clang

Hi Frosty, Hello Glenn:

I'm 72 years old Jerry, not sure how that happened. Your trickle-charger igniter is brilliant. I started doing metal sculpture for a living in the middle 60s. I'm pretty much self taught, never took an art or shop class.

National Torch used to make torches with a similar thumb valve...They made a nice  little aircraft style torch with a thumb valve that i always wanted to get but could never find used. I think they were popular around WW2.

Speaking of old torches, i lucked into a complete Victor J27 aircraft torch with a cutting attachment and a fat fistful of tips..The thing is almost new. It's a really sweet unit with a nice quiet flame. Probably made in the 50s.

Back to the pop-up torch...I came up with it sorta tongue in cheek..blowing a methodological raspberry at the masterful Mr Dixon.

But i'll be darned if i haven't used it almost every day i'm doing smaller forgings and i've worn out 3 new gas savers on it.

Abby: it was a brand new idea for you and you should be proud that you came up with it.

Hi Stumptown:

That's an entertaining version of the treadle torch...cool!

If you adjust the acet side of the gas saver so it doesn't quite close when your pedal is up...

Then you have a built in pilot lite and can dispense with the secondary hose assembly.

About 27 years ago i saw George Dixon demonstrate on the first treadle hammer i'd ever seen...I was very excited

as it solved so many problems i was stuck on.

George kept stopping to light and adjust his heating torch for every heat,

and i asked if there wasn't some way to automate that time consuming action.

He clearly said it couldn't be done, he'd tried and failed more than once.

I took it as a challenge, went home and after a couple of weeks of false starts,

invented the treadle actuated pop-up torch, which i later demonstrated for a CBA conference.

Since then a whole lot of smiths have either copied it or done their own versions.

Makes me happy to see my idea spread so widely now.

Hi Curly;
Good work!
The cork screw/wine snobs complained about my tapered wurms( the proper name for the screw) saying that they really shouldn't be tapered at all, because it spreads the cork, making it harder to extract.
PF

No extra stuff there! Looks good.
I like the RR spike feet.

I have one of those too, not nearly as pretty admittedly.
Mine has cut a whole lot of bar for me and survived abuse by others.
That's a fine tool!