Dodge

I made this rack for small stock and jigs etc and with plywood on the flat top it doubles as a junk collector :ph34r: Scott

James, Is your "heat treat oven" a newer kiln with computer thermostat? or do you just use timer? Been kicking kiln ideas around (daughter wants one for pottery) and looking for older (non puterized) unit. Nice sharp and pointy items BTW :) Scott

ahhhhhhh "bouncy castle" fan as in fan for "bouncy castle" Duh! :wacko: I was over thinking again. Maybe need to start using one less scoop of grounds in the coffee... :ph34r:

I wouldn't want the burning oil in my own home; let alone my parents'. Hot soapy water will remove the oil. Its okay, dry it off with a paper towel so it won't rust. The hot soapy water gets the black of your hands at the same time ;)

And of course, eveyone knows what a 12 bottom plow is ^_^

Yeah pressurized petroleum is kinda like a bomb waiting for a fuse. Think "flame thrower"! Not sure about the same with vacuum but that gets my vote. When woods are stabilized they are put in a vacuum to draw the finish in as deep as possible. As Alan E suggests, It seems the pen oil would displace the void, however minute, between parts. I'm not a physics expert but it just seems that it would work. Then replace with SS screw where feasible.

Please excuse my ignorance but what is a "bouncy castle" fan? Squirrel cage??

I agree a heavier base would have been an improvement but I really like how you set your "backbone" at an angle to the dies. Accommodates long stock better :)

Looks like you have a nice clean hammered bevel going, from what I can see in #4 (hand held) Would that be a Wilton vise its setting on in the last two? Great vises! Scott

I wish I had payed more attention to how they worked and not just how they came apart and went back together when I was in the service LOL But I'm with Frosty. I will be keeping tabs here ;)

This is why I'll never be a good blacksmith. I've never cared to ask the RC hardness of even a store bought hammer; let alone a custom made hammer. If it doesn't crack, chip, break or dent when I hit hot metal with it I'm good. B)

I love re-purposed materials. Especially when it takes on such beauty!!

It looks like something from Tim Burton (Nightmare Before Christmas) :D You've done some nice craftsmanship on it. Especially, as John said, the blending of the handle to metal. But you said yourself; Its really out there! :P

Unless its metric. The weight is :D My best guess however, is that it's inches as metrics usually don't involve fractions

What is it? I couldn't make it out. WOW!! Nice work, Guy!! Is that homemade micarta?

I quit eating my Wheaties :D

I know this is outdated now, but for future reference, I googled "trees native to puerto rico" and Wiki (I know, I know :rolleyes: ) listed 47 different species. Coccobola, a hardwood, I believe, was one. I didn't look into many as they were listed by their scientific names (i.e. Species and genus etc) and I'm far from a botany or wood expert LOL. Also found this PDF claiming over 500 different species indigenous to PR: prwoods.pdf Hope this is useful Scott Edit: After reading further, the PDF goes on to say that only 52 or so are "saw-log size available for domestic or commercial use". But heck! I can't name a 10 hardwoods here in the US :D

LOL If you split hairs you got twice as many. Won't do me any good, however (see avatar) :D

Tresspass? Sacred? I didn't know entry to the craft was restricted to any one group or demographic. Its certainly not evident in the membership here. I bet there is a member from every walk of life here. "Doctor, lawyer, Indian chief". "Butcher, baker, candlestick maker". Anyone that can swing a hammer... :)

Grundsau, Where I used to work (light pole manufacturing) we pressed base plate covers from a single sheet of 14 or 16 ga steel. The sheet started as an octagon about the size of a stop sign. (in fact that's what we called these blanks). There was a special die set that, with the aid of a 60 ton press, would form these stop signs into rounded cornered "tub" (the new nick name after the pressing process) about 6" deep x 10 - 12" square that had a flange that we cut off later. That flange was what was not formed into the die much like the OP's photo except they were flat. What those top and bottom dies had were "lands" for lack of a better word that pressed the edges of the stop signs flat as the dies came together. Perhaps if you were to weld a flat land around your top die that would meet the flat surface of you swage block at the same time as the top round die bottomed out it would also flatten the outer "flange". I don't know if this muddies the waters or not but after re-reading Alan's post I suspect that is sort of what he was suggesting. The "lands" leave nowhere for the outer square to go but flat. A side note; the sides of our flanges were not straight anymore due to the amount of material being drawn into the die on the sides as opposed to the corners. Also the reason for them being octagons. (less material to flatten; a square sheet of that thin of material, even with the lands would surely buckle at the corners) The drawing is crude but hopefully you see what I mean Hope this was helpful Scott

Been thinking about a mini-forge. Just never got past the thinking, LOL. Jim, I was thinking about that factor of it being at the end. Might have to experiment some time. This work only took a few minutes to get malleable. (less than five?) Like I said, It wasn't forging heat by any means, but it got the job done ;)

I was in the process of making some exhaust hangers for my project car and being in a B-twixt (that period between paychecks ;) ) I couldn't wait to get these done but no oxy or acet and too small a project to fire up the forge so just for fun I broke out the plumbers torch. I've never tried hot bending with one but its only .44" (11.2mm) round stock so I went for it. Hey, it worked!! It didn't get to orange by any means but it was hot enough for what I needed. Interestingly though, when I stopped to grab my camera, enough scale had formed to insulate it from rehating to red until I brushed the scale of. Anyway, FWIW:

very cool!