FredlyFX

When I was in college I recall a class about technology and the first day we watched a movie where they took it all back to the very beginning of society. According to them the one tool that allowed humans to move away from being the hunter gatherers was the plow. Once the first primitive wood plow was invented it made it possible for the first time that not everyone in the entire village or family had to spend all day every day trying to gather enough food to survive. Some could focus on other things, and one of the first things they did was try to figure out how to build a better plow and better digging instruments. It was this that led to using copper instead of wood for the plow and the rest is history. It was a never ending series of trying to make life better or easier that has brought us to this point.

Great video. Sure makes it look easy. I think my DG will be getting something soon with this process.

It looks like you have a couple of problems going on. The problem with your spring is that it is in backwards. Take a look at these pics and you will see how it should be. There are more pictures of how I did this on my web site on the projects page down near the bottom.

As for the jaws, it really looks like both jaws have been bent back. I can't even imagin how much force that would have taken, but judging from the bent handle, someone put a big cheater on there and then proceeded to ruin the vice using it as a press most likely.

I think I would try to grind both sides to where they meet vertically rather than trying to heat it up. If you try to reassemble the vice while part of it is red hot the only thing you will ackomplish is burning yourself and losing all your heat before you are ready for it in my opinion.

good luck

FredlyFX
http://fredlyfx.com

Congrats on the nice score. That should be a nice hammer once cleaned up and functioning.

Nice work so far Duck. I did a similar project a couple years ago. I have attached a pic of how I did mine.

Sounds like a great time. Are there any pictures of the top 3 entrys anywhere? I would love to see what they came up with.

The first one is actually the first spike knife I ever made. I gave it to my wife for our first wedding anniversary. She loved it, and then orderd that I give her another knife each year. I will post pics up soon of this years when I finish it. All the sanding on that was done with a 3x18 belt sander and a 1/4 sheet pad sander. I took it to about 220, then went to a polishing wheel on my bench grinder. Many hours on that guy.

The others are just a few that I had some pics of.

Nice looking knife Bill.

So bbb, I'm curious, how much time should we waste on him when he starts coming back asking questions about how to forge his cast iron into sword steel? If none of us had said a thing to him we would have seen who knows how many questions on the forum later as he tried to implement his impossible plans.

I totally understand your position, and normally I would agree, but in this case he was so far off the track that it seems to me we do him a disservice if we allow him to continue without at least trying to help. Although some of it was done pretty tounge in cheek, he was given links to some really great resources. If he actually takes the time to read them and learn, instead of going by stuff he has seen in movies, then he may actually be able to forge something useful one day. If he digs his heels in and refuses to learn then he will be plauged by years of frustration.

River-Gazer, making swords is pretty much the top of the blacksmithing trade. It is like being a mechanic on formula one race cars. You don't start off on race cars, you work up to it. You don't show up at the track and say, "I want to be a race car mechanic cuz I been watching it on ESPN, and I think I got it down." You work for years perfecting your skills. This is the same thing. Hammer control, metalurgy, fire control and numerous other things all come into play. None of these are touched on in any significant way in any movie. Personally, I love the Highlander movies and series. I own all of them, but now that I have been smithing for a few years I know just how out of touch all the sword making stuff is in those movies. Still entertaining, but not accurate. I hope you consider the advice you have been given here and really take the time to learn this trade. It is a wonderful skill, and if you work hard at it, then some day you will be able to make a sword that you can be proud of, and will not be a danger to you and others.

Good luck with it.

Very nice score. I love those kinds of deals.

Another thing to factor in, or at least give some minor consideration to, is wether you are trying to make a living at it, or is it just a hobby. Personally, my smithing is just a hobby. I have a good job I am very happy at which pays the bills. My ultimate goal is that some day my smithing will break even. However, I found that when I first started and I priced stuff way too low that I was actually hurting the professional smiths in the area. If I price stuff way too low it reduces the percieved value of hand made blacksmithed items.

For example, if someone buys a fireplace set from me for $50 but a professional smith needs to get $500 for the same set to pay for his time etc, then I have dragged down the local market. That personas friends and neighbors will be looking to pay a similar price for that set in the future. (btw, that's an example only, I would never charge that little for something like that)

I have now taken to pricing my stuff at a more reasonable rate. It's still probably lower than the pro will charge because I don't feel my quality is where it could be, but at least now I am not dragging down the market. The other thing is that even if I don't think about other smiths in the area, I am also dragging down my own future market. Once you start selling an item at a certain price, then it is tougher to raise it by a large amount later. Charge a fair price and give them a faire product that is the best I can make. It may not be perfect, but it is the best I can make, so I feel ok with the transaction. That's how I look at things now.

Wow, that looks great One Rod. I like it a lot. How tall is that? It's hard to tell from photos.

That's just what I was thinking when I said I could get in too much trouble with that car. It would certainly make LA traffic much funner.

I built mine without a lathe. On this type of equipment build you modify designs to match the materials and equipment you have available.

Check out that MSN group I mentioned above. You will see almost 100 different 2x72 grinders and every one of them works. Some are nice & fancy like Rich's, and others are very obviously back yard scrap welded together. There are even a couple that used no welding I believe. They are all bolted together. Think outside the box. None of this is set in stone. You just need to turn 2 wheels. Everything above that is just more icing on the cake.

I was thinking hole punch for a moment, but with the way that nub is rounded it wouldn't punch a hole, it would just make a large dimple I think.

I would find a larger one. I used a 3HP Compressor motor from Harbor Freight. It will probably only last a year or two, but by then I will be able to afford a real motor. This one was less than $80.

I am pretty sure you will be able to find a drive wheel on ebay or at Surplus Center. They are out there, you just have to keep an eye out.

You may also want to take a look at a group on MSN called home or shop built grinders. There are a lot of pictures of various home made grinders there. You will find some good ideas and some good sources of parts.

I have no idea what it is, but it sure looks like it has had some hard use judging by the 3 different welds on the handles.

That is one crazy looking car. I think I would get in way too much trouble with it.

The wheels are actually not that hard to find. Rich and I both used idler wheels we found at Surpluss Center, http://surpluscenter.com/

For my drive wheels I bought them from Rob at Beamont Metal Works, the maker of the KMG Grinder. http://beaumontmetalworks.com/ If you click on Wheels and Components you will find all you need. I have also bought pillow block bearings from him as well.

Good luck with it

I am almost done building my own 2x72. I just have to finish up the stock rest on the left side wheel.

It really isn't that hard if you have basic welding skills.

Here's a couple of pics of it. I also have a lot of pictures on my web site of it being built step by step.

Thanks for the advice rthibeau

I really can't build into the woods, since I live in town, but I am building it big. If the city lets me do it the way I am planning, then it will pretty much cover all the available space on my lot. I will end up with a 40 by 60 roof that has a 12 by 24 shed centered on one of the long sides. The shed is already there, and the new building will be built next to it so the shed door opens into the building. I won't be able to use all the space now, but I know I will grow into it. I plan to have the plans done and a permit pulled by the end of July. Hopefully by Christmas I will be moving in.

Thanks for all the advice guys.

I'm actually one of those evil snipers. I figured out long ago on ebay that if I bid when I first see an item then things just go higher and higher as we go back and forth for days. On both of these items I was pretty excited that there were no bids really untill the last day. They each had stayed at the same price until the final day. I started putting my bids in with about 1 1/2 minutes to go and it jumpped from 200 to 660 in that time with about 6 or 7 bids recorded. Everyone else was doing the same thing I was.

I think what I am actually going to do now is stay away from buying any large equipment, and focus on building my permanent shop. I have been planning it for 2 years, but it is really time to get going on it. Then, when I eventually get some nice equipment I will actually have a place for it.

Man, I am totally bummed out. I have spent the last two days studying up on the Logan lathe and on Mills & lathes in general. I had gotten myself all psyched out to buy the 10" Logan lathe & the Go-Well mill.

Well, tonight the auction closed, and both items went for more than I was willing to pay. The lathe went for $661, and the mill about $531. On the mill I was actually high bidder with 17 seconds left, and got beat out. On the lathe I gave up at about $575 and it still went another $90 over that.

Probably better in the long run. I totally didn't need a mill and a lathe, but they are definetly in the sure would be nice to have category. I'll keep my eyes open, and maybe someday one will pop up in my price range.

What a great resource Ed. Thanks for that Logan site. You wern't kidding about the prices of parts. I nearly fell out of my chair when I looked at a couple of them. I'll definetly be very careful with it if I end up winning the bid.

Mathew: He said to look at the slide rails on the lath and the dove tails on the mill for signs of wear. He took me through his shop to point out what to look for. Many of his machines are from the 70's & 80's, but were just barely starting to show some signs of wear. He said some machines he had seen on the used market showed heavy signs of wear and abuse. Unfortunatly, the kind of stuff he was showing me is the kind of stuff you will never see in a picture really. It would have to be a good close up shot, and you don't usually see those on ebay listings.

If you ever decide to sell off any of those large anvils or swage blocks please give me a call. I am looking for both.