Kozzy

Are you sure it was diamond? Diamond isn't the best for steels because it has an affinity to the carbon: You can get some problematic effects--basically ruining the wheel if you don't use the right procedures. Might have been cubic or polycrystalline boron nitride which is up there close to diamond among the grits. Cup wheel has a lot of different implications but I can't seem to find any of them that meet the rubberized spec you called for. Those are often called "cratex" wheels and they are available in other shapes (like grinding points)--but not usually large cup wheels. More info about the cup wheel size and style might help. Are you talking angle grinder wheels or mounted cup wheels?

For no other reason that it might help people know where "looking" for a coal source may be more productive, I'll dump this here. It doesn't address the quality of what's coming out of each area but if you happen to be driving through a region, it might be worth asking around to get closer to the source. You can see a generalized description of coals here http://www.sustainlife.org/blogs/sustainlife/2012/06/coal-for-blacksmithing/

yes, whirl-wind. Thanks for jogging the rust from my brain. Closest new I can find is about a bit over $ 300 but I am skeptical that a used one would bring half that. I might be completely wrong though. Looking at an old ad on the "other" site I see the whirlwind was matched with the champion 400 blower and was made by them. I'd guess from what I could see that with bead blasting it'd almost be like new. Nothing seemed chewed away from rust or heat.

I just wandered into the sticks to take a look at a blower and post vice that a guy has for sale. The champion 400 blower is still hooked up to an older forge--a wooden box set-up with a cast fire pot elevated in the middle that is similar to the new rectangular pots from Centaur with a little different clinker breaker. The pot was in excellent shape with no burn, just barn rusty. Wind-something brand. There was also a large sheet metal galvanized hood in reasonable condition. I wasn't really interested in anything but the blower but the seller wanted it all to go as a package. I passed but he'll call back before he sells to check again. So here's my question: I can figure prices on the blower but I have no clue what an old cast iron fire pot in good shape might be worth. The wood part is junk--the hood, meh, maybe it could be used for something. I was just curious if anyone had a guess as to what the adder might be for the cast fire pot--or what it could realistically be sold for if I just wanted to trade dollars in order to get the blower. It's not something I want but it might be worth paying for and just passing it on at cost. Any guesses? Sorry--wasn't in a position to get photos. I know it's not much to go on without pics--I just don't remember ever seeing a used centaur type pot alone for sale so had nothing to go on. Next time I go barn tromping I'll remember my phone for the camera. Oh...and I passed on the post vice also due to price but it might come back around when they stop seeing the over-priced listings on e-bay and check the actual sold pricing. And dang it...no anvils to be seen.

Frosty's got a point that might be worth hammering on. Sure it's great to do it all in-house but sometimes it's worth it to leave the hassle to those who do it professionally. You likely wouldn't think of doing your own hot dip galvanizing...and probably wouldn't think of doing your own chrome plating. Why hassle with the more complicated end of heat treating if the cost to have it done to far better standards doesn't put you too far into the poorhouse? I look at it similar to an oil change: Sure, I can do it but the hassle vs extra cost to have it done don't balance out for me. Easier to make it magically happen elsewhere. Same is probably true for a lot of people on IFI who also take their car in for the oil change without blinking an eye. The tractor I do myself because I don't have to crawl around on my back in the gravel so the balance swings the other way there (that's a loose metaphor for the easier HT processes) It's nice to do your own from start to finish but don't dismiss the benefits of sending stuff out for complicated HT or other specialty work. I bet you already do for MANY aspects of home projects you need done without a second thought. Or you could weave, sew and dye your own jeans...some people do for the gratification.

On my centaur firepot that takes the triangular breaker, the hole in the bottom of the pot measures slightly ovoid at 3-1/16" x 2-7/8". The long dimension is in-line with the axis of rotation of the breaker. The breaker measures 2-1/2 in that dimension implying about 1/4" of gap all around the breaker as new from the factory.

Looking at the one I guessed you got plus a similar one at the other China outlet, I notice that the other guys sell a bridging plate so you can hook two of those tables side to side and get about a 90" working length (table, bridge, table). Just an interesting adaptation that could probably be easily made if someone needs a longer work area. As much as I hate the junk at the source you listed, sometimes quick and dirty (and cheap) gets the job done.

Some gas suppliers will do short term rental of dewars or even just take a deposit to get it back for quick turn-around stuff. Might be worth asking your welding supply place. Back in the dark ages I did science demonstrations with LN2 daily and had waaaay too much fun pushing the safety limits for my own entertainment. Fortunately I never shattered any essential body parts. Nothing better than a truly cold soda on a hot day

I'm a bit curious about this project...why and what? Got me thinking about what else (other than doorstops) one might be able to modify them to become.

I might be off base because my memory is like swiss cheese these days but IIRC, you used those for stitching--Put the cord in the V and rock it upwards to pull the stitches really tight on stuff like saddles. The flat plate part prevents leaving impressions in the leather. But don't quote me on it.

I missed the copyright issue thinking that sculptures weren't included in that category. Yes, sculptural items are included http://copyright.gov/circs/circ40.pdf So yes, it seems you do own the rights to it and can control his commercial use of your sculptural design.

You're treading on patent law there---there are 2 types of patents, utility and design. Utility is what something does and design is what something looks like. It also sort of crosses to trademark law because you can theoretically have a 3 dimensional trademark. Even then, he can copy his heart out for personal (non-commercial) use. In any case, you have little protection without spending the money and even then, it's pretty mediocre unless you can afford lawyers to intimidate people who infringe. I'd personally be glad that the guy had the morals to even ask/tell you you about it. Your best bet is to find a way to work with him to keep both of you reasonably happy rather than risking that you'll be completely cut out of the deal. I don't know the piece at all...maybe an extra surcharge to include rights to cast copies for sale? Copies have to include your makers mark? You never know until you discuss it with him.

A hole in the ground will work as a forge if you set it up right. You haven't provided enough info to give a whole lot of feedback. From what I can tell, you want to bottom blast through a flat plate and use a rim of bricks to act as walls to form a sort of fire box/coal containment. That boxed area would be roughly 8" x 8" and standard bricks would make it about 2-1/2" deep. Am I reading you right? If so, it could work with good airflow as a general forge. Many people use simple builds like that. As to properly heating 1-1/2" round bar in a reasonable time to a proper heat, meh..hard to say. Probably with tweaking you could make it happen but there are a LOT of things that might need those tweaks: Airflow, depth, coal banking, etc. Fire management is an art of it's own. There are some youtube videos on fire management which might help you. Look at TechnicusJoe's video on fire management for a good one.

I'm with VaughnT on this one. Especially when just starting out it's good to have one decent set of tongs to go to. Obviously one could make their own tongs but save that until you don't *need* to but *want* to as part of your education. Before you get that far there is a lot of other stuff to focus on--heck, some people go right to tongs when they haven't even fully mastered drawing out or other [seemingly] simple tasks. The only real benefits of making your own are satisfaction and education, both of which can be saved for a rainy day. No significant money to be saved in making your own and the satisfaction of making your own will be a LOT sweeter after you master the boring basics.

Almost a non-issue but because the wood has the grain flipped on a couple of boards, if it dries more or changes with humidity, the boards might gap a bit by forming crowns. If you look at the end grain of a board and set the grain so it "smiles", the crown will form on the top side due to wood shrinkage. In an ideal world, you might want them to all nest together, crowning the same direction so they don't fight and possibly crack. It's a bit silly and nit picky but it might be something to think about if someone likes your idea and builds one with wood that hasn't been fully dried (or gets rained on). Worst case would be a cup side against a cup side which has a much higher likelihood of causing splits over time. Oh, I forgot to say it looks great and I like it.

Consider the wind carefully. I have no clue about the winds in your area so it's up to you to think this one out. The site Windalert.com has a feature which shows average winds and directions..plus peaks and other data mapped out for your area and by month if needed which can be a real help. Click on a marker on the map that comes up for your zip code, click forecast in the pop up box, click "all details" on that, look at the bottom of the forecast page for a map of wind history where it displays "wind statistics". Canopies are amazingly good sails Take whatever you think it needs to pin it down and double that. I've had a canopy pull out 3 foot long 5/8" dia rebar stakes in the past so I am a bit paranoid on this. You don't want the breeze blowing down the throat of your forge or gusting in such a way that the dragon's breath jumps out to bite at you. On hot days do you want to be hammering immediately downbreeze of the forge? just stuff to consider. As the wizard Mr. Powers said, don't pin stuff like the anvil down until you've had a chance to decide whether the location works best.

I've come to the conclusion that anvils are herd animals: They tend to gather in herds when you provide the right accommodations for them to be happy. Unfortunately, I have yet to figure out what those accommodations which grow a herd actually are. From what I've seen of others, many have developed a magic pheromone which seems to make an existing herd attract more iron livestock. I guess anvil herders just have skills. Those of us who haven't developed the skills call it "luck" so we can feel better about ourselves.

Kalamazoo used to be a top name in industrial tools and grinders. I'm not sure where they stand now that they import some low end stuff under their branding. The older stuff is still considered top notch. Looks to me like the lower end units are a little low in HP--guessing you are speaking of a 1 x 42 which seems to be the one available in your price range. It might get you by but you'll likely be wishing for more in short order. Because you can get 5 times the belt grinder for about twice the money, you might think twice about whether it's worth waiting for a better budget or not. The little ones will get stuff done but is it throwing money away if you will be itching for better in a year? And yes, some people are perfectly satisfied with their variation of the small unit. I have and use one in a different brand..it got me started and does the job (barely) but I wish I had waited for a better budget rather than jumping the gun to get what I could afford at the time. Hard call to make and it's easy for me to spend *your* money. All I'm really saying is it might be worth thinking about the longer term.

I wanted to make sure I wasn't misunderstood. I am NOT implying that people shouldn't smith or that it shouldn't be popular--just wondering how the additional TV coverage might affect things for people who do some light commercial smithing work: Whether people think the TV attention of these "reality" shows helps or hurts both customer perception and the off-hand profitability prospects of anything from superior knives to "trinkets". There's room for ALL who wish to bang steel. My personal concern is that the shows give the impression complex stuff is easier than it is in reality (which affects customer perceptions). Also that forged items will increase in popularity too quickly and that popularity will suddenly go the way of parachute pants and mullets--where it turns to disdain because of over-exposure.

Thank you. The "chinese" thing always has me a little gun shy on machines like this and it really helps to hear the experience side rather than the sales side (been burned by claims before). I appreciate your taking the time to help.

I have effectively the same machine which I haven't yet run..and don't really intend to. What you have there is 2/3 of a killer ribbon burner forge. Re-route the air/propane mix line to a ribbon burner in a mailbox-shaped insulated enclosure that sits on top of the "trench", dropping some fire bricks into the trench to make a complete hearth. For very little extra past what you've got, you'd have a more fuel efficient system that puts out heat like the fires of Hades. No, I haven't done this yet to mine...still planning. I figured I might get lucky and have you work out all the details and discover the pitfalls for me What you paid? Heck, you could probably resell the blower portion, throwing away the rest and still come out way ahead--by the end of the day on a good day.

Ball bearing and tape measure so you can quantify what the rebound really is--without a tape, it's really easy to "guild the lily" and see more rebound than there really is. Even small balls will work but it's nice to have something big enough to see well, especially if it goes flying because it hit a rough patch on the face. Test the face in more than one place just to feel better about it. How much rebound is good? You'll get a lot of different answers on that one. There are people who are perfectly happy with 60% if the anvil is priced well. There are others who consider it on the mediocre side if you don't hit near 90%. My take is to keep looking when you are down toward that low end unless it's a steal. If you are currently working on a piece of rusty scrap, even a poor anvil might be the cat's meow to you just to have one. I made myself curious to hear what is the best rebound forum members have ever seen from an anvil with the ball test--any takers? Mine hits at only 80-85% with a 1/4" ball so I know it gets better...

Just wondering what people's opinions are regarding the growing TV coverage of smithing as an art/trade. Does it give the general public a better understanding if the skills and time involved? Increase desire and understanding of hand-made product and the efforts involved? Or does it so grossly distort time/skill that it actually hurts the trade? My take is that it will be the latter. They seem to make it look like you'll be whipping out flawless complex damascus in a month with productivity of several $ 1000 items a week. The other worry is with the "fad" issue--the faster something becomes a "fad", the harder it crashes when the fad fades. Any iron-bangers here seen a commercial uptick in demand or "craft understanding" that you feel is at least partially attributable to the TV coverage?

Eric, I'm curious to get a little feedback from someone who's used one before I start phoning and asking questions from the seller(s). So here's the deal--I need to heat the last 1/4" of length of a 3/16" dia round bar to 2050F for a forging (heading) operation. Just wondering if you had a guess at the heat time and controllability on small bar like that with the machine you are using. The e-bay version says it can be set up with an IR input to help control heats but I don't see that mentioned on the Mettle site. Any feedback you can offer regarding such a heating operation? Think it's fast and controllable with one of these in your experience? The big issues for me are even through-heating within about 5 seconds and consistency from heat to heat--which might be asking a LOT from a low-end machine like this. That pricing is sure tempting just to get a new toy, though. Yes, the 440V 3 phase machine on the Mettle site could melt the end off in the blink of an eye but it'd sure be nice to start experimenting at the cheaper end of the pool. Thanks

The less extended a cylinder is, the less it is susceptible it is to the problems of side thrust. Not a huge issue in something like a forging press where the cylinder already tends to be fairly short but if you were using a long cylinder, you wouldn't want the working area to be at full extension if there was much side thrust present. If I had all the choices in the world (rather than what I can find cheap surplus), I'd choose a cylinder length to try and keep the piston in the bottom third of the cylinder--extending only 1/3 of the possible total extension. Not a huge deal, especially if the rest of the system can provide rigidity to the extended ram. More of an issue if the ram and die it carries are free floating. Some very small forging press adaptations are that way. I use a similar type of H press (15 ton) for keyway broaches that has a 30" stroke and the free-floating end of the ram is not happy with the side thrusts when it's reaching that end of the travel. It'll move side to side by enough that it's hurting the seals.