anon_smith

RBrown: If I'm at the August meeting, I'd be glad to answer any questions you have. As Ed said, get the plans for the Kinyon Air Hammer from ABANA, they answer a lot of questions.

HW: Another thing I've done is to make a vertical display surface for things that are (normally) mounted that way, such as lantern brackets, door and cabinet pulls, hooks, etc. The vertical display surface that I use is probably about 20" wide and about 30" tall.

Quenchcrack: I agree, if you're using a gasser that won't get to welding temp, upsetting a 5/8" rod big enough is tooooooooo much like work, and not too easy. I can't remember where I saw it, but there was an article in one of the ABANA chapter newsletters on making an 18th century garden trowel. I thought, hey, this looks neat. I about wore myself out, forging out the blade.

Hmmmmmmm........ I wouldn't say that I make a lot of hand forged nuts and bolts, but it's not at all uncommon for me to. Most recently I made some for an old cane mill in a museum, and that probably the most common reason I make them, for restorations. I can probably forge weld the collar on for the head, square up the head, drill the hole in the nut (square of course), thread the bolt, and thread the nut faster than I can drive to the hardware store.

Another possible issue with using a regular old bolt is that on some post vices (mainly older ones I think) the hole was tapered over it's entire length. An excellent set of 4 articles on making parts for post vices, written by Peter Ross and some other feller was published a few years ago in Anvil Magazine.

I can make one faster than I can find one. :D

Well, I've certainly done that with bolts before. The nuts don't work so well afterward though. :D

Boy, not me, I want a square headed, non-shiney nut and bolt on my 100 and some odd year old post vices. Actually, some of them have a round headed bolt. It looks like a rivet head.

You can use them again.

Uh, aren't we blacksmiths? We can make black bolts.

I haven't built one, but I've used one. I think you'd be better off with a home-built air hammer.

To kind of build on what Don was saying about using the brake drum, what I would do is forge the shape of the crook portion out of something like 1/4" X 1-1/2" or 1/4" X 2", with some extra where the straight portion will be (what I'm talking about is a "J" shape). Weld this to a plate or a piece of angle iron, something you can lock in the vice, and weld a piece of round bar straight up on the short end of the "J" about an inch out so that you can lock the hook portion in it.

Is there a reason you're burning charcoal instead of soft coal? I was actully just estimating soft coal consumption for a college with a blacksmithing program that has 6 forges. I came up with 50 pounds for an 8 hour day.

We wanna learn to puddle? Get a TIG welder then. You can puddle more kinds of metal than you can with an O/A torch.

mike-hr: I don't know the answer to this, so it's not a trick question, but I've heard that the characteristics of the AC 7018 aren't the same as those of the DC 7018. I think the person that told me this was mainly talking about the ease of running a bead. Do you have any knowledge or experience with this?

I used to have the AC 225 and there is certainly nothing wrong with them. I'd rather have one than a small MIG welder, mainly cause you get better penetration. I've seen more bad welds from small MIG welders in the hands of folks that don't have any or a lot of welding experience. Having said that, there are a lot more useful rods that only run on DC, 7018 as an example. Some folks like Miller's version of the AC 225 or AC/DC 225 better, cause the amperage is infinitely adjustable. I think Miller calls theirs the Thunderbolt. I would say this however, stick (no pun intended) with a Lincoln or a Miller.

Ironsmith: I don't remember what alloy forklift forks are, but it was something like 4140. I've known folks that have made powerhammer dies out of them. With regard to making an anvilstake, I guess you have two mounting options: Traditional - make the vertical shank with a collar on it so that it goes into a stump that sits on the floor. Non-traditional - Make the shank long enough so that you can weld it to a heavy steel plate and bolt it to the floor.

Strine: Great link to the bellows making project.

HWooldridge: I wouldn't be "anonymous" anymore if I did that. Phil Rosche

I was just talking about a plain ol' round eye, not welded. The kind you would typically find on the end of an eye bolt. Yes, there are certainly more ways than one to do anything in blacksmithing, but there are some ways certainly better than others. I always try and keep my eyes and ears open to find them. On the other hand, I'd have to say that forming it around the horn is probably quicker. But, I'm just a beginner myself.

You can certainly make a hook without a round horn, but, there are things that you can't do without a round horn, like turn an eye as an example.

JimG: Why are you surprised I mentioned the grinder? Personally, I like them.

Sorry, I gotta say this, but when starting out, you (the general one) should really concentrate on making things the traditional way before you go and start with jigs. But, that's just my opinion, and I realize that this forum isn't about blacksmithing, but about fabricating. So....., you should outsource them.

A lot of sash weights are lead. Fishing sinkers, bullets, ???

get an angle grinder and a bunch of grinding disks, and have at it.