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I Forge Iron

Charles R. Stevens

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Everything posted by Charles R. Stevens

  1. Charles R. Stevens
    When you get your feet firmly under you, it will be your turn to spend an afternoon helping an aspiring smith. That's how most of us got started.
  2. Charles R. Stevens
    Smooth bore, your no fun ;-)
  3. Charles R. Stevens
    Lots of ways to skin this cat. Basically any thick plate will do. Tho, if it is your anvil, I would consider having a machine shop bore it. The slickest set up I've seen was some where on here. The smith took a thick, round plate, drilled a hole in the center and welded a rod that fit in the existing pricel hole and then drilled a series of progresive holes around the edge that for over the hardy hole. Nice set up, I, being certified crazy use a peice of light truck axle shaft, forged down on one end for a handle, and flatended on the other. Drill the plat. Use the same basic design for your rivet header and square pritchel plate as well. One I've seen that I liked was a peice if heavy (over the road) truck spring (thing of the past) 1/2-3/4" and 4" wide, one end forged down as a handle and the other drilled. Nifty deal there. The spring and axle steels hold up longer.
  4. Charles R. Stevens
    A side note. It's not bending over to shoe horses that usually gets a farriers back, it's hauling your anvil around. So I like small anvils for portable/demo setups, my truck has my 70# JHM living on her. But I step up on the truck to work. The 120# JHM stays in the shop.
  5. Charles R. Stevens
    I'm with Tommas, if I did any thing I'd blend the edges so I could use those radiuses as work serfaces.
  6. Charles R. Stevens
    Just ads to your disreputable aperiance, Tommas ;-) what a guy will do for a persona, lol
  7. Charles R. Stevens
    Sounds like you have two anvils! The 4x8 " demention gives you a good anvil, but if you mount it so you can flip it you can just happily front diferant profiles in the faces for diferant tasks, Same goes for the rail, now that you have the big flat anvil, you can really get crazy with it, Next thing you need is a bick, bickern, bick iron or horn (all the same animal) you might want to look for a broken large over the road truck axle shaft (2") And your in business ;-) better than the first 2000 years of our craft!
  8. Charles R. Stevens
    More than one way to skin that cat. Exactly what are you after? A fir pit that can serve as a forge, a forge that serves as a fire pit, a fire pit built like a key hole to acomidate both at once? Most of us like our forges at anvil hight (30" give or take, if your standing)
  9. Charles R. Stevens
    Salt fork devides the state up in to 4 regions and hold meetings on different weekends. On months with extra weekends they have workshops and playdays
  10. Charles R. Stevens
    Haven't meet anyone at the SaltFork craftsman that weren't friendly and helpful. The news letter is on line, call up the smith hosting the reginal meeting and just show up. If you don't mind driving, there is a meeting every weekend.
  11. Charles R. Stevens
    You'll be amazed what working hot steel on it will do to the rust! Cleans it right up! Might consider taking a but of time to smooth the worst of the chipped edges. Once they're rounded they make additional working serfaces instead of places to avoid.
  12. Charles R. Stevens
    Have to scroung one up, as a budy talked me out of it. But yes as it rides in the small of your back it generally stays out if the way, something about two hands long works well. I ride horse back, and drive the truck just fine. But remember, in some places just pulling out your shirt tail or puting on a jaket can constitute a concealed weapon. When I was young and not so woried about being a law abiding citesen, I whore a shoulder rig with a pair of Applegate/Fairborn
  13. Charles R. Stevens
    Just because Tommas is a bibliophile, dosent mean he's wrong.
  14. Charles R. Stevens
    I have worn a NSA rig from galco for years, now it's a gun holster but it's flesh side out horse hide, fits inside your pants, with a strap to your belt, exposing just the grip very similar design to your sheathe. As to blades, I prefer a horizontal sheath in the back for longer blades.
  15. Charles R. Stevens
    The aftermarket ones used for RV,s and ad on air have there own housings, the cheep hair drier from wall mart usually works on 12v dc as well as 120v ac. Or use a coffee can and a soup can. One of the Aussies build a blower , he cut down a pair of coffee cans (to get the right depth) and pressed them to gather (think something like 4" on one can and 1" on the other) then inset a soup can on the side as an out let, and a tuna can as an inlet in the "lid" I'd recommend an old floorboard type starter switch and a reostat to control it. I really don't like fires growing wile my back is to it.
  16. Charles R. Stevens
    This coming from the guy who stopped working on cars in favor of horses and wagons ...
  17. Charles R. Stevens
    If we all had that attitude, you'd still be listing to 8 tracks. If nothing else this is a good learning opportunity for a young engineer.
  18. Charles R. Stevens
    If you start him with a forge, anvil and hammer, he really can make his own tools from there. My biggest suggestion, role up our sleves and learn along with him. Good memories for you, great self asteam builder for him. He gets to see uncle Eric's willingness to learn, even from a kid. Besides, he's going to need a striker pretty soon ;-)
  19. Charles R. Stevens
    Well, the problem with the "law" and the implimintation of the law is that it's humans making the disisians, and for at least a hundred different reasons, despite the letter of the law, one can still go to prison. But on a very important side note, I personally have began (sense 9/11) thanking law enforcement and fire/EMS pesonel for serving, right along with our soldiers. Not to take one XXXX Thing from the troops, but during peace or war firemen and police officers have put it on the line for their community's every day. Ive carried a rifle, and a fire axe, and I have friends that carry a gun and shield.
  20. Charles R. Stevens
    Every year in Oklihoma we have wild land fires started by welding, I try real hard to confine welding to the shop. Tho I admit to a lot less cation with the gas forge. And as a volentier fire firghter, unlike most casualties in a fire, it usually ist the smoke that gets a fire fighter.
  21. Charles R. Stevens
    Give the kid a break, at least this engine at is willing to put his money wear his mouth is. A hammer instead or a slide rule ;-)
  22. Charles R. Stevens
    I'm chronically tech chalanged, but as a former automotive mechanic my opponian is that an enginear should spend his inturnships with the end users and maintenance tecnitians, I think it would make for much better engineering in the long run. I remember when GM put IFS on the one tons, they chronically broke the tip of the two peice shaft (it indexed the two halves for the vacuum disconnect) it didn't take a mechanic and a machinest long to see that the tit would break off, we ended up rifle boring them and pressing in a peice of drill rod. No more stress riser, no mor failers. Took GM a long time to catch up.
  23. Charles R. Stevens
    Lets see what he has in mind, it will make him a better engeneir in the long run if he bleeds on his tools.
  24. Charles R. Stevens
    You'll want to read up on dressing and modifying hammers, olds of info. A store bot hammer will give you no end of trouble until you dress the faces, and a simple hand sledge is a great starting point, to other forge or grind to shape. I personally like rectangular profiled handles, so I go after them with my rasp and block pane. As pointed out, joint the flee markets, old heads sands handle or with a loose handle are great!
  25. Charles R. Stevens
    Thanks for the advice, Tommas. I'll certainly keel it in mind
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