Panzer

6 hours ago, ThomasPowers said:

STRONGLY SUGGEST YOU REMOVE CLASP ON FRONT. I read several times a year about kids locking themselves or being locked in containers during play.  some have tragic endings.

6 hours ago, JHCC said:

My best childhood friend nearly died that way. He was unconscious and turning blue when his mom found him and (fortunately) was able to revive him. 

Thank you both for your concern. The picture I posted of the toy box was taken right after I completed it and before I gave it to him.  Great minds must think alike because as soon as my wife saw it the first thing I had to do was remove the clasp (it honestly never dawned on me it could be a hazard).  The second thing I had to do was replace the limiters on the inside with the type that would open and HOLD open the lid if it was raised above the halfway point to keep it from falling on his head or smashing fingers (I think she was more worried about his fingers than his head. Boy's head is hard as an anvil ).

I would love to have concrete floors. I work with dirt floors. On the upside very little chance of an errant fire (like concrete). Down side, dust gets EVERYWHERE.

4 hours ago, CWest said:

That is the type of gift he will hopefully pass to his grandson someday, along with it's story.

I appreciate the comments, Even though it is not blacksmith related this is the gift I gave him on his 4th Christmas:

2ft wide x 3ft long x 2ft deep (approx.). Red cedar(toy box). I think I am a better carpenter than I am a blacksmith. I have had more practice at it. But, I do enjoy hitting hot steel versus working with dead tree carcasses.  The steel is more "alive" under my hammer than a piece of wood ever was.

Probably the same way I did. When the fire fleas started jumping, and I was just using a hairdryer. A suggestion that was given to me was to use a piece of 4 inch flex vent pipe.  You can bend it in loops which will slow down the flow of air but not hinder the motor as much as  with say the sock. It is aluminum but that shouldn't be an issue if your using a sock to control the air now. You should be able to find it at any of the big box hardware stores and if I remember right it's less than $10 for a 24inch long piece.

Here is my first attempt at any kind of project that I was willing to give to someone.  A small hatchet that I gave to my 7 year old grandson for Christmas last year. It was made from a 16oz ballpein hammer. Heat treated and tempered the blade only. I used vinegar and salt with a battery charger to do the etching before heat treating it. On the hammer end I used a triangle file to cut a waffle pattern like you would see on a framing hammer.  Sorry, I didn't get any photos of that. The handle is make from a piece of hickory that a friend of mine gave me (he uses it for smoking sausage).

  Not top quality work I know. The flaws are to many to count. I see them. You see them. He doesn't, and that alone make me proud enough to share .  Matter of fact he thinks "it's the best hatchet in the world". 

I also know it is well after Christmas, but, I have been out of town 4 weeks out of every 5 for the last nine months.  Home now thank goodness.

Thanks Bo. I'm not sure what the N stands for honestly. We have machine parts made and I got the number off the engineering data sheets.

I'm hoping to get some time to try just what you suggested this weekend.

I have some SA-675 GR70 N.  I know it is primarily used in welded pressure vessels. My question is (and I'm asking here instead of wasting my time) would it make for a good body for an axe head. It would be a small hand axe. Here are some specs on the material:

Carbon 0.27 - 0.31%
Manganese 0.79 - 1.3%
Phosphorous 0.035% max
Sulphur 0.035% max
Silicon 0.13 - 0.45%
tensile strengths from 55 - 90 MPa

I would be fire welding in a piece of O1 for the bit. This will be my first attempt at any type of blade. I have learned to fire weld (finally lol). I just thought I would ask here before I attempted it as I'm no metallurgist and I could'nt find anything in a search. There is the distinct possibility however that I just didn't "search" correctly.

Thanks all for your time.

Ok, that is just cool. I've never been one that into skulls and such but that is absolutely a cool piece. Using the bolts for teeth and bearings for the jaw works really well. Great job. My son thinks it's Bad**s (his words) and I have to agree.

Nice. Wish I had had an anvil like that to start with. Used a 4" thick piece of SA-516 Grade 70N until I could upgrade to a piece of rail. The plate is the same stuff they make boilers out of basically and while tough, it's as soft as a horrible freight ASO . Only suggestion I could make would be to drill some drain hole in the bottom of the bucket your anvil is in so it doesn't fill with water.  The wood blocks will stay stable longer even if they are treated. Unless of course your area is covered .

I like the look of that one,My wife has been after me to make one.  Unfortunately the one she want is above my skill level right now. Round, 24" OD, made to suspend for the ceiling and free spin.  I told her she might get it this time next year.

6 hours ago, Frosty said:

My phone takes great pics I just can't remember out how to move them to my comp so I just carry my OLD digital camera. By old my parents got it as a gift then gave it to me when digitals were cutting edge think mid 90's. I sure wish I could remember how to transfer files from my phone, it has better res and much more room like 32 gigs. <sigh>

Frosty The Lucky.

Frosty, I just email myself the pictures I take with my phone and save the attachment to my computer. Probably the round about way of doing it but, it works for me .

Finally had some free time today and decided to hit the flea market. Spent all of $20 (my WHOLE budget) but got a few items.

A Nolvex file and 3 Nicholson rasps (they look rusty but I would bet that if they were ever used it was very little. They're still sharp), an adjustable that's stamped "Diamond Calk Horseshoe Company" (never heard of that one), a small pair of cutters that are Maun Industries England (good shape and no nicks in the cutters) a few clamps that I already figured out something to do with, and a good Easco hacksaw handle.  Also a couple of old Stanley squares, a punch and a pry bar (also Stanley)

Found (and killed) this in my yard the other day.  I don't have anything against snakes mind you. I see them in the woods I leave them be. I also don't mind the none poisonous variety (Rat snakes, black racers, hog nose and the like) if they come into my yard. But, I draw the line at Cotton Mouths, Rattlers and Copperheads in the yard. My grandson and my dogs mean to much to me. Unfortunately, this has been the worst year by far for them.  I've had to kill 7 this year alone. 

One more day to be my wife's "old goat", one more day to be my grandson's "peepop" and one more day to scratch my old dog's head. Anything above that is a plus

My brother-in-law must like me (no idea why) but he just brought me this from his father's estate: A 102 pound Trenton. Has about 70% rebound using a ball bearing.

I hit it with a wire brush and put it on a temp mount to give it a try. Works great and I'm in love with it already. Isn't she beautiful?  

It has a serial number but I got so excited I didn't bother to look nor honestly do I care when it was made. It's mine now to love and work

When I framed houses, especially putting down decking on the roof or such I used to do the same. The "tap the anvil". It used to drive my co-workers crazy. I used this tap as a time to flip the next nail into my hand or move to the next position.  I can see this being a "stop and think" moment when forging and actually noticed myself doing it today.  Guess old habits die hard.

Hello and welcome. You have found a great place to start.  There are a lot of very experienced and helpful Smiths here. If you have any questions, try the search tool as I have found, as a beginner myself,  that most of my questions have already been asked and answered. If you still can't find a answer...ASK....the people here are more than willing to share their knowledge.

Thanks for the advice.  Honestly I was planning on making my first forge smaller but this presented itself so I snagged it up thinking it would work. I do BS as a hobby and as such I don't mind investing time but am loath to invest money. Steel drums and brake drums and such are nice but the only access I have to those things is if I buy them. Also most of the time these (clamps we call them) stay with the customer that buys them. In this instance I got to take it home with proper permission from the customer and the company I work for. So I grabbed it up. Perhaps I did get a little excited and start over thinking but most times, stuff I can get is either too small or WAY to big (think 16" line enclosure, made from 20" cover pipe, 49" on the inside, made from 1 1/4" thick SS with 4" thick ears that weighs over 8k pounds.) Just wanted my first forge to be my last so, I wanted to make what I thought to be right so it would last. Again I started overthinking. Got excited.  I understand a wood box lined with clay, I've been using a hole in the ground lined with clay :), but I just got my smithy built after 2 years (well not really...it's a lean-to with walls off the side of another lean-to with walls so I could play in the rain and stay dry) and used the last of my salvaged wood with that LOL. Seriously, I literally had a 4" and 3" piece of 2x4 left. So I wanted something I could put inside and it be permanent as most of the scrape I get these days is industrial in nature. Small things. B7 studs of various sizes, small cutoffs of angle, odd pieces of plate and the like. I miss the days of framing houses when I could have scraped together a building in a couple of weeks.  Haven't done that for over 10 years now and my saved up supplies are gone.

So, as far as using the SS goes unless there is some reason why I shouldn't, I would like to since it is here and available. Just maybe stop overthinking the dam thing and build it. As far as my back getting hurt, well I install these for a living and actually put this one on (it has 2 halves) alone. Honesty this one is on the small side. Not say I'm He-man but it's really not that heavy. But thank you for your concern over my well being...I KNEW you cared =D

OK then, I'll pack the hole box with the sand clay mix to keep my heat centered.  Thanks ThomasPowers.

So, my forge so far has been a hole in the ground lined with clay and sand and a hairdryer for air. Not ideal but it worked. I recently salvaged the following from work and was thinking of using it to try and build one.  It is made from a piece of schedule 40, 316 grade stainless and the ears around it are 3/4 inch thick. I was thinking of welding a 2" nipple to the bottom for the plumbing and just drilling a series or holes to act as a screen. Then making a 1/8" box that it would set into with more 1/8" around it to act as a table then hood and vent it with a metal bucket I have.  I can get some kaowool from work for insulation then I figured some clay/sand mix on top to keep the wool from touching the pot itself.

Another benefit is that the cut out on the sides will set level with the table and would help keep the stock in place. I was thinking of putting the plumbing a little off center and just plugging the small nipples.

This was originally an enclosure for a in-service acid line that had a slight drip.  It saw service for less than a week before being taken off and the void was injected full of Teflon under higher pressure than the line service.

Is there any reason I shouldn't use this or a certain way I should insulate. I'm tired of bending over to take a heat LOL.

Someone with more experience may (probably will =D) correct me on this but I think the problem may be with the leaf spring itself. Leaf springs are usually under constant tension and can and do develop hairline cracks that may not be noticeable until forged.  If you heat it and brush it you should be able to see the cracks and can possibly work around them.

I know this is an older topic but I just found one of these anvils too.  Did anyone ever figure out what it was?  The one I found is cast with a steel plate face like a Vulcan but the face seems thicker.  The numbers stamped on the front foot are 100 which I assume is the weight.

An absolutely beautiful restoration.  I am (very) new to working with iron, but I did restoration on old houses up to and including restoring old trim and the like.  I can only imagine the work that went into this.

As far as I'm aware the local scrap yards in Pensacola no longer allow people to search their yards for insurance reasons. At least that is what I was told when I called.