jwms

My wife tells me I am always wrong. Seems to be a common condition between the sexes!!!! Or am I wrong on this too?!?!?!

the heat should not be a problem. fumes on the other hand!!!! as long as the forge is not right against the sheet metal it should be ok. The heat may discolor the outside of the the sheet metal where it is painted if you build it close but you could put in a sheet metal air gaped inside wall to mitigate the issue.

oroshigane is also a grater used in the kitchen! just an fyi!! hehehe for very small melts such as for rings and necklaces you can use an old microwave oven. there are several sites that discuss using this method and have some good info. Just as a note microwave ovens are basically an uncoupled induction furnace. If you preheat pyrex class to get a spot at red heat, pop it into the microwave, you can continue to add energy to the spot and melt the glass.

knew it swelled some but have never tried it in a large batch... thanks for the info!!!!!

like the det cord idea! hmmmmm

now I have an idea on how to mount my vise so it is movable. Thanks for the post!!! Love the internet. Here are people from all over the world - literally - sharing questions and ideas and making new friends!!!

YES! like the folded over corners!!!!

got mine from Tacoma Screw. 1" acme, 5 tpi 1 ' long and 2 nuts, less than $40.00 plan on making the box from black pipe and the end a small ( motorcycle) ball hitch. handle will be a 2" trailer ball. 1 1/8th" id spherical washer on the handle end for the thrust washer.

the PAC NW area around Seattle is poor for these as well. $350-400 seems to be the range if "local". got on for just over $200 plus shipping that needed a spring and screw and nut. All easy to do so got it. I AM VERY PLEASED!!!!! 5" Colombian? dropped forged, manufacturer didn't even clean the arc splatter from the welding so assume Depression era. Will do a thread here when done with pics to help anybody thinking of fixing one up.

HammerHeart, any idea who makes your vise? Just got on exactly like it almost 2 weeks ago and have been working on restoring it.

David, love the corbels. I need 12 and will make them look as close as I can to those you made. Hope you don't mind because they are for my own use.

pretty cool though. will keep it in the back of my mind. for tires i use my farm jack and the door to my shop. set the jack on the tire, length of 4x4 up to the door jamb and all set.

another note. Acme screw stock locally costs just under $19 per foot in 1" dia. 5tpi. nuts run under $9 for one 1.5" long. picked it up at a place called Tacoma Screw here locally. plan to look up repair here in the forum but thinking of a trailer hitch ball for the handle and a really small one for the finial on the box.

My local city maintenance shop kind of laughed at me when I asked. They said I could own one but needed to keep the bill of sale from a supplier! EXPENSIVE was something else they mentioned. Thermite is not an explosive but if confined the heated air can generated tremendous amounts of pressure. How about the split round stock idea but weld it to some angle iron for a drop in? Thanks to Frosty for the spelling of 'idiots'. I use idjits all the time but never did learn how to spell it. Hated English when I was in school!

if you are green around the gills.

just bought one like this one! showed up 2 days ago. mine has a full length leg. not as rusty but no spring, screw and box nut. what caught my eye when i got it is the hole in the legs is not round or have a teardrop shape in the older forged ones. like this one , it has holes that have square sides, rounded top, v shaped bottom with a key for the tab on the nut box. I have both sides of the pipe jaws, one was held with a square headed bolt and nut, the other with a nail that was bent over. paid just over $200. a third of the cost was the shipping. mine weighs in at 65 pounds so would be more with the screw and nut. I think I got a GREAT DEAL!!!! prices here are crazy in the NW and getting one from the midwest or great plains states run 2-3 times what i paid due to shipping. ANY IDEAS WHO MAKES IT??????? the other thing that caught my attention was the pivot plates were welded in the middle of the leg and not along the back side. the weld splatter was never cleaned off from manufacturing. there are no markings on mine anywhere. It is "new" as it is drop forged and the pipe jaws appear to be cast but I have not started to clean it up and do a spark test on them. the mount is plain plate steel with a U retaining bolt. don't know why the bottom of the post is so pitted or the pivot area.

there is a guy in Oregon (US) that makes a wood fired forge. Whitlox Forge, saw it on youtube and seems to be a good idea. Funny how I live in a town that was the third largest in the state of Washington at one time due to the coal mined in the area. Black Diamond is the name. go figure!! can buy coal locally but when my son asked how much it was they asked how many train cars he wanted!! plenty of trees and free wood.

Frosty needs a torch, cold up there! hehehe... in the SW, just put it out in the sun for an hour and it will be hot on its own.

we have a place here in the Seattle area called Tacoma Screw, years ago bought and acme screw (2' long, 2 in dia, and nut) to build an apple cider press. will be looking to get another for a vice i just got. trying to id it now. will cobble up a box for the nut. Jealdi, looks like the screw box is on backwards! the screw looks like it came from a vise off a woodworkers bench.

just picked up a vise and was thinking of looking for a manhole cover for a base. I see them all over the place but most are in use covering funny holes in the ground. hehehe.. thinking about checking with the local city utility department and see if they have any ideas. for the holes in the jaws, how about thermite? easy to get and use, have to make a dam around the jaws out of refractory material. set up is like casting liquid metal but everything is room temp until you light it off. tons of youtube vids on the stuff. made it from scratch for fun a few times.

had a car when i was a kid that got struck. We were in it at the time. Scarred us all half to death. My mom was afraid to get out because the car was insulated by the tires. My dad drove the car to a steel pole in a parking lot and ran the bumper up to it. left a scratch on the bumper from the contact but we buffed out the spot in the paint a few days later. none the worst. Again, planes get struck all the time, so do light poles. ground wires sometimes get fried down the pole but stay intact so assume an anvil will just site there fat dumb and happy.