gote

Yep it mostly refuses but but the text is not lost. It can be reposted, shortened or put in a new thread. I agree GRRR - I am not allowed to write what I mean. I really feel sorry for Glenn who has this mess on his hands. Göte

A quick and easy is to make an 'U' of suitable stock and stick it in the vise. Göte

I always mark it and hit Ctrl+C before submitting. Then I can repost using Ctrl+V.

No Charles. The Norwegian is not a relative. He also said" A woman can ask me to do something - or tell me how to do something but not tell me how to do what she asked me to do." Besides, I do as you do and for similar reasons. Cheers Göte

Yes when trying to get away from being stuck in snow - Not when driving of course. The trick is to rock the vehicle free. Surely you know that. This was so obvious to me that I did not make it clear sorry. Göte

My mother used to say with Irony about dubious snippets of info: "I read it in the paper so it must be true." or "I heard it from someone ho told it himself so it must be true. " Internet is not different from other sources. There is misinformation and information. The internet makes it possible to find information quickly and to check that information quickly. Books are also full of misinformation. Just to give one: The venerable and very useful Bealer believes in "packing" (You did too. Oops sorry) The ever doubting Göte

Part of the problem that I see is that some people are being paid for wrecking other in the guise of helping the poor souls. We are getting into a situation where it is supposed to be something wrong with you if you are not delicate and in need of help. It is heading into a direction when it is a symptom of mental illness to be able to cope with adverse circumstances (like being ordered around by a curmudgeon LOL).

Remember to drive into something cheap when you want to stop! I think you all would agree that when using tools and machines it is important to have feedback from the tool. To feel the file lying flat on the piece. To feel the lever clicking into position. To feel that the hot cut is in the same place the second time you hit. Driving in snow is the same. Feel that the wheels are starting to spin and reverse immediately. Nowadays I drive an Audi Quattro with pneumatic suspension and studded tyres. It takes all the fun out of it.

I remember the Norwegian guy who stated: "There is no strange mechanism in a toilet seat that only a male can operate. If you want the seat down, PUT IT DOWN!" He said a lot of other wise things as well as "don't ask me if you look fat - it only causes trouble" LOL

Thank you Charles

I did not even get a forbidden this time The cart springs Wayne have acquired are fully elliptic springs. The spring you find on an old car or truck are half elliptic. Old Bugattis had quarter elliptic on the rear axle. In all cases, the leaves are bolted together in the thickest point which in the case of semi-elliptic or elliptic spring is where the axle is fixed. Everywhere, except there, the leaves rub against each others when the spring flexes. Since there is some kind of plate holding the spring at the middle the spring cannot flex where the plate is but the flexing starts just outside the plate. You all know that if you hold a flexible bar in the vise and bends it, it will bend most at the vise and not at all at the end. The end moves but does not bend. When you deform the bar it will bend permanently at the vise because the bending moment is highest there. The whole idea in leaf spring design is to distribute the material in such a way that the stress is uniformly distributed so no part is subject to more stress than another. The result is that the spring always follows a circle. When it flexes, it flexes uniformly so the bending radius is everywhere the same. This is flexing due to bending. We cannot follow this principle exactly because we have a uniformly distributed shear force on top of the moment and the main leaf is made thicker in order to take up the resulting stress. (or there is a second leaf of the full length). This way there is also material available to make up the eye. For this reason the spring actually bends less at the ends. Yes a spring that is designed well bends most in the middle and less at the ends but the difference in radius is not great. I hope this is clear. English is not my native language you know Göte

You did not ask about it but I cannot help myself. I must show off what i have learnt. There is a good reason why the spring is made up from blades each one shorter than the previous. In this case a main blade with two more. The spring is subjected to a bending moment and a shear force. The moment is zero at the far end and maximum at the fixed end – in this case the middle. If you want to keep the resulting stress in the blade constant you need to make the spring triangular; wide at the fixed end and tapering towards the other. This is impracical so the theoretical triangle is cut into strips and these put on top of each others. The result is the spring you have. The three blades would make up the triangle if laid side by side. The result of this design is that the stress, caused by the bending moment, is nearly constant in all three blades over the whole length. If it were only the bending moment, the spring could be very thin at the end. However, there is also the shear force to take up. Unlike the bending moment, the shear force is constant over the length of the spring and material able to take this force must be added. For that reason the main blade usually is sturdier than the triangle would call for. At the same time this gives material enough to shape the ”hinge” at the end. I hope this was not too boring and bemuddled Cheers Göte

because forbidden As has been pointed out, you can have any number of shapes and cuts but you have to start somewhere. Your first file should be a medium fine cross cut flat one 8-10 inches long (the business part. Handle is above that) flat on both sides and uncut on one of the small sides, That one will remove metal reasonably fast if you learn how to use it. (how to use it is another of those arts)The second one should be a draw file to smooth out what you did with the first one. Third would be a medium cut round one. But from that on, you will know by yourself what you need. New files bought here in Sweden always have handles with holes in them so I keep the ones I mostly use, hanging on nails on the wall. That prevents them from damaging each others in a box. By the way, A triangular is better for making square holes than a square one is. Hope this helps Göte

In my part of the world it is common to nip the point off the nail when nailing close to the end of the board. This gives a chisel shape and the edge is put perpendicular to the wood fibres. This decreases the tendency to split the wood. Göte

All Swedish store bought nails are made from square stock. That is not a regular geometric square more a very blunt star. They are supposed to have a better grip than round ones but I have no figures on that.

You wrote that there was more shock. Do you mean that the handle ”hit back” into your hand? No hammer should do that in normal use. I only experience it if I miss a hit. You have got some good advice already. Try to chek out what happens when you hit. If the hammer head hits a hard object close to the edge of the hammer it causes a rotational force that may transmit to the handle as vibration. If you get tingling fingers this is a warning. If you go on this way you will damage your hand/arm. I do not mean tomorrow or next week even next month but eventually you will have a problem. This is what happens to careless panel beaters. Göte

Lawn jockey, I resent your idea that experienced people are arrogant. Arrogance is something that ususlly comes with and is caused by ignorance. I have very high regard for the knowledge of those you call ”old people” and I do NOT find them arrogant. I find them extremely helpful. However, I as well as other experienced people (this is not confined to blacksmithing) are sometimes irritated by people who want to waste our time and/or exhibit ignorance based arrogance. I have lost very large amounts of money because such people managed to get the upper hand and I think I am entitled to be irritated about that. I suggest that you read the thread again and do some of the rethinking you advocate. Then I suggest that you start answering all questions from swordsmith wannabees so the chestthumping old people can get some peace of mind. Göte the geront.

RE Dunning-Kruger Effect Bertrand Russel pointed out that people usually fight for ideas that they cannot really defend by good arguments. Nobody fighs for that 2+2=4 but there have been wars over which race should have supremacy. Thus if someone is defending his point of view very vehemently it means that he is probably wrong (and proably feels that wihin). Göte

I have made a few straight edges by straightening at the same time as I make the bevel. Meaning that I put the edge on the anvil and hammer on the back. It is the usual ”bang bang bang turn ninety degrees bang bang turn back”. The edge hardly deforms at all since the contact surface is fairly large especially in the beginning when the edge is still very blunt. Easier than it sounds Göte

No doubt old threads are full of valuable info. There is a small small snag, however. All pictures are gone so the info becomes meaningless. Observations by a fool i.e. me Göte

That was the cause. the steel burns meaning that it oxidizes in the grain. The internal cohesion of the material is gone. you have turned a plastic hot material into a brittle junk that can only be used by stell wrks as scrap. .

Nice letter openers/butter knives. I might steal the design for a couple of a couple of Christmas presents. I have a telephone connected to the copper grid. The burglar alarm still needs that. One of my grandchildren (who owns a cell phone) saw the phone and asked "what is this?" Have a nice weekend Göte PS I use snail mail letters when I want to call attention. Just as I use hand sign when needing to get into a file of cars. It is surprising that people who would ignore blinkers let you in if you get the window down and use a hand sign

I have no experience of sucker rod - they do not exist here but looking at the pictures I get a feeling that the stock has been overheated. Silly questions but did you get sparks at some time during the process? Göte

I forgot to say that I have routed the outline of the anvil footprint so it stands 1/4" lower than the surface of the stump. That prevents it from "walking" but I have not noticed any kind of movement within that confinement. Maybe it has something to do with the shape of the lower part of the anvil. Mine is more solid than the London pattern.

Very nice (and it is a torii 鳥居) Göte