kubiack

Does any one know what a Buffalo Forge #22 drill press weighs? I recently purchased one and will be going to pick it up next week. I am trying to determine if it will be manageable to load into a pickup or if I should bring a trailer. I would prefer not to bring the trailer as it is a few hours drive each way. I have experience transporting and loading heavy items with a trailer, lathe and knee mill, but not something this large in a pickup. I will have block and tackle, hand winches, and an engine hoist to use for loading. I would also be open to disassembling the drill does anyone have a manual or exploded parts diagram I could get a copy of. Thanks, Brandon

You are correct that is indeed what I was referring to, thanks for pointing that out to me.

I like the idea of having post separated out by content. This makes it easier to find the information that you are looking for. However, I also like to see all new posts in one place so that I don’t have to click through each section to see each new post. I think that is why on most forums most content ends up in a general type section. My suggestion would be to keep the content separated into sections and also have a view all section that shows the content from all sections. In the view all section no new threads could be started but a new post could be added to a current thread. My hats off to Glenn and the moderators this is the best public forum I have found on the internet.

Last night a Champion #40 blower with the original stand and a box of ball peen hammers followed me home. The gears on the blower are in good shape and it turns smooth. Not much blacksmithing equipment comes up for sale in my area so I was very excited to find this blower.

I would get the bigger of the two sizes that you listed. I have a good friend that put up one of the 24x24 building kits and it is a nice size. I think the 24x18 building will get too small pretty quickly. I agree with what the others have said get the biggest building that you can afford. I am trying to make the same decision on my shop whether to divide the space or not. I will be doing, as DCL suggested, and make cardboard templates of all of my tools and play with the arrangement before making my final decision.

I also forgot to mention that I live in West Texas on the edge of town surrounded by cotton fields. For those of you who have not been to this part of the country it is very windy and the dust blows on a regular basis. It is impossible to keep the dust and sand out any type of structure with an overhead door. Sustained winds will blow the dirt and sand through no matter how good the seals are. In my house and workshop dust will even make it through the threshold door seal. My thought is that a separate room would help to control the dust problem and keep it isolated in the larger room. There would not be a man door from the machine room to the outside but there would be a window. In my area an opening window is all you have to have in a bedroom for an alternate fire exit so I think the same would apply in this case as well.

I will be doing mostly decorative home items, tools, BBQ equipment, and smaller type items. I don’t think I will be making anything the size of a gates or fence panels on a regular basis, though I imagine a few will come up from time to time. I have pretty good air flow currently. There is an 8’ by 10’ overhead door on the north wall, two man doors across from one another on the east and west walls and windows on the east and south walls. I have not done a lot of forging but a have been done a good deal of general welding and fabrication projects. My main concern is how everything gets covered in grit while welding, cutting, grinding, and now a forge as well. Thanks for all the input so far.

I have recently moved to a home that has an unfinished detached workshop. I am about to start finishing it out and would like to get some input on my current plan. The building is 20

Thanks for the warm welcome. I really should have posted something in the intro section sooner. However, I recently move to a house that has a detached workshop which I will be setting up for forge work; so I am sure I will have many questions in the months to come. Frosty - If there is one thing I am good at it is sweating and I am really not too bad a bleeding either, the rest I will have to learn as I go. There is one good thing about writing software for a living it makes it mighty convenient check out what is happening at IFI! Brandon

I have been a member of the forum for a while now but have not posted until just recently. In doing so I thought I should also introduce myself. To make a living I write computer software for a cotton cooperative. Being an 8 to 5 desk job I like to get out in the shop and do something physical with my hands when ever I can. I have been welding and doing metal fabrication for quite a while and have recently started collecting the tools for forge work. I am very excited to get started; this is something I have wanted to do for quite a while. As I stated I have been a member for quite a while and I have read through most all of the content on the site and I would like to thank everyone for sharing their knowledge. I do a lot of research on various types of forums for work and this forum has the best group of member of any that I have found. Glenn thanks for putting together this site and keeping it in operation. I think you have one of the best public discussion forums on the web and the remodel looks great. Brandon

There is a blacksmith in Lamesa listed the yellow pages of the Lubbock phone book. I called them to check if they do any teaching and the number had been disconnected. There are also several Ironworks listed but I think they mostly do gate and fence fabrication. You can find them doing a Google search of Ironworks Lubbock TX. Also, I have driven past a blacksmith shop in Crosbyton. I don’t know if they are still in business because every time I have been by was on the weekend. I did stop once recently to look in the window and they appeared to be still in operation. I have no contact information for them but they are on north side of 82 near the center of town. Short of these resources the only things that I have found are books, videos, or one of the ABANA chapters in North Texas or Oklahoma. If you do find anything please post it as I would also like to take some lessons.