petere76

Steve, Brian, I concur with your thoughts on the loss of the photos. I too have referenced Brian's, submissions to make sure I was getting it right. I previously used to slit and drift separately, but Brian's one function tool sold me on his technique. I still have an eye drift to finish off the hole but the slit/drifter does most of the work. A thank you to Brian for sharing his ideas and photos. They have moved me forward on tool making techniques. Bring back the photos. Peter

Steve, The quick way....drill out the back plate and plug weld from the back side. Peter

Cedar kindling split small over some birch bark. Coal banked lightly on one side . Lite off, add air as it gets going. The cedar burns hot and fast, always does the trick for me. Peter

New England School Of Metalwork, Auburn, Maine. They run all manner of classes from the beginner, tool making, knife work, etc. Great place, reasonable prices and fantastic instructors. They have a web site you can checkout for more information. Good luck. Peter

Dan, In regard the base size, whatever size you decide upon get it as thick as you can afford. You really have to mechanically mount these hammers to a flat surface. The hammers will oscillate if operated unsecured. Don't operate unsecured, it can hurt you. I have seen them on concrete slabs, oak bases, bolted to barn decks and various steel plate bases but they were all securely bolted down. The 2x2 base in the plans works well because it's easily moved around. If after installation you want to silence the hammer somewhat, fill the column with sand and oil. Also some folks put a horse stall pad under the hammer base. Good luck with your build. Peter

Nice touch, very classy and thoughtful. Peter

Hawaii, which island? Oahu has the bulk of the industrial support as well as the business center. When I drive and walk around Hono I see a lot of fabricated ironwork. The sand island area has a few metal fab shops. Pearl Harbor has a shipyard and some of the supporting shops. On the North Shore loop you will see some very impressive gates on drives leading to big dollar houses. The metal working talent is there as well as the clients willing to pay for the services. Shipping costs to the islands drive the cost of products, everything from hamburger to angle iron is shipped in, Hawaii makes nothing, it is a tourist (service) centered economy. The two shipping companies that control the market are Matson or Horizon lines, Horizon lines being the more economical of the two options is your best bet. As has been mentioned, gear up on the mainland before you move. They both have point to point options. You pack the container, they ship it and they dump it in at your new address where you unload it. Essentially get your shop together, get anything you might need and then containerize it and ship it to the islands, don't try and do it piece meal once you are there. If you are going to want a truck or a car, same thing buy it in LA and ship it. In regard vehicles, smaller is better. Think in terms of Toyota or Nissan pickups. Oahu traffic is horrendous, you can spend hours driving 30 miles while stuck in traffic. Gas runs somewhere around 5 USD per Gal. Hawaii in general is a rich mans domain, everything is expensive. There are a lot of retired folks and ex military living in substandard housing, they survive but they but they don't live large. They trade off quality of life for the good weather. It comes back to haunt them when the get up into their later years and have to rely on local elder care. Check out Cosco at anytime during the week and you will get the general idea. Hawaii other than from the tourist perspective, is a social train wreck. It has a large population of socially dysfunctional locals that view welfare as their lifetime entitlement. High school grads are a rarity and most speak a form of bastardized English referred to as pigeon. Honolulu away from the big hotels is filled with street people, homeless, drug addicts and all sorts of beggars. Behind the tourist façade, its not at all pretty. There is an undercurrent of blatent racism directed at anyone who is not considered a native local. Don't venture off the beaten path on the North Shore until you have a local that you trust, show you around. If you are of German decent and speak German, go to the La Marina (bar restaurant) on sand Island. The local German community used to meet there once a week and socialize. Its an older crew but they would be a great point of contact if you were looking to integrate into the community and work locally. Good luck and aloha, Peter

Excellent use of available materials. This is the way to go if you can access industrial refuse. Great repourpse, I hope it works well in your shop. Peter

All, A great thread. I particularly like the combo physiology- businessman observation. I guess we all have to have a certain knowledge of the former to be successful at the later. Way back in the college days I took psychology courses primarily to boost my CPA. In retrospect, it did enhance my business activity. Advertising is essentially understanding the client or the market. It all comes down to sales, you either sell yourself as in the case of an artist or a product as in the case of a tool maker. What grabs the buyer, where is the appeal? Understand this concept and you have won the battle. Tooling or knife making; its the function, fit and finish. The feel in the hand. Art by comparison is somewhat more abstract as you have to appeal to the visual as well as the tactical sense. Honestly, I have more of a challenge when faced with the artist as opposed to a contractor. I can satisfy the needs of a hardware efficinato much easier than someone looking for a sculpture. The good thing about hardware is it's self defining. Form has to dance with function or its a no-go; It either works or it doesn't. Art on the other hand is interpreted by the onlooker and what to you may seem like some collection of random joinery is seen as something completely different by the client. The good news is that "art" pays a lot more than hardware. In college I worked occasionally for a guy that did sculpture work. His medium was bronze and he made these huge abstract clamshell like pieces. It was all formed and then welded out of sheet. We were employed as riggers to help move these things in his shop. The pieces we installed as city art in New York and Philly and the price was off the chart high. The artist in question did a lot of this abstract style art work for cities. So, for this fellow, who had identified his market, art was a money maker. HIs shop was on a point of land in an old light house overlooking the ocean. You couldn't ask for a better location. Peter

Nick, Nice job. I like the roasting spit option, why have a fire you can't cook over. I bet your client is real happy. Peter

78, Some irony to read your inquery, it was -10f this morning in the shop. However, in the summer we open the two overhead doors, that cools thing off a it. I recall working in SD in the 80's, the temp was almost always the same, very little variationn, and the water was always cold. Enjoy. Peter

Happy BD Frosty, we will splice the Maine brace in your honor this evening. Also, it getting on down to sub 0 this evening and I'm burning birtch in the wood stove, win win.... Peter

What an honorable tribute to your friend. Truly a class act for all involved. Peter

Socal, I use straight kitchen grade (cheap) white vinegar. It works great. After an overnight soak most of the scale has already fallen off and a light brushing with a soft bristle brush removes the rest. Outside pieces I usually paint. I have heated and hot oiled some flat plates for inside pieces like candle stands and table coasters. They came out looking real good with a tempered color scheme. Once you get all the scale off a piece the finish looks much better. Peter

SoCal, Acid wash in vinegar (food service) overnight, soft brush off the scale, and wash in soapy water. It helps if you aggressively get rid of the scale you can with a wire brush before the acid bath. Good luck. Peter

Stove stoker, Not a splitting mall. However, with some easy forging you can make it any number of HD set tools. It's good steel, anneal it and work it to your liking. Heat treat the working end. It will be plenty rugged and will last forever. I have similar tools made into handled curved cutters for flat stock and slitters. They will take a beating. They are well worth the effort to repurpose. Peter

Gun48, .25 in will suffice for the table thickness. Make certain to box in the area of the fire pot to prevent any heat distortion. Either use angle or flat stock. You don't forge on the table it only supports the fire pot, air piping and whatever coal you have on the deck. Think about adding under mounted tubing to support extensions if you work with long pieces. Also, if you intend to pile coke on the table add provisions for a back plate so it doesn't all wind up getting pushed off onto the floor. I edge my table with angle iron that formed a perimeter lip of sorts. You therefore have an attachment point for all manner of attachments. Good luck. Peter

Joel, Clean usually means bare (white) metal, no slag, no scale, no grease; essentially a smooth uncontaminated surface. This definition translates into time spent on surface prep. This is a the big time consumer in the shop. We spend a lot of time cleaning and prepping ironwork before it is coated. Big iron operations have separate shops that just blast and coat. Small shops have a guy with a wire wheel, emery cloth and a good work ethic. When you estimate projects on a shop time (hour) cost basis, prep comes down to some serious labor time. True cost of anything you turn out has to cover everything involved. Materials, transportation, design, tooling, shop costs, etc. it all goes into the gross estimate. Sometimes I see folks selling at fairs and I wonder how they can produce the product and cover costs for what they are charging. They all seem happy though and that may part of the profit component. Peter

Outstanding work Stormcrow. You raise the bar, Peter

Joel, Coating systems are a science unto themselves. Simple metal prep involves getting down to the base metal, i.e., no scale or rust. Either will undermine your coating job. You can mechanically clean the metal via scraping or wire brush. You can etch the surface with acid in any number of ways. A common technique is to use vinegar or citric acid. This releases any residual scale that may be present. In the end you want a clean bare metal surface. Be sure to wash the acid solution off with soap and water. Always dry the surface to be primed. Primer or undercoating is essentially a porous coating that serves to prep the metal surface for the finish coats. Primer by itself will not prevent rust. Spray coverage is generally better than a brush application because it's more consistent. A simple primer procedure is to use two different colors so that you can see any places you may have missed when you apply the second coat. Two coast of primer at a minimal are a good idea. Now you have the base for the finish coating. Pick the one you like and have enough of the batch on hand for your project.. If you buy decent paint you will get good results. Use light multiple coats. Let the coating dry between applications. It will not do you much good to flood it on. Remember you are creating a continuous seal on the metal surface, your objective is to preclude water from interacting with the iron. If rust is present under your primer it will break the paint seal and water will find its way to the metal surface. Our outside ironwork is generally painted. The rusted look is favored in some art projects but anything you are going to grab onto likes paint. Rusty surfaces aren't really that hand friendly. I oil finish some door hardware (knockers) but after a few years you have to service the pieces because they start to rust up. I always paint the plant hangers and the decorative grills because I think they look shabby when they rust up. Also rust will leach onto stone and wood surfaces and leave a stain. Check out the ironwork in old cities and you will see that the iron handrails of old are generally painted. Brass and bronze weathers to a likeable patina and it hand polishes if its used a lot. Good luck, Peter

Storm Crow, A great design, strong follow through and an excellent product. You honor the trade. Peter

Thanks Charles. I'll check it out. Found an old truck tire chain with a swivel, but it's machine made and not easy to reverse engineer. Peter

Gents, I am looking for a procedure guide on forging chain swivels. The store bought models are cheap enough but they don't have the hand forged look and feel. My intended use for the swivels is on plant hangers. Spring is the next season and plant hangers are in demand. I was thinking 3/8 in to 1/2 in chain sizing would be appropriate. Any references ideas or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks. Peter

I believe style comes from the Author. Lets say we all make a screw driver. The design is straightforward enough and hopefully it works for the intended purpose. What about the fit and the finish or the handle? The later components are all part of styling and that's the authors input. Craftsman or a Snap On, different authors and decidedly different pricing yet they are both screwdrivers. The debate will continue to rage. Peter

DT, Check out the New England School of Metalwork, Auburn Maine. Dereck Glazer is the Master Smith and the director of the Blacksmith and Bladesmith programs. They have a web site with all sorts of info. The school features all the American Blade Association courses. They have an excellent instructor who is dedicated to the Blade working programs. They also bring in guest instructors for all manner of metalwork throughout the year. The NESM is very squared away in everything they do and probably your best centralized resource for information in Maine. You should drop in and see them if you are driving in that neighborhood. They are a couple miles north of the Auburn Exit on the Maine Turnpike, in front of Maine Oxy and welding supply. Good luck. Peter