arkie

Not related to chains, but regarding the holes; drilled or punched, I like to do a countersink on holes so that a wood or deck screw sets flush on the hooks, or whatever gets attached.

Flour or white powder didn't show any markings on the side(s) after a GENTLE wire brushing with a hand brush? Man, I wish those old blacksmiths would quit testing their chisels and punches on the anvils!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A tip for finishing up the hinges. Where the loops are formed on the shoes, make one loop closed to fit well, not loose or rattley and leave the other loop partially open so as to slide the pin of the other shoe(s) into it. Then close the last loop and your set to go. Much easier than trying to bend a shoe and force the pins into closed loops. My shoes weren't bent into as tight a curve as Richard's were...wish I had done that.

I have no reason to try to slit or punch rebar, but a jig I made to drill rods and tubes might be adaptable to holding rebar or any other round rod/tube for slitting or punching. The contraption is simply angle iron welded to a plate with a hole in the center for the drill bit to pass. One could beef this up with heavier angle iron, add a square hardy post to the bottom and arrange a clamp or hold-down to secure the rod in the channel for stability while punching or slitting. Might even work to put holes through the corners of square tubing.

Littleblacksmith, here are some hinges made from horseshoes. I copied mine from one of our member's outhouse next to his smithy. The original outhouse hinge belongs to Richard Ross (credit for stealing his idea). Mine are the pair on the placemat.

Steve, you ain't missin' much, believe me!

Very nice. Neat, clean design.

Here is some general info about BOA (Blacksmith Organization of Arkansas) for any interested smiths or wanting-to-be-smiths. You can PM me for detailed info on meetings. They are usually held on Saturdays; different Saturdays for each chapter. The meeting may also change to have the meeting coincide with special events. Visitors are welcome, and family memberships are available as a single membership. We have coal for sale as well. Our website, www.blacksmithsofarkansas.org has info and archives of newsletters which will be posted for the public one month behind. We think our newsletter is one of the best in smithing!! Our organization has four chapters in northern Arkansas. They are: NW Chapter, primarily from Eureka Springs and Springdale to Harrison to near Jonesboro and down towards Little Rock, Central Chapter, mostly in the LIttle Rock, AR area, NE Chapter, mostly the Jonesboro, AR area, River Valley Chapter, around Ft. Smith, AR. For meeting schedules for each chapter, please PM me for a particular chapter inasmuch as we may project meetings months in advance and with four chapters, it would be a lot to post here. I can then post it here on the forum. Sometimes, meeting locations change from posted ones, as was the case for the last NW meeting.

Glenn, glad to see BOA joining the site. Great group of smiths.

My forge is similar to DSW's, with a 1 1/2" angle iron rim all the way around. I like to pile up my coal on the table, so I made some "sideboards" out of 1/8" x 3" bar stock to raise the sides to prevent spilling coal. To facilitate long and/or wide pieces, I made the sideboards removable by welding on 1/8" x 1" x 3" tabs inside and outside of the sideboards that slip over the edge of the angle iron rim. Since those pictures were taken I have added a hood, but left spaces on either side to remove the sideboard(s).

On IFI, you can pick your own "title". Go for it!!!!!!

I just cut down a tall, straight 8" ash next to the house. I need to split it up soon and cure it like you're doing.

Hey, Steve. Welcome to IFI...I repeat myself from another post, duh! (shortfuse from WW)

Steve, welcome to IFI. Great to have you come over and join us. Very nice metal work, BTW. Really enjoy you over on WW (I go by shortfuse on WW). You'll find a lot of great info and help here from some very experienced smiths and metal workers.

Well, folks have been asking me, knowing that I do a little blacksmithing, "Wow, have you been watching Fire and Iron? What do you think about it?" I finally dragged myself to the TV and watched a bit of it for the first time last night. When they got so engrossed in blowing up a so-called beaver dam instead of seeing any blacksmithing, that was the beginning and end of another History Channel "Honey Boo Boo" for me, as Kozzy so aptly called it. That, along with more commercial time than showtime,...adios History Channel...again.

Heat it with a propane or MAPP torch to straighten if it's only 1/4" thick. Something that small, you'll probably don't need to use a forge to heat, and/or heat treat it.

I actually modified mine further. I drilled a hole near the big knob on bottom, pinned a rod through it and extended the rod up the side of the forge. Now I just pull up on the rod and it dumps; no more having to do a ballet to dump it with my toe!

Das, that will work just fine. Make it easy for yourself. Here's what my home-made dump looks like. I can flip it open with my boot toe.

Thought and prayers your way, Charles. You have a large and strong support group here on IFI.

That's the video I had seen. Thanks for posting the link, JHCC. I also like his technique of setting the handle, that is, hammering the butt end of the hammer rather than pounding the butt on a hard surface such as an anvil face. I have used that method and it seems to work better for me.

When I bank my fire with green coal and leave it for a while, say over lunch, I always open the ash dump below to create an upward draft through the fire. That way the coal cokes and the gases move upward out of the fire and up the flue. Sometimes I also open the air supply to also aid in drafting into the fire.

I probably won't use a spark arrestor in order to get max flow, I just let it blow over my wife's car!!!!!! (jus' joking)

I don't know if this solution has been mentioned on IFI or not, but I ran across it somewhere on a smithing site... The smith found a good fix for handles that loosen frequently, a product called Wonderlock 'Em or some spelling like that. Basically, it is a type of cyanoacrylate like super glue, but penetrates. Primary use is for rungs and staves on chairs and other furniture that become loose. He tried it on hammer handles and it apparently worked fine. I tried it on three hammers and they are still "tight as Dick's hatband". I tapped the wedges (both metal and wood) snug beforehand. You need to use it on a dry hammer handle, not one that has been treated with glycol, antifreeze, oil, epoxy, etc. so that the thin liquid will penetrate as far as possible.

Near Jasper. Our organization, BOA, Blacksmith Organization of Arkansas has meetings a few times a year over at Siloam Springs, Gentry and Springdale.

You'll make a FINE curmudgeon!