FieryFurnace

I played with that bolt, and it loosened it up a bit. That fan blade still claters a bit but it works which, after all, is the main thing. Thanks!

Those things are a pain man! I want to know who put that bolt in there so I can beat em up! It took me forever to figure out how to play with that thing! No, I haven't messed with it since I made the other adjustments on it! I'll try that tomorrow.

The holes are still good and round and beside's some VERY slight movment with the shfts, everything is solid. The amount of play in the shafts is a normal amount!

Once again my blower is acting up! I did manage to find out that the gear box/fan doesn't go with the fan housing. The housing has four screw holes and a shaft hole! There is another hole that looks as if it was cut with a torch to allow the gear box to fit. The gear box only has 3 screw holes! I managed to get the blower running again, because the only thing wrong was the gears were colliding, grinding against each other. So, now it runs, but it runs real stiff. I can't figure out how to remove the shafts for the fan/gears, so I simply greased everything up good. However that didn't help make it run smooth! If y'all have any idea what would make it run more smoothly please let me know. I am currently regestering for two festivals so I have to get this fixed! It is a sized down version of a Champion #40 (yes #40 NOT 400!) blower. If you need pictures I can get a few. Just let me know what parts to snap pixs of! Thank you!

I was wondering if anyone on the forum is going to be at the Chicamagua reenactment this weekend. Maybe we could meet up!

Just withhold the "don't touch that", don't swing that", back up....NOW", advice a few times! Nice work, the first few items I did never looked like that! Keep em at it!

Couldn't have said it better! That's amazing! You have any good stories about how you got all them! (Unless it is something like the old woman down the street is still wondering what happened to that anvil behind the barn!:o) Just kiddin! How long it take you to get em all out there? Oh, and did one of those stacks aver fall on your foot?:)

I was currious if anyone on the forum owns sailboats! I have a green v-bottom boat that I am converting to sail. My goal is to build my own wooden boat! I was also wondering if anyone has done or is doing fencing! I have always liked swords/swordplay. I currently have one fencin foil and I am ordering two eppees. I use leather or thick protective vests and paintball gunner's mask when fighting. Thoughts?

A homeschooled family in our town has just lost their oldest son. He drowned in the Green River Lake last week. Please keep that family in your prayers! Thank you!

I don't know anything about the hoods so I would suggest doing an internet seach on them. You could probably find one that would be compatable with your forge so you could use the measurments off of it. Oh! You'll get used to the smell over time. Smells like sulfer, or discharged blacksowder. I like it!:o

And what were the rules for welding to high carbon? Yea, I'm really that clueless!:D

Well, I finally quit talking and started forging. I had an old screw from a car that I forged the blade out of. It's not a cutlass but more like a backup weapon. The blade is 27 inches in length by 3/4 wide and just shy of 1/4 thick. It's a strait blade. I started on the profile after I annealed it. Still have a good bit to go there. I also forged a mild steel shell that will support a basket style guard. I think it must be a pretty high carbon blade. I forged a handle stub, quenched it, turned it around, heated the other side up, hit it, and the handle broke off. No crack, it just broke at the first hit. Anyway I'll weld a bolt on for the handle. It felt good to be forging again without having to worry about a building project that needed to be done! I've gotta make some chicken roosts this week, but I hope I'll be able to forge a couple of times. I'm still trying to find the USB cable for the camera.:(

Well, I finally quit talking and started forging. I had an old screw from a car that I forged the blade out of. It's not a cutlass but more like a backup weapon. The blade is 27 inches in length by 3/4 wide and just shy of 1/4 thick. It's a strait blade. I started on the profile after I annealed it. Still have a good bit to go there. I also forged a mild steel shell that will support a basket style guard. I think it must be a pretty high carbon blade. I forged a handle stub, quenched it, turned it around, heated the other side up, hit it, and the handle broke off.:mad: No crack, it just broke at the first hit. Anyway I'll weld a bolt on for the handle.

The forge awaits!

O.K. This is gonna sound real wierd so get ready. This blower has been working without trouble for the last 6 months. Now the fan is too big. It was scaping gainst BOTH sides of the housing. :confused: I took a file and scraped em down a bit, and then I took a grinder to it. It runs relatively smooth now although it's hitting a little.:mad: I'm hoping it will straiten that much out by itself. After we eat lunch I'm gonna start a fire. YIPEE! I have a screw that I found on the side of the road, (You might be a blacksmith if you make your mom stop cause you think you might have seen a piece of steel on the side of the road;)) and I am going to TRY to make a thrusting short sword from it. (I suppose it has some sort of carbon content. It's about 2 1/2'x1/2") Much like a 1700's Britsh officer's short sword. Thoughts?

Thank you all for your support. Like some mentioned this is more of a layoff. If I don't try to find time to smith I will not become agrivated when I don't have time to smith. I do still intend to try to make my living at this great craft. Thanks!

O.K. I am temporarily back in the seat. My Mom and Dad are currently on a 20 day aniversary trip (One day for each year they have been married) so the building projects are put on pause. (Except for two chicken shelters I have to build) Today I decided to pull out my blower, (the one that malfunctioned at my last demo) and see if I could fix it. I have taken it comepletely apart and I am slowly putting it back together, working the parts and making sure it runs smoothly together. I have some pictures, but my sister's USB cable seems to have vanished I'll get her to find it and post pics later.

I have a leaf spring but it looks like it came off a tractor trailor. It's about 3/4x3 inches. It'd take me a year just to heat it and another 7-8 to shape it.:D

My favorite type of sword is a cutass. I was wondering what type of steel I would need to get to mae one. Something I could get at a junkyard or something. Also, anyone that has pictures of cutlasses they have made please post them. I was thinking a large basket handle that would bring the hilt/blade balnce up close or right on the hilt. One thing I noticed and thought would be an easy way to finish the blade is; I was cutting hay with a rusty mower, and when I got done the rust was gone and I was left with a shiny but still scratched mower. I thought I could drag the blade behind mower around the field, giving it that original look. Thoughts?

Well, I don't have much use for any new stuff. I like the old British folk tunes from people like the Waterson's and Barry Dransfield. I also enjoy the pipes, (if I'm in a fightin' mood:D) Bluegrass comes now and again, but confined mostly to the older "clawhammer" sound. I don't listen to any in the forge as I dont even have electricity there. In the forge I sing it meself. Inside and out places me, my little brother, and my sister do three part harmony.

Thanks! 'll pull everything out now and again, but the forging 4/5 days a week are gone for now.

For the last 4 months or so I have tried to be a blacksmith, construction worker, and farmer. Soething has got to go and unfortunately it is the former. I was planning on going to three more events this year but I simply don't have time to make stuff. I hate going to an event with a dinner bell, two hooks and a leaf neclace. (I.E. unprepared) I have about 30 regular products, and the preveous list was what I took to the last demo.:mad: I haven't forged since the last demo I did. (about 3 weeks) I haven't even had time to look at my blower to see if I could fix it. So, I figured I'll just quit for the next year or two. (until we slow down a bit) Sure I pobably will not be able to makeanything when I start again but, maybe I'll meet a smith to apprentice under in town. Thoughts?

I wear glasses because I don't like the idea of contacts. I also don't liek wearing safety glasses. They are too cumbersome and tend to fall off my tiny head. My granddaddy makes glasses for a living so he made me soem special pair. My everyday pair is a auto shading lense but is also made from safety glass maerial. My reenacting pair is clear lensed but still made rom safety glass material so I can forge and reenact safely and authenticaly. Anyway, I prefer the regular glasses with the safety lense.