bajajoaquin

So I'm going to buy some citric acid so that I can passivate some stainless. I was all set to buy some on line, but the shipping is a little pricey. I don't know how much I'll use, so I don't want to buy in bulk quite yet. I thought I'd see where I can buy it locally. So, I'm in San Diego. If anyone knows any place specific that would be great. But I don't expect anyone will know my local options that well, so I'm looking for some ideas. What else is it used for? What kind of places will carry it?

Did you see the link to the operator manual on the 40-lb Bradley rebuild thread?

Speaking of good deals, I just checked Amazon.com. Right now, if you search for "Borax," the first return is a 5lb box for about $10. Because I forgot to cancel my Amazon Prime trial last Christmas, and paid my annual fee, I just bought a box, with free shipping. I can probably buy it for less if I shop around, but none of my local stores carry it.

Thank you for this post. I just bought a new house that requires a new kitchen (and two bathrooms, and flooring, and... well, never mind), and I'm going to make the cabinet hardware. My wife doesn't like the dark finish that comes with the wax treatment on mild steel, and my stainless items are pretty dark from the scale. I was going to go home tonight and drop a leaf key fob into a jar of vinegar, but now I think I'll make a citric acid solution instead. Maybe I'll drop my first basket twist into a jar of vinegar. Just to keep on topic!

They sure did love their rubber cushions, didn't they? That's a good looking hammer.

I think you are conflating correlation and causation. However, that's not my point. In a system that says you must follow blindly until some threshold is met, it's clear how the learning process is structured: you do what I say, because I say it. Tradition tells us so. It has been this way, therefore it will be this way. That's not the case here with Hofi: he says, in effect, I believe this is the best way to do it, because I have thought about it, without regard to tradition or history. I have a logical argument why this is the best way. In the first case, it makes sense to follow instruction blindly until the point of meeting the threshold: becoming a Master. In the second, it makes sense to question the teacher, seeking to understand more fully. Therefore, I find it ironic when the reaction to someone who supports the second case is to follow blindly.

While I respect your opinion on all things smith-related, I think the facts contradict this statement quite clearly. Were he really good at following orders, he would not have put his telescope up to his blind eye at Copenhagen. He also would not have won the advantage for Great Britain. The culture of instruction you talk about, "do it this way, because I said so, and because this is how it's always been done" is not the same as the way Hofi presents his instruction: "you should do it this way, because I have thought about it, and it doesn't matter a bit how it has always been done." I have my own opinions about instructional theory, but I'm not presenting them here. I'm just pointing out the irony of following someone blindly who claims to have found the best way by not following blindly.

I remember reading a biography of Horatio Nelson a while back. It opened with the traditions that sprung up in the Royal Navy after his victory and death at Trafalgar, and how those traditions of copying Nelson's tactics became so firmly entrenched into their standard operating procedure. At the end of the biography, the author revisited these blind adherences to Nelson's memory, and pointed out the irony that Nelson was so successful because he refused to follow tradition. (Luckily for the RN, they had two more iconoclasts in Jackie Fisher and John Jellicoe, but that's another couple wars, and another couple books.) I'm pretty new to this smithing thing. I've only been doing it for about two years now. I don't know Hofi from Herodotus. But I do know that he makes thoughtful statements about why you do something, not just what you are supposed to do. Seems to me that if you want to respect his opinion on something, the best way to do it is to think, experiment, and understand. Not just do it because he says so.

That's really great. I'm jealous. My own Bradley project is kind of stalled, too. In my case, it's because I'm buying a house, and it's a fixer, so I don't really have much time to be working on the club's hammer. But I'll get to it, and when I do, I'll update my thread. Really, really glad to hear you're making progress again.

Most don't bother. Working on it will keep the face and horn free from rust. The body of mine is coated with wax, that was used by the previous owner to highlight the markings for sale. Others have mentioned ATF. None of the anvils at Vista Forge are coated, and they're just fine. But if you want to coat, I'd say wax or ATF.

I asked a similar question about a few 80-lb blocks I had, and the consensus seemed to be that it would be prohibitively expensive to create a swage block, given that in a modern shop, it's probably more useful to have a series of anvil swages than a single steel swage block. I'd set it up as an anvil. In fact, that's exactly what I'm going to do when I empty my truck out from moving, and can go pick up some 14.25X18.5X6.25 mild steel blocks in my area (about 500lb).

Yeah, I've seen them. I'll probably go by my local restaurant supply house tomorrow or Friday at lunch. If they're reasonably close, I'll just grab a couple there. They're close to Industrial Metal Supply, too, so I can go and sift through their "Artists Corner" and see what's there for $0.30/lb, too. Nice to know I wasn't missing any kind of remarkable resource.

A smithing friend managed to find a handful of the big 4" X 9" butcher block brushes, and gave me one. It worked great until I left it at Vista Forge several weeks ago. Now it works great for the entire shop! So I'm looking to buy another one or two, and I'm seeing them online for $15 to $20. That seems high to me. I checked Amazon.com, and they only sell them from other retailers, for about the same price. Anyone have an opinion for another source? I'm going to run down to my local restaurant supply if there's no clear alternative option.

I think that Grant has it backwards. If I'm reading the note on the picture correctly, it cuts square "front to back" but is off "top to bottom." Or, if the blade were a fuselage of an airplane (or the hull of a boat), it would cut fine in pitch and yaw, but be out in roll. I'm not familiar with power hacksaws, but I know that in every adjustment article or manual I've seen for a band saw, the very first piece of advice is to start with a new blade, and then go from there. If it's an old blade, change it. If it's a new blade, well, you're all ready one step along in the process! An old blade won't cut true, and you will be chasing adjustments forever.

Ptree, do you have any pics of your hammer?

Grind the edges? For $125, I'd just use the dang thing. Heck, that's his asking price. I think you're probably looking at a $100 anvil there. How much is steel in your area? Why aren't you in your car driving, like right now?

My only experience is with a smaller scale, having made exactly one anvil hold-down that fits in my pritchel hole. However, one of the things that was stressed when discussing its making was that you needed some spring in the design. I'd say that you want to have the "arm" that holds the work piece be longer, with more of a curve to it. I think your current parts are too rigid. The platen hold-downs that I have seen have followed that design.

Oh, there's lots of stuff. If it's a manual transmission, the shifter is probably medium carbon steel. Steering column, drag links, and related components are also likely better than mild. As mentioned, get the axle shafts, brake drums, sway bars, etc. Those are for sure good steel. But in general, I'd grab anything that looks like bar (as opposed to sheet metal or tube). Seat belts.... you could do something cool with those buckles. Basically, how much space do you have?

Yes, it's delicious.

So it sounds like the rumor is true, strictly speaking, but unlikely to be actually useful in forging. Which reminds me of the saying, "In theory, there's no difference between theory and reality. I reality, there is."

He's also got a leg vise for sale, currently at $30. His ad says that he's going to be getting rid of steam engines and other interesting things. Probably worth watching his auctions for a while if you're close enough to pick things up.

So the handedness is a second-order consideration? I.e. if you have two people, you have two hands available, but it's not strictly about using both hands. Interesting.

I appreciate your attitude. Can you give us some more background, without shameless promotion? Or perhaps Glenn will be willing to allow some promotion if you're helping us understand the requirements for setting up an induction forge. Is there a rule of thumb for providing cooling on induction equipment? How is it measured? BTU? I guess that's all I can ask, because I don't know what else I don't know.

I agree with Thomas. I have found The Complete Modern Blacksmith and The Backyard Blacksmith to be really good resources for helping set the stage for the first steps of blacksmithing. I also think that you would be well served to find someone local to help out. I was lucky enough to have the CBA program in Vista, CA available to me for $40, but it doesn't sound like your case is similar. Find a local blacksmith or historical society that does demonstrations, and get some basic tips about drawing and bending. You can find an anvil for cheap if you are willing to think about anvils in terms of what they do, rather than what they look like. You just need a big hunk of steel. It doesn't need to look like something the coyote would drop on the roadrunner. Which is not to say that the $1200 course wouldn't be money well spent. It would. But there are other options that will be effective for getting started if you are a little price-sensitive at the outset.

Grant, that's great, thank you. You hit it on the head: I'm going to have 220v, but only single phase for the time being, since I don't have anything else that requires 3ph power. I had planned on having 100 amps of service, but that might be overkill. Can you educate us on the cooling requirements? You show a picture of the induction heater on a cart, with the cooler below. What kind of cooling setup is that, and what's the approximate cost if it's not included in the price of the induction equipment?