Dave Shepard

With development of muscle memory, I can do anything equally well with either hand, except throw a ball, which I can't do with either hand. :rolleyes:

I switch back forth all the time. I generally don't care which hand I'm using for most anything. I have a bad right shoulder, and I timber frame full time and I will switch to the left when it gets so bad I can't hold my right up. When I first started to switch back and forth, it took a little while to build up the muscles on my left arm so the mallet felt right, but since then, no problems.

Thanks for the input. Fe-Wood, I was thinking of doing just that. My concern is that I won't get it clean enough down in the crack to get a good weld. My other option is to cut it back to good weld and put a long handle on it and use it as a mini slick. It's a shame it broke, it was about the nicest framing chisel I've seen.

I've got what was a really nice Witherby framing chisel that delaminated on me and I'm wondering if I can weld it back together. I've talked to a friend of mine who says he tried it on one of his, but couldn't get it to stick. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

I've seen the rasps folded on a block of wood to save the scales.

I figured it out, most of your steel is missing Brendon. :(

I can't help with the catalog, but I was surprised to see the name. I was at our annual blacksmiths get together, and a friend had a Canedy Otto forge. It was the exact same as my Champion. Only difference was the casting with the names on it. Was it common for one manufacturer to make products for more than one company?

Rust Reaper uses oil of wintergreen, it's available here. I use the heat and cool method. Get it darn hot and quench as quickly as possible. There is a chemical reaction that gets rid of the rust. Nobody has mentioned straight water yet. It will "soften" rust, believe it or not. Next time you have a pair of pliers or tongs that are really stiff, swish them in the slack tub and work them back and forth, and keep dipping as needed. In a about a half a minute, they will usually move like new. Try it before you doubt it. As a chemist friend told me, why try to shove some huge fancy chemical chain into a crevice when water is one of the smallest compounds out there.

I was given a Buffalo 162H agricultural forge last week. We built new legs for it, and I've got to get a belt made and a new lever for the blower. It appears the grate is also missing in the fire pot. Can I still get one of these? I know some forge parts are still available, but not sure for which forges. I'll get a pic up soon. Also an electric blower, I think it was a No. 3 Buff., and some tongs, including a set that has two parallel jaws about a foot wide. Pics of those will be forthcoming also.

We make a lot of hooks in the shop at Hancock Shaker Village. It is a fast enough demo that most kids will stay focused. As mentioned it shows many operations: drawing out, forming a small scroll, twisting, cutoff hardy, and the post drill. We also make drive hooks instead of a nail hole sometimes. If we get a group that wants to get their moneys worth, we'll break out the nail header and make them some nails to give them. Dave

I didn't have much luck welding it. Got about an inch per heat. There was also a lot of scale. We played with other things today, so maybe next weekend we'll try folding it and see what happens. I quenched it, and it's definately brittle. Dave

Thanks Rich. The bands are from a Wood-Mizer mill. They are .055x1.25"x13'2" long. They are not a "tipped" band, no carbide, and not bi-metal that I know of. You can see some temper colors on the very tips of the teeth, I believe it is induction hardening. If it's not good for knives, I'll find somthing else to make with it. Probably hooks, I know how to make those. I'm going to try and go to the forge tomorrow, will report back after I've given it a shot. Thanks. Dave

I'm thinking of making a knife blank, or possibly just a hunk of workable steel, by welding a band from a sawmill over and over. I don't know what the steel is made from. If I draw it out and weld it, will it make damascus? I don't know anything about damascus. Thanks. Dave

There is a 6' double acting bellows were I demo, and I have a hand crank Champion rivet forge. I also have an as yet unscrutinized electric forge blower at a friends house. May be using this for a small foundry activity, it's supposed to be big. Dave

Thanks for the replies. I have seen cast iron rivet forges that have instructions to line them cast right into the bottom of the pan, so they must want you to do it. The grate is about an inch higher than the bottom of the pan, I am thinking this is to allow for the lining. It is a Champion forge. Dave

I broght home a little rivet forge last fall, and before I fire it up I'd like to line the firepot with something. What is best? I've been told to use either fireclay or firebricks chopped to fit in the bottom. Thanks. Dave

Green coal is just coal that hasn't been cooked into coke yet. When you burn the impurities off of coal you get a lot of green and yellow smoke. Dave

I don't know how widespread Aubachon Hardware is, but my local store carries smithing coal. It's from Blaschak Pa. I emailed them for an analysis, and it came back pretty low on ash. It worked good, very little clinker and no stones. $7.50/50lbs. The stuff we are burning now at the village is so bad I complain when I find coal in my stone pile. Dave

We burn green coal, so we have to make coke as we forge throughout the day. This doesn't present too much trouble. If I don't have any coke to start the fire, I start a fire with some wood scraps and newspaper. When it is going good, I start adding the green coal. Put a bunch on and put the air to it. You will see why it's called green coal. After the smoking stops, you should have a nice pile of coke, and a red hot fire, so get forging! We put a pile of green coal at the back of the fire, and pull it in with a little hook we made. I will even clean out the clinker and ash in the fire to get it good and clean, and shovel some of it to the back of the forge for storage. When we go to lunch, we mound up the fire with green coal to make coke while we are away. Dave

That is a great hook. Very good job on the tapers! Dave

I know what you mean about having all of the tools on hand. Here on the farm, we have most everything but the plasma cutter. I hate going to a friends house to fix something and thinking, oh I'll just throw this in the fire and we'll fix it right up. Or, what do you mean you don't have a TIG welder and lathe? Dave

Rickets, he he. So I should drink a glass of milk when I straighten the leg out? Dave

I have been wanting a post vise for a while now, as I am trying to set a forge at my house, but didn't have the money for one. Well, I was given a decent one that needs a mounting plate a few weeks ago. Yesterday I was helping a friend and we got talking about blacksmithing, he gave me these, said he wasn't going to do anything with them. The one in the middle is a Columbian, the one on the left needs a spring, and a bunch of TLC, and the monster on the right needs a whole bunch of TLC. I have never seen a post vise this big before, it is a beast. Dave

If you beat your carpenter friend senseless because he gave you a measurement that ended in"..and a heavy eighth". I just cut stuff an extra couple inches long when someone does that to me. I tell them sorry, I don't know how to use those big numbers. Dave

I finally got a chance to bring home my little rivet forge today. I got it from the same person who gave me the bender, notcher, nibbler, that I posted earlier in the thread. I also have a small post vise from him. The forge is made by Champion. It will be nice to have a forge at home now, as I haven't had time to go to the Village, as I really should spend the whole day if I am going to go there. Dave