Jump to content
I Forge Iron

Doug C

Members
  • Posts

    457
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Doug C

  1. Truly a work of art. That would bring a smile to anyone's face. Your cousin is in my thoughts.
  2. I keep a lot of coke from the prior fire so that when I get the new fire going it does not smoke as much. Add the green coal around the outside of the fire or at the bottom of the fire (I have seen a few smiths do this locally). Once I have a good fire going smoke never seems to be an issue.
  3. Do a search on Google books for metal work, blacksmithing etc. Lot's of good resources there as well
  4. Why do you need it to look 500 years old? When it was made it did not have rust and pitting etc. The smiths probably tried to give it a nice smooth surface to show their proficiency. Yours too will gain that look after many, many years. If you have to have that pitted look I mitch see if there is a way to etch some sort if pitted look.
  5. Great article. Thanks for the info. This explains why some of the hooks I have made for the shed have split the 2X4's.
  6. Tke a look here at the Handymans's essential book on google for a litle info on the topic. In short it says put a point on them and make it wedge shaped in all directions for maximum holding power unless there is a real danger of splitting. Also barbs on a nail decrease strength by 30+%. As for shape look here at the Tremont nail catalog for cut nails and you will see many shapes and almost all of them are tapered and almost all have a blunted tip.
  7. Congratulations. Now add coal and repeat, about 20 more times, so you really get the hang of it. Glad you finally got it done.
  8. Doug C

    Post vises

    up here in Boston I've seen them from 75 bucks to $150. Paid $75 for mine. Cheaper than new post vice..
  9. Dick, I kid from Northhampton, Ma bought everything except a leg vise and a a real nice big blower. I bought the blower and boy is it nice. Turns smooth and puts out quite a blast. The guy who sold it is a heck of a nice person. Sad story though. His son just died three weeks ago which may explain why he did not call you back.
  10. The rating system would be based on the number of thumbs up or thumbs down that a post gets. Each thumbs down is minus one point each thumbs up is plus one. You would get to see pretty quick which answers have merit and which one should be ignored. As for "the best" answer, the site I was referring to allows the person who started the thread the ability to say which answer helped them the most. Maybe we could reward folks who give the most good answers each month with an IFI tee shirt;)
  11. I use a site for software developers that has a simple method of dealing with the quality of a post and with redundancy of posts. All posts are posed as questions so the format is a bit different. 1) As you create a thread / ask a question, a search is done automatically that shows other threads that may already answer your question. 2) Registered users get to vote for a post via a thumbs up / thumbs down sort of method. Each post is clearly marked with the "score" so you can quickly see what is worth paying attention to. High scoring posts to a thread rise to the top. 3) The person who started the thread gets to choose the answer they liked best which always floats to the top of the thread. This would take some of the burden off of Glenn, Steve and all the others who troll the threads pointing folks at info already in place. It would allow us, the users, to rank answers not people. The big win there is that there is less debate about what is right, less meaningless stuff posted and hopefully good info. Your vote does the talking unless you have something to contribute. Anyone else seen anything like this? Does it sound reasonable?
  12. I called the gentleman who put this add on Craigslist and am headed out there tomorrow evening if all works out. He has not used the equipment in a year and a half. Already sold 4 of the 6 anvils. He actually had a request from someone in Texas to ship the entire shop to them. Can't wait to see what he's got.
  13. Thanks for the heads up. This is about 45 minutes from me. I will be making a phone call tonight.
  14. Excuse my ignorance but what is the benefit of a flap disc over other kinds? Does it have a particular purpose? I have looked at the pictures on various sites but have been unable to figure out why I would use one over a regular disc.
  15. Thanks Frosty. Now I just need to build the skills to make the sign really mean something!!
  16. My son the graphic artist just made this sign for me as part of his Senior project at college. All that money paid off.:D
  17. Doug C

    The Forge

  18. Doug C

    forge sign

    From the album: The Forge

    Sign for the forge made by my son
  19. Wagonmaster take a peek at this for some visuals of the process. Also here. Mark Aspery does a good job of describing all this. In one post on the site he mentions that you should not waste your time with a beehive, just get a good deep fire going. Watch the metal and when it gets lost in the fire your ready to go. Check out his youtube video on welding as well. Get it hot, tap it together lightly, bring back to welding temp again and repeat. After a few heats it will withstand heavier blows. Keep at it and you will prevail.
  20. Back to the original post is it possible that the 'strange' markings might just be a manufacture's mark per Thomas Powers earlier post... http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f14/rail-road-spike-5182/index2.html#post46705
  21. Until you can get a smaller hammer choke up on the handle, same as if you were swinging a baseball bat that was too heavy. Remember that the hammer is a simple lever and the longer the lever the more tension you are applying to your muscles, tendons and joints(especially your wrist). As many others have stated just because your young and strong does not save you from injury.
  22. Sweet. I know what it is too. Art!!!! So how much prep work did you have to do? Haw many did you make before you got to this one looking so good?
  23. Looks nice. Do you have step by step photo's? I would love to see the whole process.
×
×
  • Create New...