windancer

Good job! Dave

You are gonna make it! Good ideas, too. The oyster knife handle looks like a seal to me. Good onya! Dave

Nice looking knife! Dave

So where are the pics? Hmmm? Dave

Good job! Dave

I contacted Jeff to try to buy the material for the dies. Thanks to all for the input. Bill, I appreciate your try today. That piece is definitely a different shape now :) No worse than it was- once it is broken you can't make it more broken. It is now under my welding table waiting for squaring dies or many, many more hours practice with the air hammer :) I have been working with RR spikes [many, many, many] for the past month. I notice after drawing them out and 8 sided and then rounding, finishing the final rounding with a hand hammer, that the material is actually twisted some. After the first time having the cold shuts crack and fall off I am being much more careful to stop and clean them up right away. I do the hit-turn just on two sides. When I try to do all four sides I end up with the diamond shape, for which I have no cure as yet. I am going to make a spring swage for the squaring dies- WAY too time consuming to swap dies more than once every six months :) Again- thanks. Would still likt to see some pics, tho- hint, hint. Dave

Will those folks who use squaring dies post some pics for me? I am doing a little larger stock and finding a need to re-square periodically. Will get better at this but for now the stock is too much money to just throw in the scrap pile :) Thanks in advance Dave

My Bad- too many hammers in this post :) Dave

We all want more and bigger and higher horsepower [we are men, right?]. To get back to the real world search YouTube for "coffee can forge". I have put hundreds of hours on mine and still use it sometimes. I lined a coffee can with 1" Kaowool, brushed on ITC100 [three coats] and used a little hand-held propane torch as the burner. It doesn't put out welding heat but it works fine for leaves, hooks, key chains, candle holders etc, etc, etc. This would get you started for about $50 and some labor. If you outgrow that one you will still have the hand-held torch and much more knowledge about how to build a forge. Where in Western Washington are you? I am just south of Olympia and would be happy to help you build one after you get the materials. I have since built 2 larger forges but still use this one for smaller projects. If you search YouTube for 'hot chili pepper' you can watch me making chili peppers from 3/4 inch pipe using the coffee can forge. Good luck! Dave

Another great bit of work, John :) Dave

The truck is a 1969 GMC. Top and doors chopped 4 inches, windscreen angled back additional 13 degrees. Now has a '82 stepside shortbed and a '68 Chev front end. Just put in a 1974 LS7 engine with all the goodies.461 CI, 590 HP, 9.99 to 1 Compression. Fun to drive but only 6 MPG. PICS here: http://s206.photobucket.com/albums/bb33/WinDancerPics/ if this works :) .

Good job on the knife- very graceful and bound for work! Dave

Very graceful piece. I, too, thought it was at least man height. Good job! Dave

Some very nice work there. Many many many smiths would love orders at almost any price. Great that you are selling what you make and partially funding your truck rebuild. My old hot rod pickup has been a very long restoration and swallows more money than seems possible. A drive in it on a nice day is well worth the money and work. Most men my age want to come talk when I have it out in public :) Go make more stuff so you can get back to your 2x72, Dave

Used to be an old timer woodworker in the area who had three separate shops at his place- all three were buses with equipment lined down one side and stock down the other. Really enjoyed watching him work.. machine to machine, getting stock as he went. Sad we are losing the old timers and their hard-won ideas. He made almost all his own equipment. Always said, with a big grin, "Bet you never saw one of these before". Dave

Interesting thread- thanks to all! Dave

I used to keep my magnet on a work stand. Never a problem. After having my gold wedding ring wear through 4 times I had it repaired and put it in a box. Dave @ Studio4 made me one from Damascus. It is a beautiful piece of art and I like it better than the gold one. Great work! A few days later I was working with the work stand and kept feeling something grabbing my hand. After the heat was gone I played with the stand for a couple minutes and finally realized that the Damascus was sticking to the magnet. Watcha gonna do? Dave

Thanks for posting those! Dave

One idea passed on to me was from Bill C, who bought some blackboard chalk erasers [the old school kind] and bonded them to a thin piece of metal. The metal was bent on the top to slip over the platen. This gives just a touch of flex to the belt. When you get to the finer grits this is a huge help with those few pesky scratches that won't come out :) This does NOT yield a perfectly flat grind but can save hours with the wet/dry sandpaper. This works especially well with Damascus en route to the acid etch. Dave

I like them all! Good job :) Dave

I don't do much forge welding but I may after seeing your idea! Another recent idea [not mine] was after the pieces are fluxed and up to temp, just touch them together in the forge- they will stick enough to get them out of the fire and continue the weld. I will try this idea, too :) Dave

Nice job on the cleanup! Nice looking anvil :) Dave

Thanks, Paul. PM Sent :) Dave

That is a great looking anvil, regardless of the brand and/or other people's opinions. Easily worth much more than an opener. Take care of your friend and enjoy the anvil! Dave

This is interesting and thanks, Larry, for taking this over. I am a couple months away from the small unit. I assume it comes with at least one coil? How much are extra coils? How expensive is the recommended cooling unit? Are there other expenses involved with getting a unit into service? Thanks, Dave