Larzz

You could also join the Guild of Metalsmiths in St. Paul. We have a stockpile located in Anoka. The Guild of Metalsmiths I joined a little over a year ago and get my coal from there. Also Rich is right and there is a sticky forum with coal suppliers.

oh-oh, another book I just have to get. Nice work!

Grant, As one of the afore mentioned newbies. I hope you all are part of the Blacksmithing elite. Someday I intend to join you! It might take a few years though. Frosty..Well Said!

I am in aw and don't know enough to make a good comment! Beautiful!

I made mine out of a deer hide that was left over from getting several jackets made. OK it took twenty years to collect them all so I guess it wasn't so cheap after all. :)

All I can say is WOW, thank you, thank you, thank you! There is so much here to learn. I will be rereading this thread many times.

How do I find the blueprint??? BP0281 Upsetting Forging – Upsetting Jr Strasil The blueprints I see only go up to 200??

Go to the site Fisher Regulators. They have all the info you should need there. Also there is some recall notices you should check out.

Short handle on it right? It's a Navy Precision Calibration Device used on the sub's.

Centaur Forge in Wisconsin also carries an assortment of rivits.

Happy Birthday

Just head south on I-35 right? Oh well, it was a thought.

As an ex-machine maintenance mechanic in a large machine shop (up to 75 ton per part) , 26 years as a boiler inspector and boiler machinery insurance inspector along with 8 years in Uncle Sam's Canoe club (underwater division). While I know how to cut up a large tank of that size. Drain, vent, purge, sample the atmosphere, if possible add an inert gas (nitrogen). Then carefully cut with a plasma cutter. While doing it I would be on pins and needles, wishing I wasn't. There will always be a large element of risk in doing something like this. Another item nobody has questioned so far is are you sure only propane has been in the tank? Could someone have used it for something else along the way? Unkown tank contents will carry unknow dangers! I saw someone mentioned old freon tanks, another area that has it's own pitfalls. Freon + Flame = Phosgene gas. Well known in the first world war. The use of freon as a cleaning agent is also well know in the welding communitiy. A whole lot of headaches and lung problems. Bottom line-----not a good idea.

I just got a new ford 3/4 ton for Christmas. It's nice to know that 60# of steel wrapped around the drive shaft won't damage the drive train! WOW The gumbo after a rain out in the Dakota's has been know to snap drive-shafts but this... Now about the driver, I think this may be a lame attempt (hole in gas tank) to enter the Darwin Awards annual competition.

You align the anvil pointing north to allow the magnetic flux to assist in getting a good weld. The twenty mules can only go so far...:}

Snow in the air, snow on the ground, snow everywhere! But what can you expect in Minn in December, snow and below zero weather.

The metal workers guild of minnesota wil be having a meeting just south of Hastings in a couple of weeks. I am sure someone there will be able to make an offer for them. You can check their web site for more info.

I think I was able to post a three pictures of the old shop. The building is still there but no longer in the family. The last time I was out that way it is now mainly used for storage.

Just starting out. Took a couple of courses at the North Home Folk School (northern Minnesnowta). Built the forge and lite a fire. So far it has been aggression therapy, heat it hot and hit it, again and again. Made a couple of hooks (wife grabbed for hanging plants) and working on second set of tongs. What ever the piece of scrap rod was it sure is hard! Living on an old farmstead, a lot of old steel parts, pieces, and machinery around to work with. Put up steel walls around the old corncribs (drive through) and wired it with power last winter. I need to add in a lot of insulation before fall, the wood stove didn't do much. Had a big radiator for a roof. Hope to learn a lot from the site, thanks.