David Browne

MonsterMetal posted some info about a 2 x 72 grinder kit that seemed pretty reasonable. Here is the link to his post: grinder in a box

You just couldn't resist, could you? Where is it shipping from Larry?

Very nice Pawel! Beautiful piece. :)

Nice score!

Holy Hammers Harold! Good story. Does a blessed hammer hit harder? ;)

Very nice Jacques. The sum of the parts are so much more powerful when you have multiples. Great job! -DB

I'm with Larry... "just try it" (and let us know how it goes).

Brian made me a beautiful pair of his ultimate tongs last week. These suckers are light and springy and really lock down on stock. Because they fit so many sizes, this one pair easily replaces a half dozen pair of tongs or more (plus they hold tapers). They are the Swiss Army Knife of tongs.

It is official. I have press envy. Thanks for the vids Larry!

"Cut me Mick.."-Rocky "You don't wanna do it kid!"-Mick "Cut me." -Rocky

Larry, That was a close call. I'm glad you're OK. I have a healthy respect for spinning wires in both bench mount and hand-held models. As you mentioned, it happens in a split second and afterward, you either feel like you dodged a bullet or you are applying pressure to the wound. Wait until the eye turns purple, then get us a photo. -DB

Bryce, What a great opportunity. When work is slow it's always a good idea to get some more education. Have a great time in NM! -DB

Toolles, Nice anvil. FYI, I have discovered the key to getting new purchases past the wife...to do this, you will need to first achieve CRITICAL MASS. That means that you have acquired enough stuff in your shop so she doesn't even notice the new stuff coming in. Be prepared to take some heat initially while you are achieving the critical mass necessary. My wife was in the shop a couple weeks ago and didn't even blink an eye at the new power hammer sitting front and center right next to the old one. I knew at that moment that I had indeed achieved critical mass. Life is good, now where's that 3B... -DB

YD, It took me a bit to figure this one out too, but I think it's the sound of his motorcycle taking off on a cross country trip without you. -DB

Seriously! All those ribs add structure, but they look like they catch a lot more wind, too! A monster foundation, I'm sure...Pretty cool piece, though.

Maybe he could pry the nail off Zeus's big toe.

Cool rust Angel. Like Danger said earlier, rust is my favorite color too, although I have found it VERY difficult sell rust to a customer. In the consumer world, rust is a four letter word and it takes some educating on our part to get them to even consider it as an option. I have stopped referring to it as a rust finish and have taken up "brown patina". It seems to soften the sting a bit, even though later on I will tell them the brown color comes from rust. The biggest deterrent to rust finishes is the proposition of future maintenance (re-sealing when the rust eventually breaks through). In my mind, it is much easier to apply a coat of wax once a year, rather than pull the entire railing out and sandblast/re-coat when the paint fails in 3 to 5. Cor-ten may help with this aspect. In nearly ten years of trying to peddle rust finishes to customers, I have been successful only three times prior to this job. Two were interior stair cases (waxed), and one was for exterior gates and fencing (also heavily waxed). In fact, on one of the railing jobs, I initially suggested a rust finish to the client during the design process. She gave me a horrified look and said "oh no, I don't want rust, I want a blackened patina". I brought her a black patina sample the following week (along with a "brown patina" sample) and she said, "I really like this brown one"... Where I am on the West Coast, A588 is commonly available in plate, but I am able to order all structurals (angle, channel and I-beam) as well as a good selection of rounds (up to 3") and flats. Square seems to be least available- only 1/2, 3/4 and 1" from what I could find. As for forging the stuff, I haven't tried it yet, but I gave a couple cut-offs to a friend who teaches intermediate blacksmithing here locally. She was anxious to see how it forged and ran it through her coal forge. She said it forged wonderfully and forge welded even better (more like pure iron). Alloying elements include carbon, copper, sulfur, manganese, phosphorus, and chromium. I would like to hear from someone more expert on the subject whether there are toxicity issues when forging this particular alloy... It is expensive. Roughly 2 to 3 times the cost of mild steel in plate, and 3-4 times the cost of mild steel in structural shapes. I did not price out rounds, solids or squares. -DB

Great video. Really clever how you incorporated the width kiss block and the taper tool. You really have those tooling processes down. Awesome hammer.

Youngdylan, The cor-ten (A588) is pretty interesting stuff. I really like the variation of colors that it has at present as well, but it will continue to darken to a more uniform medium/dark brown over time. How much time depends on the environment. Probably 1 or 2 years. The thing that is really interesting about this steel is the tightness of the rust pattern. By all appearances, the gates look like they are covered with a rust that will rub off on you if you brush against it (that's what we are used to). BUT...you can run your hand across them and nothing comes off. It is a really tightly contained color that has seemingly sealed itself. Pretty cool, huh?

Installation went pretty well. Everything fit, and no fingers or toes got crushed. I call that a good day. Luckily there was a contractor and a stone mason on site doing some additional stonework on an outdoor barbecue. They helped us carry the large gate up the stairs and set it into place on the hinge pin. Apologies- the photos are not very good. It was too shaded near the large gate and too much sun washed out the small one. But, hopefully you get the idea of the context. The small gate leads to a deck overlooking downtown San Diego, the bay and the ocean. -DB

Call it whatever you want- Now THAT'S a party!

Seriously, I can barely type now because I'm laughing so hard....Hey wait a minute, I hope you didn't just call me refined!:angry:

Larry, I am almost always on the same page with you, but this time I think you missed the mark badly my friend. Really..."winky hole"? So, by this logic when Mike throws some gala Arty event to show off his sculptures. Invites over some high brow guests. Springs for wine and cheese and a string quartet and instead of calling this an open Studio, or open forge or open gallery...now he has an open winky hole? All joking aside, look, I'm one of those "art school guys" too, but YoungDylan has it right. It depends on who your client is. I often refer to my shoebox as a studio, sometimes I refer to it as a shop, but the bottom line is it's a place where work gets done and (hopefully) money gets made. -DB

Fe, I assure you there are no pop rivets on this gate! I had to go back and look at my photos to see what you were referring to. I see now. The ones that you are thinking are pops rivets are actually stainless button head allen drive fasteners (drilled and tapped). I had to use these because I didn't have enough clearance to get a solid rivet in there. I'm going to blacken them and they should disappear. Thanks for the kind words and for not letting me get away with any shortcuts. -DB

Rory, I love that sound too! I don't think you are weird at all, but you are sounding a little suspiciously like an "artist"...;)