ciladog

Thanks, ciladog, that looks like a simpler construct than the one by Burton, in the popular mechanics article. Does it clamp right to the back bed ways? The other design has one clamp on the bed, and the other end clamps to the carriage, with the upper sliding clamp on the disconnected cross feed.
Does seem that the use of a drill rod might be smoother in motion.
My compound only travels 4", it's an oldie, dosnt have a degree scale, seems like a taper attachment would be easier to set up accurately.
I need to cut some .098 per inch tapers, with a 1/2-13 end to fit the versamil attachment I want to use for milling on the lathe.

Am I missing something? Is there supposed to be something attached here?

da

All I can tell you is that I tried to PM him and ended up with a message from a third party member of IFI that said he was unable to reply because he was suspended. And after reading his recent status updates, he was unable to post without administrative approval. I assume he is suspended. Is that not correct?

How many times have I read that this is a community that cares about each other? If that is true, then vindictive ratings need to stop. Ratings should be based on the content of the post about the subject matter on blacksmithing. Or, they should be eliminated.

Richard was not the only one to cross the line in that thread.

Since when does a disagreement in opinion equate to a bad post that deserves a negative rating anyway?

So I'm looking at this house and I believed it to just have a 200 amp service. I thought I'd just have to run my electricity to the shop from the 200 amp service and just share the house with the 200amp. I did this in massachusetts. Never had a problem, never dimmed lights or anything like that. 200amps is heck of a lot of power. I could run the dryer, washer, 30amp industrial compressor, and 30 amp welder all while having tv+lights, etc running and never had even the slightest issue. I think the range/oven was probably even running during one of those times. They probably never draw their full amount except for start up. So I might not have been anywhere near capacity.

Anyway this house has a 200 amp service AND a 125amp sub panel in the garage. Is this a better setup than running off the 200amp service?

I am just wondering if 125amp will be enough. I have a 30 amp compressor, 30amp tig welder, misc power tools, shop lights. I'm guessing I'll be okay? Does anyone here have a 125 service in their shop and can testify to them?

When they ran some of the outlets and lights they just laid the wire ontop of the rafters. This isn't to code is it? I've always run down boards or even put boards in to secure the conduit. I mean it looks like garbage to boot and it kills your ability to throw light storage up there without interfering with electrical. What is the best way to shore those up. Something like a 1" x 5" board screwed to the rafters to act as a highway to neatly secure those lines to. Is there any problem running electrical 15/20amp lines a few inches apart for a long parallel run?

In the interest of fairness, I have to write this post. And if you do not speak up about injustice, who will speak up for you if it happens to you?

I am very surprised and disappointed in the administration of this website to learn that Richard Simmons was suspended from IFI. Something smells and it isn’t propane!

Remember the thread, LaBelle Nail Mfg. Closes After 158 Years where Richard expressed his political views. He was not the only one to do so but he is the one that got suspended. Considering the results of the American election yesterday, he is not that far out of the mainstream thought. But this is not about politics, it’s about fairness.

I went and reviewed every one of Robert’s posts and not one of them attacked anyone personally, he did not use foul langue, or post any off color subjects. Most of his posts were looking for information which is what I thought this website is for. And yet he is gone with a reputation of -12.

What is very interesting about his reputation is that someone went back through his posts and blackballed him on posts that are completely innocuous after the LaBelle posts. And I suspect that Glenn could find out who that was. That is who should be suspended not Robert. Even after his political rants in the LaBell thread, his reputation was up to +15. Check out these threads and see what I mean.

Robert's Black Iron Pipe Burner -16

Propane Burner Flares in the Forge? -3

Gloves ? Glasses? Do people actually skip them? -10

Reinstate Robert Simmons!!!!!

What do you think?

People do that a lot, but it only helps with the mechanical stresses - a little. The main thing is the "heat affected zone". As you weld, your puddle raises the temperature of adjacent material to above austenizing temperature and as you move on the heat is sucked out by the mass of the part. It might not look like it, but this is "quenching" as extreme as water! Even with a slow cool the "HAZ" will be hard as glass. Post heating is actually just tempering the hardened part and can only be done AFTER the part cools to room temperature.

@Ciladog: Not to offend, but we can't all make our living doing this, or nobody would. Does the fact that I am currently not able to make a living doing these things I love, diminish my reverence for their history or for the skill of real masters? No. So I'll take the title Artist Blacksmith and hold my head high.

Best regards,
Tim

Edit: Oh, and if all I ever do achieve at the forge is to pay for the hobby, then that's OK too.

No I don’t play dress-up but my significant other always tells me I look like a bum when I come out of the forge before I clean up. I know some smiths that look as clean when they finish a day’s work as when they started the day. I just don’t know how they do it. My face is always smudge with coal soot.

Tapcons are meant to anchor into masonry and if you are going through wood like a 2X4, you need to drill a pilot hole through the wood larger than the screw diameter. The tapcon drill is only for the masonry and it needs to penetrate the masonry at least 1-1/2 inches. If you drill through the wood with the Tapcon drill, the screw will not snug up to the masonry. I have used them for many years and never cracked a piece of slate, stone, or marble.

U R welcome !
BUT I'm gonna dress up like a b-smith 4 halloween.
so there!

OH! WHY YA WANNA HURT ME????
p.s. good point.

I have 4 IFI t-shirts.
When I blow my nose the results are often black from coal smoke.
I have shut down many conversations by talking about blacksmith'n (they get this blank look and just wander off)
I have a forge & anvil (I use them often}
I am the best blacksmith in my community; as far as I know?
I make my living as a soldier ,but I AM A BLACKSMITH!

What is important is how heavy and what is the overhang of the mantle over the brackets, not mounting the brackets themselves. If nothing was placed on top of the brackets, then it would not matter how you mounted them. So you are mainly dealing with a shearing force if the mantle is not overhanging the brackets too much. All relative though.

I would go to Home Depot and get some ¼ inch TapCons with flat heads. TapCons are hardened screws that cut their own threads into masonry .Use the TapCon drill for the holes and attach through the stone. Countersink the holes in the brackets for the screws and cover with a decorative cap. Fast and easy.

Everyone has made valid points except one; it’s not the processes you use to get the job done but it’s your experience that gives you the prerogative to call yourself a blacksmith or a plumber or a cabinetmaker or any other trade. There was a time when those titles meant something. But not anymore.

A hundred years ago if you wanted to be a blacksmith then you worked along side a blacksmith as an apprentice for years to learn the trade. Once you learned then you could strike out on your own and call yourself a blacksmith and people knew that you must have the experience and knowledge to get the job done. Sadly, times have changed and these titles mean nothing to the consumer because there are no standards to go by anymore.

Some trades are licensed or certified today like plumbers, electricians, welders, architect, and home improvement contractors so there are some standards that have to be met to call you these titles but not so with many other trades blacksmiths or cabinetmakers. There is no correlation between the experience and the title. Knowledge of the trade does not equate to experience or work ethic.

I’ll give you an example of what I mean. I have been a high-end cabinetmaker for 37 years running my own business using old school craftsmanship adapting to new processes and materials. Some of my jobs take as much as 18 months to complete. My work is in 6 states and 2 countries. I have paid my dues and I have an excellent reputation among my clients. I have earned the title of cabinetmaker. Often times, metalwork is incorporated in my products whether it is superstructure or design elements hence, my interest in blacksmithing (although that is expanding into other areas).

Well, years back, I hired a greenhorn to help with a big job. We got the job done, delivered it and installed it. He soon wanted a raise and when I said no, he quit. The guy knew nothing about cabinetmaking and was basically an extra pair of hands. He left on OK terms and we remained somewhat friends.

Well he went out and started his own business, bought himself a nice new truck with printing on it that said he was a cabinetmaker. He put up a website that advertised him as a cabinetmaker. And when I perused his gallery of work, it was my work!!

So what’s in a title anyway?

I think of myself as a student of blacksmithing and will be that for the rest of my life. I don’t think I will live long enough to gain the experience necessary to be a blacksmith where I know I have already done that and each time it comes out the same.

The art and craft of blacksmithing is learned by doing, day after day until it becomes intuitive. That may take 20, 30, or 40 years. All the books read, the videos watched, classes taken will not make me a blacksmith. That doesn’t mean that what I forge is not respectable or that I don’t know the process or technique but rather that I have to work too hard to get where I need to go. How the hot metal moves is just not intuitive yet.

If and when I can look at some complex forging and know before I start the size of metal to start with, the exact steps I will take and it comes out as expected the first time and each time, I will call myself a blacksmith.

Whatever my political differences with Robert, he certainly asks good blacksmithing questions, and starts a lot of topics. Additionaly he is a prolific poster, posting about twice as often per day as I do.

There have been topics in the past which would have been good fodder for further commentary. I know some of the limits, I have had posts simply disapear. I spend half of my leisure time here and half on a wood burner's forum. On the wood forum we have a section called "the ash can" It is not visible to non-members.

Threads are sometimes moved there if they get too heated, off-topic, or political.

We have a lot of fun in the ash can, and lots of members seldon if ever go there, but the are a good amount of regulars too. Now and then we even see some validity in the other guys posts too. The ash can is not searchable and is emptied now and then.

Blacksmiths are passionate opinionated people. We have a lot to say about ALL aspects of what affects us.

What say you?

Mainely Bob and I have a remarkably similar background and comunicate off the forum. Additionaly, I have a very short attention span. I often don't read long posts, except those by Frosty, another person with whom I have connections other than here. I read his long posts since they are full of wisdom and facts.

If you read my first post, you will see that I was responding to Mainely Bob, adding information to what he said. I read his post first, I was most interested in what he had to say. I would dearly love to respond to the other fellow's posts, but not on this forum.

Glenn,
I am aware that politics as such is taboo as subject on this website however, when discussing the closing of a manufacturing plant, the economy and inevitably politics will weave its way into the debate. And, some people are very passionate about their beliefs like Robert. It recently happened on another thread about unions if you remember.

By the second post on this thread it had already turned political and nobody reported it or if they did, you did not remove it.

Don't blame me. I didn't vote for him.

39% corporate Tax rate + union mandated wages + stupid environmental regs = bankruptcy or companies moving to china which have none of those issues.

America used to manufacture some of the best goods in the world until unions and progressives started driving the manufacturing overseas.

it was not unions nor liberals that chased away manufacturing in america. It was tax breaks for companies to export our jobs that chased away manufacturing in america.

Really? DDT, lead paint, CFCs, and smog are smart?

Carly Fiorina (our Republican candidate) shipping jobs to China and changing HP from a high-margin market leader to a low-margin commodity builder is the example of how conservatives will lead the country to renewed industrial prosperity?

Meg Whitman being a part of the Goldman Sachs pillaging of the economy, making $120mil and laying off workers?

you and I agree on this. It wasn't "progressives" who exported all of our jobs, it was corporate greed, which is patently unpatriotic. Paying a fair wage for a day's work is as American as apple pie and pumpkins at halloween-tme. Giving tax breaks to companies who export manufacturing jobs is what caused this.........anything else is deflection.

Ah well... That's capitalism for ya!

Robert, Robert, Robert,

You’ve made your point now there is no sense in continuing to bang your head against the wall; you’ll get a headache. Those that drink the Kool-Aid do not want to be confused by the facts, the Constitution, or history. Just let it go and get back to forging.

Robert, your posts above are filled with rhetoric, opinion and vitriol. They beg detailed response, yet this is not the place for such. Please confine comments on this forum to metal-working.

Simply put a master is someone who has attained a high level of proficiency and consummate skill in their craft, whatever it is. They know they did the best job possible and they are their worst critics. It is however; just a label and different cultures give it different weights. If you think you are a master then chances are you are not. A true master will know there is so much more to learn and achieve.

I think there are many master blacksmiths from around the world that post right here on this website. Their work is magnificent whether it is forging faces, making a 2 ton hook, an unusual fence or gate, a hammer, a sculpture, or a knife or sward. They know who they are and so do I. Just my humble opinion.

Well I have a Steel City post vice that Im sure is much older than myseft. It finally called it quits this last weekend. The threads were very worn when I got it for 25 bucks about 6 years ago. The nut finally said enough and stripped what was left of the material. Oh well I have a back up vice but it is a 4 inch and I would like to have the 6 inch back up. So my queston to the fine people of the forum is have you fixed one before and what did you do? I have looked at acme rods and nuts and am not opposed to that. I also work at a machine shop but I personally dont have the experience of thread cutting. And neither do our machinists. But im sure we could figure someting out. If i did that what material would be recomended? I hate to retire the old gal it is otherwise in great shape. Thanks for your responces!

Sam, get rid of the squirrel cage blower and put a cenrifugal blower on it. You know who told me to tell you that, right?