JHCC

Okay, lbs wins Understatement of the Day. That’s a lovely little hammer, Mark, and kudos to you for creative use of materials.

Finished up the RR bolt dishing hammer. (Also did some work on a project that will be revealed in its fullness in due course.)

Many tropical hardwoods also contain volatile resins that protect the tree from insect attack. Some of these can cause severe irritation and allergic reactions in humans, so wear a decent dust mask as well as those gloves.

Here you go: http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/wood-identification-guide/ Without knowing the species, it’s impossible to say whether or not this wood would benefit from kiln drying. Some species can become quite brittle, while others become stronger and less prone to warpage.

That’s okay: others are learning from it, even if he isn’t.

This reminds me of a classic story: An explorer and his guide are going through the jungle. Suddenly, they start hearing faint but steady drumbeats. The explorer says, “I say, old chap, should we be worried about those drumbeats?” The guide replies, “Drums no problem. Drums stop: big problem.” They go on for a while, and the drumbeats gradually get louder and louder. The explorer is getting rather nervous and says, “Look here, old bean, you say that we shouldn’t be worried about those drumbeats, but they are growing in intensity. Are you certain that this is truly a matter of no concern?“ The guide replies, “Drums no problem. Drums stop: big problem.” They continue on, and the drumbeats get louder, faster, and more intense. The explorer is now quite agitated and says, “Look here, old mangle-wurzle, these drumbeats are really most disturbing. Are you — beyond the merest shadow of a doubt — utterly convinced of their innocuousness?” The guide replies, “Drums no problem. Drums stop: big problem.” The explorer says, “So you keep saying, my dear old gumboot, but you have neglected one vital piece of information: when the drums stop, WHAT HAPPENS?!?” The guide stops in the middle of the path, turns to the explorer, and with a look mingling profound sadness and utter despair, replies, “Drums stop: guitar solo.”

Considering I’ve made fewer than half a dozen knives, I’m nowhere near thinking about swords! I’m thinking hardy tools and hammers for the big ones, and chisels and punches for the little. Addendum: also picked up a stack of back issues of the “Blacksmith’s Gazette” and some heat-resistant all-wool gloves from @Stitch, whom I finally got to meet this afternoon.

Now I’m thinking about using airbags to make bellows....

Use your clinker as aggregate: kill two disposal birds with one stone.

The tool rental counter at the local big-box hardware store gave me seven worn-out jackhammer bits for a buck each. (Size 13 boot for scale)

It’s not ego; it’s just realism. Frankly, given how awesome I am, my humility is pretty staggering.

The problem with removing the chrome with acid is, what do you do with the acid after? All you’ve done is move the chrome from the copper to the acid. It’s still toxic — how are you going to dispose of it safely?

Remember, even if you can’t use it yourself, you can probably turn it into cash at the scrapyard and use the proceeds to buy tools and materials.

Yes, but: A HORRIBLE idea. Hexavalent chrome vapor is highly toxic and will make you very, very sick. DON’T DO IT. The only completely safe way to remove chrome plating is to have it done professionally, which will probably be prohibitively expensive.

Some piece of random scrap with 1/32” walls. Not surprised it burned up. Checking your info against the new pipe, I think I’ve got schedule 80: the ID is about 3/4”, and the OD is just over an inch. I’ve updated the info above. Oddly enough, the problem I was having with clinker was that it was collecting above the tuyere. We’ll see what it does on this version.

Update: the adobe has been working well, but the initial layer was too thin to be sufficiently durable. It chipped out around the tuyere, which — being itself much too thin — burned back a couple of inches. So, I broke out the top layer, dug out about half the full, made up some new adobe (about 2:1 sand-to-clay), and rebuilt. The new tuyere is black iron pipe (3/4” schedule 80, I think) and is completely encased in adobe. The bowl is about 10” x 11” x 5” deep, and the center of the tuyere is about 2” from the bottom of the bowl. I also packed some adobe around the inlet end of the tuyere (inside the socket where the blower hose plugs in) to keep air from leaking out elsewhere. (N.B: what looks like a crack around the inside of the socket is just the impression left by the end of the hose, when I pushed it in to make sure it would still fit.)

Geriatric eunuch bolts? Yes, that should work well.

If you don’t keep them warm enough, they’ll never hatch.

Unless you are responding to a specific passage within a larger post* or a comment higher up in in a fast-moving thread, there’s no reason to use the quote feature so much. In fact, it eats up bandwidth and makes pages slower to load for our members and readers who use dial-up. *As I did with my two comments above. You can highlight the relevant passage and click the “Quote this” button that will pop up.

Excellent idea. In fact, do both: you can title your video “Make Your RR Track Anvil SUPER EFFECTIVE!!!”

Thank you! How kind!

It turns into “paint that’s no longer on my wrought iron”. That’s sufficiently interesting to me!

Get a cardboard tube the same size (or larger) than the largest roller of the sander. Mount it sticking out from the wall, and hang the belts from that.

Maybe, but it won’t repaint!

Well, to my surprise, the battery actually charged. So, I’ve switched out the workpiece with this hefty old bolt, disconnected the charger, and left the battery connected to the electrolysis setup. We’ll see if it does anything in its own; if nothing else, it should discharge enough to need recharging tomorrow.