Tom Lumpkins

Nice pictures and nice shop .. looks like you all had a good time.. thanks for sharing with us.

Thanks guy's.. I have a 1 1/2 inch pipe that feeds the air to my brake drum, that I use for the fire pan, and I'm thinking that I need to up grade to a lot bigger pipe, When I come in next weekend, or the next time I come in that will be the first thing I tackle. Gotta get my air .. then I'm going to try and do a bunch more forge welding.. Do you all have a suggestion for the size pipe I should be using for the Air Inlet.

Well boy's I got me a piece forged welded today and I think I know what the problems been.. The last time I got a piece to stick together The wife was out there with me and I had been trying all day, and was kinda upset, Finally I told the wife I was goiin to burn some metal. So I cranked up the air and then noticed the wierd looking sparks that glenn had told me about. I pulled it out and tapped and little sparks went flying out between the area's.. then made the mistake of NOT finishing the weld. and basicaly knocked it loose. Since then I think I may have fired the forge twice. Yesterday I worked all day trying to forge weld NO LUCK.. Today I messed with it for about five hours no luck.. Finally I said the heck with it.. and cranked up the air, And watched the metal disappear into the fire.. Someone told me when it disappears into the fire your there. I also noticed those wierd looking sparks .. I pulled it out Tapped real lightly and seen little sparks fly from between the area between the two pcs. Went back into the fire and when she disappeared again. I took it out and tapped again alittle harder repeated the procedure .. and then let it cool down to red and tested it. It stuck.. I think my problem has been... NOT ENOUGH AIR COMING INTO THE PAN..I'll fix that problem when I get the time... Thanks to all of you for your help.. some of you have enough sent PM's with tips.. Thanks...Tom

Yesterday was the first time I was able to fire the forge up in about a month. This job and personal problems. Anyway I attempted to forge weld. and still havn't got it. fixen to head out and try again. I think today will be the day, I'm trying to faggont weld 3/8 square mild. today I'm goin to let it soak longer and make sure I got a good bed of coals.. If it happens I'll give you all a heads up.. Thanks again for all the help...

truely awesome, thanks for sharing it with us.

thats real nice, thanks for showin it

Welcome to the IFI family..

Yep its sad to lose a close family friend, We got three dogs and two of them are house dogs, one of the two house dogs has the wife completly trained that dog goes in the kitchen and whines and makes the wife go in and take food outta her dish and put it on the floor for her.. She hides dog cookies then makes that terrible noice so the wife will get up and help her get her cookie.. she's about fifteen years old and about blind and can't hardly hear.. and I know the wife is in for a tough time soon.....Your big guy will surely be missed, But the memories will be there for you...

Will put your son on prayer list, and the other's are already there. I got a good friend that came over yesterday, And he has done four tour's of duty over in the Middle east, He brought me a Knife that he got over there when he was there the last time, and give me a good deal on it, A Nickle, plus he fixed me up with some bolt bins for my little smithy. Ron's like a brother to me. He showed me the Case pocket knife I sold him for a penny and let me know that it goes everywhere with him . He has a problem that he got from the war that he was involved in over there, He shakes real bad. He will Retire from the Army this coming fall. Yes Boy's we need to pray for our boy's over there. . There's a group of old Soldier's that go to the Military Bases and give the Soldiers Hero Welcomes when they come back. I can't think of the name of the group, I think I saw it on 60 Minutes, I don't have time with the Job I have to be there ,But if I did I would be right there with them welcoming the Brave Soldiers home.

Thanks for all the tips Guy's. I can't wait to get home and try again.....Reid I went and took a look at your web site.. Looks good and you got some realy nice work in there...

Well I attempted to forge weld again this past weekend and failed.. Ol well sooner or later.. probably a whole lot later.. It'll happen.. The determination is there. We'll try again this coming weekend...

Selden, I hope the doc fixes you up, and hope you have a good trip. Still looking forward to meeting you in Person. The Stars will line up one day and it'll happen.. Besure and take lots of Picture's.. Tom

Nelson,, That would be along trip.. and I know I would enjoy meeting you and sitting back drinking some good coffee. .But I don't think it'll ever happen..I just wonder how far that would be from Tennessee... lol

Jw, When I get up that way.. I'll sure enough give you a shout..I'm going to try and get a bunch of fellers rounded up and us all meet at the Fire on the Mountain festival they have at Spruce Pine,NC next year. There ain't no doubt in my mind, We would all have us a good time.

I've been to Ak before when I was a young kid .. But never have trucked up there. But can't never tell, I maybe up there one day... If it happens I'll give you a call.. I would love to come up there and meet you. . And see what the place looks like..When I was there the last time we were at a airport and I think it was dark the whole time I was there ,,, and I think I was around five or six years old...

welcome to the club AK Wolf.. I know you'll like it here ..There's some darn good people on here and lots of people that know all about metal.. Frosty your starting to get a good bunch in here from AK....

Today, I finally got to meet up with Jeff {UNKLESPIKE} I delivered in Atlanta this morning and got me a load outta a place called Benton,Tn... Then I noticed that my delivery appt was for friday nite at eight pm eastern time up in Indianapolis in.. So I thought ..Well today I am going by Jeff's place at a decent hour I'm going to give him a call. Jeff had just got off work and hadn't even made it home yet. ... I told him I was here and asked if he was up for a visit.. Sure I'm getting gas and will be there to pick you up in a few minutes.....We went to his house and I got a tour of his smithy and Boy's he's got everything in there except the kitchen Sink.He's got a real nice shop. also while I was there Jeff shared a little family history with me and a few stories... . I had a great time, Jeff I sure am grateful, and it was nice to finally meet you and your wife in person and shake hands with you...

Doug I took a look and there's some darn good advice in there. Thanks to you and Mark.

Thanks Steve.for the good advice.. I have been busy doing honey doo's .. But fixen to go out and fire up the forge and see if we can put the advice to use...

Welcome to the site..

I thought I would share some more info on my attempts at forge welding.. I had to quit after this attempt because I toasted my right eye ball. and gotta keep the eye's in tact.. I talked with Glenn about my problem and he suggested that I get some Shade 3 safety glasses.. I got them in the mail last week and tried again to forge weld.. this time instead of trying to forge weld a ring I tried to just do a faggot weld with 3/8s square and followed the instruction's outta my Backyard blacksmith book.. Well I tried four or five times to do the faggot weld.. and it just wouldn't work.. finally I told the wife, { She was supervising} that I was going to just burn the metal.. So I started cranking and then I seen that special Spark, that Glenn and Dale Russel and other's in the chat room had talked about, then I seen another one.. so I pulled the piece out and tapped it, and then let it cool..and tested it .. It was stuck, then put it back in the fire got it back up to high yellow and basically knocked the weld loose. Yep.. I know what you all are thinking while your sitting there grinning and reading about my mistake.. I talked with Glenn last nite and he let me know About it..As you will notice. on the Bottom of this post it Say's in Training.. lol.. I'll get there.. and I guess the main reason for writing this is. I want to Thank All of you all for helping me get to where I'm at.. I was telling a guy the other day that is interested in Blacksmithing.. Man you need to Join IFI ,, Them boy's on there want you to learn and they'll help you get there.

Here's a link to a good online book that has the info you wanted... http://www.millerwelds.com/pdf/guidelines_smaw.pdf

Welcome to the site. And we are looking forward to seeing the picture's of the power hammer.