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I Forge Iron

tulsavw

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    Tulsa, OK

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  1. Frosty -- I definitely had to put my work back in the fire by the time I got done laughing. That whole group was dying laughing. It was pretty funny! Kids say the darndest things.
  2. Double-checked the link's operation -- I did notice that the video takes about 5 seconds to get going for some reason (on my computer and network, at least), but the video window should appear right under the smaller text that reads "Kids Return To Frontier Days At Will Rogers Ranch In Oologah." -- You click on that and the video begins. There's just a few short shots of me working, in between the other clips. I tested it with my Macbook running Chrome browser, my iPhone, and my Android OS work phone and it worked on all of them. Sorry I'm not a whole lot of help with computer stuff!
  3. One of my friends, who works for the Will Rogers Museum and Memorial in Claremore OK, asked me to come out to the museum's annual "Frontier Days" kids camp to do some sessions with some children where I would demonstrate some basic blacksmithing and talk a little bit about the purpose a blacksmith would serve on a 19th century homestead. We did all of this at the Dog Iron Ranch where Will Rogers' birthplace house a big oak timber-framed barn sit, overlooking Oologah Lake. I came out early and got set up by about 7am, getting my forge fired about and getting started to make sure I would be good and warmed up by the time the kids and sponsors came around... well, I guess due to the smell of the coal, that did NOT take long. I had four groups come through (25 kids each) with several sponsors per group, and I had roughly 20 minutes or so with them. It seemed that none of them knew any blacksmiths (except for a couple of boys whose father is a blacksmith and a member of Saltfork Craftsmen Artist Blacksmith Association -- the Oklahoma guild.) Interest in the short demo was high and the response was great. I'm fairly sure most kids like seeing fire no matter what, but I was suprised how interested the kids were in hot steel. That was really neat. Here's a little clip from Tulsa's Channel 6 news, where one of their photojournalists came out and filmed a little bit -- he was a really cool guy, too. Anyways, it sure was fun to get to share something new with kids and see them so interested in it all. Many of them left the exhibit saying they planned on becoming blacksmiths immediately! There is probably 4 or 5 shots of me working in video clip. Here's the clip Edit: Oh yes -- I forgot to mention the classic moment when a girl, no older than 5, follows my advice to be careful around the forge to avoid burns with the question: "Is that what happened to your hair?" I had to laugh at that one.
  4. Oh, and @L Smith -- all Hackberries are "good" until the decide to split down the middle of the trunk and one half lands on the wife's car. :)
  5. Hey guys -- sorry I'm just now seeing this. I'll upload the plans/layout as soon as I get back to my computer. @D H B -- PM me your number or a way I can find you on FB or something. I'm tied up with work and disc golf for a few weeks but I'd be glad to have you over if you want to take a look.
  6. That's super cool and looks nice, to boot. Did your hand get a little warm for a second there?? :)
  7. Hello everyone. I bought a Champion 400 blower from a gentleman about an hour away the other day. I've been using a gas forge for a couple of years and have been wanting to get a solid fuel forge, so over the last 6 months or so, I've been buying parts here and there to build one. I had a chance to use a hand-cranked blower at Ed Brazeal's house a few months ago, and since then, I've been watching for one to pop up on Craigslist. The other day, this one popped up (picture from the ad): The gentleman was asking $160 and said it was in good working condition (without a stand), so worried that it may be a long time before I come across another one for sale, I snatched it up. There are a lot of antique/junk stores where I live but you almost never come across blacksmithing equipment (let alone, at a reasonable price) besides the occasional tongs. Here's a picture I took of it when I got home: So, not yet having what I've bought for my coal forge assembled yet, I decided to try it out with what I had laying around. I gathered up some nut-sized charcoal left over from dumping the ash from my firepit. It wasn't enough to get much of a fire going, but once I lit some tinder to get it going, it took off. I duct taped a piece of 2" square tube to the end of the blower and with the whole thing laying on the ground, I cranked the blower to get a nice little fire going on my gravel driveway. Nothing too impressive, but the impression that I took away is that with very little in the way of traditional equipment, you can get a makeshift forge going quickly. Sorry for the crummy night time shot, but this is the whole temporary setup with the fire going at the end of my "tuyere": I put a 3/4" bolt right at the end of the tube and after a few minutes, I was able to get it up to red heat. By then, the little charcoal pile I had was just not enough to get it any hotter. Here's a picture up close of the fire: Anyways, I'll stick to my gas forge until I get everything assembled and get some coal to burn, but like I said earlier, it was pretty interesting to see how little it takes to actually get a good hot fire going. Maybe I'll toy around with it a little bit this weekend.
  8. Just wanted to comment on the original pictures of the early Fisher anvil -- I'll preface this with the fact that I have a few other smaller anvils with good working edges and in generally good shape. In light of that anvil only having one good edge, I would be tempted to overlook that for a little lower price, at least for the size, good horn and (1) edge, and the tools. As a matter of fact, if you caught me on the right payday, I might be the sucker that would pay asking price. Its just a matter of opinion for me, but I like the shape of it, it seems to have better mass under the bick and heel than my Hay Budden or Trenton (both 100ish lbs.), and Fishers are hard to come by in OK, at least as far as I can tell. Let alone an anvil that old. I'm not saying I think you should have bought it, but if it was presented to me, I would be have bought it.
  9. Wanted to upload a few pictures of my barn as it stands right now. Over the weekend, we made a trip back to Lowes for more SDST screws for the roof and the final few sheets we would require. I grabbed a couple of 2x4s to run span the rails vertically on both ends (short sides) of the structure. That has sturdied up the whole building quite a bit for now. From experience, I know that it will not be truly 100% solid until I get siding on it. Speaking of siding, the place that I was going to be 1x6 oak boards (green) said that they sold out of the original stuff that I had heard about (161 8' boards for $100) and that the current bundle they were offering was $300. As much as I feel like this guy is trying to scam me, that unfortunately seems like the cheapest option STILL, if only by $100 or so. It isn't much more to step to plywood, tin, or hardy board for that matter. So, in summary, I was glad to get the roof put on. We went ahead and tacked up some 4 mil plastic sheeting to hopefully keep the elements off the framing a little for now. I can also go ahead and get my tools in there now, too, which is definitely a plus.
  10. Where part of Oklahoma are ya from? I'm up a few miles north of Tulsa. I started a topic on this subforum recently ("Progress On My New 12x16 Shop/Pole Barn"), too. Learning that this game gets expensive at any size of shop!
  11. Robert Yates -- Thanks and God bless you. With regard to building something with my father, I thought the same thing yesterday. It's good to be able to have common interests with him and to be able to build something like this. ThomasPowers -- I'll consider that. I was actually considering framing in and cutting out (the siding) to make a large window that flips up to open on each end (north and south) to facilitate airflow during the summer. Especially since I it will get so hot under that tin roof. Just remembered that I do have some good young hackberry trees that will make some good shade during after noon.
  12. njanvilman -- 1. Purlins were the big "what if" question on this build. We looked at 5/4, 1x4 PT (which we ultimately ended up using), and 2x4 were considered, as well. As much as I dislike being constrained by budget, I opted for the 1x4x10' as they were less than $5 per board. I'm hoping this will help keep my costs below $1,000. They're on 24" centers. 2.) That galvalum stuff is nice looking! Lowes had one style of it, but I've seen numerous profiles available locally. Yet another part I wish I didn't have to cut corners on, cost wise. 3.) As you can see in the pictures, I have plenty of short scrap. Guess I'll be finding places to add it in! Thanks for the good pointer! HWoolridge -- Thanks for the kind words. We typically use concrete as insurance and go heavy on the small diameter hole with tamping. At least on my projects. My dad is very opinionated on this topic. With regard to outgrowing the footprint of the shop soon, I hopefully have made proper accommodations to be able to expand either way. My goal here was to build as big of building as I could right now, and I certainly did that. Hopefully my 2 year old can grow while being fed on ramen noodles (joking.) If I have to make this shed into the first bent of a longer run, it will work. If I have to make this shed into a side shed of a barn, it will also be okay. L Smith -- I've made accommodations to be able to frame out north and south windows (of the large variety) to help facilitate good airflow. Good to hear other people making use of that!
  13. njanvilman -- Shame I just read about this double bubble insulation, right as I am putting my last two sheets of tin on the main part of the roof. I've never seen that before but that sounds like something I'll be thinking about while I'm baking in the shop this summer. I'll have to swing back by the roofing/siding section of Lowes when I go back tomorrow, if not just to see if they carry that stuff, for future reference. Anyways, thanks for the good pointer; I'll remember it next time me and my dad build a pole barn. notownkid -- I sure hope my daughter takes an interest in occasional manual labor! The hospital you're talking about is St. Francis (I was born there and so was my daughter). Unfortunately, I've been in that ER a few times, as well. OSU is a good school. Anyways, took just a few pictures today. We wanted to get all of the roofing put on today, and we got pretty close, but we'll have to finish it tomorrow. Today was a big ticket day at Lowes with buying the tin and 1x4s for the roof ($372, with a couple of other items). On deals like that, I prefer to use my Lowes credit card, because they offer a 6 months/no interest deal on purchases that high, and I do an automatic payment on that. The card has an otherwise outrageous interest rate. Here's a picture of my dad trimming the 4x4 posts down. Below is a picture of the corrugated galvanized tin roof. Because sheet metal is so expensive, I chose to go with this product, although it is flimsy, cheap crap. We put lots and lots of self drilling self tapping screws in it. Picking up tools for the evening. We got a lot done today despite it being a nasty, muddy mess outside.
  14. From OK to BC: Thanks for the question and the kind words! Around here, we've always set posts in holes at 24" (whether fence posts or for pole barns) without issues from rotting or heaving. My cousin (nextdoor neighbor) has a 30'x60' barn with posts set the same way with no issues, built 29 years ago. So put simply, we continue to set posts in a manner that has proven successful here (so far) and obviously without any reason to change, we haven't adjusted. Now granted, my cousins dad (across the street) has a big oak barn built by some local Amish people who built a ~36" tall "stem wall" out of cinder block where the sill plate is mounted to the top of the cinder block wall, and they all say we should expect it to last across generations which I deduce (from details I don't list here) to span past 125 years. Of course, their timber framed posts that DO go into the ground are at least 16" across the cross section (where they go into the ground), so I'm sure they will rot to center after my own life. Whew! I could go on a tangent about how long I could guess differently treated timbers will last!
  15. Glenn -- thanks for the advice. I'll have to at least cover the roofing with some white PVA primer as insurance as inexpensive as it is. I do expect this little building to get toasty as early as late spring. Also, since I'll be running 110v service to this building, I'll plan to use my shop fans as well. They move air well. My chimneys (for my wood stove and coal forge) will go through the walls. I have some tentative plans for their exact locations, but I prefer not to nail those plans down until I absolutely have everything laid out where I want it, so those will be installed in the near future. With regard to plans for expansion, the general plan is to make due with this structure until further expansion is required, at which point this structure will be used as a side shed for the center section of a barn. We've built other barns this way and it has been extremely convenient. I don't see that necessity popping up any time soon, but I prefer to be prepared as much as possible and for that I have no qualms about letting that shape the structure that we're building, so long as I'm content with its appearance for now.
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