Grant

Thanks Grant -It would seem that some "unyielding surface" is less unyielding than others. -grant

Tim -check out this thread -grant

Thanks Grant. I'm not trying to promote my sophomoric ideas I am trying to understand the forces involved and I'm a firm believer in anecdotal evidence. But, it is hard for me to imagine that the steel/iron in an anvil is deflecting with the blow. I am not saying it is not true; it is just hard for me to image it. -grant

Good morning All Is there an efficiency argument to be made for a larger mass anvil. If one is not driving the anvil through the planet does a 150 lb anvil offer more resistance to the iron than a 75 lb one? -grant

Good Morning all Very elegant as usual 3B. I see you revisited the Habermann bend. Are you getting ready for Valentines Day? -grant

Good morning all Thanks CVMikeRay for the interest. Initially I wanted to use the drawer upside down however there are stiffeners spot wielded on the bottom side that would have to be removed. Even upside down I would like to narrow the drawer for aesthetic reasons. If the 1.25" angle iron frame around the outside of the box does not adequately stiffen the table I will weld the lip of the drawer to the angle. I might do this anyway to clean up the cut lip. I like the looks of a brick floor but I want to keep the fire pot open to the lower lip. The plan is to further lower the side of the table to match the lower lip of the fire pot on both sides. -grant

Good morning all Progress, the clinker breaker is now free and the fire pot is dusted off and the rusted bolts removed; some removed easier than others. The Tuyere now will bolt to the fire pot however the clinker breaker will not rotate completely under the fire pot. The breaker does not clear the domed portion of the fire pot. One can rotate the breaker over the slot on one side of the fire pot then rotate around to the slot on the other side, but not through the center. One then could use their poker to clear the center slot, this should clear the debris. Is this how it was designed to work? Also, were the carriage bolts, the ones that attach the fire pot to the tuyere, changed on regular basis? The heads on these were fairly well fused to the inside of the fire pot. –tks grant

Good Morning All I laid out and cut the firepot hole. It is centered 15" from the side vent edge of the table. There is an additional 8" of table on the other side. The hole is a 1/4" oversize to allow for expansion. Here are the pictures of the process and the firepot setting in the hole. One picture has the drawer upside down the other with the drawer right side up. At first blush the one with the drawer right side up seem to make the most sense. -tks grant

Good morning all The plan is to transmute the rivet forge into a tire forge using the assembled pieces. We are currently using the pictured rivet forge for our traveling forge and desire “more robustness.” The general idea for this tire forge is biased on one in “A Blacksmithing Primer” by Randy McDaniel. The pictured tire forge with the very elegant side vent is his. I think I will cut the hole for the fire pot in the drawer and then decide which end is up. The two options I see are to use the drawer right side up sitting it in an angle iron frame or upside down covering a 1” square tube frame. Then cut the side of the drawer to the appropriate height and add support and bracing where needed. Initially I thought to set the forge on a couple of iron saw horses and eventually put it on a pair of wheels, ala Dick Nietfeld. All opinions are welcomed. Finally, for this post, are there quick and dirty flat plate flanges for the air connections on the blower and tuyere? Thanks for all the help with this. There are tons of your posts that allowed me to get to this point. -grant

Good Morning All Frank et all -what is your recommendation for production quench oil for black smith heat treating? Most established Smiths have a five gallon bucket they have had for so long the oil is no-longer produced. Frank's name comes up in some of these discussions, something about a 55 gallon barrel outside under a shade tree. I resurrected a post about a Shell product, Voluta, hoping to build a consensus, even their oil has three versions and multiple viscosities in each version. I'll keep the 55 gallon drum under the shade tree if we can determine what we want. PS -Frank, I do "figure eight it" however I learned from someone who probably learned it from you. -grant

Good morning all: Lyman -did you find a consensus on production quench oil? I printed the link you furnished and was hoping that there would be a discussion on production quench oil for blacksmith heat treating. Even in the Shell Line there are 3 different products, each with several viscosities. -tks grant

Good morning all HWHII -that is a very good looking building. Do you hold services there on the week ends? -grant

Good Morning All Nudge, where are you and this blower located? -grant

Good Morning All Gentlemen, thank you for your considered responses. Do the facilities that provide material and own the production have a smith on staff? How do they determine the product line and production runs? Thanks again -grant

Good Mourning All Do any of you have or know of arrangements between the demonstrator and the Park (public owned smithy) to sell their forged items during regular demos at the park? Will you share the details: name of the park, what is the split, do you run the sales through the park with commission to the smith or visa versa, do all items reflect the time period of the park, general pitfalls and things I am missing. There must be tons of stuff I'm not thinking of; your help is appreciated. -grant

Good Morning All That must be them, thanks Doug, they are even called Ear Defenders. Mark's looked like the Max 200 Filtered Earplugs, the top set on link you provided. I found this Utube video the beginning of the video is part of the story/discussion that I refereed to in an earlier post about a Rocky Mountain Smith's Conference Video. -grant

Good Morning All JP - Those are some very intricate trinkets. I agree with Brian about the addition of the hoop on your fork. Classes the fork "right up". How is the towel rack design to mount? Will the 2 leaf side be mounted to the wall and the hinged side pivot into the room as necessary? Finally, are these trinkets the Alaskan version of chocolate and silk hose? -grant

Good Morning All Who'd of thought it. When I first read this thread I thought it was a goof! The only ramps I knew about were the ones used to roll stuff up bumps. Looks as if I have another reason to take a Southern road trip. Thanks for the heads up. -grant

Thanks JH -Mark was talking several hundred dollars, but I expect stories, told to make a point, at Demos are fairly well dramatized. -grant

Frost Man -They looked more like this, http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net/jbcuearpl.html the orange ones, than muffs. Mark spoke of orchestra musicians wearing them and then told of his experience of picking up his original pair and wearing them out of the store; thinking they did not work until he got home, took out the trash, and noiselessly broke some glass bottles. Noiselessly to him anyway, of course there is the bit about the tree falling in the forest, you know about that. Also, I have seen the same thing in race car drivers ears as they put on their balaclava, of coarse they have the additional helmet, but they still carry on a conversation on the radio and can presumably hear it as the engine comes from-togetherness -grant PS I thought I got "ear defenders" from Mark. It could be my misinterpretation of what MA said or I could of dreamed it. PSS Please Excuse me Frost Man; I will not mention it again!

Good Morning All I was hoping Mark Aspery would chime in on this. He recommends ear defenders. My understanding is this is a fairly pricey device that is personally fitted to you at your hearing center. The type used by musicians and may be the device the NASCAR boys and girls use. They allow all usual sound through while blocking the harmful decibels. Is anyone familiar with these? I think this SOUNDS like a great idea. However, I saw MA demo in Colorado Springs and he repeatedly removed and replaced them, while on a Rocky Mountain Smiths conference video they were in the entire time with the normal conversation that accompanies a demo, including a decision about the ear defenders. I was hoping to clear this up. Can one install them in the morning wear them all day, san lunch, and carry on regular conversation, monitor machines, hear the birds chirp and be protected. Does one need to add muffs when using a power hammer, or Corkerizeing. -tks grant

Good Morning All I agree with Mr. Powers. I believe your stand is the bottom of a cream separator. Mount a cast iron or stamped steel tractor/implement seat on your stand and you will have a nice low stool for your spectators. -grant

Thanks Grant; initially I did not understand. Then on the second read with the help of TD's post, I got it. A little thick today. Actually, at first I thought it was another post about Frosty -tks grant

Frost man -I see everyone in the first photo with some kind of hearing protection. Are you still a little fuzzy? Oh by the the way, now that your are mostly back what are you asking for your chain saw? -grant

Good morning all This stand is very slick, especially the asymmetrical table. Is the 29" table height or the measurement from the earth to top of jaws? -thanks grant