David Edgar

Thank You Arftist ,Frosty, Yahoo and others for your replies. I have now got a different mixer for my shank that suits all my nozzles, I am now kitted out for heating, cutting and brazing with oxy Propane and Acet. As Charlotte and Arftist pointed out the nozzle end is suitable for both fuel gases, so long as the hoses and regs are specific. your replies helped a lot. thanks David.

I put my OXY ACET equipment into storage and invested in an OXY Propane torch, hose,regulator andspark arresters for cutting and heating. I now want to do some brazing and hard silver soldering, but cannot get a flame controllable enough. I have tried googling for specific nozzles for brazing with oxy propane without success.What am I missing? Should I just be using OXY ACET welding torch and nozzles with my Oxy propane hoses,regs etc to get a smaller flame? I DO NOT want to return to ACET. .I have read this thread twice and the only reference to a brazing tip was by Frosty. Help please.

Thanks for that link Thomas.I was born and brought up in an Ayrshire town called Kilwinning, where the original Mother Lodge number 0 of the Masonic Order exists( thought to have been founded by the stone masons from France and Germany) who built Kilwinning Abbey, about 100 yards from there was the Public House run by the family and descendants of Robert Service who is well known locally for his poems and stories of the " Yukon gold rush", this is the first reference I have seen to him since my younger days, so I enjoyed reading the poems in your link.I shall try to read more of his work in future. I have always been more attached to the poems of Robert Burns, another Ayrshireman who co-incidently also had ties to the aforementioned Mother Lodge

Isaac Hill made anvils at his factory in Digbeth, Birmingham, from 1810. My 350 lb Hill does not have a pritchel hole, but as Thomas P informed me pritchel holes were not introduced until 1830. Compared to my everyday 2 1/2 cwt anvil the Hill is more quiet with a wonderful rebound,I paid £50.00 equivalent to $150.00 for it and love it.

Dress the end and it would make a good monkey tool.

He keeps a good hot fire, albeit a bit on the big side for me. I would be thinking how much it was costing in fuel. I am envious of his energy and skill.

I was always told "Anything more than a handful is just a waste"

Scotland is a big place Stephen, join BABA and get a list of members and their addresses, find one who is local to you.

Sorry to hear about your storm damage Alan, we just about got away with it over here, the forecast is not too good for the rest of the week tho'. Are the buildings repairable or will insurance build new ones?

I use 6 or 8mm rubber under the legs, Any twist or movement will return to the original position.My Fly Press has been in the same position for 30 years and is not bolted down, however, it is a solid base/ table weighing nearly as much as the large press. Does any one have a quick fix for making the collars to go around the 1" shaft to take the weight and stop the shaft mushrooming in its hole, or do I have to keep on making rings out of square stock and welding them on? I am in the process of designing my tooling for a quick change between my fly press with 1" socket and my hyd. press with 40mm socket in the ram.

The Flamefast chip forge is popular in schools in UK. It costs about £3000+ new. Depending on the gas jet (which is easily changed) for either Propane or Natural gas,max heat is lower on Nat. gas models as the pressure is lower. Propane runs hotter and will melt mild steel but produces a lot of scale as it has an air blower. The torch is very convenient for localised heat or lighting a coke forge. The gas and air mixture is pumped into a plenum chamber beneath the burner which is similar to the ribbon burners I have seen pictured, a ceramic disc with lots of small drilled holes about 1/8" size. This disc is about 6" diameter. It needs about 12kg. of ceramic chips which costs about £60 from Flamefast. Length of heat is same as coke/coal forge, as is the footprint on shop floor. Gas consumption is fairly high,but no doubt could be adjusted down. It is easy to use for the small shop but is no longer popular in the larger pro shop. Hope this helps.

Lovely knives and a great view of the hedgerow as a bonus.

Thank You Frosty for both of your posts, shop organisation and Grandma's observations. I have such a clutter in my shop it is a bother to clear a space around my Powerhammer/ hydraulic press /gas forge/ironworker, so I can work. Re best tools, apart from my Mig welder, I have found the slim cut-off discs a real boon. Re Grandma's observations, every era has its own moments of wonder, my kids take them all for granted as if mankind has always had them. I cannot get them to put their latest "smart" phones down long enough to have a conversation.They have lost the art of "listening" "C'est la vie".

Hope you have lots of fun with your hammer, the dies look like new. How old is it?

Probably me as it is nice and local,I shall wait however to see who is confirmed for demos before saying for definite. Thanks for posting info here as I do not use FB regularly.

Nice to see you posting again David, Missed your input.

Bryan, I know you have already got your steel, but if you have to make more of them,as history suggests, if it was me I would get the leaves laser or plasma cut to your preferred size and profile and then hammer some shape and texture into them. Same goes for the grapes, profile out the shape of the bunch then push out the grape shape as suggested above, leaving a tag for rivetting them on.good luck. BTW what is a chafing rack?

Thanks for that Tubbe, I always enjoy your videos.

This is my favourite, "Steerso tuff" made in USA great value and quality,have a look. http://www.ukwelder.com/shop2/shop_index.php?page=weldas_aprons

mums always like a rose or two,especially from their son,in steel or copper of course.

Once again thank you for giving me all the answers, I am pleased that the press will give me nearly 11 tons on the down stroke as it is not too slow either. I will now do as you say and work backwards from the answer towards the questions . Thanks Highsider. I feel quite guilty that you have done all this work. If we ever meet up I owe you several drinks of your choice. David

Highsider,while you are still here, so to speak.Before you disappear back into the ether.The press I built without doing any sums, can I reverse the formula above to get an idea of the force it exerts, (F?) where my cylinder diameter (A?) is 125 mm (5") and the maximum pressure reading I can get on the gauge is 1250 psi from a power pack driven by a 2.2 kw motor (3hp?) I do not know the size of the pump. The cylinder stroke is only 200mm (8") and ram diameter is 60mm. would that be ? F=pressure (P)(A) = tons?? Force = 1250 x 5= 6250lbs Or Have I got it wrong? Don't forget I am a Numpty. Thanks David

Thank you so so much for going to all that trouble Highsider, I really didn't know where to start. My son will be over the moon to know this idea of his is viable. I know I will get the job of welding up the frame and ordering the bits. When it is finished I will give you the full background and details and of course photos if my wife does it for me. I hope the info Highsider has posted will be of interest to many more other than Alan and myself. Thanks again to all who took an interest. David

Yes sorry,the hydraulic ram has to create a vertical, reciprocating movement of 300mm @ 30 cycles/ min. The load of 1000 kg is a bit over the top, 500 kg might do it. it has to be 240 volt single phase as well. the limit switches and speed control have to be programmeable (sp) with a buffer at each end of the travel. This is all I know so far. If no one can help, do not worry about replying. It was a shot in the dark that someone could help.Even just knowing if it is possible in principle would be an important step forward. Thank you Arftist for taking the time.

Well done Andy. I hope you enjoy it and inspires you. I saw it on eebay and asked myself the question -Will it make me better? sadly in my case it would take more than a new hammer, so I didn't join in. Make some nice stuff with it