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I Forge Iron

the other dave

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    Northeast Alabama

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    Lake Charles, LA

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  1. A solution of copper sulphate powder in water can be used to give a copper finish to steel or iron. This was the original way to coat steel before bluing was introduced for layout lines. And copper sulphate can be found at your local plant nursery as a fungicide.
  2. Stainless welding is one of those processes which can cause what you are seeing. First, I've seen 1/4" 316L stainless corrode through in less than six months because some engineer forgot to specify a higher grade of stainless rod for the weld. Weld 316 stainless with a 316 stainless rod and you get carbon migration in the weld area which causes a degradation of the metal composition. Clean the weld with a non-stainless brush and you get iron fibers embedded in the stainless which cause a rust area. I also had some 316L stainless weld elbows fail in two days after being put into service. Analysis of the metal showed the material was barely within the correct range of composition of materials, (remember your purchasing department is always trying to get the cheapest materials).
  3. Nelson R, I've cut several pieces right in the forge though my cohorts claim I just burned the pieces in half by getting distracted. But the shower of sparks when I pulled the pieces out were an announcement of "another unintended successful cut". And no, no YouTube film clips exist, (thankfully).
  4. your coal supplier should be able to give you an analysis of the coal you would be using which you can use to calculate the ash loading and SO2 emissions of your forge fires. The problem you will have is that a forge is not a closed combustion unit and the large amounts of excess air you will have in your stacks means the percentage of ash and SO2 is a lot less per cubic foot than the local utilities. Since no scrubber is 100% efficient, the removal efficiency will suffer due to the reduced concentrations of pollutants in the flue gas. Also, where is the Calcium source for the SO2 scrubbing? Or is the water you are planning on using extremely hard? And when you install a scrubber, will you have to do periodic discharge monitoring so you can report the PPM of your off-gas after going through the scrubbing. My experience is that the EPA will issue you a permit which specifies how much of each pollutant you can discharge and it is up to you to periodically report the actual discharge. And don't forget to install stochiometric sampling ports on your stack downstream of the scrubber and an access platform for the testing team.
  5. Actually brass and iron do not get along under certain conditions. Using a brass valve in a steam line will cause the brass fitting to become sponge copper over time through a corrosion process called de-zincification, (brass being an alloy of zinc and copper). And I had a brass fitting start leaking after about 15 years on a buried water line because the person who installed the system used a brass coupling between a buried iron pipe from the well pump and a pvc pipe running to the house.
  6. My take is that mathematically the integral of ( knowledge divided mankind) from one to many equals zero, or "more and more know less and less until everyone knows nothing"
  7. Bumpy, Check out the LAMA website, http://lama-blacksmith.org/ . A number of the members of LAMA live in or near Lafayette. Also the February meeting is in New Iberia, which is just down the road from Lafayette.
  8. Sorry Frosty but it's been 25 years since I worked there and the factory has been through several new owners. And nobody I knew there is still left so getting pictures is out of the question. On the other hand I can write a pretty good description of a cam hammer if that is acceptable. the Other Dave
  9. I worked for over ten years in a chemical plant where we had six cam hammers on each of our two rotary kilns. Each hammer had a 180 pound hammer weight and looked something like an inline treadle hammer with a stationary tube and a hammer which rose and fell through its center. The biggest modification from the Da Vinci design was the placement of the cam in the middle of the head rather than between the pivot and the hammer head. This allowed the block bearings for the cam shaft to be solidly mounted to the stationary tube and lubrication of the cam and the hammer head could be done with one grease fitting. And when we built a production unit at a sister plant we used the same hammer design. The biggest re-occurring problem was a tendency for the hammer head to get flung forward against the stationary tube. Heavy wear in the front of the stationary holder was the net result but replaceable wear bars were another change.
  10. I remember seeing a homemade twister 10 - 15 years ago that used a handheld threading machine powering a reduction gearbox that had the output shaft as the twisting head. The stationary head was adjustable horizontally to allow twisting various lengths and a pipe was used as the rail for the stationary head to move horizontally along. Two pieces of 1/2" square were welded along the outside of the pipe to act as anti-twist keys for the stationary head. Initially the builder used an I beam as his rail but said that it twisted up like a corkscrew from the torque. I saw this twister twist a 1" square 10 foot piece of steel cold without a problem. Just a few ideas if you decide to build it yourself.
  11. They have the conference registration form available for printing on the web site now, http://alaforge.org/files/2015_AFC_Conference_registration_form_Final.pdf
  12. Try googling fire on the swamp which is a fun weekend in May in Picayune, MS. It may lead you to the various smiths in the MS gulf coast area. As for the Tuscaloosa forge group, have you tried heading east to Vulcan forge over at Tannehill? If the forgemaster there doesn't respond, let me know and I'll wake him up.
  13. They do make ss rods for arc welding. Just remember to go up a number in the rod when welding, that is, if you're welding 316ss, use a minimum 317ss rod. Using the same number rod will allow carbon migration and acid corrosion at the joint.
  14. Greetings from the Cullman forge group. jwilson645 - sorry our forgemaster didn't call you back but sometimes he's a bit forgetful about such things. But I know the Vulcan forge group has a lot of good members. Sometimes we "visit" each others meetings to take part of something that the other group is not offering. For example, Cullman forge had a handson demo about forging a scotty dog from angle iron and a few months earlier Vulcan had one on quarter coin mokume game'. And since Cullman meets the first sunday of each month and Vulcan the second sunday you can get a double dose of smiths each month. Spamky - Ii don't who was "spying" at your meeting but you are certainly welcome to come "spy" at any of our forge meetings. Normally the Cullman forge opens up about 9 am the first sunday of the month and we try to have a demo or some activity set up. We've got hand hammers, tongs, and a permanent structure. If you need a special tool or hammer, you'll need to bring it, you should provide your own safety glasses though we have some spares, two permanent coal forges, two portable coal forges, multiple permanently mounted anvils , portable anvils, mounted post vises, a power hammer and a treadle hammer. If you're a newbie, we'll set you up with an experienced smith for a beginners lesson. If anyone has questions or needs more info on the Cullman forge, write it here or send me a PM. And if you want to be added to our monthly forge notice, let me know and I see that you're added to that list.
  15. Looks like a good purchase. Don't know where in northern Alabama you are located but there are several local forges of the Alabama Forge Council up here-abouts. And a multitude of smiths available for information, help with techniques, tools, and free advice. There are forge meetings almost every Sunday of the month where newcomers are welcome :). And a myriad of blacksmithing conferences during the course of the year.
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