Fe-Wood

Looks like someone had a fine old time! What a pleasure to see!! Thanks for shairing Brian!

More pressure I say! and stuff more wool in the back door to completely close it. Your first pic is a funny look'n forge. Hmmmm, just trying to figure how you light it??? the others look good though.

Nicely said Woody!!!

Thanks for the words Nelson- and others:) Your right, its hard to turn your back on what has been the bread winner for so long... even if it is a slow, tedious and painful death. I will always do the remodel work because that holds the challenge I need and helps pay the bills. At this point however with the slow econony in housing, I'm looking to move into what used to be my passion... The flame that heated that passion has been severely tested by the work involved in outfitting my shop and helping home owner reach there vision. I have decided (with words of incurragement from these responces) to try and have some purely creative project going while I continue outfitting my work space. My only obligation for the creative project is that I have to finish it before I begin another. I am also trying to make them small and easy...:rolleyes:

Unicorn Forge- I just looked into the Sonn's book! I LOVE THAT BOOK!!! I used to sit in the library in Collage and read that book for hours. Thanks for bringing it back into the fray for me. Back in those days, I did make some of the projects! I can feel my pocket getting lighter as I type this.....

Nice furnace! I missed one at auction a few months ago:( Turns out it went for a good price. Use your for heat treating and not forging...very slow as said before and the first electric bill will set you back on your heals or flat out bowl you over. Using electricity to make heat is one of the least efficiant uses. Go with a gasser, you can run it indoors too, just need some ventilation. There is a world of information on this site to help you learn more:D

Nice site! hope to see sparks flying of my hammer soon!!! dimnickel- Forgot to mention, the new pulley would be the drive pulley... I'm sure you knew that but just wanted to be clear....

David First off WELCOME! Second bring yourself and your Philosophy Degree to the CBA Spring Conferance later this month 23rd through 26th. There will be enough knowladge, inspiration and a whole lot more to get you going or sustain you in your move. Glen, so kindly supplied the link! I live in Grass Valley, Wana come play?

dablacksmith- do you have a link for them? I looked at Emerson and just got lost in the web site...very confussing. dimenickel- From what I have seen, you will want to run 2 "V" belts and will need a "V" belt pulley to do this. You might try what dablacksmith said, I am!

dimenickel- I guess thats a yes to all questions. But I should explain- If the belt is too loose, it will fly off. If it is streached more on one side than the other, it will fly off. If it is old and all the "form" has worn out of it, it will fly off. As far as doming the pulley? Basic flat belt pulleys do have dome. I think its just a few dergrees, I want to say about five, with the peak in the middle for tracking. When I turned my pulley, I decided not to dome it. I did include sholders however. I'm not sure this will be as effective as doming though, just easier to turn on the lathe. The clutch wheel has a dome in it. I'm going for the wide timing belt idea, those pulley are not domed. I'm hoping the stiffness of the composite timing type belt will be enough in conjunction with the sholders to keep it tracking nicely. Hope this help!

Boy... You guys are great!!! I think ALL of you have touched, one way or another on what is stuck in my craw. I think the advice of going fishing and NOT baiting the hook is solid. :D Had to laugh out loud on that one! Yes there is a little bit of the "done, goal reached" syndrom and now I have to perform. I think the advice to start on a project using many skills and mediums is great, too. As I always say "keep it simple so you can finish without becoming overwhelmed" One thing I have been trying to come up with is a product I can make and sell on a semi mass produced basis. The prospect is once intriguing and also stifaling as I hate production work and see it only as a neccesary evil. Although I have enjoyed the challange for speed of production in the past. It has been suggested by a few friends that I become a big brother voluntier. Anyone have experiance with that organization? Burnout may be the root of all this. Sometimes it seems I'm in a foot race, I can see the finish line but never reach it. Do I realy want too anyway? My wife and I are planning a trip to Austrialia and New Zealand in July. last "real" vacation was in '05. This may help:rolleyes: Anyway, Good stuff all around. Thanks for the support!

Very Nice John!!! Thanks for shairing. Thats some hot fire! Your using one 1" burner? Wow! I am also in the process of making a set of the Micheal Porter/Hybride design burners. Hope they look as good as yours when I'm done:D I picked up .045 mig tips at the local (only) supplier the other day. I'm fearing they may be a bit to big for one inch burners... Any thoughts? I'da bought .040 but they didn't have any:(

Nice work and great job on the forge and burner... I built a couple of those burners myself. Nice job on the flair!

Welcome Northwolf, sounds like your off to a great start:)

Bully- looks like you've been having fun!! A SHED you say? I can here the pliers slipping into the distance....Buy, Buy

Sorry to here that finnr. Prayers on the way... for you too, moms are special!!

Some would say I'm in a really great possition and I couldn't disagree. However, I've been working at putting this together for about 15-20 years and I'm feeling like the my drive is waining. My shop setup has become what I have always dreampt about. I can forge steel, power hammer rebuild is almost done. I will have a furnace for casting bronze in the next couple months. Welding is no problem. I can turn wood, spin metal vesals, make pulleys on the metal lathe, mill elongated holes and new dies for the power hammer. I can cut wood into any shape or form I want. I can vacuum press or hydrolic press any shape I want. Sad thing is, now that my shop is set up to do all this work, I'm at a loss. For the life of me, I can't decide what I want to make or do. I have been a General Contractor for the last 10 years. Before that I was foreman and lead fabricator for a wood furniture shop. Before that I built highly custom furniture while I was putting myself through collage for a degree in art and business. For the last 6 months, while outfitting the shop I've been trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up and I still can't decide:confused: I'm pretty good at selling myself but I'm not inspired. What do you guys do when the fight is leaking out of you and you feel like throwing in the towel? (read that as selling everything and my wife and I using the proceeds to work on our tans):)

What a timely thread for me! I'm looking for inspiration. Sadly the romance is gone for me as well. Rather than Hijack this tread, I think I will post what I was thinking earlier today in another thread. Anyway, always nice to have another perspective...

Congratulations Monster! Always nice to have a new toy to keep you distracted! Perserverance pays off sometimes, glad it did for you and your Nazel

HWooldridge- When you say "Browning" who is that? I will look up Gates Industrial... Thanks guys Peacock- My drive pulley is 2.25"

Hi all- I've finally mounted the motor for my hammer and need a source for a 2.75 wide X 60.5" long flat belt. I'd like to use a timing type belt (rubber or similar) because I think it will last longer. When I was designing the pulley/motor location I had found a source but didn't book mark it... now I can't find it. What do you guy use? signed: Cart before the Horse:rolleyes:

Do you have an old hair dryer? Yes, you say... then you have a blower. Just hook it to a section of steel pipe. With a little practice and experimentation you will be able to forge weld. Use RR spike for the first one...Practice, then use the better steel once you get the hang of it, just a thought.

DM Glad to see you are progressing away from your idea about dipping cable in molten steel!!! Scary, scary, scary! For this to work, you need to know more than it takes to successfully forge weld! Get a good flux and practice forge welding. Look at utube. After the first few failures you'll see its not that hard once you understand the process. Good luck!

Thanks for the tip eyvind!