eseemann

DuEulear, Thanks for the info, just for the heck of it I used a very thin 4 1/2 cut off wheel from Harbor Fright and it would cut but at 20% the speed of cutting most anything else other than RR track. I switched to a 7" Diablo branded blade from the Home Despot that was a 1/8" think and it did cut and I was treated to a free light show at the same time. Man this stuff lives up to it's name. I had to stop with the 4 1/2" wheel when the angle grinder was getting to hot to handle. Next stop will be Plasma! Ernest

Desmond, thank you for the information. I am going to try (and I try is the operative word) to weld this on to part of a forklift tine. If the arc welding will not work I could always try to us O/A and bronze braze it. On a side note I think it would be a very cool contrast to have the bronze on the steel but I digress. Thanks again It is also worth saying that this thing may very well be already work hardened to heck and back!

I have a plasma cutter, I think I will try that route. Thanks.

So trying to cut Abrasion Resistant steel with an abrasive disk...... I can see how that will be a problem. Maybe need to look at using the band saw. I will take a look at WeldingWeb and a few others. thanks

Thank you for the information and I will do so. Getting this cut is going to make it good and toasty since I am going to be using a abrasive cut off wheel. May I ask what temp I need to pre-heat it to?

Smokey, Cool, thanks for the info, I wonder if I can weld it with a 7014 arc welder. I am looking forward to trying.

Good Evening All, I was at the scrap yard today and found this neat (what ever it is) that looks like 12 Hardy Holes waiting to be used. I will need to double them up since the holes are not square on both sides. So anyone know what this started out life as?

Ain't that just grand!

The fact that he goes on to make floor heating is amazing. My Sister in law and nice are Anthropologist and I showed this to them. One of the things I like most about this guy is there is no background music and he says nothing at all. I would like to see a flint knapped (sp) ax head but I don't know if that area has the right kind of stone. That may be why he went with the type of ax he uses. There is a video where he shows de-toxifying (I think that is a word) some tubers in the waterfall. That reminds me of something my daughter and I muse about olives. Anyone that eats most types of olives off of the tree is in for a nasty shock. They need to have the bitter chemicals leached out of them before they can be eaten. The question we always wonder is how someone figured this out. Thanks for posting these

I remember a claw hammer from discount department store that had a hollow space under the head and one day a nail punched through the head of the hammer.

Now that is cool, wile e coyote "super genius", but cool!

Thomas, I get work hardening but it had slipped my mind. The hammer I was thinking about becoming softer was in the case of a sledge hammer head being used as an anvil. I do see what you mean in that the striking surface would have to be at or above Fahrenheit 451 (thank you Ray Bradbury for that factoid) for an extend amount of time. As a matter of fact I learned something from the tinsmith at Williamsburg and that is the tin and the iron that made up the tin clad iron the colonial tinsmiths used would work would both work harden. The problem what that you could not heat the iron up to soften it w/o melting off all of the tin. You had a given number of hammer strikes and that was that!

It was what you might call an uninformed guess.

I have seen several blacksmiths on Youtube and some people that may be called "Youtube Blacksmiths" that have treadle hammers that are basically 2 good size sledge hammers bolted to a frame. I am willing to guess that as long as you have some material between the 2 hammers there would be less of a problem since in that case you are not striking hard on hard. I wonder if the act of using a sledge hammer head as a anvil will cause the hammer head to soften once put in to use. I am thinking about the "what ever works" blacksmiths that used (for example) a good size sledge hammer head in a stump. A hammer head at 8# to 10# will need much less heat transfer to become softer than a 100# anvil. On a side note I have massive amounts of respect for by taking what they have and still do great work.

I have been away for some time and I had not seen that DSW was called Home to work in the Master's shop. I am sure he will be put right to work because very kind of gate will need tending to from time to time. I had enjoyed reading what he shared and he made the world a better place. Every time a master craftsman is called Home I think of my own Father who returned Home in 2009. He always did his best to answer the call according to the teachings of Jesus Christ. The Elders of IFI always remind me of the best parts of my Father and both Grandfathers. My thoughts and heart go to his people. V/R Ernest Seemann

Frosty, As always a good safety tip!

GMoore, How loud is the ring on your anvil? I would like to make one of these but I would like to limit the ring for the sake of the people selling the house across the street. I don't want someone to come looking at the house and think they are going to hear Giuseppe Verdi - Il Trovatore - Anvil Chorus day in and day out. Thanks

Like I said, this guy is going to be in a world of hurt.

This is from the what not to do according to what I have been told so far. The man does not seem to have a respirator. They are in a building, well ventilated as it is, but still I got to wonder about that guys lungs after a while.

I know a guy in the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) that made a few of them and had a grand ole time with his group "trying at home" what the mythbusters would have said not to try at home.

My Mother's Father was a farmer and could not count past 9 1/2 on both hands.

A bit off topic but..... My late Father used coke in their tile stove in Germany growing up (pre-World War II) and always thought that coke was mined out of the ground like coal. I told him how coke was produced and the look of astonishment was something like a kid finding out the light in the fridge turns on and off when you open or close the door. My family in Germany were book publishers and knew many things from the casting of soft metals to using carbon arc lamps for photo engraving. Every day matters like getting coke for the house were handled by my Großmutter (Grandmother). I am willing to bet that without her taking care of them my Father and Großvater (Grandfather) would have would have frozen to death in dirty clothes trying to figure out how to open a can of beans.

I plan to make a sheet metal shell for the forge to try and extend the life of the bricks. I was wondering if coating them in with a clay slip would hold them together longer but it sounds like it would not. I will stick with the classic steel box with 2 bricks for now. Thanks everyone for the input.