Buffalo

I was using a 5 gal galvanized bucket. One morning in December, the windchill was was around -45, and I thought forging sounded toasty. I found my slack tub sitting on its domed bottom, seams blown apart. I had never seen ice take any path but the easiest, yet even with an open top, the ice went down and pushed the bottom out of the bucket about a foot. I am now without a permanant solution, using watever plastic bucket is handy. I bought the last bucket, against my cheap ways, and am not paying for another. I will keep my eyes out for a good solution. You all give such different perspectives on this and every topic, what a great forum!

Truly using your coconut! I could swear you were taking pictures of your labor saving hammer, in my shop! (except I see the tulips are allready up in WA, not here in WY). Does the 3/8 rod flex much? As you clearly already know, the simplest solutions are usually the best. Great work!

That is awsome work! To make a wheel that realistic without a model certainly takes skill and imagination. The patina is perfect.

You are creative and talented! I bet your client loved it.

Man, that is a nice knife! I have only made letter openers from mild steel. After seeing your blade I am inspired to try and find a piece of good steel, and try my own. Nice inlay as well.

Amazing work! Sounds like you have set yourself up well. I will look forward to seeing more of your clever work.

What a dream find! An excellent example of working smarter not harder! Good luck.

I have oxy-acetalyne in my shop, I thought that I would learn to weld with it,but I been able to figure it out. We use oxy-propane at work, and it heats nice for braiding and twisting, rivets, and such. As soon as I run this cylinder of acetalyne out, I am going to switch to propane-oxy, since it is cheaper, and I allready run the forge on it.

I love the curves, and those are the craziest tongs I have seen!

Now and again my body just won't allow me to push as hard as I would like, but for the most part, I am just driven to manipulate iron. I work iron at my "job", come home and sneak away to my forge, to "just try one more thing". Then go to sleep and dream of forging all night. If I would have been bit by the steel bug when I was younger, I would have lived at a shop. To avoid burnout, I keep my forge temp down!! ha ha

I tend to reach for the rounding hammer as well. It does the job 80% of the time. Sounds like you have collected some sweet tools.

At home I run hf OA guages and torch, and a 110 CH wire feed. Just got a century stick machine, but need to run 220 to the shop. At "work" I use an ESAB Multi-Master for mig and stick, and try to "borrow" one of the other guys MillerMatics whenever I get the chance. The shop runs propane and Ox to a variety of torches.

You are Crazy talented! Seeing work like yours pushes me to learn more!

That is way nice, first try or no. Did you cut the petals with your torch?

Thanks for the warm welcome. You are right, I learn more from watching what the other guys are doing than from any other source. I will try to post some pics soon.

Howdy! I have been lurking, reading the threads here for a while, and learning a great deal. A year ago my wife and I quit our state jobs and moved to Buffalo, Wy, where she had a job opportunity. We both were from the flat corner of the state, and yearned for mountains and a small town atmosphere to raise our children. You never know how one decision can lead to many opportunities. I had been dinking with a little metal craft (headache racks, generator cages, tool stands) and having fun, but it was slow going trying to learn it all on my own. Last fall I got the opportunity to work for a local shop welding, fabricating and doing some work at the forge. I love it, nothing has ever worn me out nearly everyday, yet occupied my thoughts so much. I work with a couple of guys that really know their stuff, and I am picking up so much. I have graduated from shop sweep, grinder boy, to having my own projects (mostly bar stools and chairs, but I am looking forward to doing chandeliers). I just set up my own gas forge in the garage, and have been making plant hooks and tongs, trying to use up all of the scrap steel I haul home from work! I am looking forward to developing some of my own designs, and getting 220 out to the shop, so I can weld easier/ run larger tools. Anyway, great forum, nice to know that people still care enough about a craft to share their knowledge.