Dodge

Pretty sure ball point ink is soluable in rubbling alcohol or acetone (fingernail polish remover)

I use vinegar because when I was ready to etch it was too late at night to go buy anything else. I knew vinegar was not only tastey on salads but was also a mild acid. And I had to see the pattern NOW!!! (Well, in the morning anyway) I used it cold ;)

Before there was a machine shop there was a blacksmith shop. The smith started to make so many machines it began to be called a machine shop.... Or so I was told ;)

Maybe this was covered already but, I prefer a wet (or dry; It'll be wet soon enough ) bandana to a hat. For me, a hat seems to store heat in the empty area between hat and head and I sweat even more. Evaporation cooling works better when cloth contacts head. No air space to collect heat. This works even better on bald heads like mine. :)

Jens, Did you do any heat treating? I have a whole bunch of bandsaw blade that I thought about turning into kitchen cuttlery. I have experimented a bit with heat treating but was wondering if it was even necessary. Made material a little more rigid but I don't know about holding a better edge. How thick is you knife? Stock removal from original stock or did you weld up for thickness?

Jim, Thanks for the demo. I hope I can work up to that:) Still only got the one billet under my belt. And as of this date, its still a billet. (lol) Too many irons in the fire and they're not all all made of metal;)

Neat proccess. Watcha gonna make with yours? I've seen it incorporated into knives as inlays on grips as well as using for the guard. Cool stuff and excellent video:)

Yup, Ya just gotta let some thing fester for a while sometimes and they eventually come to a head :)

Jim, Absolutely! Some folks, myself included, far too often, learn this lesson the hard way;)

I think Rich Waugh explained it nicely. This happens a lot when two metal surfaces are suppose to be lubricated with, for instance, oil. When there is a lack of lubrication, one or both surfaces will begin to break down due to heat caused by friction. LOL 6013! :)

While forging:This occurs when area being forged say, after fullering, folds over rather than be drawn out flat. the area under the fold is a cold shut. While welding:This can occur with any electric welding proccess but is common with mig (wire feed) when the temperature is too low or wire too fast or the operator is too slow. The weld at the end or even the edges doesn't fuse to the parts being welded. Instead it pours over like a bead of caulk that is just squeezed out of the tube and allowed to sit on top of the joint instead of smoothing in. This happens a lot in pipe welding: When the weld comes back around to the start and isn't hot enough it will overlap the start rather that fuse into it. The overlapped area is a cold shut

Definition of stress: "The conflict created when one's mind overrides the body's temptation to slap the stuffin' outa some jerk that desparately need it!" anonymous

Not to mention Carpe carp. But I'm not much of a fisherman ;)

LOL. No pun intended. That was exactly the question I was trying to get answered. Thanks again Jr. :)

I had the oppertunity to cut some anvil blanks out of plate on a cnc machine (see the "show us your anvil" thread). I cut several of different sizes; mostly small ones, less than 10#, for fun and two working ones. One, I cut from 4" plate that weighs over 150#, and one from 3" plate for a friend, that weighs about 70#. I wish I would have cut two of the 70# ones because the larger one is a chore to move around. I have to move forge and anvil in and out of garage for use due to limited space. A 150# + anvil likes a permanent location. :)

I seem to have opened a can of worms on this subject so I want clarify if I may. My original comment was about the anvil stand itself. It seems logical to me that a stand that will adequately support a 100# anvil and using, say, a 2 -3 pound hammer on a regular basis i.e. a 40 hour work week, may not adequately support said anvil when the work changed to the use of, say, a stiker swinging a 12# or larger hammer. Am I toally off base with this logic? I understand that you would want to make a stand as sturdy as possible but if you wanted to make it light weight for, perhaps, portability, you may have to sacrifice the use of heavier than usual (I know "usual" is arbitrary) hammers. Correct? :)

I have several plastic 5 gallon laundry soap buckets along one end of workbench. I try to keep like pieces in each bucket. i.e. round in one, square in another, angle iron in a third, etc. Not for molten steel, however ;)

I agree with others. Mr. Hofi seems to be the Isreali master of choice! And he has a spectacular site!!

The more the merrier! Welcome:)

Welcome Frank. I'm kind of a perennial newby but every once in a while I have an answer rather than a question;)

rthibeau, I won't hold yer Army stint against ya. Urrah!! Just kidding. All us vets have something in common. Pride in our service!

Sandpile, To answer your ? about how big is PBA, last count was near 150. Can't include my self at present time cuz I keep forgetting to send in my 15 bucks (sheepish grin). However, members are spread out across the state of Nebraska and parts of surrounding states. Jr. Hope I didn't violate any PBA secrets but I got that info from the official PBA site. And, I am going to get that membership updated soon. I promise. ;)

I trust everyone had a safe and happy 4th. And I hope everyone still has the same number of digits that they started with Tuesday morning! :)

Jr, is the usual method the lift mechanic uses involve welding a rod, bolt or nut to the broken or froze bolt and trying to turn the "new" head? I have seen this method used at work with LIMITED success. The "new" head is difficult to get welded good enough and often breaks off. Your method surley sound more positive. Neat idea!! Thanks!

As I stated earlier, my anvil was cut from 4" plate and is one of a kind. In the attached picture of stacked anvils, mine (before shaping of the horn and shelf) is at the bottom. The next from bottom was cut for 3" plate followed by a few others that I made just for novelty's sake The other picture shows the smallest I made. The key ring is intened to show scale. That anvil is 1.25" tall at the face and .75" wide. its 2.75" long from horn to heel with the horn being about .88". It weighs less than 2 pounds.