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Near where I wander is an old Railroad Right of Way (track bed), and every so often there are coils of iron (WI, PI, Steel, ?) that were most likely telegraph wire. Anyone know what grade metal it would be? 3 known items are that it was telegraph wire (according to the splice), it is magnetic, and it is ferrous (rusting & pitting). Depending on the type of iron it may become worthwhile to pick up some of these stranded coils of 3/16-1/4 inch wire for some projects. Thanks, Rich C

Sabre, Probably your washer is a hair or two too thick. you will either need to shave/sand a little off or get a thinner washer. If the surface is rough when you are done, install with this side towards the non rotating part. Another possible solution (if it can be done on this model) is to install a thicker gasket between the case and cover. Nice find, Rich C.

Hello all, For those of you in the Connecticut USA area, the following Saturday, Nov 1st is the annual Bring-a-Friend Blacksmith day at the Connecticut Eastern RR Museum, in Willimantic, Ct. Basically it is a day of B.S.ing (2 different ways, one with iron on coal and the other with just hot air) smacking metal, trading stories and tricks and getting away from the house. It will start around 10am, and end somewhere between 2pm and dusk. Come on down with your portable rigs and tools, there may be 1 or 2 forges & anvils available for use. Also bring a friend that is interested in learning to Smith and wants to meet others in the hobby. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me, rcizik5519@earthlink.net or Steve Melady 860-228-2185 smelady254@charter.net. The museum

If it was me, if it went for a nice price and the pan was intact, I would make a new leg (socket looks good, so it would just be a piece of bent pipe). Then I would figure a way to connect a free-standing blower to the old intake, or just lop off the old blower if the casting was shot. Then use it till I find the parts to restore the works. Just my opinion, Rich C

Andrew, Not sur if you have checked this, but pull the pivot pin at the bottom of the arm. I had one that the jaw sat about 1/3" lower than the rear jaw, and it turned out to be a worn pin. I replaced the pin with a bolt of the right size and now they are within 1/16" of each other. Also depending on the life the vise has seen the holes could have been elongated, so you may need to ream them out and use a slightly larger pin. Regards, Rich C.

I know this is slightly off topic, but what does ASO stand for?? I can tell basically it sounds like the anvil is slightly better than muckbar or pig iron, but it would be nice to know the words. If the translation is impolite, feel free to send a private message. Thanks, Rich C.

Guys, I would hesitate using a tie plate to hold a rail anvil, for the main reason that the distance between the spike holes or between the shoulders if you find a double shoulder one are such that it is designed to allow the rail to slide on the plate to relieve expansion due to temperature changes. This is to prevent heat kinks in the summer and sheared track bolts in the winter. Also I would hesitate using them for another reason, the surface where the rail sits is tapered to tilt the rail inward when installed (2-5 degrees), so your anvil will no longer sit level, unless of course the stump is not level. In regards to Railroad track as an anvil, I have major qualms about using it because of safety concerns. At the museum we mainly use old rail that has seem many a wheel rolling over them. The ends tend to have many cracks and chips in the running surface. This is mainly due to the fact that it has been work hardened by the 10-15 ton loads (per wheel) that have run over it. Some of the pieces of rail that we have re-used have had chips up 3 inches across by 1 inch wide missing from the edge of the running surface. By the pocket left in the running surface the piece could have been at most 1/32 thick, imagine the damage that could be done if that released under the impact of a hammer at waist level. If you really want to use track for an anvil, please make sure it is a piece from the middle of the rail and not the end, also the whole piece after you are done shaping it needs to be annealed to remove the stresses and work hardening in the metal. Another thing to keep in mind is that due to the changes in metallurgy and quality control over the years, try to only use pieces that were manufactured after the 1950s. Rail older then that have a history of piping due to inclusions and stresses not relieved at the rolling mills. Piping will cause the head of the rail to split off down the length of the head, if your lucky it will either show up in the end of the rail or blow out through the web before the head releases. Piping is when the stresses create an internal crack that over time opens wider, till it finds an edge, in some cases it will actually form a hollow cavity as material moves around the crack. Just some major concerns from someone that sees the problems with used rail every weekend. Rich Cizik MoW Foreman Blacksmith Shop Co-Head Ct Eastern RR Museum Willimantic, Ct 06226 Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum

With the clay question, I have 2 rivet forges and neither have clay. My first one is an oval Buffalo forge with a pump handle, the pan is cast iron, and I use one of the stamped & lasered tuyeres that are available on eBay. My second one, which I just finished cleaning & painting is a Columbia 400, which I replaced the welded sheet metal pan, that needed clay with a 20" cast iron skillet from Cabella's and a tuyere made from a scrap stainless block. I have had no problems running with bare cast iron, all anyone needs to remember is to let the CI cool slowly (pull fire off tuyere and let it cool till the coals are warm to the touch) if it cools too fast it can crack. Personally I keep mine without clay for two reasons, one is that I carry both in the bed of my truck and can see the clay popping out after the first pothole or rut. Second is the desire to keep the fire clean, as everytime your work, and firetools scrape the clay the sand will pollute the fire slightly (or that is what my head says). Third is that refractory clay produces a mildly acidic solution when it gets damp and since I store my equipment in a barn, I didn't want condensation to get between the clay and CI to accelerates the rust that would normally form from trapped water. Have fun, Rich C.

Thomas, Just add a note that the spec is from 1924 and newer pins may not meet this spec. For the current material spec you would need to contact the Association of American Railroads (AAR), ARA became part of the AAR in 1934. Regards, Rich C.

From: `Locomotive Cyclopedia of American Practice' Seventh Edition, 1925 Compiled and Edited for the American Railway Association – Division V, Mechanical Published & printed by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Co., NY. NY. Coupler Knuckle Pivot Pins A.R.A. Standard Adopted 1917; Revised 1924 1. Process: The Steel shall be made by the open hearth process. … 3. Chemical Composition: The steel shall conform to the following requirements as to chemical composition: Carbon – 0.55-0.70% Manganese, not over – 0.60% Phosphorus, Not over – 0.05% Sulphur, not over – 0.05% Could not find anything other then see ARA Spec# in my 1952 Locomotive Cyclopedia. Regards, Rich C

Just came across a version of the Blacksmith & the Devil folk tale that I had not heard before. The one I am familiar with is the one dealing with why does a blacksmith hang Ox Shoes over the door for luck and not a Horse Shoe. The long and the short of it is that the blacksmith sells the devil on the idea of getting a set of shoes installed, so the smith installs them hot and they shrink as they cool and hurts the hooves of the devil so much that he leaves the smith alone and the Ox Shoes are hung as a reminder to the devil of that event. Probably someone can write the full version to complete my cliff note one. Here is the other one, in a well told way: The Devil And The Blacksmith - Video How many other Devil & Blacksmith tales are there, including ones dealing with the other gods that were equivalent to the devil and/or his minions. Rich C.

Thanks Frosty, The reason there are no pictures is that we are in the middle of converting a temporary restoration building into a 2 man shop, with the forges on the end walls and a walkway in the middle. The building is 16x24 with a double slider on one side and a standard door on the other. I currently have about half of the exterior done, and another member has about 1/3 of the tin roof done. The building on the left edge of this photo shows the back wall of the shop:http://www.cteastrrmuseum.org/images/gallery/ashclear.jpg This one shows more of the building http://www.cteastrrmuseum.org/images/gallery/ttlead5308.jpg In the Spring we have an event that we call the Heritage Metal Festival to kick off the season for the museum, at the event we have multiple smiths and metal workers set up around the museum to demonstrate their skills. Next year will be our fifth annual HMF, usually we hold it the first Saturday in May, but we are discussing moving it back one week as it conflicts with older events for some groups we would like to come and demonstrate. Also in the fall we have an informal get together after the end of the season, that we call our Bring a Friend Blacksmith get together, where we ask anyone that is interested in learning about smithing to come on in also if you are a smith (hobby or practicing) we ask you to come join us to talk about methods and tricks. A bunch of smiths with portable rigs also show up, so the day ends-up being a relaxing day of smithing, talking, BSing and eating. Thanks to Bill Sheer who runs the blacksmith shop over at Mystic Seaport, we got in contact with a lady that wanted her husband's/father in law's tools preserved. Mystic Seaport took some of the items and we got a Champion 203 belt drive post drill (almost production size), a belt drive grinder, drive motor, belt sheaves, belts, and tooling for the drill. Probably the nicest thing we got was an Union Mfg punch shear. It has 3 shear holes in the back for 3/8" & 3/4" round rod and 5/8 square rod, an 8" wide plate shear and a 4 position turret punch head on the front, basically it is like a small ironworker. Main difference is that the power source is from 2 drive crosses that accept the handle bar, one is direct drive and the other has a large reduction drive gear. As a test I punched a 3/8 square hole through a 1/4" steel plate using the direct drive and didn't realize I was through till I saw the plate lift as it was extracting the punch. On a side note, does anyone have more info on these machines, the punch was manufactured in New Britain, Ct, model #3, serial #2127, and it has a patent date of may 14, 1912. Like farriers, RR Blacksmiths were a very specialized group of smiths, as they had to be able to make anything that the RR needed. Everything from utility & finish hooks to brake rods to nails and if they were in the mountains they would also need to know how to make and resharpen star drills. Surprising enough the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transit Agency) still employs smiths to make parts for their Trolleys. They got rid of them for a few years thinking they could just send the parts out for bid but shortly realized that it was cheaper for them to make them the old way. Also IIRC there were some lead time issues. Rich C.

D-i-f, If you have then, how about sending them east where they can be put to their original use. We are always looking for spares. IIRC, I have an old spec sheet on them, I will have to see if I can find it. I think they are just mild steel, maybe with a touch of manganese for strength. The shear forces acting on them is not extremely high, only about 3-400,000 tons shared at 2 points ;<() Regards, Rich Cizik MoW Foreman Blacksmith Shop Co-Head Ct Eastern RR Museum Willimantic, Ct 06226 Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum

To some women and men that symbol is key. My friend and his wife were one of those people, so in the name of safety and to keep the symbol they both got tattoo rings. He said it hurt like crazy (not his exact words), but it was worth it and in both of their opinions it strengthened their relationship even more because of the permanency of the tattoo. Rich C.

1860cooper, Just finished rebuilding one myself. Blower - The bearing balls can be found at McMaster-Carr. I used the 1/4" stainless ones, part number 9642K39, one pack of 50 did the job for all 6 bearing sets, I think I only had 2-3 balls left. If you are careful you can pull open the ball cage on the crank shaft and reload it with new balls, just be careful as it is easy to deform the separator fingers and it is easy to make them too tight, the balls should have a little wiggle room. If you want to desolve the old grease just remove the crank and submerge the blower assembly in diesel or Kerosene for a week or two and clean with soap and water (I disassembled the blower before submerging it so I could get everything clean). For this one I tried and had good results with Zep Concrete & Driveway cleaner, it took a little longer but was safe to wash down the drain. When removing the spur gears (the gears no connected to the blower fan) be careful as they are both held with square head set screws and there is a shoulder on the shafts, so they can only be removed by pressing them out in one direction. Pan - Since I planed on bringing my forge to various gatherings, I knew clay would not last (also I worried about contaminating the fire with clay dust when digging for clinkers) and since my pan was just rusty lace I replaced it with a new 20" cast iron skillet from Cabella's. With the pan, I removed one handle, to center the air hole in the pan, the other handle I use for hanging my forge tools. The pan it thick enough that I detect no flex when I use the remaining handle and the u-bend below the blower as the grip points when carrying it to and from my truck. Tuyere - since the air hole is larger then the tuyeres that I could find on the web, I took a piece of 1/2" thick stainless from the scrap pile at work and made one. On the backside I created a pocket deep enough to clear the air pipe (which stuck above the pan) and then drilled a bunch of 5/16 - 3/8 holes in a diamond pattern to allow the air through. After that to allow the air to flow into the holes easier, on the back side I took a 3/4 (might have been larger) drill and created countersinks that would funnel the air into the holes and minimize the flat back face of the tuyere (anytime air or fluids hit a flat wall the force gets reflected [basically ricochets] back on itself creating back pressure, minimizing the quantity of fluid passing through an orifice hole). Take care and have fun, Rich Cizik Willimantic, Ct On another note, has anyone else tried stainless for tuyeres? I seem to notice something interesting when I compare the chinkers produced by this forge when compared to my Buffalo forge which has a carbon steel tuyere. Namely that the I find almost no clinkers in the pan during or after use. All I will find are small clinkers, largest one was about the size of a small marble, most were about the size of a BB, where as with the same coal I will pull tea cup plate or larger clinkers from the Buffalo. I know that stainless absorbs and releases heat slower then carbon steel, could it be that the tuyere doesn't get hot enough for the clinkers to grow and thus just drop though the ash trap or side off to the side???

You can only get Kroil through the manufacturer, Kano Labs. Their website is KanoLabs.com They sell it in everything from 1/2 pint spray can to 55 gallon drums. The best stuff I have found to date. Good luck, Rich C.