KjZitur

I am not sure what it is but I don't think that it is a rivet bolster. With the shape being what it is, it looks like it would really ding up whatever your tyring to rivet together.........ken

For all those interested, check out these two videos. The first one is some HEAVY forging and the second one is some ol' boys doing a little forge welding.....pretty cool stuff..............ken

Revver : find

Revver : find

Ezra, If the reason for a portable forge is to do some demonstrating at shows or events I wouldn't give up to quickly on the rivet forge. I did art and craft shows for almost 25 years between 15 and 20 shows a season and I did demo's at most of those for all but the last few years. I can tell you from experiance that you want to keep everything as light and portable as possible. My rivet forge served me well all those years. I did add a hood that I made out of one of those conical freestanding fireplaces that used to be popular to help get rid of some of the smoke and ash....ken

My wife is my assistant (read apprentice/striker/in charge of the finnish and shipping department/secratary/gofor/personal motavational speaker/BOSS...just to name a few!!)...we work toghther 24/7....couldn't get along without her!!!...........ken

The smell of smoldering cotton always gets my attention!! LOL........ken

How about making the tool rest out of flat bar instead of round??...say 3/4" or 1" thick X 1-1/2" wide or so....just a thought..........ken

I usually soak the roller chain in parts cleaning fluid for a day or so and then wash it with hot soapy water to get the chain as clean as I can before I start. For a Harley primary chain, I cut it in half and then fold it over and mig weld the loose ends to a suitable handle such as a piece of 3/8" x 1-1/4" flat maybe 30" long. I preheat the chain in my gas forge to an orange heat and then with light hits under the power hammer I hit the chain on the flat side (with the roller pins vertical) to stiffen up the billet (some fellows will tigweld all the links in the chain). I then go to the anvil and with a light hammer try to knock out as much of the scale and other crud as you can. The billet then goes back in the gas forge to soak and to get hot enough to flux. I then place the billet in my coal forge to slowly bring it up to a good welding heat. (I usually do several billets at one time, thats why I preheat in the gas forge and weld in the coal forge. It just speeds things up!) When the billet reaches a welding heat I begin welding under my power hammer (150lb. Fairbanks) I don't let the billet get to cold (just under a welding heat) then reflux and bring it back to a welding heat and continue under the power hammer. A Harley primary chain takes about 3 or 4 welding heats to get the billet down to say 1/4" x 1-1/8" bar. I hope this info helps......good luck...ken

I think George says it all.........CMT.com : Loaded - Watch Thousands of Videos for Free, Country, Music, Movies, Shows, Broadband

My anvil is knuckle hieght (32"), and so is my coal forge and a couple of the tables I have so that if I have a longer piece to work on I have a convenient rest handy.........

scrapman, here are some pix taken from the book Wrought Ironwork. This should explain how to make a scroll jig. Hope it helps.............ken

When I was a starting out as an apprentice the old timers would constantly remind to "quit swingin' that hammer like an old woman and Hit the dang thing!!!!.

Back when I was tuning up my 150lb. Fairbanks hammer, I made several springs for it using all types of different truck coil springs. Uncoiling the springs and then recoiling them to the size I needed and then heat treating them to fit my hammer. This is how we did it in the blacksmith shop when I worked for the Burlington Northern Railroad as a blacksmith, except we used a forklift to pull the spring. The advantage to straightening the entire spring is that unwinds itself almost straight so there is very little forging to do. Straightening small springs isn't hard as it might sound. Here are a couple of pictures of straightening a spring. I use a tractor on the heavy ones but you could use any device you have for pulling........ken

I never use any formulas, if it don't go, get a bigger, longer pry bar!!!..LOL

On smaller springs (3/8" diameter wireor less) I place a round rod (3/4" or whatever the spring will slide over) in the hardy hole of my anvil (my anvil is attached to a stump in the ground), heat up the spring, toss it over the rod, grab the bottom end of the spring with a vise grip and pull! On larger springs I weld a ring on to one end of the spring so that I can chain that end to my anvil stump. The spring is placed on a 2" diameter shaft which is chained to the forks of my tractor, which is then used to pull out the heated spring. All thats left to do is a little straightening of the spring on the anvil or under the power hammer.

If you measure where the band is going on the barrel and do a full scale layout as per this quick drawing, you can edge bend your bar stock by using a crosspeen or straightpeen hammer on the outside edge to get the proper edge bend before you roll it. The edge bending and rolling can be done cold.........ken

By tapered bands do you mean bands like those on a wooden barrel?

Ram weight should also be at least 50 lbs. or more or a single blow won't be very effective.

And I we should mention that the acetylene tank should only be opened a quarter turn. And leave the "T" handle on the valve in case you need to shut down quickly!

The proper way to use your oxy-acet. tanks is first make sure the oxygen gauge is pionting in a downward angle. I've seen alot of gauges pionting up so that it' easier to read but if the threads on the bolt ever let go you'll get it right in the face! I also see alot of guys shutting ther tanks off improperly. When you shut off your torch you close the acetylene valve on the torch first and then the oxygen valve on the torch. Then shut off the acetylene tank and then the oxygen tank. Now open up the acetylene valve and bleed the line and then do the same to the oxygen valve. The last step is to back off on the regulators of both tanks so that they just turn freely.

I have also used Smith torches for the last 30 years. I find them very dependable. And Ten Hammers makes a very good point about getting educated in the use of oxy/acetylene. These can be very dangerous if used improperly.

I would have to vote for red wing boots without steel toes. For me my feet are always cold in them. But according to MythBusters, the steel toed boots are definitely much safer! As for pants Carharts are #1 and Dickies "T" shirts(I love my Dickies!! :) )

I made alot of grab irons (the rungs on the ladders) lifting rods, carrier straps, brake rods and lots of straightening.......it was a fun place to work, like working in a museum...........and I would like to say you have a great web site going here Glenn! Keep up the good work............ken

Hello everybody.....just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Ken Zitur. I started blacksmithing in 1976 for the Burlington Northern Railroad at the boxcar repair facility in Waite Park, Minnesota. After completing a four year apprenticeship and receiving a diploma from the Railway Educational Bureau I worked as a railroad blacksmith for ten years. In 1980, I also had the opportunity to work with Paul Hubler, a prominent blacksmith from Rockford, Minnesota. It was in Paul