Wroughton

Neil, Even powder coating professionals torch off old powder coating rather than sandblast it in their hi volume/pressure blasting booths. It takes forever to get all the layers off. It's not a preferred method but when compared to the time it would take to sandblast off they grab the O/A. A cheap sandblasting cabinet with a little compressor won't even do anything but matte finish the surface, nor are they well suited for removing good paint.

Tig welding was, and still is your best answer and you'll love it for cleaning up spots you don't want to nick with a hand or electric file. The best part about this for you is that you'll only need the smallest tig welder for the job at hand. An older Miller or Lincoln is perfect for this and can usually be had cheap as they aren't good for anything other than the smallest material, which means that most metal heads have kicked them to the curb already. Or, you can go scratch (no foot pedal, you scratch the electrode to start the arc like stick welding) Tig with a lincoln tombstone (stick welder) of any era. TALK to you local welding supply shop and they can set you up with the RIGHT (you need a tig torch with the gas control nob built in) torch and gas bottle. It takes some practice and scratch isn't ideal but turn the machine way down and keep turning it up till your fusing without burning everything up. You'll weld 10 dragonflies for everyone you braze and you'll have Tig welding capacity! Which will open up a range of metalworking that will make brazing look like using elmers glue.

Daniel, Please take this in the spirit it was intended..... :D Have you ever read the book Misery by Stephen King? Perhaps seen the movie? What motivations do you perhaps need to get some more heaters up and running? cue the maniacal laughter.

George, You can't just pile into a large taper without a little rest. But by drawing and building the heat with blows towards the tip, AND resting "tap" every once in a while to realign the eye, ruminate, relax the grip, or spin the hammer to change faces you can pull the taper in one heat. Charging at it with nary a tap, or without a striker, you won't last long enough to do much more than put a point on it. As BillyO stated earlier, and I find this is the case for me, I reposition my hand from top to bottom on the handle on the rebound of the drop onto the anvil face. I do this especially when forging a taper as I move from drawing to finishing. Very few other jobs on the anvil can require such a large amount of time just purely smacking the work. Chamfering door kick plates and trim pieces are about the only other thing I can think of and I definitely give it a break tap or two while I'm trying to get the most out of my heat. Superfluous tapping should be avoided, but tapping definitely has a place.

The metal suppliers usually call that "B" grade. I get calls from one of our local suppliers that brings in large "rem", scratched, dented, rusted and miscuts from their other branches. On really good days I roll out with wholesale scrap prices on several tons. Our other supplier wouldn't dream of making deals like that and they either throw it in their scrap pile or just sell it as "A" grade steel. Because of that I don't shop around..... much, I'm usually getting a good deal. If I pay a couple bucks more for a 20' stick now and then it's a small price to pay for the relationship I have with them. They even deliver for free no matter what! That's usually a mandatory charge from the other suppliers, even if they're going by for another drop off, which can run into the triple digits if you're not paying attention to the final bill. If you're always shopping around for the best price, especially when you're talking about a couple bucks one way or the other, you might be missing a much bigger opportunity. OH, they also recommend us for work for ornamental and fabrication customers and even high grade tire kickers from buyers. HUGE. hmmmm, I need to send those guys some xmas presents.

At times like this it's a mandatory field trip to the scrap yard. These hovered around 1000 - 1200 lbs. The end caps have all been cut off and turned into 4 fire cauldrons. The larger tank cylinder was turned into a monster barrel stove and the smaller was cut up into 3- 16" tall fire rings. The steel was 3/8" thick. Besides needing a forklift and a torch they paid for themselves off of one fire cauldron. Most scrapyards and scrappers don't want this kind of stuff because they still have to chop it up to prepared dimensions so they can found easy enough if you look around. They were additive and condensate tanks for a boiler system.

It's a monster xylophone. Obviously.

10" to a ft. They're rusty already Thomas and my local bladesmith made off with soo much of the good stuff that his little Nissan truck was draggin butt. I have a ton or so left.

I make shingles out of large band saw blades and on the leading edges of the over hang I usually torch them to the melting point with a cutting torch tip. Makes a nice little round blob on the end and it's still obvious that it was a saw blade. You can do that with a Tig welder too but it's tedious.

Kurgan, I like to just wander aimlessly through the rust. Some things will jump out at you. Smaller japanese motorcycle gas tanks make great bodies for long legged birds like herons and storks. Anything that is in abundance is a good bet also to replicate a certain look. Discs from disc harrows and their spacers are one of my favorites. The discs already have a hole and with a little cap resemble the old enamel barn lights that seem to be popular now. Other times I'm looking for a specific look and size and the biggest scrapyards are best when looking for that one thing that will fit perfectly into place with everything else. Alas, we can't find everything we want in a scrapyard......so I've created my own. I'm a pack rat and my scrap pile has grown accordingly, old farm implements disassembled and not, the same for wagons, iron crusties, buckets of failed forgings, scrap steel, rail road garbage, steam valves and gauges. Tons of chain, circular and large bandsaw saw blades and the cast iron bases from old machinery going to meet its maker. Careful what you wish for. :lol:

Looks tight, good build. You're probably going to run a hell of a fire in there before you go to your demo to cook off some paint so you don't off gas yourself and the onlookers?

Rockstar, If bid shopping was a crime in Montana, 3/4 of the architects and builders would be in cuffs. It's a time honored tradition here. The most discouraging part is that it starts at the top. If I turned away every architectural firm that handed me a drawing from another metal shop asking me if I can beat their price I wouldn't have a contact in the state. I even had an architect laugh at my price recently, brag about how cheap he was getting it from someone else, AND THEN!, ask for advice and actual help cleaning up and coloring the final product! Tears? Laughter? Homicide? We all have to eat, maybe I'll start eating architect. What's the best cure/brine/marinade for rotten meat?

I bet they'd just tar and feather you if you told them to put on some PPE.

Thanks for the leads, give's me somewhere to go.

George, I haven't seen your work........but you're too......inexpensive. The lowliest fab shop with a little wire feed welder charges more than $40 an hour for their "metal work". If we were competing for a job in my area and you were charging $40 an hour we would be having some lively conversations. Decide on a minimum charge for material even if you picked up an old bolt for a meat flipper out of the ditch on the way to your smithy. You had the eye to spot the material and the skill to turn it into something. Have you ever seen what a glass blower charges? Not to belittle, but at most times, moving metal around at heat is far more intensive than making a cylinder out of molten glass, yet they charge double what most working smiths would balk at charging. And, sadly, that disparity in pricing falls more on blacksmith's not charging enough, not glass blowers charging too much. The old school craft need not suffer from old school pricing. That being said, sometimes, you have to be open to the idea of being a little generous by not charging for every little thing on the bill. If you pass on a freebie that should be on the invoice also. They won't know that you were giving them a deal if they don't see the "no charge" and a dollar amount next to it.

The blacksmith was the Fab shop. And the local fab shop is the blacksmith. If a shop sends out forged work with fab'd are they a blacksmith or a fab shop?

Frosty, Sounds like you educate just fine. You sent them to Sears.

When in doubt about pricing, allowing that you're trying to make a stab at actually making some money and not taking this on as a hobby, go no lower than the mid range metal fab shops in your area and bump it up from there. On bids I try to go by a per foot cost after I've broken down the job. Be prepared to educate as to why your products cost what they do. Try to keep from giving on the spot estimates on ANY potential job, whether you have blueprints or napkin scribbles.

Anyone have a lead on these? I keep getting online ordering charts when I search. College level supplies? Yup, I know that's a broad request..........I want it all. Alloy composition percentages, liquidus and solidus phase charts. Could there be one heavenly supplier? 2?

I hear nothing but good things about your hammers John and the wisecrack about your prototypes "style" was, well, nothing but a wisecrack. On that note, I'll look for a little King Kong figure. It would look really good hanging from the top of the stepped anvil.

Wikipedia has Bling (in this context) as : Bling (or bling-bling) is a slang term popularized in hip hop culture, referring to flashy, ostentatious or elaborate jewelryand ornamented accessories that are carried, worn or installed, such as cell phones or tooth caps. In other words, polish that thing up. Chrome a handle or two? It does have a kind of Ruskie, Stalingrad kinda feel to it. No seriousness was used in this message, but i still approve it.

this is what Industrial Insurance Corp. has on it's website now. They also have coverage under NOMMA too with Zurich instead of Hartford as the Underwriter. http://www.industrialcoverage.com/displaysection.php?section=Abana_Programs

Very nice, I've been making draw knives for a wood worker friend and he wants a cooper's "In-shave" apparently. But he couldn't find a picture for handle orientation. We also didn't know it was called an "In-shave". Hard to do a little research when you don't know what to call it. Thanks Farmall!

Thanks, Norsman, and Doc. I actually talked to Tony at Lathes.Uk about the Lorch. Haven't talked to him about the Oliver or the Cincinnati. He also wants $65 a listing.

I have some antique lathes and lathe parts that have attached themselves to me. I need to do some more research before I put them in the Tailgating section. Lorch & Schmidt "LL", small Oliver metal lathe (the bed is about 26") and a transmission gearbox for belt drive and tailstock from a 13' or 14' Cincinnati lathe. 2 mini's and a giant. I think the Lorch is a clockmakers lathe. I can't find anything about the smaller Oliver metal lathe. Anyone have any thoughts or people to contact? Thanks