JHCC

Two items of note: First, I found someone on eBay selling a box of five 2 x 90 Norton R999B belts in 24 grit for $22.50 including shipping. I know that's a really coarse grit, but I figure it will get me started and give me capacity for rough grinding things other than knives. Hard to beat the price, too. Second, there was someone at Quad-State this weekend selling a practically identical grinder (fitted out with a 3-phase motor and VFD, along with some 1 x 90 AO belts) for $750, marked down from $900. Feeling even better about what I paid!

I wasn't able to come down on Friday as originally planned, and so missed the cross forging. Looks pretty awesome. Oh, big lesson learned from my first Quad-State: Start saving your money for tailgating NOW!!!

I haven’t weighed them, but they’re about 39”/1m nose-to-tail.

Added a short spring section to the pedal linkage on my treadle hammer: And tried out the new shears from Quad-State: Bit of a learning curve, but got some nice bowl blanks cut out:

For example, “Intro to Heat Treating” has been pinned to always show up first in the Heat Treatment section

A pinned post is one that has been set to always appear at the top of a section in the forum.

Linseed oil hardens not by drying, but by oxidizing. As it absorbs oxygen from the air, the chemical reaction gives off heat. If too much of that heat builds up (say, in a wadded-up rag), it can pass its ignition point and burst into flame. This is why allowing oily rags to dry flat (or hung over a wire or something) outside and away from other combustibles is a good idea. The heat doesn’t have a chance to build up.

Forging competition: Animal head workshop with Atticus McFadden-Keesling. Bladesmithing with Jim Rodebaugh:

Quad-State haul: big pair of shears, a couple of books, a couple of T-shirts (including one from njanvilman), a spring from someone’s junk bin that’s just what I needed for the treadle hammer, a handful of auger bits from ThomasPowers, and a couple of bars of 1080. Not shown: approximately 30” of 3/4” round O-1.

Meeting of the hats.

Obligatory “Peter Wrong” photo:

Be careful around those edges; they look like they’ve been rebuilt. It’s always a question mark how durable a repaired edge will be.

You’re confusing it with a misdeed of the National Institute of Mental Health: a “sin o’ NIMH”.

In addition to setting up the new grinder, I finished the welding and basic grinding on a new dishing form. This has a stem to fit the hardy hole in my striking anvil, as shown below.

You know what lawyers call it when you don’t have any hammers? An absence of mallets!

Also tried out polishing a bevel on the still-in-progress Bowie knife. Now that I have the grinder, I’m no longer sure this is an option. The online materials from G&P seem to show some kind of interchangeable fixture that is missing from my grinder. I think I may have an older model.

Despite my lack of polish?

So far, I’m very happy. Just need to get some belts to give a full review. The battered 180 grit belt that came with it is doing a nice job shining up some hammer faces. The slack side is great for gentle rounding: Oh, I’m just belting them out!

Update: I went and picked it up (along with a $10 die grinder; it’s an abrasive kind of day). The jig is made from 1/2” micarta or something similar. I took it off, attached a 3-prong plug to what was left of the cord, plugged it in, crossed my fingers, and switched it on. It works! There’s no way to move the motor mount. The top wheel is at the top of a long spring-loaded rod that moves up and down to tension or release the belt. The rod is moved by stepping on the bottom end, which sticks out at a right angle. Simple, effective design. I’ve removed the jig, squared the table, and put the grinder by the end of the forge with my old pedestal grinder to make a nice grinding station.

Update: it works!

That’s right: there is a jig in place. It looks like this was permanently set up to grind the corners off something. The jig is made of a 1/2” thick micarta-like material, so I might use that for knife handles. There’s just enough cord left to attach a 3-prong plug, so I’m going to dig one out and put it on. I’ll keep you posted.

OK, Lisa is under the weather and may need me to stay home. Not sure yet, but hoping I can still make it.

That’s the one.

On one of John Rigoni’s videos (making bottle openers on the power hammer, I think), he sprinkles scale on the workpiece for precisely that reason.

The ID of the “sleeve” is about 1-3/8”, and the OD is about 2-1/8”.