure. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

The second is a lineman’s wire crimping tool .. I have two and they work great for holding small round stock bending .. also rivet trimming FORGE ON AND MAKE BEAUTIFUL THINGS Jim

Greetings Mike. I think you will find when in the back gear position it was set up to drive a mandrel shaft with a grinding stone between the vice jaws.. I have seen others that have drilling capability that are similar. Nice find .. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings Weldedwood, Hot hammering your stock will yield inconsistent thickness and will jam in your dies. I would make a bending fixture than texture and hard way bend a little at a time. Your stock will pretzel and twist so slow is best. Just this ol boys 2c Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings James, Lots of info on this sight on the subject of repair of your Champion blower.. Do some research first. Please fill in your profile someone might live near you to assist. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings Pool, I would just call a wrecker company one with a extendable boom . You than can lift the unit at its center balance point . Tilt and extend the boom into the garage.. Standing it back up should be easy with part of the weight on the floor.. Worked for me in the past. GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN WITH YOUR NEW TOY.. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim

Greetings Biker.. Your Hardy tool problem with 1/4 x1 stock .. You can flatten you stock to 1-1/4 and form a loop 1- 1/4 wide to fit your hardy than weld it to the base of your tool. To work with short chisels and punches with hot metal wrap a chunk of leather around the chisel and pinch it with a pair of vise grips .. ( instant holder) I have done this for years and it works quite well. Forge on and make beautiful things Jim