Eric Farrar

I have a fabbed anvil with the base being some 8"x2.5" forklift tine I found on an Iraqi air force base my 3rd tour in Iraq. I built her in the middle of summer where nighttime ambient heat is over 100F - I guess that helped to slow the cooling so I didn't get any cracks in my welds.

My question on pre/post heating: after welding she'd be at a high heat already, so how about packing the whole anvil in a 55 gallon drum of vermiculite to slow the cooling down instead of thinking about any special kind of post-heating?

I am considering welding on a plate of 1" O1 to the top of her and this might be what I have to do when welding her.

I have wondered about many of the low to moderate quality/duty tools that still boast their cast iron bases - grinders, drill presses, saws, etc.....

Anyone got some pointers about where I can do some reading about cast steel vs cast iron in modern production?

I had kind of figured that cast iron was pretty much replaced by steel for most modern applications.

My wife finally let me build a roof over the area next to my shed that I had turned into my smithy. I had a bunch of 2x4s and a few sheets of 3/4" exterior plywood so all I had to buy was 2 12' 2x6s, a couple 4x4s and half a dozen bags of concrete.

The general dimensions are 12' x 6' and the roof is 6' high at the lowest point (the cross beams are about 5'6" - I'm short so I don't have problems hitting my head).

They look great! Better than my first 4 pairs!

Looks pretty cool - not too difficult either.

I would start off with the partial diamon/pineapple twist: take a slitting chisel and incise a line on all four sides from the head of the spike to about 2/3 the way to the tip. Then heat again and twist as tight as looks right.

What that opener side looks like to me is cutting off the tip then a punched and drifted hole (perhaps 1/2") near the tip then cut the excess portion of the hole with a hacksaw to make the opening.

At $19 each those look like a good money maker.

Thomas, thanks for the info! I kinda like the nostalgia of knowing the history of my tools...

Tim, that's pretty much the idea I'm going to go with... Just don't expect quite the result that those two made... For starters, my welder is a POS from harbor freight I picked up for cheap at a pawn shop... 90amp max that can barely handle a 3/32 rod!

I have the hole re-threaded to 3/4"x14tpi and have a 6" grade 8 bolt 1 1/2" deep in it that I'm going to weld to a piece of steel plate for the foot - then it is going to get added to my anvil stand after I extend that another 18"...

Bob,

Seeing this vice made me scrap my mounting plan for the vice in the other thread - threaded hole instead of a leg.....



LDW,

I get that her primary purpose here is striking - either with tooling in the vice or for upsetting stock placed in the vice... How does she do with the other things we do with a vice (bending, twisting, hack-sawing, etc)?

I was getting ready to mount my vice on the same stand as my anvil until I saw your setup.

Eric

Frosty - please do look me up when you visit your sister!

Grant - I did think about using a plug to get the exact TPI on the threads but they are so stripped out that there's barely anything left to try to measure. Callipers gave me the 3cm or 11/16"

I'll post some picks once I get her operational - hopefully before my move.

That is a cool vise! Looks to be cast steel from the picture... I would thread a chunk of rod and upset the other end and make a foot and put it to work!

where in Idaho you going? I am from and have family in southern Idaho around Twin Falls

So, A couple weeks ago I was going to a pawn shop to sell a bunch of excess tools (the wife says I have to lighten up SIGNIFICANTLY before we move back to Idaho around Thanksgiving)… and of course I had to walk around a bit and see what was gathering dust… I saw a post vise (note: I don’t have a post vise and have been keeping my eyes open for over a year for one in the area…)


Okay… so the leg was missing…. Appears to have been sawn off then a hole drilled and tapped in it’s place… I can’t quite get a match on the TPI, but it is 11/16ths of an inch or 3cm…


The screw box just needed a little cleaning – it looked pretty good in the pawn shop and even better after cleaning... Jaws are 6” and there is just a little side-to-side play. The screw is in great shape too...

Since the pawn shop was just being plain stingy with their cash, I traded for the marked $150 on the vise instead of taking the $50 they were offering me for over $600 worth of brand new tools.

I took her home and cleaned her up, where I found a few markings…
6LV5 on the main leg, 6LV2 on the moving leg, and 6LV13 on the mount… I’m assuming that means 6” Leg Vise, part 5, 2, 13…




I flipped her over and found what may be manufacturer markings on both legs: "JB" Anyone have a clue about this manufacturer? Doesn't matter too much cause it is stout and will meet my needs but I wouldn't mind to know.





She cleaned up pretty good and now I am just trying to figure out how I want to mount a leg to her… I was thinking about tapping it to match some ¾” threaded rod I have or use a ¾” grade 8 bolt… The mount plate is 19" from the missing leg and the total current height is 24" - I'm pretty darn short so my anvil is at 29" .. only need to raise her up about 10 inches for where I want it.




My question… What would YOU do to mount it?

I gotta say that the rental unit is my preferred outhouse - 3 tours in Iraq and I have deposited my opinion of the country in/on every imaginable type of place out there in every imaginable type of weather.

Next on the list is a chemical camping toilet then the wonderful portable folding toilet seat with a pack of trash bags...

Good luck to ya whatever you choose!

Note to self: when I build the new shop, include a bathroom...

What is the RPM of the buffer drive and can you use the OD of the drive housing as your drive pulley?Will it work and be bolted up solid enough to safely run in a near vertical mode?
Can you use the housing that the motor bolted to and that surrounded the brush as a mounting plate if you modify it or is it too light a casting?
If you can use the cut down housing is the handle mount substantial enough to work as a pivot point and point of attachment?

You do understand that one of the reasons folks use a compact spare sized tire as a drive component is that it serves as a flywheel and helps smooth out the operation of the hammer. If you change the diameter of that drive wheel to something smaller and increase the size of your drive pulley(the planetary drum OD)you will change the dynamics of how the hammer will operate to some degree.
Not saying it wouldn`t work,just saying it may change things that may come back to haunt you further on down the line.

Is there a good reason why you want to use the planetary drive rather than just running the motor direct and going with a proven design?Is space at such a premium in your shop that you need to reduce the size of the hammer and that`s why you`re thinking of going this route?

Pics would really help a great deal to visualize what you are about.

Either pics and/or sketches of what you are needing or planning would help us focus.


Besides that,we just LOVE pics!

I've been collecting parts for my first power hammer build for a couple years now, and what may be the best motor I have come across is a floor buffer motor... Here's the skinny:

I have 3 buffer motors- each is 1.5HP 1750 rpm 110V (~12 Amps) and each is mounted directly to a planetary gear (buffer mount spins the opposite direction of the motor spindle) that reduces it down to 170 rpm. The diameter of the buffer mount/planetary gear is about 8" and the majority of which is fairly smooth around the circumference and might work well as a tire hammer if I could find a 6"-9" diameter tire so it doesn't get much slower. The mount is cast iron and I guess I could weld a pulley onto it and use a tension driven system.

What would you do if this was the motor you had to use for a hammer build? I have materials for the tire hammer or rusty style... The material I have for the ram is a 3.5"x2"x42" medium-carbon chunk weighing in around 45# - (two of these chunks followed me home last summer......)

Last Christmas I got 2 copies of Alex Bealer's The Art of Blacksmithing. If anyone is interested in a copy for cheap, let me know!

Okay... So we are looking for a pulley for a 4" flat belt with 3/4" shaft and 3/8" keyway, about 3" in diameter...

Most of what I have is for v-belts but I will sort through the box for anything for flat belts.

What size is the shaft on the motor and do you need a motor pulley with setscrew or woodruff key? If woodruff key, what width?

Reason I ask is I am working on building my first spring helv and bought a box full of pulleys a little while ago - I have a couple dozen motor pulleys and could mail you the one you need (I'm pretty darn sure I have one that will meet your needs) - all I'd be interrested in return is postage (small flat rate box is what, $5?)

Eric

Okay... I am new to forging blades (still finishing up my first blade of 5160) and I have a question about cable knives...

I have been around a large variety of equipment with a wide variety of cables. I have yet to come across any cable that isn't galvanized, and I'm sure that bladesmiths aren't immune to heavy metal poisoning... Where does one get UNgalvanized cable?

Eric

On a good note about aluminum and acid...

During my 3rd tour in Iraq I burried some coax and network cable a couple inches down after running it through some thick walled aluminum square tube (tanks driving over wires have a habit of ruining communications...). The dirt in that area was very acidic and we were close to a sewage pond so the dirt never really dried out. After 15 months of exposure to this weak acid, I pulled up the tube when we were pulling out - the acidity had made some beautiful patterns of pock-marks that was accented nicely with a fine wire brush cup on the grinder.

I'm not suggesting sending aluminum work to get buried in Iraq - just than acid can be used to "age" aluminum and gives some unique finishes. Just be sure to be safe and use all necessary PPE.

Beautiful work!

I will be retiring from the Army in a few months and my wife has been bugging me to put a shadow box together... Yours sets a pretty high standard for me to follow. Thanks for sharing!

I love the plethora of information gained via collaboration! Glad my regulator is certified for 'all fuel gases' but these are great points to take into consideration for safety!

I don't know if it would be easier for you to get or not, but I have been using an acetylene regulator on my forge for nearly 2 years now without problems.

Both propane and acetylene are corrosive liquids with the vapors being the product used. Both are used at low pressures to avoid risk of explosions. I simply had an extra acetylene regulator when I built my forge so have used it since then.

I am curious if anyone has any reason not to use an acetylene regulator with propane or any other comments on this substitution.

Yes I have - not any time recently though. And I wasn't thinking about that when I sold my projector yesterday... Oh well... But they are great for drawing your layout work on the layout wall but be careful that your original drawing is to scale! The margin of error increases dramatically under magnification! That's why I am now depressed about my computer-connected projector that I sold yesterday...

Did I fail to mention the bench goes 18 inches into the ground and is secured with concrete?

Not much sound when I pound on vice-mounted tools... I will let ya know how noisy it is soon!