Mark Parkinson

Lampworkers and glass blowers use oxy cons insted of tanked gas heres a link to one site tht sells them pyronamix home I have more site if you need more info. the used (reconditioned)ones are a much better deal if you do not need it for medical use a new medical use unit is $5500 the same unit for lampwork is $550 Mark

best use for pennies apart from Don A's suggestion is washers cheaperto drill a hole in a penny than buy a washer :)

For a barrel patch cut two pieces of 14 or 12 gauge about 2" larger than the dent/hole area and curve them to the barrel and two pieces of gasket material or inner tube rubber the same size, drill two holes for 3/16 or 1/4" bolts in the steel . drill matching holes in the barrel punch tight holes in the rubber . install plate-rubber-barrel-rubber-plate and thighten the bolts. you can also use the belt and suspenders route :)and silicone the hole as well. Mark

my gasser build pics here blacksmithing

made for re-enactments build photos on my website at forgecart and my every day "mobile" forge

I can see by your post its too late to warn you ...blacksmithing is addictive...tool collection is just a byproduct of the addiction... if you send them to me quickly I'll send you the name of a good therapist:)

Dan I quoted that from the original message. I too have heard the "message" to an apprentice one was "The worst thing a blacksmith can do is not charge enough for his work" the second was "never strike cold metal" and the third escapes me Mark

" so I volunteered. They do not pay me, but I get full use of the facilities, and they assigned me a few students . In return, the students and I make some stuff for the farm. All in all, a decent arrangement, or so I thought." ----very good arrangement it makes both parties happy and no one is hurt "A fellow blacksmith from another historical farm heard about this and reminded me that the worst thing that a blacksmith can do is to sell his goods too cheap." ----True you should never sell your self cheap, but this applys to everything in life not just blacksmithing. " And I have cheapened other blacksmiths' production, that they may have depended on for their livelihood, by giving away things to the farm." ----untrue. you have given away product yes but they have also given you something..space to work use of their facilities...fair exchange if both parties are happy. "I really do not see it this way. The staff at the farm has always treated me with the greatest degree of warmth and respect. Because of the budget, they are not able to pay market price for the product. During the recession, they had to cut programs and staff, due to lack of donations, and it was truly sad. The other blacksmith said that it was OK with him, because I did not directly compete with his line, but that did not excuse me from the violation of an ancient ethical code." ----Quite frankly this other blacksmith is talking through the wrong end of his anatomy his words and attitude stink and should be taken as they are spoken , as the words of a bitter and jealous hypocrite. keep on working the way you are I wish that I could work out such an arangement, passing on the skills you have learned in a historical setting such as you seem to have is wonderfull and I envy your luck Mark

I wear earmuffs when cutting, grinding and welding not so much for the noise as to keep thosse bouncing sparks and welding berries out :(

2 cords of mixed hardwood and an airtight stove will get me through until march:)

for me made in U.S. is foreign made but I do understand the idea I buy Canadian whenever I can, but quailty wins out over price every time with me. I have found some Asain (mostly Japan) import tools of better quaility than both Canadian and U.S. manufacture and in some cases the bonus was that the import was cheaper....go figure

sfDuck with the amount of scale on the floor round here lately if it was going to gain wieght it whould have all ready maybe its just pineing for the Fijords....

thank for the info Thomas I did a spark test and the results seem to indicate that it has a cast body, horn and heel with a steel top plate. I could not find a weld line so I do not know how thick the top plate is, not that it really matters that much I am just using it as a big xxx bench top paper weight any way and occational use as a stamping surface when adding a touch mark.

I picked this anvil up a couple of years ago at a farm auction for $25 and have been wondering about it ever since I just cleaned it up with a wire brush and flap disc looking for any marks but can find none . any ideas? the diamentions are top- 5 1/2" x 6" x 6" horn 5 1/2 x 3 1/2 x 2 3/4 heel 3 1/2 x 3 1/4 x 2 hole in base 3 3/8 x 2 7/8 x 1 pritchel hole ? 5/8" wieght about 40-50lbs

pault17 : what size and length of pipe do you need? I do have a good stock of black pipe cut offs. I would be glad to send you the piece you need Mark p.s did yo use pipe dope on the threads it burns with a "white steam" look to it if you manage to get it in contact with a hot surface.

Rusty_iron..thanks for your input...I do have a set of the Krusty plans and they are helpfull but like all plans for power hammers are missing some critical measurements...on the flywheel I had thought about it...but you want a power hammer to stop when you take your foot off the bar, a flywheels momentum could lead to extra strokes ...The extra weight would be great to even out the balance problem that a crank motion imparts to a shaft, but impractical in this instance without the addition of a brake on the flywheel...yet something else to think about Mark

to keep a long twist straight I use a section of black pipe as long as the twist is to be that slips over the piece to be twisted....heat....clamp in vice....slip the pipe on....grab other end close to end of pipe(tongs/ajustable wench/purpose made twisting bar)....count the number of turns you want...twist stays straight in the pipe ...to get a three foot section I would heat it three sections onefoot at a time and reverse the center section for more impact ======//////////======

Skunkriv & Tek thanks for your input on the gear oil I'll have to pick some up monday...I just spent a couple of hours striping down and clean the one box I am really surprised by the lack of wear in a gear box that was built in 1958 (date on the spec tag) the grease on the trust bearings had dried out but a wash in the parts tank showed no wear on the bearings and I repacked them with a moly grease and everything is traveling smooth. I believe I will go with the crank arm as my lathe only has 8.25" over the bed, a great lathe for the small screw cutting jobs etc. I do but I really don't want to over burden it.cutting back the extra shafting makes a lot of sense, the uneven load will be bad enough with out adding extra leverage.....cold out in the shop today the remnants of the gear oil in the case moved like mud it took 2 or 3 minutes for it to spread out when scraped from the box....back to starting the wood stove in the morning again:)