Crunch

Thanks again, everyone. Lots of good information to think about. Macbruce, no hammer yet, but I'd like to get something in the 50# to 100# range.

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Unfortunately, driving piles down to bedrock is out of the question. Some kind of object hit this area 35 million years ago and made a huge crater. Everything is mixed up and jumbled pretty deep, and Lord only knows how far down you need to go to hit bedrock. I guess making nice with the neighbors is the way to go...

Does anyone have experience running a power hammer on a slab lying on a wet sand/loam soil? I'm considering a shop with the following characteristics: 10 feet above sea level water table is ~ 1 foot below grade soil is a sandy loam (sand, clay and organics on E side of the Chesapeake). It's a real nice loam up on top but gets much denser with clay mixed with sand about 18" below the surface. The soil transmits vibration pretty well. If a real heavy truck goes by, it can shake the house more than 100' from the road. Anyone have any insight on whether a power hammer would annoy neighbors maybe 500 feet away in a situation like this, and if so, how to remedy it? I've heard of suspending the hammer in a bed of sand, but as I understand it, the sand bed would need to be dry. If anyone has any insights, I'd sure appreciate them. Thanks in advance.

That's interesting. In my research, I also see that drop hammers are limited in their speed by the 10m/s2 acceleration of gravity, which hadn't occurred to me right off the bat. Thanks for the reply, Phil.

Hello, all, I would like to either make or buy some sort of power hammer. My plan has always been to fab up some sort of junkyard hammer, probably the "spare tire" type, but lately I've been considering buying a unit if the price was right. In the Tailgate section here, I saw the 200# drop hammer that kerrystagmer has for sale for $1500 at http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/22165-200-lb-forging-drop-hammer-needs-a-home/ (there are also some interesting videos posted there of the hammer in use) and that got me to thinking. Can anyone clue me in on what the advantages and disadvantages are of a drop hammer like this, as opposed to, say, a tire hammer or Little Giant type? Are there any common problems, maintenance issues, drawbacks or anything else commonly associated with drop hammers? I'm not sure how they work exactly...I guess there are a variety of ways of making one. Thanks in advance for any information.

6011 as others have said. 6011 cuts/digs/penetrates a lot more than 6013 so you'll need to pay more attention to heat control and work fast. don't worry about moisture with 6011 (i mean, other than keeping it out of the rain). you only really need to worry about that with low-hydrogen rods like 7018. personally, i use 6010/6011 for about 90%+ of my welding jobs...it's great stuff. i HATE 6013!

I don't know about blacksmithing coal in particular, but in general, other countries are gobbling up U.S. coal faster than we can mine it. Maybe the "blacksmithing coal" is being diverted to feed Chinese furnaces? Coal ships waiting to be loaded create a traffic jam on Hampton Roads waters

I don't think ash will last long below grade – dry rot can be an amazingly fast and insidious process – but good luck.

Thanks, fellas. I appreciate the info. If I grab them, I will do a quench and spark test and let everyone know what I find for future reference. Sorry for this newbie followup question, but will "medium carbon" steel water-quench-harden to become harder than a file? Thanks again.

Gosh, a hundred views and not one person willing to hazard a guess? I've heard that railroad track (and railroad car wheels) were made of HC steel, so I was wondering whether these fish plates might be HC, as well. If so, I'd like to snag them from the roadside before they disappear... Thanks in advance for any info.

Found two abandoned railroad track fish plates and the cut-off bolts that went with them on the side of the road today. Anyone know what kind of steel might be in the fish plates and bolts? I'm trying to think of good ways to recycle...and I'm hoping those fish plates should be HC steel...

Could they be cast steel?

Yes, I had to do that, too.I printed the pattern on 2 pages and then taped them together. Also, I found that the pattern that was spit out in the PDF was about 8 or 10% too short (it didn't wrap around the pipe all the way and match up with the lines), so I figured out the ratio of the circumference that was spit out to the correct circumference, and then increased the diameter of the pipe I input into the program by the same percentage. After I did that, the pattern came out perfect (though my O/A cutting skills could have used some help). Fortunately, with 3" ID pipe, I don't think it was too critical. :huh:

Phil, This may be useful for laying out your pipe coping cuts: http://metalgeek.com/static/cope.pcgi

Phil, This may be useful for laying out your pipe coping cuts: http://metalgeek.com/static/cope.pcgi

Frosty does it again ... THANKS, Frosty!

Very, very nice. As a woodworker, I'm a big fan of white oak, and that just makes your artwork more appealing!

Thanks, Kevan. That's surprising! I'll have to look for those side-draft specs you're talking about.

Is it just the heat of the fire that makes it draw so well ... or do you have some kind of fan pulling the smoke out (or is it always really windy there, creating a natural draft)? I'm setting up my first solid-fuel forge (total newbie to blacksmithing) and want to consider all options. I had always assumed that a side-draft hood would be "smokier" than a hood over top of the fire, at least until you got it roaring hot ... is that not the case? That looks like a real nice shop you have there. Thanks for posting up.

Thanks for the advice and expertise, guys. I'm thinking of rigging a fan speed control on a foot pedal (like a TIG amperage pedal). Here's one for ~ $13: http://cgi.ebay.com/Solid-State-AC-speed-Control-Blower-motors-/140459712345

Mark, Thank you for the info. Look forward to meeting you as well. I'll give Mr. Brothers a call. Thanks again, C

Frosty, Thank you very much for taking the time and trouble to give me that detailed explanation. That one's going into the reference files on my hard drive! C

Does anyone have a source for blacksmith coal (or coke!) in the Virginia Beach, VA area? This may be in the wrong area or off-topic, if so, mods please reroute or delete... Thank you.

Hey, all, I'm putting together my first coal forge and was looking at various options for a blower. On ebay I found a 200 cfm centrifugal blower that looks interesting: http://cgi.ebay.com/MCLEAN-1NB412-CENTRIFUGAL-BLOWER-110-V-200-CFM-NEW-/230530125104 On the performance curves from the mfgr, it looks like it does 150 cfm at a pressure of 1 inch of water or 100 cfm at 1.4 inches of water. The forge I'm making is from a light truck wheel with a home-fabricated 3" ID tuyere or whatever you call it (I'm totally new to this). The main part of the firepot will be maybe 6" in diameter. I don't have a clinker-breaker yet; for my first foray, I plan to use a cast iron "grate" over the air inlet. Does anyone have a feel for whether the blower referenced above will be "up to the task" for my application? Has anyone used a blower like this? Thanks in advance for any advice.

Thanks, fellas. I'm a total newbie so please excuse what are likely very basic questions.