NateDJ

Here is a picture of how to hold your tongue while hitting something

Also featured "How to use both hands while forging!"

What I don't want...???,,,!!~`1

... Nope noting there that needs to go :cool:

Sounds like you are allergic or have a high sensitivity to it, I would just tell everyone she slapped me! ;)

I think my wife would dimly view that, unless I his it behind the forge...hmmmm...

YEP, I have been given only a few more days to get it moved and stowed away properly or she is calling the scrappers! :o :o

We will be there, leaving the 2 toddlers with aunt/uncle and loading the rest up. should be there bright and early Saturday. I'm hoping to buy at least one anvil for the kids and traveling, maybe even a bit of coal if it is available, a hammer or 2, drifts for hammers, etc. Can't wait!

Well a friend of mine (87yo machinist) just purchased this lathe for $1,000.00 cost him $500 just to have it moved into his shop from across town. The bed is 20 feet long.
I have no other details than what is seen in the pictures because I got him off on the subject of welding cast iron. (Hard to derail a train of thought like his ;)

I had this same question about 4 days ago and stopped in to see an old friend. He is a machinist by trade and is still running his shop at 87 years old. He has been welding cast iron for ''as long as can be remembered'' and basically described the same process as the rest of these guys, he suggested using an air chisel to peen with and not peen just the weld but the sides as well.

For the jobs that you can't control the cool down cycle such as in a large engine he suggest to pre-heat the area around where you will weld and then only weld about 1/2inch and do it on the lowest setting you can strike and hold an arc. This is done so you never raise the temp of the surrounding metal enough to cause it to expand enough to be more than you can peen the welding rod material back into as it shrinks. I understood him to mean that you would lay down a short bead then peen the bead into the shrinking cast iron. He states that the welded area should be at the ~500f you pre-heated the area to before starting on the next 1/2 inch.
His experience is mostly on large industrial engines that cant be buried or otherwise insulated and usually the customer wanted to start and run the thing when he was finished welding it anyway. He states he hasn't had a weld fail doing it this way since he was shown how when he was a teenager, (did they have welders back that far;)

Hmm this reminds me, he just bought a lathe I need to get a picture of on here.

Dealing with mosquitoes: For some reason when I am running my gas forge I NEVER have any problem with mosquitoes, if i turn it off I start getting bit with in 10-15 min and if I don't turn it on at all i get eat up by them. Perhaps they are attracted to the CO the forge puts out and are getting eaten by the dragon! I notice MANY other bugs flying into the forge and every time I start it up I have to dust the dead bugs out that flew in after I turned it off each time I start it up. Do coal forges eat bugs as well?

Welcome to IFI, here is the best way to read your web page for those of us who need it: Translation

hummm lol is it cheaper than coal?

Charcoal will burn just great in a standard coal forge. I have heard dried corn will work just fine as well but you need to pile it up about 2 more inches. I have never had that much corn available to burn so I haven't tried it. Dung is supposed to be a good forging fuel but it is said to not get hot enough for a welding fire. Wood works fine if your pieces are small enough, about 1''-2'' square but the forge flees are very bad and it smokes badly. You will also need to pile it up enough that the wood is charcoaled by the time it reaches your forge's hot spot.
This is based off of what I have gathered during my search for the same information. I even started off in a WMO forge, only problem with that is the availability of the motor oil in Oklahoma.

Not exactly sure of the answer to the first part but i know Hydrogen Peroxide will cause the piece to rust like right now! Worse than sea water.

but right now I'm learning and I just want to take my time and figure out the process before I upgrade to actual equipment designed for the purpose.

The best advice I could give you, you already have! Except that the designed for the purpose = what ever purpose you designed it for regardless of how ''Brutal'' it may or may not be.

Welcome to IFI You can learn anything you want to about this addiction here. :D

lowes / home depot / etc sell carbon monoxide detectors, may be a healthy investment. Think even walmart sells them now.

I just used a piece of 1/2'' thick x 4'' angle iron for the back piece that attached to the bench and a flat bar about 1/2'' x 1'' x 3'' for the front piece. drilled holes and mounted the angle to the bench and drilled holes in the 2 pieces that allowed me to run a bolt on either side of the vice leg between the 2 pieces.

For a spring I used a piece about 1'' wide and about 12'' long cut out of a lawnmower blade, bent it at the anvil and quenched it in water.

Most regular brick suppliers carry it as it is used to line fireplaces ACME brick is a nation wide company as well as several others.

Here is a list from trainmason.com for Southern California brick suppliers:

A S R Constructors Riverside CA 951-779-6580
Barajas Masonry Bermuda Dunes CA 760-345-3912
Ben Moran Masonry Escondido CA 619-390-9271
Bielski Window & Masonry Anaheim CA 800-243-5754
Bledsoe Masonry, Inc. Riverside CA 951-360-6140
Brandel Masonry Supplies Pomona CA 909-594-5715
Brickyard Pleasant Hill CA 925-906-0123
C D Construction Glendora CA 626-963-1348
Coolbaugh Masonry Orange CA 714-532-1652
Cornerstone Masonry Sun Valley CA 818-767-3300
Curtis Masonry Escondido CA
D & D Laser Screed, Inc. Lake Elsinore CA 951-245-3595
Dancro Corp. Corona CA 951-270-0288
E. Rosen Construction Westlake Village CA 805-777-1686 E. Rosen Construction Inc. is a Paver and Retaining Wall Contractor serving Westlake Village California CA
Earl Powers Construction Escondido CA 760-738-9777
Frank Smith Masonry S. El Monte CA
Frazier Masonry Corporation Lancaster CA 661-942-1287
G B C Concrete & Masonry Construction Lake Elsinore CA 909-245-2355 GBC Concrete and Masonry Construction, Inc.
Hank Blatnik & Associates Garden Grove CA 714-590-8625
Haxton Masonry, Inc. Yuma AZ 928-344-6174
Hoffmeister Masonry Riverside CA 951-686-9167
Hoss Construction Yorba Linda CA 714-524-3023
Isaac-Bodner Construction Co. Sherman Oaks CA 818-907-0491
J.R. Masonry, Inc. El Cajon CA 619-444-1824
Just Star Construction San Diego CA 858-505-0788
L.A. County Masonry Valencia CA 661-251-2681
Lloyd's Masonry Fallbrook CA 760-451-9755
Lyle Faber Masonry, Inc. Escondido CA 760-743-3620
Masonry Master Fullerton CA
Masonry Tec Products Moreno Valley CA 951-653-5700 Tec-Connect System - Masonry Embeds
Masonry Technology, Inc. Moreno Valley CA 951-653-5700 Tec-Connect System - Masonry Embeds
Mays, Inc. San Jacinto CA 951-654-4121
Modern Masonry El Cajon CA 619-447-5438 www.modernmasonry.com
Morillo Construction Pasadena CA 626-796-3800
Muller Commercial Masonry Sun Valley CA 818-767-7009
New Dimension Masonry, Inc. San Diego CA 619-276-5000 New Dimension Masonry - San Diego Masonry Contractor
New Earth Construction Laguna Hills CA 949-859-4007
New Generation Masonry Fontana CA 909-355-5606
Nibbelink Masonry Lancaster CA 661-948-7859
NuWay Masonry, Inc. Riverside CA 951-681-9052
Pacific Masonry, Inc. Orange CA 714-282-0222 Homepage, Pacific Masonry, Inc.
Persall Masonry Beaumont CA 951-845-4545
Pointe Construction, Inc. Santa Ana CA 714-973-1151
R.H. Hill Masonry Anaheim CA 714-516-9393
Ramirez Masonry Azusa CA 626-334-4320
Randy Bogs Masonry Menifee CA 951-301-0473
Rens Masonry Escondido CA 760-738-8827
Robert Stinchfield Inc. Riverside CA 951-779-6542
Ron Shoffeitt Masonry Temecula CA 909-926-1167
Select Build Riverside CA 951-787-0800
Skidmore Masonry, Inc. Camarillo CA 805-484-4881
Slagill Corporation El Cajon CA 619-442-9955
Snyder - Langston Irvine CA 949-225-3269 Snyder-Langston - Home Page
SoCal Masonry Rancho Santa Margar CA 949-770-2940
Sol Construction Riverside CA 951-784-5209
Southern Counties Quality Masonry Santa Ana CA 714-554-6222
Steve Lynch Masonry, Inc. La Habra CA 562-697-7300
Sunset Masonry & Concrete Pacoima CA 818-983-2338
Tailored Masonry of California Santa Ana CA 714-556-2220
The Patterson Company Orange CA 714-282-7292
Thomas W. Kincaid Masonry, Inc. Port Hueneme CA 805-815-0495
True Champions Inc. San Diego CA 619-276-6999
Williams & Sons Masonry Lakeside CA 619-443-1751
Winegardner Masonry Yucaipa CA 909-795-9711

No Idea if it will help or not but I find I have to use a thinner handle on most of my hammers. The ones that come with them are usually too fat for my hand and will cause discomfort especially around the base of my thumb and index finger and across the lower portion of my hand.

Try using a much smaller (tac) hammer for a little bit and see if the handle feels better, if so try trimming an old hammer/handle down to fit your hand better and see if that helps.

"Junkyard Rules" apply until you have found out what it really is but if it is tying Ibeams together my guess is that it is going to be some sort of structural steel rather than mild.

Just enjoy hammering it!

According to the guys at:
Quick Service Steel Co Of Oklahama City, Inc
1948 Se 44th St,
Oklahoma City, OK
73129-7920, United States
Phone: (405) 672-4557

Structural steel is all A36 unless it is specified to be different by the engineers.
He tells me that the cross ties they sell are all A36.

LOL ... Shock and Awe
Was a tremendous bang and I was standing right next to it so instant soaking!
:D

LOL ya well I was having "one of those moments" see... the side of the pipe said it could stand like 250psi or something like that LOL the kids sure thought it was funny.

I bought mine at ACME Brick here in OKC, OK and I think it was $1.50 per brick but they are larger than regular brick by almost 1'' on each side.

Take a look at the link posted originally in Vices by JosephPrivott.
Hammers, music and scales
At the very bottom of the page is a picture of what is supposed to be a c. 1285-c. 1360 smithe complete with power hammer.
Note: I am not advocating the use of such by novice (such as myself) smiths, just thought this pic would lend a bit of reference.

Thanks JosephPrivott for posting that link, it was very interesting.

Here is a peek at a project the 3 of us are working on. It is not finished yet by a long shot and only a few of the welds are cleaned up with nothing sandblasted or painted yet but the boys are hammering out most of the leaves and stems while I clean / finish them up and do the flowers. It is a good beginners project and they are enjoying making it come together.

This gate will be used between the living room and dining room/kitchen of our house to keep the toddlers out of the kitchen while mom is cooking or cleaning.
We are making sure there are no areas open large enough for them to get a body part stuck in and will be making sure no sharp edges are going to cut them if they try to climb over. (and they will I am sure of it) We may end up putting a Plexiglas ''window'' over the kids side of it to help if we don't feel it is safe. Hope to have it finished by the Saltfork conference so we can take it for ''show and tell''

The gate is setting on top of what will be my coal forge when I get the flue built. You can see a blower in the background that I have gust finished rebuilding, I bought it at the sulfur tractor show for 25$ but it was frozen solid and has taken several weeks to get it working.

Try a four inch PVC pipe with a cap on the bottom and screw cap on the top ...if you get a presta valve you can use your compresser to air it up and soak under pressure

Be very careful pressuring it up though, I built a water gun out of 3 4'' pipes all linked together and pressured it up to about 50# when it gave way at a joint and sent water all over my entire shop. Looked like it had rained in there for an hour and I only had 2-3 gallons of water in the thing. I am very glad it wasn't oil
The PVC should hold the pressure just fine but be sure of your glue joints before using oil in it.

Heck, an ASO is better than a wish to forge on and if you catch HF on sale $29 ain't a bad deal at all. Just remember to keep the iron HOT and don't hit the ASO with your hammer and it'll last quite a while.

Frosty

My boys are using one of these with a piece of forklift fork welded to the face of it. It works better than it did originally but the anvil was still way to light at ~60# so we welded it to a A shaped piece of I-Beam from a trailer house frame. This helped keep it from walking around while you hit it but the noise is Horrific! It is not much of a ring it is more of an ear piercing clang with lots of odd harmonics that just sounds like a train wreck with each hammer blow. I am looking into a better anvil for them! Long story short... don't weld your ASO to the stand LOL

Make sure you post pictures of your results ;)