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I took my then 11 year old to the CBA annual conference last spring and got permission beforehand. I figured the trip was for him, not me, so we did what he wanted and I stayed with him the whole time. While there we saw a family with 3 kids, the oldest about his age who had set up a forge where they tended to stay and work. I think its incredibly valuable for him to have some special skill that he has and that he can be proud of. Half the boys in his class can reach level 18 in the video game of the year but he's the only one who can work hot metal. At home, I've had parents drop off their kids and come back for them. I'm careful to only invite kids who are mature and will listen. I don't know what the legal issues would be in terms of supervision and so on. I do my best to select who I'll allow, I limit it to 2 kids at a time, I never step away, I make sure they're always wearing the safety gear. At some point, you just do the best you can and then live with the risk.

I sold my Hawkeye #3 and got several people who wanted to buy it for the $2500 I was asking. I wound up accepting an offer of $3000 from a guy who just had to have it and was willing to pay a bonus to get to the front of the line. So I'd say that at $950 you wouldn't be taking much of a risk if it turns out you don't like it. My reason for wanting to pass it on was the difficulty in controlling it that really prevented me from getting much use out of it. I'm sure someone more skilled could have tamed it, but for me it was either all or nothing on that idler pulley.

Probably much less pleasant though.

The Grumpy Old Guy sums it up perfectly.

Would there be any interest in getting some Flutagon? I got a quote $7 a ft for the 3/4" and $19 for the 1 1/4". It comes in 20 ft bars. I want to get more for making some power hammer tools. I was thinking that for $45 I could ship 5 ft of 3/4", three 8" pcs and two 12" pcs in a flat rate USPS envelope. If at least 2 people want some, I'll order a bar. Let me know if you want to share a bar.

I thought that 4 looked a lot like an A so I'm sure that's what it was. Thank you.

After being obscured by the stand I finally got a look at my HB's serial number. Can someone tell me what age 415593 matches up to? Thanks.

I think the smaller Hawkeye hammers were wood framed helve hammers.

You might try fitting the wedge with some prussian blue. You'd put on the blue, fit the wedge, take off the high spots where the die came off, re-apply die and repeat until you get a lot of contact area and very little blue left after you insert the key. Some shims would help fill in the gaps and that would work too. I found these instructions for fitting a key. http://www.littlegianthammer.com/resources/FitDieKey.pdf

When you run that conduit, you may want to future proof your installation by running another conduit in the ditch for data and phone wiring.

Really nice. The bolster from iron pipe is especially well done.

I assume your new workspace has two doors, otherwise it would be a chicken sedan. I agree with Steve's advice. If your eyes glaze over figuring out what you need to do, that's a good sign you need a pro. Maybe your neighbor can do the design, you can save a few bucks by running the wire for him, and he can finish the job. It sounds like you need a subpanel, I'd suggest at least 60A.

I'd go for at least double. Triple would be better. You'll get better draw and less risk of fire.

You also need some diodes on the solenoids or the switches and relays will fry in short order. Basic rule of thumb is they should be rated for at leas 4x the operating voltage.

Maybe a clock face with other appropriate industrial items to mark the hours. If the teeth are straight cut and lend themselves to it, I might think of a fountain that turn a wheel that moved a ratchet and slowly turned the gear for something to look at. Or maybe drive the wheel and have it carry buckets of water up to move water in a fountain.

Can you explain the white stuff on the ground for us California people? Lazzari Fuel in just South of SF sells coal here. Haven't bought any in a long time but I'm sure it isn't cheap.

Those all look great.

Thanks for the correction. I'll put that particular false fact that everybody knows out of my mind.

One thing that would help is starting with a known steel that has some documentation about the heat treating method. Otherwise you're trying to reverse engineer the hardening characteristics of the steel. Maybe you'll want to buy a hunk of S7. Its what jackhammer bits are made of and made to stand up to pounding. With that digging bar, you don't know if it works best quenched in oil, water, or air (although I doubt air) and you don't know how to best temper it after the hardening.

Doe you mind saying how much a bar of 3/4" goes for?

You're right. I saw some for sale last spring at the CBA conference. It must have been old stock. I like that I can use it, quench it when I'm done, and not need to think about it.

I don't know what particular alloy Flutagon brand steel is, but it holds up well under heat and the special shape makes it easy to recognize.

Where in California GIJosh?

My wife and I used to know a master metal worker named Victor Reiss who had a movie made of his life and work. The film maker is now looking for some money to edit about 10 minutes out of the film so that PBS can air it. They're in the last few days of a kickstarter campaign to raise the money. They've met the minimum goal, but I can't imagine that more money would hurt. I remember many hours looking at Victor's photos of projects and hearing his stories. There is a short video on the Kickstarter site that shows some of his work too. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1072521506/metal-man-the-story-of-victor-ries-pbs-version/posts/1434558?ref=backer_project_update

One of things you must do is to dump that propane cylinder and get a 100 pound or larger. Any cylinder that has a triangular handle will not work well. Those cylinders have an overfill device, and also a valve that closes when the output volume exceeds a certain amount. To reset that valve you need to close the cylinder valve and let the gas in the outlet hose go away. A small cylinder will also freeze up and that will restrict flow as well. The larger cylinders are easier to find in rural areas where propane is used more. I got mine at a big box hardware store in a rural area for 1/2 of what the local propane supplier was asking so try that route if you live in an urban sprawl like I do. Sometimes, the flame will not really stabilize until the forge heats up and lights the gas as it goes in.