CBrann

You don't staple the wire to the post.. you just wrap it around twice... pull tight.. it'll stay for decades......

John NC WHere would be the fun in that?? .. all that latin stuff... some of us like confusion... When I was in Texas I saw the "horse apple trees " wondered what they would be good for... I grew up In Maine... Anybody ever play with an Australian gum woods?? They got a wood down there that looks a bit like twisted fiber ... like a tree that grows like a cable with twisted strands twisting around a core.. it has no grain .. makes great decks though...

We have a tree up here we call "hornbeam" or "hop hornbeam" wont take a nail.. and will smoke when cutting with a chainsaw... hard white beautiful wood ... dense and heavy though..... makes good hammer and sledge handles.... if you spit with the grain.. if you cut at an angle it falls apart... it is also called northern hickory... no idea what it is really called..

Bentiron... most "plain steel wood screws" are zinc coated .... and don't have enough carbon.. that one of the reason that you must pilot drill for any wood harder than pine, or longer than about 1 1/2 inch screw. Plus they are pretty soft, that one of the reason that the heads "strip" so easily when the driver bit cams out....

Frosty... I like the idea of mechanical removal of the surface coating... but I don't have a tumbler or blaster... I have a wire brush and vinegar and sand paper.. I like the weld idea though... may have to try that...

As for why? ... just for something different and unique... I have seen blades made from bike chains.. billets .. saw blades.. ... meteorite...

A sord shaped surfboard; COOL!!!

Well done...

It is always nice to prove that there are more thoughts in our heads then heat, pound, repeat.... once in a while... otherwise we raise expectations too far....

Keep the work going,
Cliff

BIGUNDOCTOR... hell go for fiberglass over rigid foam.. then one the final gel coat use flaked graphite.. and the polish with a clean cotton rag.. it would look like shiny dark steel.. flaked graphite and glue/clear resin are an old stage trick for making "steel armor" out of carboard, bukram, and paste... and other cheap light materials...

Personally for me, I grind file and polish the eating surfaces I make. It leaves no chance for scale falling into food, is easy to scrub clean, and leaves me with no doubt that the surface is clean and safe. I then wirebrush or file the handle parts, then coat the handle parts with urethane, the eating parts I coat with USP mineral oil.

I have thought about bluing, and decided I didn't want to take the chance that it might be toxic. The oxide formed can't be that thick, and takes a lot of work and something abrasive to get off, but if you have acidic food it could come off easily... so I don't.
reguards
Cliff

either I was going to bundle a bunch of big long screws with wire .. or ... do an envelope weld with little ones...

I was just hoping someone could suggest a way to strip the phosphate coating so I don't poison myself... I am not sure how they make organophosphates for pesticides.. but I figured enough heat+carbon+phosphate.. could turn ugly....

And just because I though it was a good idea, doesn't make it one.. my one brain versus thousands of brains... someone else might know something I don't ...

Oh and it is cold outside... supposed to snow today.... also I don't have much time to forge, so I would like to prep and research as much as I can before I go to my anvil and waste precious time on simple stOOpid mistakes and poorly thought out ideas...

hey thanks for looking!
Cliff

how about "Rabid Hyena Containment Area" ? think that might work? or "Random flows of Septic waste"? ... Seriously, " Intermittent Invisible Blinding Laser Radiation, Proper Eye protection Required to Prevent Blindness" would be my choice... and Yes I have seen one like that.. and no I don't know if it was true.. but I would pay a lot of attention to that one...

I am pretty curious... but... why take chances...

Ok .. so the Damascus gun barrels of a while ago tripped off something in my head.. they old Brits used to make em out of horse shoe nails... so I got to thinking.. what about drywall screws??

then I thought about the black phosphate coating.. any ideas for stripping that without heavy duty acids? ie hydrochloric sulfuric nitric.. its cold here, I store my gear in an unheated space... and disposal is a pain in the butt! plus I don't have the right protective gear... and that much serious corrosive stuff gives me the creeps....

I am thinking vinegar.. or perhaps glacial acetic... but then there is the corrosive thing again..

I could also go with galvanized and strip with vinegar... .. but the regular black ones are cheaper...

and no not gun barrels... I am thinking along the lines of a knife.. or fork... or maybe something else that would benefit from a pattern..

I know the carbon content varies, but is generally higher than mild steel, they spark pretty good when you run them by a wheel.... and there is de carburizing while welding... but I think it would work out ok for either a small knife or crossguard .. or something interesting...

Comments .. concerns.. ideas.. cautions.. laughter...

thanks for looking,
Cliff

could have been worse.. coulda been a sycamore... it woulda sicced him.. then sicced him more...

really glad your better..

Interesting idea.. you have nothing to lose but some time and your mind..

I may be wrong, but aren't there some solder joints keeping the whole thing together?? And I know from experience that taking a 3 dimensional curved object to a flat 2 d object is an excercise in ... frustration... just like going the other way,

I have never built a guitar, but have built some other small stringed instruments. It really is not that hard to build a stringed instrument... it is really hard to build a good to great one... don't be afraid!!! I have done a small dulcimer... challenging but a fun project...

it sounds like you are wanting to build something like a dobro or guitar with a metal resonator? take you time and use good glue...
good luck
Cliff

pkrankow, I have also found them hard to drill..... the high manganese makes them very wear resistant... hence hard drilling... but cobalt bits and taps might do it.. any idea where to get cobalt taps?? I had a 1/4" 20 carbon or High speed steel tap I was using in annealed spring steel...and I broke it... need stronger taps...

Cliff

have you thought about working in plasticine/oil based modeling clay? you can form your starting object from clay, then manipulate it with your hammers and anvil... see if it will work, before you put the work into iron.. I have done it a couple of times... it showed me the errors of my thought process ...

sounds ambitious... please post pics...!
Cliff

you make your own tools... wrenches hammers ... grinders... axes.. etc because the ones from the store just aren't durable enough...

you take a shower and your gray hair comes back ... from the coal dust and grinding dust...

pkrankow... my apologies about the price of aluminum vs steel.. forgot that aluminum is much lighter.. higher per pound but lighter... ... sorry about the dummy moment...

don't forget it should have an inset copralite somewhere...

Aluminum costing less than steel?? Where?? I should go shopping there...


he would be looking at a 1/4 inch thick by 8 inch wide by about 6 foot long... I would by T6 but that is me... and aluminum abrasives are less available than steel abrasives... but you can use most coarse files and some wood working tools on it..

but it would be shiny... I like things that are shiny...

It does not look that good at cutting... for devastating cutting efficiency either axes or artillery..

I say Mazel tov... and post pics when it is done!!
Cliff

I gt some balls like that from our local concrete/cement plant. they were between 1.5 and 3 inches in diameter, and not perfectly round.... I agree with the high manganese alloy concept,I used up half a 7 " cutting wheel to slice one in two.... but that being said... once in half you have the parts for a raising stake, and a dishing hammer. a little welding and viola... ( 6 times with welding.. high manganese is not fro beginners .. or me .. apparently..)

the only other thing I am coming up with is a flail.... or attitude adjuster... a stick a little chain.. would be great!
Cliff

After some less than thorough investigation... not interested in getting head to snout with one.. under my wood shop...It seems the explosion was outside.. very near the house..

In a couple of days everything should be fine!! Thanks for the ideas. ... Where were you when I was working late in my wood shop shop .. only to turn around with a skunk in the door way!! the only entrance and exit to that room!! ...

I looked around... the only thing I had was hammer.. my fave 3 lb cross pien (yes I keep them inside where it s warmish) ... I was ready to give it xxxx. but eventually it turned around and left..

Will call about ozone generator..... !!
Cliff

You ever notice nasty attacks get funnier the farther away and the more healing that happens?

I am hoping there was a great bonfire to celebrate Frosty's home coming!! ... ordinarily I would suggest roasting the offending creature.. but I am not up for that much fiber..

could they be for some sort of testing with fluorescent/UV light or UV laser light??
IE the contrast media goes into a part, and cracks show up as a brilliant line? to protect the tester from exposure to whatever the light source ..

pics would help, and I know they are on the way.... I am intruiged.. but probably not able to be helpful...

I know that metals like mercury and lead are fat soluble, and it is the lifetime cumulative, or single time high dose that does the damage.

I have been looking a little and have not found if zinc does the same thing.

That being said, my understanding of most metal poisoning is that there are symptoms after a large exposure, and susceptibility to poisoning again goes up. Then symptoms abate, only to recur on the next exposure. Just because you feel better, does not mean you are...

And that the only treatment is chelation therapy that actually removes the offending metal from the body. That recovery is generally good, but damage to the lungs or other organs.. (Brain) ... may be permanent.

Remember that we use arsenic, chromium, and copper salts to preserve wood, or tan leather, and that even in small doses they can be very toxic....

And yet we need micro doses of metals like copper, zinc, chromium, selenium, and iron to keep our bodies functioning correctly...

Thanks.. now it is light out, I can investigate for source....

I know about the settle in to soft surfaces... and the scent is clingy and persistent...... this is not going away soon....

also I know that the scent is "activated" by water.. and it has been raining for 2 days here...

will keep you apprised of progress...
Cliff

Ok.. so far today not off to a good start.

A skunk has gone off either behind my house.. or more likely under my back shed/ wood shop space. My entire house now smells of skunk.. for a tangy whats that upstairs.. to oh NO the Laundry room stink to SKUnKY heaven...

Since the skunk has left his mark, there is no need to say get rid of the skunk... too late for that... I am interested in ideas to de stench my home... particularly since it is for sale.. . and I would like to be able to sell it....

Cliff