notownkid

A whole lot of contractors, & engineers checking their liability insurance in that City. When I was an auto dealer there were cars I wished would fall into a sinkhole.

Cost ( all that Thomas mentions) plus 10% or 15%  for profit.  Remember Profit is not a 4 letter word. 

If you lose the job because your price is too high, most likely others have as well before you. 

Better to price it correct and lose it than price it too cheap and loose your shirt and everything else you have. 

No comment I've seen here is more true. 

I ran the family business for nearly 30 yrs. Corp. America walked in one morning and stepped on us like a bunch of Ants, put us out of business in 30 days.  Left employees and employers out in the cold, literally.  Managed to salvage enough to pay off two kids college loans.  Had to go to work out of state, wife decided to go her way which was fine.  Almost went back into business for myself but didn't.  Within 3 yrs had to have 3 operations in 10 months any one of which would have bankrupted me but had Insurance with then new job.  Hated going to work every day but had to have the insurance, worked until the day after my Medicare started.  Getting everything in line to be retired at home soon, if the time doesn't run out. 

Very little comes out as we hoped & dreamed but make the best of what we get given.   go for it Ivan 

How about a foot controlled pedal rheostat for speed control.  Good apprentice hammer, you control the pedal and you can get more work out of them. HPM (Hits Per Minute) should increase considerably.  A little concerned about OSHA without guards. 

Love it. 

I agree with Glenn's comment on the Steep Metal Roofs, I've used them for 40 yrs.  Wouldn't have any other roof in snow country, have 6 buildings at the moment with them.  Big Barns, small barns, house, new blacksmith shop, use to have a small chicken coop with one! 12 in 12,  6 in 12, and 4 x12 pitches. 

Never worry about the amount of snow at home when I'm traveling.  When the sun comes out they dump the snow fast. Cost more than a shingle roof but no maintenance worth every penny. 

Nice looking work what ever you call it. 

Translating to English English like the English Empire is one thing but they have about 10 versions of that and American English is worse about every region of the country has a different version, use of words.  Starting with is it a Cart Wheel or a Wagon Wheel?  In my area it's a wagon wheel, carts usually refer to Ox Carts which are larger wheels! 

Pictures are worth a 1000 words!

Keep up the good work.   

Yup LP over $6.00 a gallon in CT and most of New England.  Almost doubled over a three week period.  It's called greed! 

I have 2 shops built in Pole Barn design with pressure treated posts one is on a floating slab and the blacksmith shop just built is poles in the ground and will get a concrete floor this summer I hope.  The PT will last 25-30 years or more, have a horse barn on one farm that's been 30+ yrs and the posts are fine. 

I have pictures of original forges made from large flat rocks stacked up, No welding needed.  And it's environmentally friendly! Of course you  have to burn coal in it. 

If you can afford to buy a forge and all needed tools I'm happy for you!  When you get bored with it I'll give you $ .01 on the dollar and take them off your hands. 

He Who Asks so shall Receive someone said once upon a time.

Welcome to the group.  One can go around the world here in about 80 minutes most days.

I've been waiting around and nothing has been posted as to the Spring Meet, June 6, 7, 8 2014 at the Organizations Brentwood NH Teaching Facility.  I'm not on the board but thought it needed to get posted. 

It is being called "A Working Meet" with the intention of building a "24' Blacksmith's Totem Pole" sculpture.  And no I haven't been drinking just repeating what is in the Newsletter. 

More information can be obtained by looking at the New England Blacksmiths web site.

www.newenglandblacksmiths.com

Brentwood is in Southern NH not far from the Mass border.  Haven't seen the entire schedule but they usually have a great meal on Sat night and everything else that a Blacksmith Meet generally has. 

Check out the sight and Join us! 

I use Loctite as well, Red as a rule, can always use a propane torch to warm it up to get off.  This is what we use on Wood Chippers knifes, brush hog blades, most all bolts on farm machinery that spins fast, really don't like those things flying off. 

We also use the lock nuts with one or two sides dimpled in.  Not for dangerous areas though.       

Thumb and first 2 fingers numb check for Carpel Tunnel problems, ring finger and little finger check for neck/shoulder problems.  Have lived with this for many years, Had both shoulders repaired helped a lot, carpel tunnel  repairs not always successful, wear a wrist brace helps some.  Repetitive motion is the problem and if you can't bend your pointing finger in the morning you have "Trigger Finger" , had that one as well.

If you stop and consider what you are doing with your arm and hand when hammering you will understand the problems.  Have someone video you hammering and then look and see if there is something you can change to improve.  Blacksmithing is not easy on your body, that would make a great medical research project for someone, must be a government grant available!

The fact that the Blacksmith Shop was the center of any village like Glenn says above is still true today in our area. 

I live in a very small hill town in VT and had a new Blacksmith Shop built in late Nov early  Dec.  I permitted it as a shop and no one asked what kind as I have other shops on the farm mechanical repair or storage so it went right through.  When the word got out at the general store everyone started asking my son about it being a Smith.  He said he couldn't get in or out of the PO or store without someone stopping him.     Can we stop in to visit when your there? what ya going to make?(smoke, noise, & scrap is the reply) and the most interesting " I've got ?????? that was my fathers, grandfathers, great grandfathers would you like it?  Didn't know what I was going to do with it, I'll drop it off, come pick it up. 

The most interesting was from a local Farrier who said he knows where the Original Forge that I use to crank the blower on for his grandfather 58 yrs. ago  is, would I like it?  Some family member has it and doesn't want it.  I don't need it but told him It would go in my museum which he said was fine they didn't want it going to scrap.  One day my son will have to worry about keeping it out of scrap as he agreed to it as well. 

My old neighbor(86) on my first farm asked it he could come in and smell the coal fire burning that he remembered from being a kid in the village shop.  He said he also has a welding table of his fathers we can pickup when we get the floor in.  With everything being talked about I'm  afraid my 16'x20' shop is already too small and I don't even have all the gravel in it much less the floor!  Floor or not I get 3-4 people every weekend that I'm home stopping in to see the new shop!

I would say there still is a lot of interest in Blacksmiths and smithing in todays high speed world.  And Yes I know all about the liability problems of having people around, we'll work on that carefully. 

according to my step son it hit $6 + a gal. in CT this week up from $3.25,  2 1/2 weeks ago that's delivered price.  I don't get bulk.  The price will vary here according to when you had a delivery last as well.   

First thing my father taught me when I went into the family auto business, concentrate on talking with the wife, don't leave the husband out but make her a part of all conversations.  When all is said she controls the purse 90% of the time plus we know what else she controls.  It worked and the ladies were always ready to return for another one car.  They remember!

The retailers posted price for different size tanks was $1.00 lb. He is usually the cheapest in the area, hence the reason I was there.  Fuel oil is suppose to be $4.10 or more a gallon, glad I still have 2 1/2 tons of pellets left. 

I got the wake up call today when I stopped in my local LP retailer for a 20 lb fill up to do just a little forging.  Came close to having to have a co-signer.  I was glad I didn't take the 40 lb tank.

In Oct it cost $10 for a fill, today it was $20.  Glad I wasn't trying to make something for someone else just repairing a broken logging chain. 

What are the rest of you finding?  I had heard it was up but double is a little more than up!  Glad I bought 100 lbs of coal last week for just a little more than the LP.   

A machine shop I worked in had a Large Fly Press and it was used to test all the new and overhauled punch press dies before putting into the machines.   Most all the auto repair shops in the area showed up to use it as well to straighten stuff and to press clutch packs together for different repairs.  When the shop was closed and sold out last spring it was the First thing to go, est. to be well over 100 yrs old and the wheel was 36" Dia.  had it's own original cast base. Made the forklift groan to move it.   

Welcome Ivan.  The latest newsletter arrived by e-mail today a great one for sure.  Presume they will send one along but if you don't get one give Bob Menard a shout and I'm sure he can send one along by e-mail as well.  NEB's Address above.

Spring meet coming up in early June in southern NH. 

2-3" of snow we have a couple times a week aka flurries.  We haven't seen 30 degrees for a high in 10 days.  17 today with breeze.  Moved a safe and a piano to keep warm with my Brother in law today and we are both suppose to be retired. 

Not everyone here can drive on snow or in slippery conditions, they must have moved north.  Fun to see them in the bushes and ditches all over the medians.  We figure they got to be skiers headed to the resorts.  Helps spread their money to the little people.

Enjoy the global warming folks 

There is an ad on the bottom of this page at times from Eurotren (something like that) and the prices are very reasonable.  Sears would be high as they only want to sell replacement saws not pieces to repair. 

If hoarding is a mental illness then by the looks of most blacksmith shops I seen there is a Whole Lot of Hoarders running around calling themselves Blacksmiths!    

By the looks of the posts here we have a large # of folks touring around salvage yards trying to find and buy stuff that others have recently sold as junk.  Is this something a sane person does regularly on his free time or days off?  I hope so as my family has started looking oddly at me when I pull into the yard with a lot of Valuable Finds in my truck, some talk of not letting me leave alone any longer plus trading my truck for a VW Bug! 

 The tailgating sales areas at Blacksmithing events look a whole lot like Hoarders on Wheels.   If hoarding is an illness it must be highly contagious.

At the end of the day your doors will open and close that's what you wanted. 

If it bothers you that much later you can do something else and when you replace these send them to me. 

Nice Job.