DavidTodtman

I worked in the Columbia River Valley south of Golden, British Columbia on a four-person section gang in the early 1970s. We usually cut rail with a gas powered hack saw running at a slow speed. I cannot recall exactly how long the cut took but I would guess the time was about 20 minutes. While the machine ran, we got to sit, chew the fat with each other, and gaze up at the Rocky Mountain peaks . Occasionally--when we were in a pinch and without our power hack saw, we cut with a scoring chisel (on long handle as noted in the post by Icorps1970). It worked to produce a relatively square and smooth cut. Smooth enough to make an adequate track joint.

Humm... What's the problem? Maybe hot bits would dislodge from the hot metal and melt the wire insulation (plastic covering). I think some form of metal covering would work really well for the power supply. What would you suggest? BX cable? EMT conduit? BTW, MFK, your fab looks great. I too think more pictures would be in order (for us who may wish to steal your ideas!) Best, David

Frosty, are you able to post a picture of what you are describing? Thanks.

When I was young I worked on the Canadian Pacific Railway on a section gang in the Columbia River Valley in the British Columbia rockies. I saw it done that way. Actually, I do not recall the 'drop the rail thing.' I recall scoring the rail all around and then sledging the hardy hard on top of the rail to make the cut. By the way, a whole length of rail--of the older type--is 33' long. Rail was referred to by its weight; all the rail on our section was 125lb rail (125 lbs per foot). The old guys on the section gang really knew how to use jacks and lever arms to move that heavy rail around. All our work was out in the boonies and any sort of crane was absolutely unheard of. At the time I was fresh out of university and thought I knew everything. The guys on the section gang taught me I really didn't. I appreciated that.

So very nice. Stunning. Thanks for the post.

I am left handed and it was really awkward at first. Then I was fortunate enough to get a left-handed hammer and boy what a difference that made!

Very helpful, Frosty. Thanks.

Federal Metals--Calgary, Alberta--informed me today that after 65 years they can no longer sell scrap to the public. Liability (risk of injury to the public) is the issue. They were apologetic and sorry to make the change. I get it and was not really surprised. Federal Metals was the only scrap dealer in Calgary that retailed scrap to the public. (They let me onto the yard one more time, after I promised not to get crushed by one of their loaders.) Is this a reflection of what is happening elsewhere? I suspect there may be scrap dealers in smaller centres in Southern Alberta that still retail scrap to the public and will look around. Ciao, David

Way nice JKindy. I am going to copy what you did. I have some nice 3" schedule 80 pipe in my scrap pile that should do just nicely. You wrote that the base is 24" in diameter but in retrospect larger would be better. If you were starting over today what diameter do you think you'd use (assuming 1/2" base plate)? This, I don't have loafing around in my shop so a trip to the scrap yard is in the offing for me. And, you wrote you "had to get...a welder." Nice. Ciao, David Todtman

These are often refered to as "dry cut saws." I have had one for about 10 years. I dislike abrasive cut off 'saws' because they make sparks (fire hazard), burs, stink, produce airborn ditritus, and leave the cut off ends G_d-awful hot. A dry cut saw cuts clean of burrs. It produces metal chips, not a mixture of airborn fine metal and abrasive dust. It does produce a little heat but I can handle the cut off end and fit it immediatly in place. Blades are pricy but I make thousands of cuts with one blade. Yep, you cannot cut hardened materials--best only for mild steel. Ciao, David

Ditto the suggestion that you check out pottery/ceramics suppliers. I spent hours googling mail order providers and calling local industrial outfits that supply the oil and gas industry here in Calgary, Alberta. Then, I called a ceramics supplier and they knew exactly what I wanted and needed for my blacksmithing forge.

ptree, I did see S4 listed as 'shock steel' and hardenable in a general steel industry listing. But then I also saw S4 listed in the mild steel category by a ring gasket maker. So your point about incompatable material designations makes sense. Thanks. It also makes more sense to me to think that some form of mild steel would be preferable for a compression ring--expected to deform to create the seal. And yah, the stuff marked S316 is stainless. I have some S316 stainless tig rod in my little shop's inventory.

Thanks Doc. I did some more research and found the manufacturer and products made by similar companies. They are compression rings--called ring joint gaskets--used to effect a seal where two pipe flanges come together. These particular flanges are for extremel high pressure applications upwards of 15,000 to 20,000 lbs per square inch pressure. I will test the non-stainless ones for hardening. I will likely end up stick welding them into some sort of garden trellis, I think. Thanks again all.

Thanks Doc. I did some more research and found the manufacturer and products made by similar companies. They are compression rings--called ring joint gaskets--used to effect a seal where two pipe flanges come together. These particular flanges are for extremel high pressure applications upwards of 15,000 to 20,000 lbs per square inch pressure. I will test the non-stainless ones for hardening. I will likely end up stick welding them into some sort of garden trellis, I think. Thanks again all.

Thanks Thomas. Oh, and thanks to the rounders Swedefiddle and Frosty for their very thoughtful 'help.' <grin> On a less prosaic (or goofy) note, it looks like Thomas' link lists it in the tool steel category. I did some other searching and saw some references to it a useful for impact-type tools such as loader bucket teeth. I think it should be dandy, therefore, for making punches and drifts. Anyway I will try it out for that. What's the worst that could happen? My neighbour told me these are rings that are 'keepers' or 'gaskets' of some form to protect elements of oil/gas field pumps during shipping. When they arrive at site, the rings are stripped out and thrown into the scrap bin for pickup by the steel recycler. Ciao, y'all David

So my neighbour came back from a camping trip and brought me these steel rings. The diameters (OD) range from about 15" to 4". They are allmost all the same cross section: about 3/4" thick by 1" deep. (The matchbox is there to help show size.) I think they are oil patch related. (This is Alberta, after all.) So some rings are marked S316. I know that as pretty high grade stainless steel. But the others are marked S4. They look like regular carbon steel (not SS). I think they may have a thin nickle plating. Anyway, is S4 a hight carbon steel? That sort of rings a bell in my head. What I am really getting at is would the S4 stuff be good for making drifts and punches? Thanks in advance. David

Never kick fresh dung.

Well thanks for the responses. The margins are in perfect condition. I guess I will try to sell it. So if I were to purpose buy tool steel suitable for a hardy cut-off tool, what steel would I ask for? David

So I picked this 2"/53mm drill bit up at the scrap yard. (I really do not know why it was scrapped. It is nicked at the cutting edge and they tried, not very well, to sharpen it but otherwise it is in excellent condition.) Anyway, I want to use it to make some hardy tools. I thought I would I have not worked tool steel before. My plan is to work the shank into a hardy cutoff tool. Do I need to anneal it before I cut the shank with a zip cutting wheel (angle grinder)? Do I need to anneal it before forging? What is the process for annealing? Do I simply heat it to red or yellow and let it cool in the gas forge? I don't have a bucket of ash or vermiculite. I wonder if one option would be to get it to the proper colour (red? yellow?) and then just shut off the forge and shove some cerablanket (kaowool) in the forge door to help retain the heat. Ciao, David

Thanks Rob. Nothing coming up with them soon. However, it is a good website and I will keep checking back with it.

Oh Frank, I would not rule out Santa Fe as a place to travel to. Such a beautiful town but I cannot hop on a plane tonight! LOL. For interest sake, what are you charging for the 6 day course? And, how many instructional hours are there in each day?

The topic pretty much says what I am looking for: I want a 2, 3, 4, or 5 day basic course in blacksmithing. I have my own newly built forge, an anvil, and some hammers. I made my first set of tongs and theyt actually turned out okay for a first real blacksmithing project? I also realize, however, that completing one set of tongs by guess and by golly is simply an awkward start. So I sort of know how to mangle metal. But blacksmithing is a skilled craft, and it makes sense that I should have some instruction in the basics from somone who has a degree of mastry. I live in Calgary, Alberta. I can travel anywhere nearby including Alberta, British Columbia, Skaskachewan, Montana, Northeastern Washington State, Montana, Idaho...etc. That's the general area. Maybe I could travel even further but I would really not want to go to, say, North Carolina. I would love some suggestions from practitioners. Best, David

Humm.... That is certainly an interesting question. I have been using the word "Kaowool" because that's the word most often used for refractory wool insulation here and at virtually all the websites I have visited to teach myself how to build a forge. It is interesting to note that it was only when I started to call around in Calgary, Alberta that I ran into "cerablanket." Nobody at the industrial shops--this is Alberta with plenty of very heavy industry dealing with high heat thermal processing in the oil sands business!--I communicated with so much as uttered a peep at the word "Kaowool." They did say, however, 'we have cerablanket.' But nobody corrected me for uttering "Kaowool." Conclusion: Kaowool is like "Kleenex" or "Xerox." A brand name that operates in general use. I got what I needed. Just like you would if you said "Please pass me a kneenex." David

Here are pictures of my completed forge. This shows the forge from the side including the gas delivery manifold. The manifold slides in for storage. It slides out for operation--to keep the minfold away from the hot forge body. (I know preheated gas might be advantageous but.....) The second picture shows the upper portion of my burner. It works very well I think. The 1/8" brass nipple runs through a 3/8" shaft collar. The collar has a set screw and I used that to secure the position of the tip once it seemed properly positioned. This burner was quick to make and dead easy to ensure the tip was centred. I tig welded this but I think it could be oxy/aceteline brazed or maybe even silver soldered with a propane solderning torch. Other pictures of my forge--earlier stages--can be seen in previous post here. Other pictures: one is a front shot. The other shows the interior. I used a kiln fire brick for the forge floor. The brick was soft enough to shape with a drywall saw and rasp to fit the bottom of the forge. I will have to see if the brick stands up to use. I used the forge today for about 45 min to shape two blanks for a set of forge tongs. The tong blanks are a little crude but with some grinding and filing will be just fine for a first forge project. Best, David